We recently teamed up with Chris McKleroy of Nocs Provisions, a rad and rugged binocular company based out of the Lake Tahoe area, to help document his and his partners’ trip to Oaxaca. He lets us in on the ups and downs, the strict local rules, and much more in his story below. So grab your beverage of choice and dive right in because this is a good one!
Oaxaca Sierra Norte Traverse: Type One Fun
When I told my parents we were planning to bikepack in Mexico, they asked us to reconsider. When we chose to move forward with our plan, they asked me to write a will and mail it to them. Background: we set our sights on a March bikepacking excursion in Oaxaca as a good buddy was getting married in Oaxaca City. This was a great excuse to leave the snowy Sierra Nevadas in California, where we reside full time, and snowbird it down to Mexico in mid February for this wedding and a bikepacking excursion to follow in March.
In the days leading up to the trip, we were able to stay at the Trans Sierra Norte House, located right in the thick of Oaxaca City. This was a massive highlight, as we were able to fly in and leave bikes there for the wedding, and then following the festivities, returned back there to prep for the trip. Ultimately, the TSN house is like a headquarters of shred, with a few rooms to stay in, a bike shop with customer facing bike stands, and functional headquarters of the Trans Sierra Norte race, which brings hundreds of riders down to Oaxaca in October. So, we were able to unbox our bikes there, and build up everything in a bike stand, with all the tools and spare parts to assist in your build. Not to mention, it was a great place to stay, with Isabel coming in every morning to cook Chilaquiles, and located out of the hustle and bustle of the main avenues, yet walkable to all the good stuff. The whole team is great there, offering plenty of knowledge both regarding sites and bites in the city, as well as a trail knowledge deeper than any map.
Originally, we had our sights set on the full San Jose Del Pacifico route, however upon a bit of research, it was clear that the temperatures were creeping quite high in the mercury, and that might not be the most hospitable route for a full outing (upon arriving, we confirmed this heat - the locals were saying it was unseasonably warm for the time of year). So we set our sights on the Sierra Norte mountain range, part of the Sierra Madre mountain range in the Oaxaca state of Mexico. I was stoked to connect with an old pal, Cass Gilbert, has been residing in Oaxaca city and building a frenzy of routes for Bikepacking.com (more about that here) in the local Oaxaca City area and well into the mountains. A true explorer he is - and we met up for a few coffees and a few morning mountain bike rides prior to departure, to ask questions, get a route dialed in, and talk about living the life in Oaxaca City. Connecting two known routes with a traverse between them, and with the help of Cass and extensive map planning, the Sierra Juarez Traverse was born.
One thing to note about Oaxaca and the Sierra Norte; These are the indigenous homelands to the people who still live there today. Each little zone requires permission and often payment to enter to ride through. One should enter in designated entry areas, and make sure entry dues are paid. Furthermore, some areas that have allowed for cyclists to pass through have changed their minds, in fact, an area we had planned to access had decided that after something happened, that they would not like cyclists to pass through. Riding through a community that does not permit cyclists, or not paying dues in one that does, can lead to being tossed in the local jail for a few days. So - with all that being said - local routes need to be validated. Luckily, Ricardo at the Trans Sierra Norte house had a great understanding of what’s in play, up to the month heading there. It was helpful to get our route validated by Ricardo, so we chose to set out the following day.
A huge benefit of staying at the Trans Sierra Norte house was that they run a shuttle operation for their annual race, and a guiding service for visitors in town, like a Yuba Expeditions here in northern California. We scheduled a shuttle bump into the Ixtepeji region, as the prospect of pedaling 5000ft vert out of the hot heat of Oaxaca valley seemed like a brutal start to the trip, with some big days ahead. Plus, as a lifelong downhiller, I love a good shuttle and this ensured we’d start the trip out on the right foot (let’s just say a few weeks in Oaxaca will challenge your immune system and gut health). We loaded our fully loaded rigs into the shuttle and caught a ride up the hill. After paying the dues to enter the community, we were pleasantly dropped off at the top of the single track network where we were able to ride down and find a nice camping spot. We unpacked the bikes and set up a little camp, then set off to sample the single track goods. It was quite an experience riding with proper loaded bikepacking PSI on some gnarly terrain - bouncing around - but the steel Norco Torrent quietly slayed the terrain - all racks attached - no rattle - no hassle. After a few laps and a regroup, we descended to the comedor through bromeliads and winding single track, to be offered scrambled eggs and a Modelo before the climb back to camp.
After waking up, we had coffee, quickly loaded up the bikes, and began our pedal out of Ixtepeji. As we rode past the giant agave plants, our rigs fully loaded, the excitement set in. We just packed our entire campsite onto our bikes, and here we were, cruising through the mountains at 10,000ft. We approached the Ixtepji exit, and found a spot for breakfast, along with a snack refill. We ate lots of cookies and chips, and Sara enjoyed one of many Electrolits - the Mexican equivalent of Pedialyte.
Over the next five hours, we traversed the Sierra Norte from Ixtepeji to Benito Juarez, meandering up and down, passing the occasional pedestrian or car, and as we got deeper into the forest, seeing absolutely no one. The roads were graded well, making for a pleasant ride in our Bedrock sandals, in the canopy of the trees. As we made our way deeper into the forest, we encountered a herd of cattle blocking our path. Waiting them out - we pedaled slowly behind them, and they eventually retreated up the hill and let us pass. The mind works differently when medical attention is very far away - so passing a herd of cattle was a much more calculated effort than back home in the Bay Area. This was the grand traverse portion of the route that we had seen on maps, but worked out amazingly well.
As we approached Benito Juarez after an all day affair of pedaling, we pedaled into this bike friendly community. We were kindly welcomed at the Centro Ecoturismico. We paid our 100 pesos, and were able to set up camp at a nice campsite in town, then walked through the village to the local commodore where we had steak and beans and a beer! Benito Juarez is great, a small mountain town, with nice in town camping and a few spots to refuel.
The next day, after a nice morning of steeped, we rode to Cuajimoloyas, straddling the ridge between two communities. This ride was beautiful, traversing the top of the range, seeing quite a few more people as this was a more known route. We pulled into town, had the weekend taco special, and refilled our water at the local Miscelenia. We the found the Centro ecoturismico, as we were nearing sundown, where we were directed towards the campsite, which happened to be another 4km away! According to our map, after a punchy climb out of town, it was all downhill from there to an amazing open pasture in the middle of the forest. And you guessed it, there was a fully staffed comedor there, as we were camping at a fish farm! Again, highly hospitable - easy camping - with a hot meal available. I could not resist the plate of freshly caught and fried fish, as our pesos were dwindling faster than we expected.
After a night there, we were kindly greeted by the comedor staff offering us breakfast. Surely, it was hard to say no as we were the only folks there, and they were so kind, but this did wear into our pesos and resultantly meant we’d not try to add on an extension to Lachatao, which we were on the fence about in the first place. Regardless, we ate, packed up, and climbed out of the campsite zone, this time to a road which we’d traverse back into Cuajimoloyas. As we pedaled out of town, we began the traverse again back to Benito Juarez, this time enjoying a bit more descending than climbing getting into the town. Once we got back to the town, we chose to stay at the campsite a few miles out of town, another pushy climb, which put us overlooking the valley to the north and east. It was a beautiful camping spot there, and equipped with a loaf of bread, canned tuna, and mayo, we rolled in, set up camp, and relaxed. Mid chilling, a local dog approached, looking quite like a sack of bones, emaciated, and like a puppy who had recently birthed puppies with not enough to eat. She was very persistent, and we shared a little bit of tuna with her. After a banner sunset, we got into our tent, and curled up to sleep when the sketchiest thing of our entire trip happened. We heard a moto in the distance, wondering who was climbing up this way after dark. As the moto approached, we thought surely they were going past, when no - they turned into our little campsite and pulled up right next to our tent! I put on pants and hopped out - ready for whatever the situation brung - and it was just the guys from town brining us firewood to build a fire! We kindly let them know they didn’t need to do that, and we’d see them the next day.
As we woke up and packed up camp, Mira, our dog friend as we named her, came back to our campsite. We gave her a little more food, and I talked Sara down from discussing plans to adopt this dog. We rolled through Benito Juarez and began a massive, perfectly graded decent to Teotitlan, an ancient city known for its textiles. We burned through our brake pads as we descended back into the valley, having a hoot of a time. There we checked out local rugs, had lunch, and continued the journey meandering through the outskirts of Teotitlan and along known routes back to the city. As we pedaled through the valley, we slowly found more and more traffic and people on the roads, and before we knew it, we were on the outskirts of Oaxaca. Granted, the entire ride back was either in sparsely populated country roads, and a protected bike path as we got closer to the city, it was still shocking to see so many people, cars, bikes, and just city life after having woken up in the mountains. It was a bit tricky navigating back into central Oaxaca City, and once we made it back to the Centro, we checked into a nice hotel, stashed the bikes, and went out for a meal. Another big day, followed by beers!
Gear Rundown
Over the course of the trip, we had our gear totally dialed. I was on a Norco Torrent S1, a 29 inch steel hardtail with a Shimano XT 10-51 x 30t gearing, and Sara was on a Salsa El Mariachi, 29 inch, with a Sunrace 10-50 x 30t gearing. We both ran the new Maxxis Forecaster 29 x 2.6 tires which were great, fast rolling and hooking up in corners. We both ran the Axle Pack on our fork, which worked absolutely perfectly the entire trip - no bolts to tighten at any point, and shook them pretty hard on the ride! We both ran the Roadrunner Jumbo Jammer on our bars, which was plenty of space for a tent, footprint, pad, and sleeping bag. We ran the Outer Shell stem caddies, which are mandatory for any ride like this. I ran a custom frame bag, and Sara ran a Nalgene in her front triangle with an XL King cage. Rear rack duties were handled by the Old Man Mountain Elkhorn and the Juniper Trunk, a surprise hit, on the top. Having a home for everything on the bike, the Juniper Trunk was great for stashing odds and ends - the variables that we encountered - like extra beers, a load of bread, textiles we picked up, and the side pocket was a great home for the toilet kit.
No crashes, no mechanicals, overall an awesome trip.
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