As mountain bikers in the north, this seasonal riding hiatus does seem rather involuntary, forced in fact. Stuck amidst snow banks and baklavas, what’s a rider to do?
Fat bikes are novel option, so are indoor spin bikes or just doubling that baklava and making the noble mid-winter bike commute to work- cycling is cycling if you’re a cyclist, right? ...Perhaps. However, it’s the ripping descents of summer we yearn for, a far cry from slushy road shoulders and buzzing traffic. A fix for prime-time shredding hits most of us hard come February, when the sun teases mildly higher in the sky. This is especially true in the interior British Columbia hometowns of James and Kurt, where the spoils of world class mountain biking come at the cost of heavy winters. Reprieve from this bleak and bitter winter existence is a blurred dream. It can be difficult to imagine warm climates existing while shivering away up north in February. Winter or not, we've got to ride. Fortunately for this dilemma, an emerging mountainbike culture and network of incredible trails continues to grow a few thousand miles south in Oaxaca, Mexico. The perfect opportunity to escape the grip winter, get some suspension testing done for the upcoming year, and replenish the Vitamin D reserves.
Arriving to Oaxaca City, our very excited guide, and owner of Oaxaca Bike Expeditions, Javier, scoops us up at the airport. We drop luggage and get straight to work- Javier drags us into our first Mezcalaria. Mezcal, Victorias, and a feast of tlayudas, grilled with a hearty fill of meat and veggies, cover the table almost immediately. Sitting on the dimly lit rooftop patio looking over the city, we absorb our first exposure to this rich Oaxacan culture. Then mistakenly, we take our first glasses of mezcal and shoot them back, to the awe and disgust of the guides and wait staff. "You are supposed to kiss the mezcal. Sip and enjoy it, not slam it back. Stupid gringos." it's explained. Oopsies... We call for another round to get it right. The delicious food and libations, topped with discussion of our riding plans throughout the surrounding mountains, sets the stage for a very exciting week. The itinerary is pretty simple: wake up, eat, ride, mezcal, repeat...
Right out the gate, the riding proves spectacular. We shuttle up through the forest on seldom used old stone roads reaching the ridge line. Dropping straight into fast, flowing, long, and fairly raw trails, the group's collective amazement is audible as the wildly fun first lap continues. The trails run down different aspects of the mountain, each aspect providing slightly different terrain, and good mix of difficulty. Up high, the small and well dispersed pine trees create an even canopy that coats the forest floor with needles, absent from much other vegetation aside from the frequent, and massive, agave plants. The trails wind between trees and the ever undulating mountainside, into deep gullies, and out onto exposed ridge lines with long vistas over the endless mountains or down to the valley floor. After each new trail we shuttle back up for more.