Just outside of Oaxaca city lies the small magical town of Ixtepeji. This tiny mountain town is surrounded by endless pine and oak trees of Oaxaca's Sierra Norte mountains. Although Ixtepeji may be small, over the past decade, it has become one of the hottest mountain bike destinations, drawing in mountain bikers worldwide. Although people come for the epic trails and huge descents, they end up staying for the beautiful culture, views, charming people, and delicious food. Unlike many other mountain bike destinations, Ixtepeji is entirely self-supported, and the native people of this town maintain and build all the trails. The trails are natural and raw and have some of the best descents any mountain biker could ask for. However, as the trail networks and mountain biking industry grow within Mexico, the local riders are asking for bigger features and more diverse riding. We had the pleasure of being allowed into this unique community to build a progressive jump line to help their local riders progress and show the people of Ixtepeji how to build a new kind of trail.
As mountain bikers, we are often consumers, taking from those who have donated resources and time to build spectacular trails for us to ride. There is nothing wrong with this, but it's important to remember that we are visitors to most of these trails. When we shift our mindset to how we can help make these places better, the world becomes a better place. That could be picking up a piece of trash on a trail or helping a beginner you run into on your ride.
This is our story of how three people from different backgrounds came together to give back to a community that has given so much to the mountain bike industry.
This is Build With Purpose.
Photos by Maxwell Frank