Touring Baja California to Cabo San Lucas

[wallybeagle]

Hi Folks;

Has anybody toured from Tijuana down to Cabo San Lucas (and back), along the Sea of Cortez? If so, how were the roads, water supplies, access to supplies, food, etc? I prefer paved roads.

Mitch

[wrmccart]

Hey mitch, awesome, I just did that in January. should be really fun.

Most people do the baja divide, which is dirt obviously. I stuck to the road as well. Having done both the 5 and the 1 now I would highly recommend the 5. The 1 after Ensenada has pretty intense truck traffic and very thin/no shoulders all the way until el rosario. The 5 involves more climbing, but then you get to the sea of cortez quicker + get to visit Puertocitos (check out the tidally affected hot springs and the cow patty)

You'll miss the Catavina region which looks like a more diverse version of Joshua tree but you get some of that after the connection of the 5 and the 1 in Chapala anyway.

other random notes...
- San ignacio is beautiful and my favorite part. there's a little campground called casa de ciclistas as well.
- lots of good beaches to camp at on bahia concepcion
- there are only a few places where you wont be able to find food within 30-40 miles. That includes between El Rosario and Catavina, el medano to la paz, mulege to loreto. Same goes for water more or less but I survived with 1 nalgene and 2 frame water bottles most of the way although it'd be a good idea to have more.
- Not sure if you've been to cabo but I thought it was going to be a kind of fun and goofy place to end a bike trip. It mainly just sucks though. I would just stay in todos santos instead.

[wallybeagle]

Thanks for the notes! So 'the 5' is a paved route? Where could I obtain the roadmap of the region? there must be a bicycle resource for this ride out there as well!
Sounds good.

[wrmccart]

the 5 is paved yes! When I did it there were some rough parts between San Felipe and Chapala but I've heard that it's all newly paved now.

In terms of maps, I just used offline downloaded Google Maps. If you're taking the highways there's not a lot of mapping to be done luckily.

To clarify, start in Tijuana, bike to Ensenada, take route 3 across the peninsula toward San Felipe. You'll likely face a lot of headwinds heading east on the 3 (at least I did). Then south from there on the 5, connect with the 1, take the 1 all the way to La Paz.

One other thing I forgot! When you cross into Tijuana you can either go straight to the coast and take the 1D south, or stay inland on the regular 1. You're not technically supposed to ride a bicycle on the 1D, but I've done it twice now and have had success just keeping your head down and riding past the toll plazas until you get to Rosarito. In my experience they call out to you but don't chase you. So take that for what you will!

[wallybeagle]

Ride back up to Tijuana or ship bike back up north?