LA to Baja California, Mexico - Bicycle Trip

[savory]

Hi,

We just got back from a great bicycle trip starting LA and ending in San Jose del Cabo - 1200 miles/34 days. The roads were good, cars/trucks polite and people very helpful/nice. We have poor language skills but that did not pose a major problem. You will need to be comfortable with some wild camping. But hitchhiking can be done given the number of pick-ups/large vehicles. Here is a link to our blog showing pictures and helpful hints for bicyclists planning the ride.

If you are considering bicycle touring, overnight trips or longer, it is a great way to travel to see things, improve health and reduce costs.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/index.html?o=1&doc_id=11423&v=Kr

 

[Koogie]

Amazing. Thanks for the sharing and the link.. can't wait to read it all.

 

[donheff]

Belated welcome to ERdotorg. I found your site a while back through the bikeforums 50+ forum. Your's is a great resource - even for us un-crazy credit card tourers.

 

[ERhoosier]

Sounds like fantastic trip!
I enjoy distance cycling & can't wait to read details on your blog.

 

[anethum]

A very nice trip report & photos on crazyguyonabike. I've biked a few times in Mexico but not yet in Baja. I hope to get there one of these days.

 

[Elbata]

I'm definitly going to read about your experience. Sorry to sound like a wuss, but I hear so much about border crossing in Tijuana, and the cartel violence, it scares me.

I'm sure what I'm saying is old hat to you, but thanks and I look forward to reading about your experience.

 

[savory]

We were concerned about Tijuana, too. We planned to get through it in one day, which we did. I think that was the smart thing to do simply because it was a big, busy city which is not fun on a bicycle. Even in Tijuana we had a good experience, however.

As we were riding, a taxi cab driver called us over to his cab. I was concerned since it was unusual and I do not speak Spanish. His English was not very good. But, he pointed to my wife and to his eyes. He then handed me a pair of sunglasses, since I was not wearing sunglasses. And, then just smiled and drove away.

The State Department now divides Mexico into areas vs. evaluating the country as a total entity. There are areas, including the southern Baja, deemed to be safe. (They would probably prefer I say lower risk).

We never had any issues and felt the people were kind and helpful, everywhere we visited on this trip.

 

[Powor]

Did you feel safe during your trip? I know there is a whole lot of criminal problems happening on the borderline areas of California and Mexico, so we were sort of worried about such a trip. Would love to know some of the best places to eat on the way though!

 

[meekie]

Wow, great report! I'm on page 17 and having a hard time stopping. I was in Ensenada last weekend, so I got to see some of what we saw from our bus down, including those cool fish pens. My family used to drive to cabo when I was a kid, so this is really neat!

 

[savory]

Hi Powor, see other comments about safety in the thread or the blog. As you will see in the blog, we mostly ate at road side restaurants. The food was very good. The one place that stands out is a little outdoor sidewalk restaurant Empenadas. It's a tiny place just up from the malecon on Republica. Their seafood soup was amazing.

Having a fairly high level of commercial food safety experience, I was surprised we did not get sick. I knew we were not being as careful as we should have been. However, purified water is easily available in Mexico and the Baja seems to have a higher standard of living and tourists along the one highway. Perhaps, this area has reached a higher level of food safety or we were just lucky.