Copper Canyon Tour: Part 3: The Lost Cathedral

Today was an easy day after the last two days of big mileage/time. I really needed it too. We got coffee from Martin's Mom and had a leisurely breakfast. We took a rough dirt road out to the Lost Cathedral of Satevo.


Again a dirt road isn't the funnest riding. but the views were stunning. The pictures do no justice to how incredible it is.



The mission is called the Lost Cathedral because records of its date of construction had disappeared. There is a local school adjacent to the mission.

Hola, Hola...Hola.. All the kids love to say hi. Sometimes you will be on an isolated trail and you'll hear "Hola" from across the river. These kids here, also know their mountain bikes. They can RIDE! They come up and ask to ride your bikes and then cruise around the courtyard.

Thiis guy obviously appreciates the DW-link suspension on the HP.


All the kids love Karen's bike because it was small enough for them to ride easily.
Most of the bikes were definitely over sized but it didn't deter them at all
.

This one wonderful girl named Adinelli (Nelli) was incredible. She grabbed Tim's 29"er singlespeed and was hauling butt around the courtyard. Most of the kids were in the granny gear spinning around and she was lapping everyone. I couldn't believe how much she was leaning over that bike at slow speeds. Maybe there is something to this 29"er thing. She was brake checking people while we wll cringed over the custom Vicious paint job.




She has epilepsy and her meds cost $40/month. A lot for down there. But just a happy kid.

After chilling out we rode back. Bill found the local healer and got a massage for $100 pesos and some salve for his crash from the downhill yesterday.

On the way back we scoped out some Tarahumara houses being featured on Cribs.


After lunch we took a easy spin out to the decaying Hacienda of Alan Shepard, the silver magnet who put the place on the map years ago. He brought hydro electric power to Batipilos, the second city behind Mexico city in the entire country to get this kind of power.





A local man purchased the property. He is restoring several rooms as hotel rooms. The federal government is helping with grants to increase tourism to the area. These guys are making their own adobe bricks and everything.

A lot of work between the before and after:


The man that owns the property used to go to dances there when he was a small child. He says there hasn't been any dances out here in a long time but he hopes to change that.


After this tour we just hung out walked around town. They have several suspension bridges that cross the river. It is important to check out the load restrictions before crossing a bridge:



I like this picture taken outside a German artist's studio. A Cerveza (BREW) in Mexico. Get it.


I tried to patch my sidewall cut and was able to get the tire to reseal using a floor pump, but the patch didn't hold air.

We were also missing the kids a lot. We were able to call from a phone in a store. $20 for peace of mind. I snapped this pic outside the store:


Fish for dinner



Next post: The Aquaduct Trail.