Bike Rides in Oaxaca

Bike Rides in Oaxaca 

Every Friday night at 9:00 ,  about 200 bikers gather and make a 10-kilometer loop around the city.  I was able to borrow a bike from the posada where I am staying, so I was fortunate to join them.  It was amazing to see young kids with parents, couples,  grandparents,  a few gringos - not many -  and the organizers who stop and hold up traffic at every intersection.  Some bikers decorate their bikes, everyone is smiling.  They yell si bici,  no coche! ("yes bike, no car!") Here's a few not so clear pictures .

The same organization offers group rides on Sundays too.  Each Sunday they go to various towns or pueblos around Oaxaca.  I joined them this past Sunday.  We went to a town called Ocotlan which is about 40 km from Oaxaca.  There were about 25 people in total.  We took back roads on the way there, which included going through small villages, sewage crossings, farm land and in general barren land.  The views of the mountain were amazing.   It was helpful to have a mountain bike although some of the riders had cross bikes. I think we might have gone the wrong way at one point but it was hard to tell since the communication was difficult.  There were a few other people from the school so I wasn't the only English speaker.  I had a blast with everyone. Laughing at my pathetic Spanish but trying nonetheless. On the return trip, we took the highways but it was clear the organizers wanted us to stay well off the road. That meant riding on the rough shoulder/break-down lanes. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Eating in Ocotlan - the meal was excellent but of course I didn't know what I was ordering! I said I would have the same thing as the woman next to me.  Turns out it was a quesadilla with squash flowers.  Apparently very popular this time of year.  In fact I have never seen such a large bag of squash flowers as I did that day.	I made friends with the Mom and daughter who are wearing jeans at the top of the hill.  You will see pictures of their house in my next post. Rocio and Andrea.
One of the nasty sewer crossings	This is at the end of the day. We biked between 80 and 90 km.  very impressive for the organizers to take all these people that far!!