Rosarito to Ensenada bike race proves festive, friendly and safe

Longtime fans of the twice-annual Rosarito to Ensenada Fun Bike Ride who missed Saturday's spring version because of concerns stemming from drug-related violence in Mexico's border areas might note two things:

1) The 50-mile ride was staged without major incident and, according to race promoter Gary Foster, not one of the 3,500 participants fell victim to organized crime, and 2) sign-ups are being accepted for the Sept. 26 ride.

This from Foster: "At the start line, I thanked the participants for coming, especially those from the United States, and asked them, 'When you go back home, tell your friends and families about your experience. You can see for yourself that this is not a dangerous place for tourists.' "

Fastest time to the finish-line party was 2 hours, 5 seconds. No official word on how much beer was consumed. But the unofficial word: lots.

-- Pete Thomas
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/04/rosarito-to-ensenada-bike-race-festive-and-surprise-without-incident.html