Night of the Radishes

Mexico is loaded with strange and wonderful festivals, but one of the strangest I ever did see was on a night in Oaxaca two days before Christmas. This night is known as the Noche de Rabanos or, "Night of the Radishes". Centuries old this folk festival is said to have been inspired by a local friar as a marketing gimmick to encourage people to buy produce at market. In the late 19th century it became an annual celebration that, for a few misty hours on the late afternoon and evening of December 23rd, occupies central square in Oaxaca City.

On December 18th freshly harvested monster radishes produced especially for this festival are turned over to a select group of artisans who set to work carving fantastic scenes entirely out of a collection of otherwise under-appreciated vegetables. Line ups are long and security is stiff to get in to admire this unusual art form.

Mixtec Lowlands

In the lowlands, the people are as gentle as its geography. As we climb our way back up to Oaxaca City, the diversity of ethnicities that inhabit the territory we cycle through is reflected in the textiles we see.

Alebrije Love

When I was 18 I remember wandering around a large department with a $50 christmas gift certificate from grandma. I wandered around for a long time not seeing anything that even remotely interested me until I hit the bargain table where I saw four chunky, wonderfully imperfect, cobalt blue bottles made of blown glass. It was love at first sight and I bought all four.

Maybe I identified with their rough, but solid presence. Maybe I was drawn to how real they felt compared to my overly processed middle-class Canadian world. I'm sure grandma hoped I would buy something more practical like towels or sheets, but I was 18 and I couldn't see beyond these beautiful crudely crafted blue bottles. When I got them home and studied them closer I saw a sticker that would change my life forever "Hecho en Mexico".

My next serious Mexican love was alebrijes and alebrije love eventually takes you to Arrazola, Oaxaca. In Arrazola, some 50 years or so ago, a man named Manuel Jimenez who had started out making masks for Dia de los Muertos decided to use his wood carving talents a little less traditionally and started carving and painting fantastical creatures. These creatures quickly became widely acclaimed throughout Mexico and the world of museums and collectors. Today the town devotes itself to the making of alebrijes.

Green copal wood from female trees is favoured for its softness and lack of knots. It is roughly carved first with machete and then the finer details are worked in with smaller knives. Limbs and tails are often added after the wood has had time to dry and harden in the sun. After the sculpture is sanded, women customarily add the finest details by painstakingly painting these critters with electrifying patterns and impossible colour schemes.

The only problem with visiting Arrazola as a bike tourist is the difficulty in transporting alebrijes of any consequence by bicycle.

Beside the Lake

Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing on the breeze

There is a magical ride that takes you out of Patzcuaro along the lake around Janitzio Island. The road passes through farmlands and small adobe villages Tocuaro. We like to visit the workshop of Juan Horta Castillo and sons to see what new designs they have created each year. The village of Tocuaro specializes in fantastic original masks made using traditional Purepecha designs which are used in local festivals the most notable being the devil masks from the pastorelas. Horta's masks are ranked number one in Mexico and are faithfully selected for use by Mexico's world-class Ballet Folklorico. Sadly, we learned that Horta's tradition is now fully in the hands of his five sons as he passed on shortly after our last visit two years ago.


This hypnotic road continues to meander lazily past Tocuaro for a full 52 km alongside the lake to our base in Quiroga. Donkeys, herds of cattle, and horses provide more traffic than automobiles. For our last day of riding, the mists slowly burn off the lake, we munch our way through a market in Erongaricuaro, and I quietly slide into yet another case off empty nest as our gang slowly flys the coop back to their lives beyond the borders of Bike Mexico. It's nothing a serving of carnitas (roast pork) on the square in Quiroga can't soothe.

Yellow Brick Road

Reaching the high point of the tour, just outside of Sevina, the group sailed down to Lake Zirahuen for a little rumble over some serious cobble-stone, some hand-made tortillas by the lake, and one of my favourite little stretches of road. In an attempt to lend a mystical quality to the ride, Basil calls it the yellow brick road. It's not yellow and it doesn't lead to the emerald city, but it does lead to a town specializing in something almost as precious.

Four tracts of handmade brick gently roll away from the cobbles of Zirahuen over emerald pastures that gracefully sweep away from the lazy morning mists of Lago de Zirahuen. At the end of this 12km traffic free journey you are rewarded with a visit to one of Michoacan's many colonial gems the copper capital of Mexico: Santa Clara del Cobre.

Copper use in the Meseta Purepecha has Pre-Colombian roots and this village has been a copper town for many centuries. Passing through the showrooms and workshops it is obvious that the talent has been fostered throughout the ages. Sinks, wall hangings, range hoods, head boads, bathtubs, intricate vases, pots, and jewelery, these hand-hammered pieces are individual works of art. I always leave wishing I had a home to bedeck with copper everything. It is not unusual to find foreign artisans studying the art of copper smithing and it is well worth a visit to the copper museum to view the collection of award winning pieces that this village produces

Hermoso Huipil

When pedalling from village to village some of the most defining handicrafts we see are their textiles. Michoacan offers a rich selection in its traditional blouses (huipiles), shawls (rebozos), and blankets. Thankfully limited pannier space prevents me from buying everything I see or, by now, I'd be able to supply a small museum.

Mega Pots

With the Volcan de Paricutin as a backrop, the tiny village of Cocucho, Michoacan teeters atop a steep ascent from any of the three directions you approach it. After your long climb the town doesn't seem like much until you zero in on the massive earthenware pots that grace the doorways of many roughly hewn Cocucho homes. Behind these homes are simple workshops, with no potter's wheels or elaborate kilns. The stunning pots that emerge from these workshops can stand up to 1.5 meters in height are shaped entirely by the hand and are fired individually in a wood pyre that is heaped on top of it. Originally used to store corn, valuables, and (it is rumoured) the dead, many of these pots are collectors items fetching up to US$1500 when purchased outside the village.

Diablitos de Ocumicho

Well above the strawberry fields of Tangancicuaro, but barely at the beginning of a lengthy climb to Cocucho lay the steep streets of Ocumicho also known as Purepecha inferno. The town specializes in fantastically painted hand-shaped clay devils in any situation imaginable. Our favourite is, of course, the cyclist devil, but they come in elaborate scenes from the last supper to the dentists office.