Riding The Baja Divide With Cyclist Herb Bool

Slow Baja

Today’s podcast guest is life-long cyclist Herb Bool. In 2018, at 55 years old, Bool rode the 1,700 mile Baja Divide in 35 days. Conceived by ultra-endurance bicycle racer Lael Wilcox and Nicholas Carman, the Baja Divide is: “A rugged 1,700-mile off-pavement bikepacking route down the Baja California peninsula, from San Diego to San José del Cabo. This route connects the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, historic Spanish mission sites rich with shade and water, remote ranchos and fishing villages, bustling highway towns, and every major mountain range in Baja California on miles and miles of beautiful backcountry desert tracks.”

Bool met up with a group of a dozen riders massed to make the trek on New Year’s Eve on the San Diego waterfront. They rode East and spent the first night together camped at a ranch just North of the Border as a group. They crossed into Tecate the next day and stuck together until they cleared the border town. As the group sorted themselves out, Bool settled in with a fast trio to ride the rest of the route. “We were on our bikes when the sun came up every day, and we would ride pretty much until the sun was starting to sink. It was an all-day ride every day.” The group averaged 55 miles a day for just over a month.

Enjoy this warm recollection of 35 days in the saddle, pumping out 1700 miles on the Baja Divide -with the affable Herb Bool.

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