Baja Divide: San Diego to Vicente Guerrero

We’re back at it on the bikes – this time ~1600 miles on gravel as we traverse Mexico’s Baja Penninsula from San Diego, CA to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur.

Day 1 – 28.9 Miles / +1458 ft gain

Bikes were built. Accessories and gear were attached. There was nothing left to do except start riding away from our hotel in San Diego. We took our time making it through the city which turned to suburbs and into the nearby town of Chula Vista. Taking into account an early sunset of about 4:30 pm, we realized we needed a plan as camping isn’t much of an option in the urban sprawl and near the border. We opted for a shorter day and stayed in an AirBnB on the outskirts of Chula Vista.

Day 2 – 34.9 Miles / +4998 ft gain

We left the AirBnB at 7:00 am and began with a short section of single track around Lower Otay Lake before rejoining pavement. A 9 mile highway ride brought us to the base of our first major climb up and over Otay Mountain on a gravel road. We took a couple hours to climb the 2600 ft over 6 long miles taking a break at the top to see views of the lake and the Pacific Ocean in the background.

After a quick snack, it was a joy to descend the other side of the mountain. What we didn’t realize is that our climbing was only halfway done for the day. We continued through the backcountry for awhile noticing lots of trash and clothing in particular, speculating about those who had journeyed through these mountains. Eventually, we hit pavement and resumed climbing, a relentless slog as our final miles in the US. The highway curved up the mountain with little shoulder as cars whizzed by and my energy evaporated leaving me questioning my abilities for this trip. As my doubts arose, so did the final turnoff to coast downhill 2 miles towards the Mexican border. The border agents were nothing but friendly and helped us figure out the process of filling out the tourist visa permit, paying the fee, and getting our 180-day visa into Mexico. During all this, we met another cyclist, Jeffrey, also tackling the Baja Divide.

With our passports stamped, we rolled into the nearby Hotel Tecate and got a room for 600 pesos (~$35) for the night. To my surprise, there was a fully vegan restaurant a couple blocks away – what a treat! After dinner, we grabbed food for a 2 day stretch into the Mexican backcountry.

Day 3 – 31.7 Miles / +3561 ft gain

We awoke before 6 am and strolled to find our morning coffee. Success! By 7 am, we rolled out of the room for our 10 mile stretch through and outside of the city mostly on pavement.

We arrived at the final store before heading out for 60 miles of riding without resupply available for food or water. We grabbed a final cup of coffee and packed our 8 liters of water and 2 days of food to get us to Ojos Negros. We started rolling and finally hit dirt. I turned to Sean and said, “Well, here goes nothing.”

It took no time at all to be totally alone in the Mexican backcountry riding up and down dirt roads in a valley surrounded by mountains. Much like BLM land of the American west, we saw the occasional ranch, herd of cows, and horses. As we climbed out of the valley, we had a few short stretches of pushing our bike but nothing was wiping the grin of our faces as we were so joyful to back at it. At 4:30 pm, we found our campsite for the evening and settled in for the long night.

Day 4 – 46.8 Miles / +2926 ft gain

We woke up at the base of a climb, well-rested and eager to ride. We passed several ranches along the way with some very curious dogs chasing us. We quickly learned stopping is the best way to end the chase. Thankfully, this time the dogs were nice and let us pass.

We continued a slow ascent up to a high valley and eventually passed through a grove of towering pine trees near the high point of the entire route. After cresting 4800 ft, we began a long 20 mile descent cruising down over 2400 ft.

The cruise down was zippy and well-graded. Eventually we hit a stretch of deep sand as we coasted into the tiny town of Ojos Negros. The Baja Divide is always keeping things interesting, and now I can add sand surfing to my skills repertoire. Gliding over the sand had a similar feeling to skiing. A bit of speed and shifting my weight back helped me glide smoothly over the sand for a few miles.

We arrived in Ojos Negros mid-afternoon and decided to grab a cheap motel room again for 600 pesos.

Day 5 – 44.0 Miles / +3298 ft gain

We left the room early after peanut butter & oreo tortillas and instant coffee. It was a brisk morning so we were happy when we started doing a little climbing. The morning was beautiful and fairly simple riding. We were excited to reach the high point where the remainder of the day would be a downhill coast to Uruapan. We were correct about the downhill part, but not so much about the coast part. The first descent from the top was remarkably steep with deep trenches littered with loose fist-sized rocks. I attempted to ride some short stretches and got knocked off my bike pretty quickly, thankful to have only sustained 1 small bruise. We took a break for lunch after what appeared to be the steepest descent which dropped 800 ft in a mere 1.5 miles.

After lunch, the grade mellowed a bit, but I still found the terrain challenging and a lil scary. I rode what I could and walked when I needed to. Next to Mexican jail, a Mexican hospital is the last place I want to end up. The descent went on and on as I did my best to keep up and face my fears. As we got closer to town, we began a series of steep hills up and over which quickly zapped my remaining energy. I laughed at my thoughts of an “easy downhill coast” I had dreamt about earlier which was a good reminder in managing expectations on this route.

The sun had started to set as we entered the little town of Uruapan. We were surrounded by fields, farm, and vineyards in the heart of Mexican wine country. We grabbed some snacks from a small tienda, including some local olives, and headed towards the hot springs in town. Speaking of managing expectations…

We thought we’d be getting into some sort of pool, but what we found was a row of shower shacks. Inside each stall was a 2 foot tub with an overhead shower. You could plug the tub with a pvc pipe and fill it up as you shower. Not what I expected, but still felt amazing. They also had a row of washing machines so we decided to do our laundry there which was another adventure in traveling and humility as I tried to navigate working a laundry machine which you have to manually fill and drain yourself in broken Spanish. While waiting for our laundry, we were befriended by Gustavo who asked where we were planning to stay that night. His cousin Jaime lived very nearby and offered us his garage to camp in. He left and returned 40 minutes later so we could follow his truck over to Jaime’s. He set us up in the garage and even provided an electric kettle with a coffee setup for the morning. Thank you, Gustavo & Jaime!!

Day 6 – 37.9 Miles / +2711 ft gain

We woke up early to a brisk morning, grateful for hot coffee and to be inside a shelter which definitely kept us warmer than being outside. We had heard Jeffrey, who we met at the border, and a couple other cyclists camped at the hot springs so we rode over to see them. After a little chat, we headed out on a small stretch of highway before returning to dirt roads. The grade was a bit steep, but the road was well maintained which made for a smooth ride. After a bit of climbing, we were rewarded with the mellowest descent thus far as we cruised down a wide gravel road without obstacles. What a gift.

We took a lunch break and peddled on knowing we would see the ocean soon. After a few twists and turns, we got our first glimpse of the Pacific. As we neared the coast, the road quality dissipated a bit which led to a few hike a bike sections, though most were short lived. The cool sea air breeze was amazing as we rode adjacent to the coast.

We were pleasantly surprised to realize we were just a couple miles from the next town of Erendira, a small fishing village. We decided to stay at another 600 peso motel and call it a day.

Day 7 – 45.6 Miles / +3074 ft gain

We headed out from the room early and went for a search for hot coffee before leaving town. No such luck this time. The views were lovely and the riding peaceful as we paralleled the coast. As we headed towards the hills, the riding got a lot less smooth with many steep hills and sections of pushing the bikes.

Eventually, we hit a relatively smooth gravel road that linked to a paved highway into Colonet. We got a couple days worth of food that would take us the 90 miles to Vicente Guerrero. After town, we returned to dirt and stopped for lunch. Another 10 miles down the road, we found the tiny village of Benito Jaurez with a little tienda. This was our last opportunity for water for the next 30 miles. We took a short break for a snack at the tienda and headed out of town. The first few miles had some very deep sand some of which we could surf, some of which we had to push through. Next we encountered some rare, shallow stream crossings as we navigated through the mountains. It took a little searching, but we eventually found a viable campsite tucked into the bushes. Since our days are ending early, we caught an episode of “You Made It Weird” before heading to sleep.

Day 8 – 33.2 Miles / +4501 ft gain

We were riding by 6:30 am crossing a couple more streams before a steeper incline began. There was a distinct turn where the road shifted from rideable to nah on rugged 4 x 4 tracks. From this point, we faced a gauntlet of challenges beyond every turn – rocks, erosion, sand, steep hills – maybe 2 or 3 of those at once. 17 miles took us about 4 hours to complete.

We arrived at Rancho Coyote almost out of water. The site has cabins and advertises some provisions and water for sale. When we arrived, no one was there. We ate our lunch at a picnic table hoping someone would arrive, but still no one. Rancho Meling was only 5 miles away, but we were a bit apprehensive about the distance considering the difficult terrain we had just traversed. With no water, we decided to take the chance and push on to Rancho Meling.

The ride between the ranches was the nectar of the gods in terms of terrain – a gentle downhill slope on a wide gravel road. We were giddy as we glided mile after easy coasting mile. We arrived at Rancho Meling and were warmly greeted. We stayed for a snack and a little coffee and got our water bottles filled for the remaining 50 miles to town.

Almost immediately we resumed traversing nearly impossible terrain. It seemed like each daunting hike a bike uphill push was rewarded with a steep sudden death descent (aka more hike a bike for me). We were exhausted, yet we pushed on (literally). Eventually, we left the 4 x 4 tracks at about 4:00 and turned onto a rideable road. Not long after, we looked for a campsite before the sunset. Somehow we managed to squeeze 4500 ft of climbing into this 33 mile day, and we were wiped from what I consider our most challenging day so far.

Day 9 – 43.2 Miles / +2330 ft gain

We got our earliest start yet at 6:15 and began a little bit if riding with our headlights. It didn’t take long for dawn to break. We were happy to find the dirt road rideable as we descended the mountain. We hit a short stretch of pavement that passed through a tiny town. I noticed a tienda, and we pulled over for hot coffee and cookies – woohoo!

After our break, we had a short climb over a mountain, then resumed a long descent. The terrain was mostly rideable and gave me a good opportunity to practice my mountain biking skills. We hit a couple miles of single track before riding through a small village which led to the highway.

We had a few highway miles to traverse before we cruised the coastline on our way to Vicente Guerrero. Thankfully, we found a large dirt shoulder adjacent to the highway so we just stayed in the dirt instead of riding on the busy road. On the coast, we took our lunch break, then road on to the city. Vicente Guerrero is the largest town we’ve seen since Tacate and boasts a great bike shop. We stopped in the bike shop to sign the Baja map and grabbed a room for the night. With rain in the forecast we needed to make a plan. Not only is riding in the rain unpleasant, the rain can turn the dirt to clay which can be 100% unrideable. We got a room at the Mission Inn which was both the most expensive and most modern room we’ve seen so far.

Total Stats

• 9 days of riding
• 346.2 miles
• 38.5 miles / day average
• 28,857 ft total gain
• 3,206 ft gain per day average