This is from my friend Jerry with the Wednesday group. I am doing the Baja ride. If interested, call him.
Burt
Bicycle Adventure Seekers:
I am planning 3 rides this next year for cycling friends. The first is a road bike tour of Baja California, the second is a road bike tour of the big island of Hawaii (summer) and the third is a mountain bike ride across southern CO to Moab, UT (September).
To begin the Baja trip, you need to be in the greater San Diego area on the evening of February 20th. The first riding day is scheduled the next day, February 21 at 8am, to begin at the San Diego train depot (the Santa Fe Station). This trip will end on March 12 in La Paz. We will avoid Tijuana entirely by crossing the border at Tecate (Day 1). There are international airports in La Paz and Loreto, if you need to leave before March 12th. Most nights we will be in the comfort of an inexpensive Mexican motel and most meals will be at the local Cantina. We will use travel guides, such as Moon Handbooks and the Lonely Planet to help book reservations. You will need to bring your passport. You might want to purchase a National Geographic Adventure Map of Baja (available at REI). Some days in the first 2/3’s of the trip are on the longer side to minimize camping and meal preparation, but we do have some days off built in. The terrain is undulating with the elevation gains generally less than 3000 feet daily. This tour, traveling the full length Baja (1500 miles), will be exciting, but it demanding both physically and mentally. We will need to get started early each day to maximize the daylight. As grueling as this trip might sound, it will be an experience that you won’t soon forget (even if you would like to!).
How safe is it to tour in the Baja? Should be no worse than other routes you have ridden in the US. Traffic lessens after we get to Ensenada (Day2). Shoulders can be narrow, so rear blinking lights, rear view mirrors and hi-vis jerseys are important. The cartels and other bad guys use mainland Mexico to transport their wares, so we should not be collateral damage in a shootout. The caravan of Central Americans should have passed though before we even leave the US. Our biggest problem will be water. We will need to purchase at least 4 liters of purified water each day per person. The Baja is a dessert, even when we are beside the ocean.
I am sending out this email to those who have toured with me before. As with all rides of this type, it is not my intent to limit participation to only those of you that have received this email. Please feel free to pass this on and/or invite others to come along. This is not a commercial tour. We will be traveling self contained (no sag/van support). We are just a group of friends traveling together, splitting expenses as we go.
If you are interested in riding the Baja with us, please email me back soon so we further refine our planning by making reservations where we can.
Here is the itinerary:
Date Destination Miles
February 21 Tecate 44
February 22 Ensenada 72
February 23 Colonet 75
February 24 El Rosario 78
February 25 Catavina 76
February 26 Rosarito 96
February 27 Vizcaino. 97
February 28 San Ignacio 44
March 1 Mulege 83
March 2 Loreto 85
March 3 Loreto 0
March 4 C. Constitucion 88
March 5 San Augustin 84
March 6 La Paz 48
March 7 La Paz 0
March 8 Todos Santo 54
March 9 Cabo San Lucas 50
March 10 Los Barriles 51
March 11 La Paz 67
I will send out specific information on Hawaii and CO to Moab after the first of the year.
Thanks,
Jerry
760-644-5958