A Different Kind of Ride It had been about a year since I had gone on a bikepacking adventure like this one, carrying my camping gear, sleeping bag, and everything I need to make coffee along the way. Most of the past year had been focused on ultradistance racing, and after finishing my last race of the season in August, I wanted to make more space for traveling slowly again. I realized that, with all the training and racing, I had lost a little bit of what cycling gives me in the first place: happiness, disconnection, and that feeling of being completely present. Sometimes being so focused on racing takes away a little of that spark that riding a bike means to me: a way to find peace of mind and reconnect with myself. So when Héctor invited me to celebrate his birthday in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, I was really excited. The region is known for its enormous columnar cacti, some of which are hundreds of years old, as well as fossils dating back around 120 million years. What is now the Tehuacán Valley was once covered by the sea, which is why marine fossils can be found throughout the area, along with dinosaur footprints and some of the oldest cactus species in Mexico. It felt like the perfect place for a celebration with friends, but also like the right setting for me to reset and reconnect with what I love about traveling by bike. Cooper and I decided to ride part of Cass Gilbert’s The Cactus Loop route from Bikepacking.com, with a few reroutes to make it shorter and focus on some of the most scenic parts of the region. Our route took us through the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden, San Juan Raya, and Santa Ana Teloxtoc, with a mix of dirt roads, dry riverbeds, steep hike-a-bike sections, and long open stretches through the cactus landscape. The intention was just to cover short distances, explore, and give ourselves enough time to actually look around.
Into the Cactus Forest We left Mexico City by bus with Cooper and were supposed to meet Héctor, Anita, and Oscar in Zapotitlán. Our bus left pretty late, so we didn’t arrive in Tehuacán until around 4 p.m. We had a quick look around the city center. It was September 16, Mexico’s Independence Day, so the streets were packed with a fair, lots of people, kids setting off fireworks, and music everywhere. I would have liked to stay longer, but we still had to ride and it was already getting late, so instead of following more of Cass’s route out of the city, we decided to take the road toward toward Zapotitlán. The road was surprisingly quiet, probably because of the holiday, and there were barely any cars. We got a beautiful sunset among the cacti, and then the moon came out. It was beautiful. We arrived around dusk and met back up with Héctor and the rest of the group in Zapotitlán, where we had a great dinner. Pretty much every restaurant in the area has its own way of preparing food with the different fruits that come from the local cacti, which made dinner a really nice introduction to the region. We camped at the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden, and arriving at night gave the place a completely different feeling. I learned that a forest doesn’t necessarily have to be made of trees. This is a dense cactus forest, with cacti that can be hundreds of years old. Even in the darkness, we could clearly see the silhouettes of the enormous columnar cacti around us. We set up our tent, walked around for a little while in the dark, and eventually completely crashed.
Hike-a-Bike & Heat The next morning, we walked around the botanical garden and made coffee at a lookout tower. From up there, the cacti looked incredibly tall, and we spent some time just looking over Zapotitlán from above. Eventually we went back down, packed up camp, left the bikes to one side, and continued exploring the garden on foot. It was already getting hot by 9 a.m., so we went out for lunch before finally starting the ride toward San Juan Raya around noon. It was supposed to be only about 30 kilometers. We were following Cass Gilbert’s route, which he called The Cactus Loop, but we definitely underestimated how difficult this section would be. We expected a lot of dirt roads, but as the sun climbed higher, the heat became intense and there was absolutely nothing around us, no store, no town, no paved road, nothing but beautiful cactus-covered landscapes. We crossed so many dry riverbeds that I lost count, and Anita, being a biologist, kept finding fossils along the way. It was kind of crazy. Eventually, the route turned into a long and exhausting hike-a-bike. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more with a little more cold water. The views were incredible, but morale was getting pretty low. The group had not expected to spend so much time walking, and Cooper and I were trying to keep everyone’s spirits up as we pushed and carried our bikes. After a few hours, though, everyone was pretty quiet. Eventually we reached a viewpoint, and by then our arms were seriously hurting. We weren’t just pushing the bikes anymore, at some points we had to carry them. It was hard, but looking back, being able to experience those views inside the reserve made it completely worth it. From the Virgen viewpoint, the route finally connected with a dirt road that was mostly downhill toward San Juan Raya. A huge rain cloud was following us, so we stopped at the only little store we had seen all day to get some cold water and soda before continuing. We finally reached San Juan Raya, an incredible little community of only around 200 people. We arrived at El Cardenal campsite around 5 p.m., just as it started raining on and off. We set up our tent and were about to go look for food when the people at the campsite offered to cook us a delicious local dinner. We also asked about the dinosaur footprint tour we wanted to do the next day, made a plan, and went to bed. It rained during the night and there was a lot of wind, which honestly scared me a little inside the tent, so I didn’t sleep very well.
120 Million Years Ago We woke up early the next morning and found a little spot where we could make coffee while admiring the mountains and the cacti around us. Then we headed to the San Juan Raya Ecotourism Center for our guided tours. First, we hiked to see the Turritelas, marine fossils of snail-like shells and other organisms that are at least 120 million years old. It is hard to even process that kind of age. Our guide, Miguel, gave us a great explanation of the fossils and the history of the area, and then took us to see the oldest biznaga cactus, estimated to be around 1,000 years old. That was just as incredible. We went back to the campsite for lunch and then headed out with Said, a very young local guide who took us by bike to see the dinosaur footprints. These were theropod footprints, left by carnivorous dinosaurs. The hike in the middle of the day was tough because of the heat, but the landscape was beautiful. The footprints are estimated to be around 120 to 132 million years old, from the Early Cretaceous period. That number is difficult to comprehend. Sometimes I can barely imagine something being 1,000 years old, so trying to picture life here 120 million years ago definitely left me, and the whole squad, feeling pretty reflective. We finished the tour later than expected, grabbed some ice pops, and finally left San Juan Raya around 3 p.m. Héctor wanted to make it all the way back to Tehuacán, but after the hike in the sun I was feeling kind of cooked, so we took it easy and followed a wide dirt road along Cass’s route. Before reaching Santa Ana Teloxtoc, we stopped to admire this hill called Cerro de las Máscaras, which looked especially impressive in the afternoon light. We decided to stop in Santa Ana for food, and since it was going to get dark soon, we figured it would be better to find somewhere to camp nearby. We ended up camping at the restaurant where we had eaten, La Casa de la Tía Julia. Yolanda, the owner, was such a wonderful person and made us feel incredibly welcome. The views, the food, and the whole atmosphere of the place were amazing. It was one of those unexpected stops that ends up becoming part of what you remember most from a trip.
Back to Tehuacán The next morning, we left early toward Tehuacán. We followed a dirt road and climbed toward El Encinal, one of the most beautiful sections of the route, with incredible views over the reserve. At the top, there was a beautiful arch where we stopped to take in the landscape before starting a long and fun descent. At some point, we reached another dry riverbed and had to split from Héctor, Anita, and Oscar. They needed to descend toward Zapotitlán, while Cooper and I still had to climb a little more before eventually descending to Tehuacán to catch our bus back to Mexico City. It was a little sad to say goodbye, but we had spent some really beautiful days together. We hugged, wished each other a safe ride, and went our separate ways. The climb toward Tehuacán was wild. At first, we followed a very steep little trail that involved some more hike-a-bike, and eventually it turned into a beautiful dirt road. The sun was intense, so we stopped every once in a while to find some shade. Eventually, we reached a viewpoint overlooking the city of Tehuacán. Seeing the city from up there gave me a huge sense of satisfaction, not just because we had made it, but because of everything that had happened along the way. From there, we descended into Tehuacán, had some great food at the market, and waited for our bus back to Mexico City. Four hours later, we were home. I still couldn’t quite believe everything we had experienced with our friends over those four days: the giant cacti, the fossils, the dinosaur footprints, the heat, the hike-a-bike, the rain, the long dirt roads, and all the little moments in between. It felt really good to ride without rushing, spend time with friends, and get to know a little more about the place we were in. I definitely need more trips like this, they feel like a recharge for the soul.
