BajaNomad

Bicycling down Baja

Paco Facullo - 4-3-2026 at 06:56 PM

Hola Amigos.

I just started watching this Guy in a journey from San Francisco to the ned of So. America. He is in Baja, just past Ensenada.
Thought a few of you might be interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7eF0kQS9rQ

From 1988...

David K - 4-4-2026 at 09:59 AM


Tioloco - 4-4-2026 at 10:45 AM

Maybe Memo from the old days at the Cowpatty is available to go for a long ride again. If memory serves me, he was able to make it to Panama and back in the summer off season.

Lee - 4-5-2026 at 10:55 AM

Bicyclist comes across as a narcissist.

Everytime I see a bicyclist on Hgwy 1 or 19, I think they have a death wish. Doubt they'll survive being pushed off the road by a semi.

surfhat - 4-5-2026 at 01:57 PM

Lee, I wholeheartedly agree after over fifty years of driving the 1 on my way south and back.

Most of their time must be glorious. 'Most'

I have always given the cyclers as much room as possible.

I have never envied their choice to ride on that mostly narrow roadway.

A couple of years ago I met a couple of cyclers from Europe at Shari's Whale Magic Inn in Guerrero Negro who had ridden all the way from Ushuaia. The story's they told were worthy of a tome of its own.

Pedaling all that way to Shari's from Ushuaia was a feat to be respected. The Darden Straits being the lone exception.

I wonder if that section of the Pan American Highway will ever be finalized.

It somehow still remains a lawless area that vehicles ship by boat to get around.

Panama, is that part of your nation or not? Columbia is that part of your nation or not?

I suspect the answer is little of both, irrespective of officially established national borders.

It will take both of them to define the responsibilities that have been neglecting for decades.

Has their ever been a drivable road through that one remaining segment of the Pan American Highway?

If anyone would know, I will trust a Nomad to come up with an answer that is more than an opinion.









Lee - 4-5-2026 at 04:16 PM

I probably have too much empathy for riders because I am one. When I see a rider on the hgwy, I give them the whole lane. That's not what I see from RV's, semi's, and, generally, MX drivers. Riders are trusting drivers on the road.

I've been in an accident with an RV (I was driving South, it was driving North) that was in a Caravan and it didn't stop. This was outside San Ignacio. Took out my exterior driver side mirror. Reaching Todos with one mirror on an RV is nightmarish driving. I don't trust other drivers.

wilderone - 4-11-2026 at 11:14 AM

"When I see a rider on the hgwy, I give them the whole lane."

Sure, on a straight-a-way -- when you can see them and give wide berth. But those curving, mountain uphills, downhills, with blind turns, guardrails with the steep drop on the other side and no shoulder? Those circumstances are encountered I think just as often. I don't care that it's their choice to do whatever floats their boat, but I don't appreciate the additional driving hazard - which they are.

mtgoat666 - 4-11-2026 at 12:11 PM

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  
"When I see a rider on the hgwy, I give them the whole lane."

Sure, on a straight-a-way -- when you can see them and give wide berth. But those curving, mountain uphills, downhills, with blind turns, guardrails with the steep drop on the other side and no shoulder? Those circumstances are encountered I think just as often. I don't care that it's their choice to do whatever floats their boat, but I don't appreciate the additional driving hazard - which they are.


You should not drive too fast for conditions and visibility. You may encounter unexpected in the road: rocks, broken down vehicles, livestock, pedestrians, bicyclists. Slow down and pass only when safe to do so. It’s not that hard.
Bikes are only a hazard if you are driving irresponsibly.