Review Date
October 11, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by: donkazique ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is one of the hardest trails to climb in El Paso-Juarez Area. Usually this trail is marked to be 62 miles, but half of it is the Rio Grande levee made of hard packed gravel and dirt. The Rio Grande levee is a place where you can hit the 30m/hr or more if you are an elite rider. If you are an advanced you can do from 20m/hr to 26 m/hr depending in how good you are in the flats. After the levee is over you start climbing small "cliché" hills. The cliché is pretty much small particles of fine gravel packed making a hard surface. This kind of surface it might be a little bit slippery so you need good grip on your tires to climb these hills until you pass a big Christ temple. After a few miles away from the temple going SW you come around the edges of the Sierra Juarez by passing some dried arroyos where loose sand is a big factor to hit the next big climb called “Castellon” or “La Ventana/Window”. This climb is fun since is about 3 or 4 miles of slow climbing. Then you hit the “KING-KONG’s-STAIRS or Escalones de KING-KONG” in this place most of the riders have to take off the bike and climb by walking unless you are a pro rider or an elite rider. Passing this stairs you hit some roller-coaster arroyos where you pretty much forgot about your suffering of the walking and climbing by really enjoying the fun of the desert view. The marks for the trails are pretty good is not hard to find them since lots of riders usually hit those trails over the weekends. If you ever get lost get a compass or previous the ride print out a copy of the official chupacabras trail over www.chupacabras100km.org. When you are done with the arroyos you will see a white Church where the trails passed by. You need to be very aware to find the track because you are in the way to hit the AXFIXIA. This is the hardest climb and if you do this hill walking it takes you about 30-50 minutes depending in your shape. If you can ride it all the way up you are a PRO. Finally at the top of this hill you can rest by watching the entire splendor around. You can see Las Cruces, NM to your Left, El Paso-Juarez to the Right. When you’re finish resting your heart rate you are ready to DH what the called “Bajada del Diablo /Devil’s Down Hill” you really need to be very careful of this DH because so many accidents have been on this hill. When you are done you will see a jeep road that will take you down to “La Casita /Small White House” where you can stop and get some water. After this is done you pretty much will see the road to the “Christ Monument” and then you will find the way out of the hills to hit the Rio Grande’s levee.

Recommended Route:
My recommendations are to ride in a group of 3 or more riders. Take plenty of water, food and your cell phone and don’t forget to get the map in case that you get lost.
Overall rating this is great to expend 3-4 hrs for advanced riders and more than that for sport or beginners. Some people ride Sunday mornings most of the time.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
In Juarez, there is another great trail called "El BOLA" and in El Paso, "REDD ROAD TRAILS", "El monje" and you can get this information on these trails at "Crazy Cat Cyclery on REDD or MESA St." or "Border Sports."

Review Date
June 11, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: x5rdman ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I have ridden this race three times, only finished twice. It is extreme and drink lots of water. The race is very well put together and the support at the checkpoints is excellent.