Baja California Bike Tour

We only had a few miles left in the day after a long and beautiful ride along the coastal cliffs in Baja.  It was a gorgeous, desolate stretch followed by a tough rocky climb and an exhilarating descent.  On the other side we hit pavement and passed through a town- the first we'd seen in over 6 hrs of riding and pushing our bike along loose terrain.  This was going to be the toughest day and we felt like we made it.  There were just about 5 miles left on what promised to be an easy paved road to the next town we could spend the night.  We saw lots of sand and dust being blown into the road as we approached our final turn.  Immediately the wind blowing the sand blew straight into our faces.  The last few miles were an excruciating slog of biking into a brutal headwind.  It seemed every town we passed in Baja is famous for something water sport related.  Some were diving destinations, others had waves for surfing, etc.  Once we arrived we realized La Ventana was one of the wind surfing capitals of the world and the wind tunnel we just rode through was what brought everyone from all around exactly here.  We didn't make the mistake of complaining about the wind again.

Baja California is a formidable place to travel on a bike.  It has vast empty stretches with almost no water or amenities.  The Baja Divide is a famous route covering the whole length of the peninsula starting in San Diego, California.  It's long and difficult and not something I can make time for with just regular-job time off.  But the weather seemed perfect in late November so on a whim I booked some tickets and got Bobby to come along as well.  Our ride was to be a strictly credit-card affair.  We brought no camping gear, no cooking gear and no bikes.  Instead we decided we would rent bikes in town and just brought bags from home to outfit the bikes with.  We needed to be more strategic about reaching a place with hotels every night but other than that the trip would be pretty straight forward.  I named our ride: the Bougey Divide.
We landed in San Jose del Cabo and quickly set off to find bikes.  We knew we needed fat tires for sandy roads and some protection from the thorns.  We didn't have a lot to choose from at the rental place we found and ended up with Cube 2 x 8 speed 29er mountain bikes.  They're nothing fancy but we figured they'd be better suited to the terrain than our touring bikes.  I brought a trusty leather saddle to protect my heiny and some simple bikepacking bags and accessories.  We found a kind of fancy hotel in an otherwise empty stretch to be our first destination to keep the mileage short for day one and were glad we did.  We found ourselves initially on pavement climbing up and over some hills to get away from the resorts. We took the road south towards the water and had lunch at a touristy expat spot at the end of the busy hotel and villa area. This was where our off-road adventures would begin. We hit the sandy beach area and rode north east. There were a few shacks along the way but no signs of settlement. We were passed by a group of all terrain vehicles riding around the sand and beaches. After a few miles the roads started to divide with some paths leading to a cove and others leading back to the parallel paved road we came from. We came upon a roadblock and just a little ways ahead a barbed wire fence cut us off entirely. We had no choice but to skip this tiny short section, go back to the main road and come back down a bit further. This ate into our daylight budget. Once back near the water we passed a bustling bar in what seemed to be a surf area with lots of small houses. We went looking for our road and found that it climbed over some rocks and continued right to where a guard was stationed. I had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to let us through. Sure enough he said we can’t pass because of the construction going on. Just ahead an enormous hotel was being built. We tried to reason with him but stopped short of making any monetary offers. He said we can carry on along the beach if we wanted to so instead of undoing the last hour’s progress we did. The beach was beautiful but we were forced to half walk half drag our bikes through wet sand. The process was slow and draining. We finally made it past the construction after maybe half a mile of beach walking and looked for a way back onto the Camino. We climbed up a small ridge alongside some donkeys and were back in the saddle. This stretch of road was pretty washed out and destroyed in sections. We passed a small abandoned villa with a burned out car on blocks out front. A short distance up we realized we finally hit the end of the private property because there was another fence to get over. On the other side we were on the “official” section Camino Cabo Este where the paved road and the dirt road we were trying to take merge. We passed some cows and the traffic here seemed to pick up. It was up and down on thick sand and the going was very slow. Even though the total mileage for the day was under 30 and we spent most of the day in motion we were rapidly running out of daylight. And we were tired. We stopped at a small refreshments stand for a lemonade just around sunset with 7 or so miles left to go to the hotel. The rest of the ride seemed beautiful with small hills up and down the rocky coast but the visibility quickly reduced to just the beams of light coming from our little rechargeable bike lights. We arrived at our hotel exhausted and ready to eat and relax.

The hotel we stayed at was in a fairly secluded place and much of the next day's riding would be spent in empty areas. Our hope was to make it to La Ribera for the 2nd night which was going to be a longer trip than the first. We didn’t really adjust to local time so getting up before breakfast was being served was no trouble. We ate as soon the kitchen was open and set out early to maximize the daylight. The road was even harder to ride than the day before. We would come across stretches where the sand was so thick we came to a standstill if not in our lowest gears. We passed coves at the end of dry river beds. Sometimes there were tiny fishing or water sport communities there, other times they were just empty. We ate lunch in Cabo Pulmo. Everyone in town was talking about their diving trips as this was the purpose this town served. It had a few restaurants and resources for divers but not much else. Further up the road around Los Frailles we connected with the Baja Divide’s Cape Loop which avoids some of the busier areas we started at. We filled up on half a dozen water bottles and set off towards la Ribera. After a while the Camino Cabo Este turned away from the water and became paved. My mirror showed some amazing mountain views lit up by the late day sun. Some more sandy and washboard-y bits of riding later we rolled into La Ribera. It looked more like a real town than a tourist resort complete with an unaccompanied horse just walking down the street. We booked a room at a fancy cabana style place which was one of the few places in town with vacancies. It was a tough ride but I was extra pleased to have made it because a fellow at the hotel the night before told me we’d never make it all the way here riding mountain bikes.

The next morning we tried to figure out our lodging situation for the night and decided the perfect spot would be the one hotel in a small beach town called el Cardonal. It was right before the more difficult stretch of the trip. It was also highly recommended by my friend Gerard who rode the Baja Divide and gave us great advice as I was planning the trip. Unfortunately the hotel was booked solid and we had to choose another one closer to where we were. Such is the risk when credit card touring and booking stays on the fly. Luckily the hotel in La Ribera had a comfortable outdoor dining area we could linger at and watch the world cup which we didn’t have enough time for on longer days. We set off in the early afternoon right during the hot part of the day. We hit some more closed off and privatized roads on our way to Los Barilles. The town was entirely full of gringos riding around on all terrain vehicles. Lunch was at an excellent unfussy local taco place that was just about to close. We took the scenic path out of Los Barilles after lunch which had almost no traffic besides the sand carts we were getting used to seeing. There was a bit more elevation in this section and some unique huge-cactus-by-the-sea landscapes. Our total ride for the day was just a bit over 20 miles but it felt like a full day’s worth because it was almost entirely on sand and rocks. We spent the night at a super swanky resort which had it’s own air strip. They were offering a prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner but we declined in favor of some local specialties like a tartar of local Sea of Cortez scallops. The food had been consistently great up to this point and there was no chance I was going to opt for turkey and gravy. The resort was at the end of an outcropping and had amazing views of the sea, the hills and the rocky coast. We soaked it up while we could because we knew having not made it further today we’d have a tougher day tomorrow.

We were up with the sun because we had a long, hard day planned for our fourth day of riding. We got breakfast as soon as the doors opened to try to get a quick start. Our destination was la Ventana on the other side of the mountains we’d been riding along. The road there passes through some of the most remote areas we would have seen on the trip so far. The only place to stop before the remote stretch and subsequent mountain crossing is El Cardonal where we had hoped to spend the previous night. We got there barely past breakfast time to refuel and pick up some sandwiches to bring with us for lunch. The ride north from El Cardonal started out the same sandy way we were used to and was relatively flat. After we passed a few farms and empty looking villas the road took on a more up and down quality. Some of the hills very pretty steep and I ended up ocassionally pushing the bike. We rode alongside a cliff with completely deserted rocky beaches below. The seaside hills continued for miles with a thin line representing our path through them faintly visible. We stopped for lunch just before the climb. The turn we were about to take into the hills created a pleasant wind tunnel. We were definitely hungry and the sandwiches really hit the spot. The pass through the hills is at a fairly low elevation. Initially it was too sandy to ride but eventually the harder rockier terrain helped us pick up the pace. We took in some sweeping views from above and rode down a dusty road into Los Planes. As we rode, on pavement for the first time in a while, we saw huge dust clouds blowing in from the fields right to left. There were clearly some strong winds on this stretch. We got some cold drinks in town but there was not much to do in Los Planes. It looked like an abandoned western town with just one road going through it. Our plan was to ride a few more miles to where all the hotels were located. At this point we were forced to make a right turn into the wind and fight our way into La Ventana. We got a beer at a wind surfing club while deciding where to stay and the strong winds in the late afternoon actually made it quite cold near the water. La Ventana was a tourist resort with lots of hotels and guest houses. We watched a band play at the local brewery full of water sport adventurers. At breakfast we watched dozens of mountain bikers ride past us. Mountain biking seemed to be the second sport in town and we saw several trail networks were recently established in the nearby hills. If we had a few more days I would have gladly explored some of them.

I was expecting an enormous tailwind riding back the same way out of La Ventana but it didn’t feel as strong as it did riding into it coming in. Our last day on the road was going to essentially be one giant paved hill into La Paz, the capital of the state. We rode back to Los Planes where we turned into the wind and continued on the same road towards the climb. The Baja Divide route veers off at this point onto some other trails that pass cattle ranches but we decided to stick to the road. We passed some Mexicans who pulled off onto the side of the road to watch the Mexico vs. Argentina world cup match which sadly did not go their way. The climb was long and hot but pretty straight forward. The climb took a few hours but we were rewarded with a long descent. We flew down the hill and into the city. La Paz is famous for a long boardwalk full of restaurants and also for having inspired John Steinbeck’s short story “the Pearl”. There were many pearl themed buildings and monuments in town. I enjoyed our time in La Paz. It felt more like a real city than a resort town for tourists. We took a stroll through the downtown the following morning before getting a cab back to San Jose. Our bikes were tied to the roof of the taxi and we zoomed at breakneck speed down the road.
The trip was short but very challenging. The roads and trails were barely passable at times despite the fact that we had pretty capable bikes and relatively little baggage. Camping would have given us more flexibility over where we stayed but I was glad credit card trouring was also possible with just enough towns along the way. That said food and lodging prices were pretty high because of the popularity of this area with all sorts of different types of tourists. With any luck I'll be back to see more of Baja in the near future.