Mountain Biking in Toluca – 2013

Every Thursday night Los Escarabajos meet in the Zocalo of Toluca for night rides through the city. Routes vary, but we seek bumpy roads, mountainside villages, floodlit church squares, cobblestone streets, sidewalks of smiling people, and long dips into offroad and singletrack.

We do our best to avoid snarling stray dogs and dried-up riverbeds that masquerade as bike-worthy trails but rapidly deteriorate after midnight.

Last Thursday we went to the nearby zoo Zacango. It was a 3-hour ride: first straight out of the city on a main road to Capultitlan, the first distinct small town south. Next a long climb then descent into dark streets and even darker two-track roads through farms and village outskirts.

On a good night, a friend (Samuel) invites us to his house for tortas, Mexican sandwiches. On a bad night there’s rain:

But really there are no bad nights.

Thanks Javier for the photos above.

Si vives en Toluca y quires rodar con nosotros, o quieres leer esto en espanol, dejame un comentario abajo por favor. O si eres un cuate de los Escarabajos, ¡dilo!!!

By day Toluca is mountain biking paradise. This was a long Sunday morning into the foothills surrounding el Nevado de Toluca Volcano, AKA Xinantecatl.

What goes up, must come down.

Below are photos the 100 km Ultramarathon here in Toluca last fall.

The leader of Escarabajos Toluca, El Gallo, organizes big rides though and around Toluca. Many of these people are from Mexico City. The group there, friends of Escarabajos, is Ciclismo Para Todos Mexico.

Every time I go to Mexico City I see more cycling – lanes, free bike rentals, promotional billboards – once a policeman on a street corner handed me 20-page cartoon pamphlet on the benefits of urban cycling.

Here in Toluca, one lane in a long loop of downtown roads is shut off Sunday mornings from 10 to 1. Kudos for Carlos and his non-profit Fundacion Tlaloc for pulling that off.

We might not have permanent bike lanes, not yet, but it doesn’t stop me and lots of other folks from having a hell of a great time.