In Mexico, Oaxaca to Mazunte — Off road, On bike
By: Kristin Doherty
Tags: Travel, Nonfiction, Mexico, Biking, Wanderlust

We leave the city of Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico, and travel South. West. It is my friend B and me. We have it in mind to take the smaller roads. We want to avoid the 175 and the 131, but if we have to follow one of those big roads for a bit, then we will. We want to make it down to Ocotlan de Morelos and further south. La Pe. We will camp if we must, but we’d prefer beds, cheap posadas. We are not sure how fast we can travel off-road, how fast we can keep up with where we are on Google maps. No, we did not download maps before the trip. Yes, we are two women in the middle of a pandemic hoping to get out on our bikes for a few days, not bother anyone, just pass through. Our goal for this section: Get to Mazunte, to la playa, from the city to the ocean.

Sometimes we are not sure where we are, but we follow the small roads heading in the right direction. Google takes us to even smaller roads. It is Day One and we are already on paths that are too small for cars to pass. Caminos de tierra. We are only just outside the city of Oaxaca but we’re in the middle of nowhere, heading down a farmer’s lane and into the fields. The ruts in the road are damp with recent rain, the brush along the edges of these paths grows thick and green. Soon, we come head-on with a man and a woman in a horse drawn wagon. They look at us, smiling, at our shiny bikes and bags as we bump along their road. I feel exposed and nervous, but they are friendly. We wave “permiso” and they wave back and let us pass. The man wears a sombrero, the woman an indigenous dress. A few minutes later we must get off the bikes because the road grows even more narrow and rutted and muddy. Mosquitoes flit near our ears. It is not even noon on our first day. We are soaked in sweat. Dew flicks our faces from low lying willows. Looking around, I realize how remote this feels, and we have not even gotten to the remote part yet. Worry wells up in my belly.

We push forward, determined that we are at least heading in the right direction, South and West. Finally, we come to another road that looks bigger and more promising. For the first time in the day, there is “No service” in the corner of my phone. A boy and his dog pass and I inquire about our direction. He nods vaguely and keeps walking. It is a larger road, so this must be a good sign. Then we get to a village with some fruit shops and some houses. The people wave good morning to us.

In Ocotlan de Morelos, a bigger town, we feel successful, it is still early in the day. We head to the town center, or zocalo, where there is an Oxxo and we can plug in our phones. I brought a portable charger for emergencies but this convenience store has outlets and even regular Mexicans sit outside on the curb and use them. We buy our first Oxxo meals. Rollo bread and chips and granola bars. I realize that we have only moved a few centimeters on the map. We will feel this way plenty of times in the coming days. Our backs are wet from sweat. We stand at the edge of the zocalo where there are a couple of taco shops open, but it’s too soon to stop and sit, we want to keep moving.