I was sorting through some papers yesterday when I encountered a contact sheet of images of a Tecate-Ensenada bicycle ride sent to me at the time by friend Randall Higa. I did Tecate-Ensenada several times. It was a favorite of mine. Our way to do it was to take two cars, each able to carry six people, six bikes, and all our gear. We’d drive both cars to Ensenada on Saturday and leave one there, returning to Tijuana for a fun dinner at Carnitas Uruapan, near Caliente Racetrack then back into the U S of A for the night.
Sunday morning we’d drive the second car the forty miles east to the outskirts of Tecate U.S.A., park, then bike into downtown Tecate Mexico to help fill the main street with thousands of riders. The ride itself was a very non trivial 73 miles. It could be very hot and the route climbed over some mountains and included a long stretch to the coast usually accompanied with heavy head winds. It was very interesting terrain and not a route I’d ride without such a group so I especially valued this annual opportunity. Post ride we’d load up the bikes on car number two, Michael’s this year, and retrace our route to Tecate, cross the border, redistribute all the gear on the two vehicles, and head for home.
An unusual event occurred on our return home this year. I had placed a couple of our bikes on the roof racks of Randall’s Chevrolet, one being friend Michael’s. Along Interstate 5 through Camp Pendleton Michael’s bike fell off and was run over by a following car. Michael was a mile or two behind us and by the time he arrived and pulled up to park behind the Chevy I had his mangled Raleigh in hand and got to give him the news straightaway. A sad interlude in our day but it did not ruin our overall adventure, especially in retrospect.
Fun Times! There are more images of our outing. Click on my then redish bearded, Kliban cat shirted self to see more.