pstock

partner and I are headed off for 11 days at the south tip of the Baja, Mexico next week. Los Cabos area.
I at least plan to take a bike (folding high performance Bike Friday) especially since Partner Julie will be in seminars for about 6 of those 11 days and I'll have extra time to kill.

does anyone have any experience cycling in that area? not killer distances. 40 to 80miles a day. Just day rides from the hotel.

are the roads OK?
Traffic?
any other issues? (safety?)

many thanks

Peter

Brian25

I toured from Cabo northward last spring. The ride along the west cost to Todos Santos is really nice (65 miles). The roads are fine, traffic is ok at signals. You will need to be super careful at stop signs. I did not ride enough around Cabo to notice it, but when I was in La Paz, I found that stop signs are apparently only suggestive. In other words; expect cross traffic at stop signs to blow through them or slow down, or somewhere between. I am trying to keeping you from being hit.

I do not know how your Spanish speaking is. I only know very little. If you eat out, a lot of places lack menus. I found it helpful to bring paper and a writing implement. I would write, is this is going to cost 40, 50, or 60 pesos, and the server would circle the right one. Hope that helps. Also, I recommend paying up front. I was at one place with a menu. The price on the menu was 50 pesos for a polo torta. When I was done, they claimed that the price was 70 pesos. Instead of getting into it with them, how the menu said 50, I ended up bargaining them down to 60. Another place said I was getting a pollo torta, but when it arrived it was egg, not chicken. Also, prices are high on the Cabo boardwalk and by the beach, but if you go away from the beach, say 8 to 10 blocks, prices drop significantly.

Brian25

Please take notice that I added to my original post.

chrisx

I would not want a 20 inch wheel for 80 mile rides in BCS.

Maybe in town or something.

But I like to get away from the main roads.

any other issues? (safety?)
Not carry a wallet.
One id card
money just for the day.
no jewlery.
Mexicans hide their money in their shoe for a reason.

Best advice you need to listen to:
Do not ask, force Partner Julie to leave all jewlery at home.



report back after the 11 days?

axolotl

Why?

The OP has a Bike Friday, as do I. They ride like bikes with full-sized wheels. I've toured on mine on 5 continents. I've toured in Mexico on mine. I've even carried my wallet while touring in Mexico.

DanBell

As I recall the west coast heading north from Cabo San Lucas to Todos Santos is your best bet. The road from San Jose del Cabo up to Los Barriles is not great for riding. I was there a few years ago and it was narrow and very busy. That being said, I think the best place in Baja Sur is Cabo Pulmo and Playa los Arbolitos on the Sea of Cortez side. It's not pleasant to ride up there due to the traffic (although I managed it), and it turns to sand at some point when you get off the main road, but it's worth a day or a couple of days to visit by car if that's doable. If you're just looking at day rides, north up the west coast is really all you have outside of just pottering around town. El Pescadero is a much more low key and less expensive beach community just south of Todos Santos. I found it suited me more than Todos Santos, but my budget half dictated that choice anyway.

Davet

WTF!? That is the dumbest **** I’ve read in a very long time. I’ve lived in that area for 5 years and previous to that been a tourist there for 20 years. Yours is what I consider an uneducated racist gringo screed. Baja Sur is nothing that warrants what you have mistakenly stated.

chrisx

Education?

1. Los Cabos


111.33 homicides per every 100,000 people

Finally, Los Cabos ranks at the very top of the list of the most dangerous cities in Mexico and around the world. In 2017, the city had a population of 328,245 people and reported a total of 365 homicides. Situated at the far tip of the Baja California Sur peninsula, Los Cabos remains a major tourist hot spot. But as The New York Times notes, a Department of State travel warning reveals that even gorgeous beach towns aren’t immune to the wave of violence caused by rival cartels battling over territory.
“Recent shootings in Los Cabos, Cancún, and Playa del Carmen indicate those conflicts have surfaced in popular beach destinations, although the statement notes that tourists have not been targets,” the Times explains. Resort towns don’t typically see the same level of violence and crime reported in border regions or in areas along trafficking routes, but Los Cabos may be the unfortunate exception to that rule.

Baja California Sur state – Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Exercise increased caution due to crime.

Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, remain a primary concern throughout the state. While most homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations and turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Bystanders have been injured or killed in shooting incidents.

There are no restrictions on travel for U.S. government employees in Baja California Sur, which includes tourist areas in: Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, and La Paz.

Is this,
Exercise increased caution due to crime.

any other issues? (safety?)
Not carry a wallet.
One id card
money just for the day.
no jewlery.
Mexicans hide their money in their shoe for a reason.

Best advice you need to listen to:
Do not ask, force Partner Julie to leave all jewlery at home.

Esenada,a coastal city on the Baja Peninsula, 65 miles south of Tijuana, is one of six Mexican cities debuting on this ranking amid a nationwide increase in violent crime. Ensenada has traditionally avoided cartel-related violence inflicting other parts of western Mexico, but like other Baja cities, the violence seems to be shifting its direction. In 2017, the tourist city of Los Cabos, on the tip of the Baja peninsula, was the world's most dangerous city. Los Cabos fell from the list in 2018.


LOS BARRILES

in La Paz (Baja California Sur)


Rural Locality

The population of Los barriles is listed as
1,174

Glad you found a nice place to live davet

Last week in your neighborhood,

mev

Cool. I spent two rest days in Los Barriles at end of 2016. I stayed with a former boss and friend who has a house in Los Barriles. After visiting, I went back to La Paz to take the ferry and continue further south. I didn't get all the way to Cabo so don't have direct experience with closest parts. As a cyclist further north in Baja there were a few spots on highway 1 that were narrow enough not to allow two trucks + bicyclist passing on the road at the same time (also some road construction that was fixing some of those places). Roads between La Paz and Los Barriles were either wide enough with shoulder or more narrow but moderate traffic and not a huge amount of trucks. Truck drivers were fairly careful but still some winding roads. On average my perception is of Mexican drivers as being slightly better than American or Canadians, though I still found it helpful to have a mirror to keep track of what was behind me. I saw other cyclists out as well.

escii_35

Chiming in with on the ground experience:

Rural Mexican drivers > USA/CA > Peru.
The main road mountain section between La Paz and Los Barrilles is best to be avoided. Beautiful but... Yikes.

DanBell

You got this right. I was pleasantly surprised with the drivers in Mexico with a couple of exceptions. They do love to cross over the center line on curves on winding roads though. Baja is mostly rolling flatness though, so you don't get so much of this. Edit: Should clarify that the main highway/roads down Baja are largely flat/rolling hills. You can absolutely find bigger climbs and winding roads, but there is not much traffic at all once you get off the main arteries.

OT, but Peru is easily the most dangerous place I've been to for cycling due to the atrocious driving. Even just walking around in the cities is dangerous. Every driver believes they own the road completely. They don't think pedestrians, bikes, or even other cars should ever be in their way. Peru has a lot to offer as a place to visit and cycle tour, but the drivers had me on edge every day. I was so relieved to cross the border into Bolivia.

chrisx

Mexican drivers > USA/CA > Peru.

The greatest danger in Baja, on the paved highways is gringo drivers. The fat lady drives a little silver honda 350 days a year. When her husband gets tired, she drives a 4 door pickup and a 30 foot trailer on narrow roads. The fat lady dont know how to drive a 50 foot long camping set up. She practices about 300 miles per year. She never will know how.

One bicycle trip down mex 1, and I bought 2.5 inch tires and switched to back roads. Not want to turn back to 38mm.



Bolivia? do tell DanBell. Got a link or story or something?


Lima has space for 1 million cars. 8 million cars use that 1 million car space



When I wanted a photo of a truck turning right from the left lane, I had to wait no more than 3 seconds.

Davet

cycling in and around Cabo won’t be the most pleasant thing to do, there’s not a whole lot of places to go. As others have said the road to Todos Santos is the best. It’s a very pretty ride along the coast and Todos Santos has been designated a ‘Pueblo Magico’, a magic city. Outside of Cabo San Lucas there’s not much except a myriad of colonias, neighborhoods, mostly all dirt roads. I’ve lived in the area for more than 5 years and find wandering around great fun and try to find interesting places to eat and visit. Traffic is, well, mexico, and different than your used to. Keep your eyes open and keep a sense of what’s going on around you.

Contrary to what another has posted here, neither my wife or I has perceived or sensed any danger to us. Cabo is a fun place, touristy as hell but with a lot to do, see and experience.

Feel free to PM or message me if you have any other questions. I’m happy to help.

Bien Viaje!