Rosarito Ensenada Bike Tour

Andy, Nick, Heather and I were suppose to head out on Friday to San Diego, cross the border into Mexico and then down the coast to Ensenada. Heather got the flu on Thursday night and Nick had to "work" that weekend, so Andy and I headed to Mexico for the bike race. (Technically it was a race, but we called it a "tour.")

Fortunately, I was driving. We missed the turn in Tijuana to head to the coast for the highway and drove through Tijuana. We ended up just south of Tijuana in a very poor section of the city, and then cut across to the coastal highway.

Now, Andy was a bit nervous about going Mexico. I think he had enough bottled water in the back of the car for a month. I knew we would be fine - Jesus (the Big JC) was even looking out for us as we passed Rosarito on the highway.

I stopped at a place on the coast where the beach was right along the highway. I got out to see the horses and the beach. Andy stayed in the car - with the doors locked.

We arrived in Ensenada about 5pm, checked into the hotel and walked around the town. We didn't see many bikers on Friday evening. We had some great margaritas and tacos.

In Mexico, you can buy prescription drugs over the counter. Viagra is a big seller.

On Saturday morning, Andy, Greg and I took the shuttle up to Rosarito for the start of the race. We had a 'healthy' breakfast... at McDonalds.

We met up with Juan and Nelson at the start of the race. Okay, so Nelson didn't actually do the race, but did drive Juan to Mexico. It was cute that Juan thought that Nelson might actually get on a bike when we were training. I, of course, very gently let Juan know that was not going to happen.

Greg, Juan, Andy and I - waiting for the race to start. It was a bit cloudy in Rosarito before we started, but the sun came out just as we left Rosarito.

Above.. that is Ralph from Irvine - nice arms and pecs. Below... there were about 9,000 people there that day. It was exciting being part of something with that many people.

One last photo before the race begins....

And, we are off... a little bit after 10am. It was fun and we took the beginning at a leisurely pace. We rode as a group, for the most part, for the first half of the race... until the big "hill." People from the towns came out along the route and were cheering us on. The kids standing of the side of the road were yelling "candy, candy, candy" as some of the riders threw candy to them. Later on, the people were chanting "si, se puede" as we rode by.

Juan stopped while I took a picture of the coast and then another at one of the official water stations.

The old highway went along the coast for a while and then headed inland for the big hill and the desert.

We started up the small hill... all the new people asking if it was the "hill." The Hill is a 2-mile stretch of the route that climbs 800 feet at a 7.5 grade. This was the little hill.

Juan is still smiling... after the little hill. But the big hill (okay, it is really a mountain) was just ahead.

And we start to climb. Juan started the hill with me.. but I lost him. Up until this point, everyone was serious about the ride, but talking and having a good time. The hill is when it got serious. At first you heard the sound of every bike shifting into lower gears, and then complete quiet - no one was talking - and later you just heard yourself breathing as you climbed the hill.





You can see the line of bikes, like little ants, climbing up the hill.

Half way thought the course, finally, we reached the top - it was a great feeling. My goals was to petal the entire hill and not stop. I did it. So did Andy.

What we didn't know was the rolling hills at the top of the desert. They killed you.

Finally, we coasted down the back side of the mountain to the coast. For most of the race, the police had blocked off the entire highway for us. As we hit the coast, we rode on the toll highway - the police blocked off one lane of the highway for us. The cars had one lane - and the traffic back up went forever.

I reached the finish line about 3 hours and 40 minutes after I started.

Andy was the next in our group. Followed by Juan and then Greg.

Andy and I got massages after the race - and glistened with baby oil the rest of the day. Margaritas, tacos, and churros! The after party was great. Greg figured we burned about 8,000 calories and we did a good job at putting it right back on.

Andy and I drove back up the coast to Tijuana on Sunday morning - honking at the other bikers along the way. Then back across the boarder to the U.S.

Next race... April 19, 2008. Heather and Nick are going this time! I had a great time and look forward to doing it again.