RR: Los Barriles, Baja

02-12-2007, 03:00 PM

Had a chance to do some limited riding while staying in Los Barriles, about
60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. I've done a bit of desert riding before,
but it was mostly coastal sandy track stuff. This was a sweet combination
of dirt/rock singletrack with a fair amount of elevation change, and the
normal desert penalties for error if you stray off the narrow trails.

Nice stuff. I understand there are many miles of trails close to town in
the surrounding hills, although we did only a couple of trail variations.
Best to ride early morning even at this time of year, it got pretty hot by
10 am. The moderate trails we rode were actually pretty gnarley for an
intermediate rider like me. Lots of deep rain wash ruts combined with loose
rocks from baby-head to medicine-ball size. Certainly enough to keep us
very entertained without being life-threatening. The paved road and traffic
from Los Barriles to the trailheads is probably the most dangerous part of
the ride.

So if you're into MTBiking along with windsurfing or deep sea fishing,
here's a spot where you can do many things. Decent hardtails available for
rental from the Vela operation at Playa del Sol hotel near the south end of
town.

Cheers
Gary

02-13-2007, 09:36 AM

On Feb 12, 5:00 pm, "Mamba" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Had a chance to do some limited riding while staying in Los Barriles, about
> 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. I've done a bit of desert riding before,
> but it was mostly coastal sandy track stuff. This was a sweet combination
> of dirt/rock singletrack with a fair amount of elevation change, and the
> normal desert penalties for error if you stray off the narrow trails.
>
> Nice stuff. I understand there are many miles of trails close to town in
> the surrounding hills, although we did only a couple of trail variations.
> Best to ride early morning even at this time of year, it got pretty hot by
> 10 am. The moderate trails we rode were actually pretty gnarley for an
> intermediate rider like me. Lots of deep rain wash ruts combined with loose
> rocks from baby-head to medicine-ball size. Certainly enough to keep us
> very entertained without being life-threatening. The paved road and traffic
> from Los Barriles to the trailheads is probably the most dangerous part of
> the ride.
>
> So if you're into MTBiking along with windsurfing or deep sea fishing,
> here's a spot where you can do many things. Decent hardtails available for
> rental from the Vela operation at Playa del Sol hotel near the south end of
> town.
>
> Cheers
> Gary

Can you post any pictures? Sounds like cool terrain.

CDB

02-13-2007, 01:29 PM

On Feb 12, 4:00 pm, "Mamba" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Had a chance to do some limited riding while staying in Los Barriles, about
> 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. I've done a bit of desert riding before,
> but it was mostly coastal sandy track stuff. This was a sweet combination
> of dirt/rock singletrack with a fair amount of elevation change, and the
> normal desert penalties for error if you stray off the narrow trails.
>
> Nice stuff. I understand there are many miles of trails close to town in
> the surrounding hills, although we did only a couple of trail variations.
> Best to ride early morning even at this time of year, it got pretty hot by
> 10 am. The moderate trails we rode were actually pretty gnarley for an
> intermediate rider like me. Lots of deep rain wash ruts combined with loose
> rocks from baby-head to medicine-ball size. Certainly enough to keep us
> very entertained without being life-threatening. The paved road and traffic
> from Los Barriles to the trailheads is probably the most dangerous part of
> the ride.
>
> So if you're into MTBiking along with windsurfing or deep sea fishing,
> here's a spot where you can do many things. Decent hardtails available for
> rental from the Vela operation at Playa del Sol hotel near the south end of
> town.
>
> Cheers
> Gary

Wow, that's much more info than that dweeb Enchilada Jim Lame ever
posted about riding on the Baja Peninsula. Then again, all he did was
argue with vandamnan, being another pointless dumbass.

JD

02-14-2007, 08:05 AM

"Paladin" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1171391803.382363.236820@j27g2000cwj.googlegr oups.com...
> On Feb 12, 5:00 pm, "Mamba" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> Had a chance to do some limited riding while staying in Los Barriles,
>> about
>> 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. I've done a bit of desert riding
>> before,
>> but it was mostly coastal sandy track stuff. This was a sweet
>> combination
>> of dirt/rock singletrack with a fair amount of elevation change, and the
>> normal desert penalties for error if you stray off the narrow trails.
>>
>> Nice stuff. I understand there are many miles of trails close to town in
>> the surrounding hills, although we did only a couple of trail variations.
>> Best to ride early morning even at this time of year, it got pretty hot
>> by
>> 10 am. The moderate trails we rode were actually pretty gnarley for an
>> intermediate rider like me. Lots of deep rain wash ruts combined with
>> loose
>> rocks from baby-head to medicine-ball size. Certainly enough to keep us
>> very entertained without being life-threatening. The paved road and
>> traffic
>> from Los Barriles to the trailheads is probably the most dangerous part
>> of
>> the ride.
>>
>> So if you're into MTBiking along with windsurfing or deep sea fishing,
>> here's a spot where you can do many things. Decent hardtails available
>> for
>> rental from the Vela operation at Playa del Sol hotel near the south end
>> of
>> town.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Gary
>
>
> Can you post any pictures? Sounds like cool terrain.
>
> CDB
>
It is very cool terrain, well, to someone from the PNW anyways. Lots of
sand, dry washes, granite, and every manner of spiny vegetation you can
think of. Sadly, the pics we took were for the benefit of family and
friends who are not riders, so they contain mostly us (the obligatory
couple) posed in front of mongo cactus, etc. Perhaps I'll try to hunt down
a couple that at least show the hills surrounding the town, as that's where
the trails are.

I suspect the terrain is not unlike venues in SoCal or the drier areas of
Utah or Texas, not that I've ridden there. Interesting that we hit it
during the wetter season, and after a long period of cloudy, cool and wet
weather. Still arid and parched by our standards, but various cactii were
blooming and it was very pretty if you took a close look around.

Cheers
Gary (W)

02-14-2007, 10:06 AM

Mamba wrote:
> "Paladin" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:1171391803.382363.236820@j27g2000cwj.googlegr oups.com...
>> On Feb 12, 5:00 pm, "Mamba" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>>> Had a chance to do some limited riding while staying in Los Barriles,
>>> about
>>> 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. I've done a bit of desert riding
>>> before,
>>> but it was mostly coastal sandy track stuff. This was a sweet
>>> combination
>>> of dirt/rock singletrack with a fair amount of elevation change, and the
>>> normal desert penalties for error if you stray off the narrow trails.
>>>
>>> Nice stuff. I understand there are many miles of trails close to town in
>>> the surrounding hills, although we did only a couple of trail variations.
>>> Best to ride early morning even at this time of year, it got pretty hot
>>> by
>>> 10 am. The moderate trails we rode were actually pretty gnarley for an
>>> intermediate rider like me. Lots of deep rain wash ruts combined with
>>> loose
>>> rocks from baby-head to medicine-ball size. Certainly enough to keep us
>>> very entertained without being life-threatening. The paved road and
>>> traffic
>>> from Los Barriles to the trailheads is probably the most dangerous part
>>> of
>>> the ride.
>>>
>>> So if you're into MTBiking along with windsurfing or deep sea fishing,
>>> here's a spot where you can do many things. Decent hardtails available
>>> for
>>> rental from the Vela operation at Playa del Sol hotel near the south end
>>> of
>>> town.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Gary
>>
>> Can you post any pictures? Sounds like cool terrain.
>>
>> CDB
>>
> It is very cool terrain, well, to someone from the PNW anyways. Lots of
> sand, dry washes, granite, and every manner of spiny vegetation you can
> think of. Sadly, the pics we took were for the benefit of family and
> friends who are not riders, so they contain mostly us (the obligatory
> couple) posed in front of mongo cactus, etc. Perhaps I'll try to hunt down
> a couple that at least show the hills surrounding the town, as that's where
> the trails are.

A couple of pictures of the hills would be great.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons