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Baja Mexico in Dec-Jan?

Old 10-02-11, 10:13 PM
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Baja Mexico in Dec-Jan?

My friend and I want to ride Baja. We are planning on flying to San Diego. We are thinking about riding down and taking a Bus back up to San Diego. Will it be safe? Anything special to be aware of? Road quality/traffic? We have done lots of tours in the pacific northwest. Any suggestions would be great thanks.
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Old 10-02-11, 10:23 PM
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Well, you just missed the Rosarito - Ensenada ride last weekend.

It's safe enough, depending on where you are going and when. How far down were you planning?

Once you clear the border towns, the biggest consideration is traffic. I personally wouldn't ride at night, the surfaces are just too variable. And there are not as many or as wide shoulders on the roads. On the plus side, drivers are more attentive and courteous as a general thing, and traffic outside the metro areas is fairly light.

KeS
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Old 10-02-11, 11:00 PM
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We're looking to go for about two weeks. Looking to fly down to SD CA approx. Dec. 27th. I don't know how far we will get, I'm expecting to get lost a fair amount.
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Old 10-03-11, 12:08 PM
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Have you ever driven in Mexico before? That'd give you a general idea of the roads and the traffic.

Do you speak Spanish? Have you looked into flying to Mexico and starting there instead? I've never ridden there, but have been there many times. In general, the locals are very polite. I hear it's best to avoid the border towns. If you flew directly to Mexico, you could miss the border towns.

There are sometimes roadblocks on the highways set up by the military for security reasons. If you don't know Spanish those roadblocks can be pretty intimidating. They're dressed in military garb, holding machine guns. I would expect the police have improved their behavior, but in the past they sometimes would intimidate tourist to try and get a bribe. I'd guess they'd treat you better on a bike than a car, but they might want to search through your panniers just the same.

I have no clue, but someone on BF should be able to fill you in. Do a web search and see what you find out.
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Old 10-03-11, 04:11 PM
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Two weeks is not a lot of time to manage navigation of a different country and language along with bike touring needs.The AAA Baja Map is excellent. Can you handle rougher roads or do you need a pavement only route?

Dec. thru Jan. temperatures in the Baja Norte can be quite cold at times away from the Pacific or Sea of Cortez beaches and at any higher elevation in the Sierra Juarez Mtns near the Parque Nacional de Constitucion de 1857. I have had frozen water bottles overnight in the Sierra Juarez and very warm temps along the beaches over the following days then frost along the Sea of Cortez one week later South of San Felipe near Puertecitos. Lots of variety of terrain and road conditions all the way back to Hwy 1 S. of Catavina via Laguna Chapala dry lake- which floods in heavy rain. This area requires off pavement capabilities of bike and rider depending on road damage from the Baja 1000 and storm damage. Water sources are limited but manageable.

Last edited by arctos; 10-03-11 at 04:12 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 10-03-11, 04:37 PM
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Sounds like a great trip. If you've traveled and managed with sign language, you can probably get by.

The military check points are no big deal. Be respectful, don't have any guns or recreational pharmaceuticals in your possession and you will be fine.

Tijuana sucks and the drivers are quite aggressive, lousy streets, no shoulders. You may look at taking the bus to Ensenada and starting there. You will miss the 60 most dangerous miles of the trip and save a day's ride. The alternative of flying into Baja means Tijuana, Loreto, La Paz, or Cabo San Lucas. The southern spots will give you a warmer ride. Thinking about it, I'm not sure there is service to Loreto with any regularlity now.

Leaving from Ensenada you would have ~140 miles of serious cool to cold Pacific Ocean influence. It does rain in Northern Baja with a vengence and at times the storms will back up against the Sierra and dump, thus washing out the road. There is only one paved road that runs the lenght of the peninsula, so unless you want a real adventure, you are stuck. Once you get to El Rosario the road heads inland through some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the trip. No services to speak of for ~250 miles. It get's up higher, and thus cooler, but rain is less likely as you go south. At 50 miles a day, leaving from Ensenada you would get to about Guerrero Negro, the state line. And at that point you are back at the Pacific-it's almost always cool, damp, and breezy in GN. A plus to GN in Dec/Jan is that the Gray Whales are there and there are some excellent boat tours to allow checking them out. A side trip on this route, which may complicate the bus, is to go to Bahia de Los Angeles. It's 40 miles of paved side road from Mex 1. Great spot, beautiful, and often (usually) windy in the winter.

Alternatively, flying in to La Paz would give you a world of opportunity's that would likely be warmer and slightly less windy. The paved highway makes a loop of the bottom of the peninsula. I don't recall the distance, but it would be less than 300 miles. Lot's to see and do and some opportunities for some side road exploration-there are a couple of paved spurs to check out and some decent, if sandy, other side roads.

Mex 1 generally has no shoulders and as it is the only road, lot's trucks and buses. But it is well spread out and they are very bike aware from what I have seen and heard. The pavement has, lately, been pretty good. The wind will blow, generally a tail wind if going north to south. Pirate camping is no problem, just maintain zero visibility from the highway. Street taco stands are great. The little mercado's are nice. The people are wonderful.

If you do choose to go off-pavement, remember that almost everything has thorns and there is a lot of sand.....

I could go on. I miss Baja, being here in North Carolina. It is a fantastic spot for all kinds of adventures.
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Old 10-03-11, 04:53 PM
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Well, I sure hope there's lots of adventures I mean with the whole gang war thing going on.
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Old 10-03-11, 06:10 PM
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Re: Gang War. More of a drug war thing and the best reason not to be in Tijuana any longer than necessary and never at night. Tourist involvement in bad things in Mexico (and most anywhere) is generally, except in the rarest of circumstances, driven by the tourists themselves. Behave yourself, stay out of border towns, stay off the road at night, have fun.

I will say that I avoided Baja for a few years when the tide seemed to be turning to tourists, but that seems to have been a statistical anomaly. I will go back at the first opportunity, probably Christmas this year.

I've spent countless weeks in Baja in towns, villages, border towns, tourist towns. Had trouble once-young drunk and looking for trouble....
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Old 10-03-11, 10:40 PM
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Busys' touring homie here.

Mtnbud: Do you speak Spanish? Have you looked into flying to Mexico and starting there instead?
I speak a little Espanol. Probably at the level of a 3 year old. Enough to make a friend in Madrid once!

Flying into Mexico looks appealing. A plane in and out of La Paz isn't that much more expensive for me. That is was south I know, but maybe we could go south to north? Not sure if there are prevailing winds. Over the summer we went to Portland to San Fran and were extremely glad to be going south.

Arctos:Two weeks is not a lot of time to manage navigation of a different country and language along with bike touring needs.... Can you handle rougher roads or do you need a pavement only route?
Two weeks looks like all the time we are going to get. We have had good luck in the past with tours in US of about that length. I don't think Mexico should slow us down too much. As far a rougher roads, I have a LHT but my buddy has a custom bike, and the fork doesn't let him take a very wide tire.

Hybridbkrdr: ...with the whole gang war thing going on
Sounds like it will keep the crowds away and prices low!

PeregrineA1: Thanks for all the advice! I was hoping for more "lets go swimming" weather rather than "lets put on gloves and down jackets". I have toured in both and I definitely prefer warm weather. We bike quite a bit usually. About 70-80 miles, and with such a short tour probably no rest days. You had me thinking about going south to north, that look by Cabo looks nice, but I would expect we might be going around 800-900 miles total.

Thanks for all the help folks!
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Old 10-03-11, 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by hybridbkrdr
Well, I sure hope there's lots of adventures I mean with the whole gang war thing going on.
You mean all the trouble in Juarez? Like almost a thousand miles away in a different state from where OP is going? Eh?

KeS
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Old 10-03-11, 10:49 PM
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Originally Posted by PeregrineA1
Tijuana sucks and the drivers are quite aggressive, lousy streets, no shoulders. You may look at taking the bus to Ensenada and starting there. You will miss the 60 most dangerous miles of the trip and save a day's ride. The alternative of flying into Baja means Tijuana, Loreto, La Paz, or Cabo San Lucas. The southern spots will give you a warmer ride. Thinking about it, I'm not sure there is service to Loreto with any regularlity now.
I could be talked into running you down to Ensenada. It's only 90 minutes from my house, and I have SENTRI pass so getting back is quick. Not sure of my holiday schedule, but if I'm in town (San Diego) it's not a problem.

KeS
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Old 10-04-11, 01:00 AM
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That sounds fun. Let us know how it turns out. I would enjoy that trip, hispanic hospitality is just so cozy but I've heard a lot of bad things have happened since 2007. They just found a pair of decapitated heads in the Mexico D.F. and the last time, I was there...in 2007, someone was stabbed to death in the nightclub we were at. Jesus Christ, right? Best of luck to you. I'm sure you will be fine. Most of that crap is media sensationalism, but I do get a little weary.
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Old 10-06-11, 10:13 PM
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"Flying into Mexico looks appealing. A plane in and out of La Paz isn't that much more expensive for me. That is was south I know, but maybe we could go south to north? Not sure if there are prevailing winds. Over the summer we went to Portland to San Fran and were extremely glad to be going south."

Excellent! I think you'd be better off starting your ride in Mexico. The traffic around Tijuana would be scary imo.

Ensenada to LaPaz appears to be about 860 miles. I think it'd be worth researching. - See if you could fly to SD, take a bus (or Kevin Stevens offer of a lift) to Ensenada, and take a plane out from LaPaz or visa versa. (Make sure it's possible to pack a bike out from the airline in LaPaz first of course.)

Have a great time whatever you do and be sure and take lots of pictures. I'll be looking forward to reading your trip report wishing it was me!

Last edited by mtnbud; 10-06-11 at 10:36 PM.
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Old 10-07-11, 12:27 AM
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Originally Posted by kevin_stevens
You mean all the trouble in Juarez? Like almost a thousand miles away in a different state from where OP is going? Eh? KeS
Tijuana is also reeling amid a surge of violence. I wouldn't hesitate to ride through there on my way south, though. No need to be paranoid, but let's be honest, the situation is not pretty.
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Old 10-07-11, 12:40 AM
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Originally Posted by mtnbud
Have you ever driven in Mexico before? That'd give you a general idea of the roads and the traffic.

Do you speak Spanish? Have you looked into flying to Mexico and starting there instead? I've never ridden there, but have been there many times. In general, the locals are very polite. I hear it's best to avoid the border towns. If you flew directly to Mexico, you could miss the border towns.

There are sometimes roadblocks on the highways set up by the military for security reasons. If you don't know Spanish those roadblocks can be pretty intimidating. They're dressed in military garb, holding machine guns. I would expect the police have improved their behavior, but in the past they sometimes would intimidate tourist to try and get a bribe. I'd guess they'd treat you better on a bike than a car, but they might want to search through your panniers just the same.

I have no clue, but someone on BF should be able to fill you in. Do a web search and see what you find out.
My mother lives in the desert south of San Felipe and whenever I go to visit her I go through those military checkpoints. I've never felt intimidated. They're manned by young soldiers who are always extremely polite. I feel sorry for them, out there in the hot sun, risking their lives for a pittance. After they've gone through my things, looking for weapons or drugs, I like to offer them a cold beer or two. They've never asked me for anything, but I can't remember them turning down a cold drink either.
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Old 10-07-11, 01:17 AM
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I lived on my boat in the Sea of Cortez 2001 - 2004. I did a lot of bicycling while there and also drove back and forth from La Paz - San Diego and La Paz - Cabo San Lucas many times. I also hitchhiked a lot between La Paz and Santa Rosalia. My bicycling was all on my Stumpjumper MX mountainbike. Sometimes with street tires, sometimes with knobbies. I was pretty glad I had the sturdy MTB rather than any of my street bikes.

The ride from La Paz to Ensenada would be fantastic scenery and adventure. I am not so sure about the shoulders and the traffic. Mexicans are generally considerate but the truck drivers are wild men. They want to make the miles and they drive very fast with some marginal equipment. There are many stretches of Hwy 1 that I would not want to be on a with a bicycle. And Hwy 1 is your only option most places.

Southbound Hwy 1 at Lugui (25 miles south of Loreto) - there is a 4 or 5 mile 1500' climb in a beautiful canyon with 500' drops and no guard rails for miles. The shoulders are marginal. Almost weekly a truck would go off the edge or into the rock wall in that stretch.

Stealth camping would work but there is NO water for many, many, many miles in places. From Santa Rosalia to Gurrero Negro (~135 miles +1900') I am only aware of one or two stops that have water. I drank only LOCAL water and never had a problem but I lived there full time and had probably adapted to the "bugs" in the water. I did know lot's of short term visitors that suffered from "turista" they got from the water or local produce. My wife and I never had a problem and we lived very locally.

IF I were planning the ride - I would take the bus to Gurrero Negro and start riding from there to La Paz. I'd then ride from La Paz out to Todos Santos - down to Cabo - around to La Fortuna - Los Barriles and back to La Paz. Total of about 820 miles. I'd then fly back to San Diego (or LA) from La Paz. There is a fair amount of steep riding on very narrow, winding roads between Cabo and La Paz - but it is spectacular scenery.

Winter rains are intermittent but can be a serious problem when they wash out the road. I have seen Hwy 1 closed for miles for a week at a time. Not minor washouts either - 30' deep 200 yard wide chasms. I suppose you could carry your bike thru those washouts but it might be a challenge. But - I also saw winters with very little rain.

WIND - WIND - WIND! Between Santa Rosalia and La Paz (330 miles with several climbs) the winter northeasters could be show stoppers (remember I am a sailor and I live and die by the wind so am very sensitive to it and pay a lot of attention to it). Between mid-November and mid-March you can expect a NE 15 - 45 knot wind to blow for 24 hours to 96 hours without a single pause. Those winds happen pretty regularly about every 10 - 14 days. We arrived in La Paz in early December and it blew more than NE 30 for the next four days. It would be impossible to ride North into that wind.

The road from 20 miles west of La Paz (Mtape') to Santa Rosalia (~330 miles) is totally exposed to the wind and heads either North, East, or Northeast.

The temperatures south of Santa Rosalia depend entirely on the presence or absence of the Northeasterly winds. NO wind - daytime temps of 68 - 82 and night time 55 - 65 degrees. When those Northeaster blow they are bring cold dry air down from the Four Corners area in the US. Santa Rosalia can have day time highs in the high 50s but La Paz will almost always get up to 65 or so. Night time temps seldom drop below 50.

I am taking my boat from San Diego to La Paz in November and will be doing a lot of riding in the La Paz area all winter.

let me know if you get down to La Paz.
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Old 10-07-11, 01:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Ekdog
Tijuana is also reeling amid a surge of violence. I wouldn't hesitate to ride through there on my way south, though. No need to be paranoid, but let's be honest, the situation is not pretty.
"We [Tijuana] finish with 20 homicides per 100,000 people. Brazil gets 150 homicides, and they get the Olympics."

If you read the article, all the violence is confined to family and friends of Mexican drug cartel criminals and/or police officials. Their interest in norteamericanos pedalling bicycles is likely to be negligible.

KeS
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Old 10-07-11, 02:46 PM
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Some pictures of Baja Hwy 1 riding conditions between Guerro Negro and Cabo San LucaS

These were all taken in the spring of 2004

Click on each one to see a full screen image

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Hectors Memorial.jpg (100.5 KB, 30 views)
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Old 10-07-11, 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted by kevin_stevens
"We [Tijuana] finish with 20 homicides per 100,000 people. Brazil gets 150 homicides, and they get the Olympics."

If you read the article, all the violence is confined to family and friends of Mexican drug cartel criminals and/or police officials. Their interest in norteamericanos pedalling bicycles is likely to be negligible.

KeS
I agree, but the same is true in Ciudad Juárez.
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Old 10-07-11, 04:22 PM
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I still have lots of friends living in Baja - security / crime / theft ... etc is a non-issue south of Santa Rosalia.

Baja California Sur (BCS) is safe and gentle - We never locked our boat up while anchored anywhere in BCS. My wife felt safe and secure.

However, since I spend 1/2 my year in San Diego and do a lot of riding near the Mexican Border I'd agree that a tourist on a bike should not be out there by themselves between the border and Ensenada.
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Old 10-07-11, 05:14 PM
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Scary Biking in Baja Canyons

Here is the problem for bicycles in many of the canyons on Hwy 1 in Baja California. You will encounter dozens of these canyons between Ensenada and Constitution.

No Tire Basura (don't throw trash) is just north of Santa Rosalia on the shores of the Sea of Cortez

The guardrail No Shoulders is on the high plain east of Guerrero Negro

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Old 10-07-11, 05:47 PM
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Looks like great riding. Baja has been on my list for awhile....i hope to actually fit it in one day.
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Old 12-04-11, 02:27 PM
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I'm a bit late in replying but figured I'd do so anyone... I'm currently in Mulege having ridden here from the Ensenada (after six months riding around the States). As other people have said, Highway one doesn't have any shoulder most of the way but it's not too bad. If you have a mirror so you can see what's coming from behind - and be prepared to get off the road in the canyons if you can hear something heavy coming up - you will be fine. The Mexican truckers seem to be good drivers, I had most near misses from cars with US plates.

I would definately skip the bit from San Quintin north to the border - this section I found terrifying with very heavy traffic, barely any camping and no nice towns. Through the desert from El Rosario to San Ignacio/Santa Rosalia is fine. There are not many settlements (and a couple of stretches are very boring) but there are little "ranchos" where you can get food and water, and often camp for a small amount if you want. I passed a couple of ranchos every day, I was careful and always had about 8litres of water with me but I never needed it.

It does get cold at night though so warm layers and a good sleeping bag are necessary. I found everyone very friendly. I've only got as far as Mulege but you can read about here (and there's lots of other journals covering the area)
www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/helena
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Old 12-05-11, 05:49 PM
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I agree with everything Alpine Girl said. I did my trip down Baja last year in Feb / March and it was the trip of a lifetime!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=6422&v=HE
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Old 12-06-11, 06:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Btflmutant
I agree with everything Alpine Girl said. I did my trip down Baja last year in Feb / March and it was the trip of a lifetime!
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=6422&v=HE
Enjoyed reading both your and Alpine Girl's journals. Well done!
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