Mountains, mountains, mountains...

29881 km, Oaxaca (Oaxaca)

When Bine and me started cycling from Valle de Bravo, we had perfect weather and a clear view. Which we often could enjoy because for the first 55 kilometers it is a steady climb. The last 20 km on the highway were not enjoyable, we twice had to leave the road because of fast trucks which nearly hit us! In the forest at an elevation of 3.000 meters we found a nice campsite for the night. The last 6 km up to the pass we kept for the next day. And on this day we climbed up to more than 3.500 meters in elevation, very close to 4.highest volcano of Mexico - the Volcano Nevado de Toluca. A great mountain with still a lot of snow on the northern slopes. We cycle nearly around the volcano, so we can see also the drier southern part of the mountain. During thesé days we are always about one cycle day away from the capital as we bypass this big city in the south. It is busier in this area, the "small" roads on our map are not that small in reality. The elevation is lower here, between 1.000 and 1.500 meters. Which means that there is a lot of agriculture, mostly sugar cane fields. And moreover it got for the fírst time really hot, and i started suffering. I also cycled on my own, as Bine was fed up with cycling. At 7 o clock we are on our bicycles, to have a cool morning start. From Izucar de Matamoros i cycle on a national road direction of Oaxaca. It gets very mountaious again, but the advantages: it is cooler especially during the night, and the landscape is very nice. From Acatlan de Osorio we cycle together again the very nice road with great climbs and great views. We finally reached the great and diverse city of Oaxaca. Famous for its own chocolate, coffee, Mescal and great markets with a lot of exotic stuff. On Monte Alban, above the city, is a great maya site, which i of course visit by bicycle ;) Now we are heading "down" to the coast, but before there are again a lot of mountains to climb...