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I go to Rocky Point 6-8 times a year and have explored the area a lot. All my riding is based in Las Conchas -- never been out to Sandy Beach or Chola Bay. Would like to hear what others have found (if anything).
Here are maps of the areas I ride:
http://members.cox.net/casa_victoria/directions.htm
Las Conchas: graded dirt roads around the community. This is the best, safest riding. You can hit everything in about an hour and 10 miles. Its easy rolling, great views, sometimes severely upwind\downwind. Generally safe suburban riding, I usually go faster than the fat people renting atvs which always makes me smile.
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Beach: I dont ride on the beach cause my bike isnt right for it. At low tide, Las Conchas has a very wide flat beach. It would probably be fun at the right time of day with a beach bike. At hight tide, the beach is small and severely sloped -- terrible riding I think.
Dunes bordering Las Conchas - You can plink around on a lot of little spurs made by construction, atvs, etc. The riding is sandy and sometimes unridable, but you can get to a cool estuary overlook or see some interesting stuff like nesting birds. If you commit to going over the dune down into the estuary, it all depends on the conditions. Sometimes its ridable through sand upto the drop-off and then its a 40 yards plunge (ridable!!!) down the dune. There are jeep roads through the estuary but impossible to describe, took me 4-5 tries to make a good mental map. At low tide and good weather, you can ride for an hour in here and make it out to the Oyster farms for fresh oysters at like $7/dozen. Sometimes its sandy and a mudpit. I've seen fields of crustaceons at feeding time and that is way cool, but I've also gotten lost and HABing through silt and back up the dune.
Going out of Las Conchas, there is a 1mile access road. Options at the end of the access road:
1. go left and you get to Fremont and about 1 mile into the main part of town. It gets dicey at the end of Fremont where it intersects with Blvd. Benito Suarez and the main drag through town. Traffic is busy, potholes, narrow streets etc. Its urban freeriding, ride defensively.
2. go right and you get on a 2 lane road to Caborca. Some places there is a dirt shoulder, other places the road drops off a foot. Visibility is good, traffic is not bad but its best early in the morning. Not exciting, just spinning on blacktop. After 5 miles, you get to the access road for the Oyster farms. This can be passable for several miles, and can link up with the dunes from Las Conchas -- all depends on the conditions.
3. go straight and head into the residential part of town. Its a busy little local neighborhood, urban riding but not as scary as on Benito Suarez. Its kinda cool if you want to see the real Rocky Point.
4. Go into the dunes off of Fremont - depending on weather and how tracked out this is, it can be some decent sand riding for 15-20 minutes.
My favorite ride is to hook up the Las Conchas roads, then either head out and back for a while on the Caborca road, or try to link up through the dunes. It makes for a decent 2 hrs workout without too much traffic. Best riding is in the morning before traffic, wind, and beer.
bike maintenance: if your bike gets moisture on it, wipe it down with wd40 asap. I've had signs of rust form overnight. it cleans up, but is a pain.
bike setup: I ride my FS which is all I have. Someday I'm going to get a decent rigid SS with fat sand tires and leave it down here.
Overall, the riding sucks. No trails and mtb is only done by the Americans -- actually its pretty much only done by me. Its sandy as hell, no bike lanes, and traffic can be scary. But, it gets me my miles before I get all drunk and lie on the beach, and the sand workouts can be as hard as you make em. The views of the beach are great, and I really enjoy seeing the estuary and Mexico up close. I have never had any problems with the Mexicans, they like me a lot more than the Americans in SUVs. I actually get to talk to the locals more this way, find contractors for my place, etc. You see details you would never notice that make you think: they mix concrete for all the new condos 1 bag at a time by hand, and heft bricks up a bucket at a time. The oyster men live in shacks with a hammock as the only furniture. One of the churches was a big block-concrete structure with no roof but people were spilling out of every doorway on Sunday. 2/3s of all signage is for American-backed real estate ventures or cervecas. The scariest drivers are the Americans, by far.
Please share your experiences, if any!
Here are maps of the areas I ride:
http://members.cox.net/casa_victoria/directions.htm
Las Conchas: graded dirt roads around the community. This is the best, safest riding. You can hit everything in about an hour and 10 miles. Its easy rolling, great views, sometimes severely upwind\downwind. Generally safe suburban riding, I usually go faster than the fat people renting atvs which always makes me smile.
.Beach: I dont ride on the beach cause my bike isnt right for it. At low tide, Las Conchas has a very wide flat beach. It would probably be fun at the right time of day with a beach bike. At hight tide, the beach is small and severely sloped -- terrible riding I think.
Dunes bordering Las Conchas - You can plink around on a lot of little spurs made by construction, atvs, etc. The riding is sandy and sometimes unridable, but you can get to a cool estuary overlook or see some interesting stuff like nesting birds. If you commit to going over the dune down into the estuary, it all depends on the conditions. Sometimes its ridable through sand upto the drop-off and then its a 40 yards plunge (ridable!!!) down the dune. There are jeep roads through the estuary but impossible to describe, took me 4-5 tries to make a good mental map. At low tide and good weather, you can ride for an hour in here and make it out to the Oyster farms for fresh oysters at like $7/dozen. Sometimes its sandy and a mudpit. I've seen fields of crustaceons at feeding time and that is way cool, but I've also gotten lost and HABing through silt and back up the dune.
Going out of Las Conchas, there is a 1mile access road. Options at the end of the access road:
1. go left and you get to Fremont and about 1 mile into the main part of town. It gets dicey at the end of Fremont where it intersects with Blvd. Benito Suarez and the main drag through town. Traffic is busy, potholes, narrow streets etc. Its urban freeriding, ride defensively.
2. go right and you get on a 2 lane road to Caborca. Some places there is a dirt shoulder, other places the road drops off a foot. Visibility is good, traffic is not bad but its best early in the morning. Not exciting, just spinning on blacktop. After 5 miles, you get to the access road for the Oyster farms. This can be passable for several miles, and can link up with the dunes from Las Conchas -- all depends on the conditions.
3. go straight and head into the residential part of town. Its a busy little local neighborhood, urban riding but not as scary as on Benito Suarez. Its kinda cool if you want to see the real Rocky Point.
4. Go into the dunes off of Fremont - depending on weather and how tracked out this is, it can be some decent sand riding for 15-20 minutes.
My favorite ride is to hook up the Las Conchas roads, then either head out and back for a while on the Caborca road, or try to link up through the dunes. It makes for a decent 2 hrs workout without too much traffic. Best riding is in the morning before traffic, wind, and beer.
bike maintenance: if your bike gets moisture on it, wipe it down with wd40 asap. I've had signs of rust form overnight. it cleans up, but is a pain.
bike setup: I ride my FS which is all I have. Someday I'm going to get a decent rigid SS with fat sand tires and leave it down here.
Overall, the riding sucks. No trails and mtb is only done by the Americans -- actually its pretty much only done by me. Its sandy as hell, no bike lanes, and traffic can be scary. But, it gets me my miles before I get all drunk and lie on the beach, and the sand workouts can be as hard as you make em. The views of the beach are great, and I really enjoy seeing the estuary and Mexico up close. I have never had any problems with the Mexicans, they like me a lot more than the Americans in SUVs. I actually get to talk to the locals more this way, find contractors for my place, etc. You see details you would never notice that make you think: they mix concrete for all the new condos 1 bag at a time by hand, and heft bricks up a bucket at a time. The oyster men live in shacks with a hammock as the only furniture. One of the churches was a big block-concrete structure with no roof but people were spilling out of every doorway on Sunday. 2/3s of all signage is for American-backed real estate ventures or cervecas. The scariest drivers are the Americans, by far.
Please share your experiences, if any!
