Lessons Learned

Mark Fromberg:

1. Cycling the Baja Peninsula was easier and safer than I expected. Even though Hwy 1 was often lacking shoulders for cyclists, the sparseness of traffic, and the wide berths given to us by most drivers, more than made up for our angst about this long ride. I eventually felt safer on the road here than in BC!
2. The Mexican people we came across were helpful, genuine and hard-working.  They also inspired us with how so many of them could make a living out of almost nothing.
3. Temperatures often dipped more overnight more than we expected–even below freezing on one occasion– especially in high desert. 
4.  Having van support was critical for the ease and success of this ride–to carry all of our “stuff”, like fresh clothes, camping gear, biking accessories, toiletries and the like.  We were also able to carry all of our favorite breakfast and snack foods, and keep a cooler full of beer for the end of every day. Since we took turns driving it, we all had an optional built in weekly rest day, although we could still do an out-and-back after parking the van at the day’s meet point.
5. We had just the right number of riders, all of similar abilities and experience.  We think 4-8 is optimal.  And we all managed to get along, despite how heavily opinionated we all were!  
6. We stayed flexible throughout our riding days, sometimes riding together, sometimes spreading apart, as each of us had our own pace, need for stretch breaks, or stops for photos.