Rosarito-Ensenada Bike Ride To Top 20 Million Mile Mark This Sept. 26

Rosarito-Ensenada Bike Ride To Top
20 Million Mile Mark This Sept. 26

Ron Raposa


ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---Now in its 30th year the Rosarito-Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bicycle Ride will surpass 20 million total miles covered with its Sept. 26 event.

About 5,000 riders are expected for the festive scenic ride, much of it along a coastal route from Rosarito to Ensenada, said ride organizer Gary Foster.

During the past 30 years since 1979, the iconic twice-yearly event has been held 52 times and almost 400,000 riders have participated, Foster said.

“This great anniversary edition of the ride will be as festive as years past, both for our many riders and the thousands of people who come to view the event and cheer on the participants,” Foster said.

Added Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres, whose city hosts the event: “The ride is one of the signature events for Rosarito and this region of Baja. It attracts excellent people and creates a great atmosphere. We’re greatly looking forward to it.”

Participants can register online for $45 through www.BetterSignUp.com, or they can register on the day of the event for $50 at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. More information is available at www.RosaritoEnsenada.com as well as www.rosarito.org

The Rosarito-Ensenada ride has been called the Original Party on Wheels. Revelers in costume roll along, tossing candy to children along the course. Beach cruisers strap boom boxes to their handlebars. Parents tow children.

Racing teams form pace lines, trying to beat the official record of 1:52:54 set in April of 2007. Other participants just ride for the enjoyment and atmosphere.

Transportation packages from the United States are available, Foster said. Tour companies transport riders’ bicycles at no extra charge, and because the buses return to the United State through the rapid SENTRI lane, cyclists avoid a wait at the border.

Many hotels offer special rates and are participating in the Border Fast Pass program which can cut border waits by half, especially on the weekends, Foster said.

The Finish Line Fiesta is free for participants and spectators, overlooking the Ensenada harbor with panoramic views of the cruise ships at sunset. Live rock-n-roll, jazz and salsa plays into the night while local chefs serve their best.

Massage therapists are available to work out every knot, and there will be a lot
of celebrating with ice cold beer and award-winning wines from Baja’s wine country, Foster said.

Shuttles are available on the event course from the finish line to the start line before and after the event. So if participants stay in Rosarito Beach, they can take the shuttle back to Rosarito after the event.

“The corridor from Rosarito Beach to Ensenada is safe for tourists, and Baja remains a beautiful and affordable destination for travel with friends and family," Foster added.

Foster said that this recent e-mail from a frequent ride participant summed up the spirit of the event: “Thanks for another great experience! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve done this ride since the early 1990’s. All I know is they keep getting better!”

www.bajainvestment.com

Weekly Fishing Column: Mexico is safer than you think

By Phil Friedman, Correspondent

Mexico has been reduced to a single, small, geographical piece of this earth. If there is a murder in Michoacan, then the presumption of the 24-hour news cycle has been that it is too dangerous to travel to Rosarito Beach even though it is thousands of miles away.

According to Arturo Martinez from the Mexican Tourism office, no tourists have been killed in the drug war violence throughout Mexico.

Still, on a recent CNN news report, U.S. citizens were warned not to travel to Mexico. Well what part of Mexico was CNN referring to? Mexico is a huge country and to say travel to Mexico is dangerous is not only inadequate information but very misleading.

Please do not misunderstand me. If you want to find trouble in Tijuana, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, I have no doubt that with the proper directions, you will find trouble and the dregs of society you seek.

If however, you use common sense, stay out of bad neighborhoods, do not travel at night etc., your journey to Mexico should be not only safe, but a memorable trip with lifetime memories.

Mexico is not standing still amid the criticism, unjust or not. If you have any trouble at all once you cross the border into Baja California Norte, all you have to do is dial 078 and press send on your cell phone. You will be connected with English speaking Mexican travel officials eager to help you, drive out to your location or assist you in anyway. I have personally tried this system on many occasions and never failed to get connected to the Mexican travel bureau.
If you have an emergency in Mexico, you can also dial 911 on your cell phone and you will immediately be connected with and English speaker ready to assist you.

For private boaters, Mexico has announced as search and rescue fleet. The commanders of these Ensenada-based vessels have been trained by the U.S. Coast Guard and speak excellent English. The sole purpose of the team is to help boaters in distress. Their vessels are capable of more than 50 knots and can quickly respond to rescue a distressed boater.

A recent visit by officials from Sportfishing Association of California resulted in the comment that they had great equipment, were well-trained and had friendly personnel. This will greatly increase the desire of yachts, sailboats, and fishermen to go south of the border again. The unit has a 24-hour Radio Watch on Marine Channel 16 and can also be reached by telephone from the United States by calling 01152 646-1-72-40-00.

www.bajainvestment.com

No place like Baja for Boulevard's Roeseler

By Bill Center, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. June 4, 2009

Larry Roeseler has raced in Baja California for 37 years.
He holds the record for overall wins in both the Baja 1000 and Baja 500. He has triumphed on two wheels as well as four.
Few racers know the Baja better than the 52-year-old Roeseler.
And he can't think of off-road racing without Baja California.
“It would be a sad day if there were no Baja 500 or Baja 1000,” Roeseler said this week while preparing for Saturday's 41st running of the SCORE Tecate 500.
“There is no experience quite like Baja races. It can been 110 degrees in the desert and five hours later you're racing in a fog bank along the Pacific Ocean. You've got pine forests and rocks, ruts and silt.
“There are great races and courses in Nevada, but nothing throws as much at you as Baja California.”
Roeseler will be looking for his 25th overall win in the Baja 500/1000 tandem Saturday while teaming with Roger Norman in a TrophyTruck. Truck owner Norman, who is the stepson of Unlimited Hydroplane legend Bill Muncey, and Roeseler won the overall four-wheel title in the Baja 1000 last November.
Nineteen of Roeseler's overall wins came on motorcycles with five coming in buggies and TrophyTrucks.
“Naturally, I have a love for the place,” Roeseler said of Baja California. “I have always enjoyed going to Baja California. I don't feel threatened at all coming down here.
“Yes, there are places you don't want to go. But there are places you don't want to go wherever you are. There are a lot of good people in Mexico. I think that fact gets lost in a lot of the news we've seen recently.”
Roeseler, who lives in Boulevard and runs Norman's race shop in El Cajon, acknowledged that Baja California has undergone considerable change since he first raced there in 1972 on a Harley Davidson motorcycle powered by a two-stroke Italian engine.
“It is still changing,” he said. “When I started racing, Baja California was wide open. You could go for almost a hundred miles and not see a soul. There are now many more people along our course.
“But there is still a lot of nowhere out there. And it's always a good time, whether it be the racing or the pre-running before the race.”
Like Malcolm Vinje once said of racing in Baja California: “Don't let the race get in the way of pre-running.”
The Norman-Roeseler team is off to a slow start this season, but Roeseler believes the Baja 500 will bring “redemption.”
“I think we're getting back to where we were before the Baja 1000,” said Roeseler, who also holds the record with 16 class wins in the Baja 500.
The Baja 500 will start and finish in Ensenada with the 432.51-mile loop course nearly duplicating last year's track.
“We might be following the same path, but it's never the same terrain conditions from one day to the next, much less one year to the next,” said Roeseler.
SCORE officials are expecting more than 275 starters in the four-wheel, motorcycle and ATV divisions. The first motorcycles start at 6 a.m. with the fastest four-wheel vehicles starting two hours later.

www.bajainvestment.com

Going for the green

Going for the green
Tiger Woods backs residential golf resort planned for Baja, but potential effect on the environment brings out critics
By Jose Luis Jiménez
STAFF WRITER
2:00 a.m. February 8, 2009

Rock outcroppings frame the view toward Islas de Todos Santos in the Pacific Ocean; sea lions play in the clear blue water; caves shelter the shells left by indigenous people who roamed the area hundreds of years ago.
Even as worldwide economic troubles continue to mount, the property near Ensenada is expected to join the development trend this summer as work begins to transform it into a golf course designed by Tiger Woods. Punta Brava, the developers say, will be breathtaking.
But unless you have at least $3 million to buy an estate home site or a villa, don't bother calling for a tee time when the ultra-private course opens, scheduled for 2011. Only homeowners and their guests will be allowed to play it.
Some real estate experts question the wisdom of developing a high-priced golf club in the midst of a slumping global economy. It is also in an area known more for spring breakers and retired U.S. expats than as an exclusive tourist destination. In addition, a high level of violent crime in Mexico, mainly fueled by drug gangs, has made headlines in the United States and across the world.
Local environmentalists also are concerned about the potential damage that could be done to the coastal environment by the introduction of non-native grass and the chemicals needed to keep it green.
Texas-based developer Brady Oman pledges nothing will reach the ocean, except for a few errant golf shots. In a recent interview, Oman said the company is committed to keeping the $100 million project as environmentally friendly as possible.
He also said the development is fully financed, thanks to the deep pockets of Red McCombs, who co-founded media giant Clear Channel Communications.
And he expects well-to-do golf lovers will be lining up to purchase property so they can play on only the third course designed by Woods. Developers say that with water on three sides and a 1,200-foot peak at the entry to the project, the location is secure.
“We are really confident because of the site, the team of developers and the proximity to Southern California,” Oman said. “The site is a once-in-a-lifetime site.”
Oman, who has developed golf-and-housing projects in Texas, started scouting the peninsula several years ago. Another member of the development team found the site in 2006, near the famous La Bufadora sea geyser and about 10 miles west of Highway 1, the main north-south route in Baja California. An Ensenada family that planned to use the 300 acres for retreats sold the property and got a five-acre estate on the site.
Next was getting the partners on board. Woods visited the site in 2007, committed to the development and stopped by again after his dramatic U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines last summer.
With Woods on board, Oman said it was easy to get McCombs to back the deal. After the announcement of the project at a Beverly Hills hotel in October, a sales office was opened in downtown San Diego. A helicopter is available to fly potential buyers to the property, where the par-70 golf course is staked out, along with the locations of the clubhouse, spa and an ocean club with a pool.
So far, 12 people have committed to purchasing at the development, including Woods himself. A total of 40 estate home sites and 100 villas will be sold. Owners will have the opportunity to hosts guests at 20 of the villas; the exact arrangements are being worked out, according to the developers.
Approximately 750 people will be employed during the construction phase, with 200 permanent jobs afterward. Potable water will be provided by a desalination plant, and irrigation water will drain into retention ponds, which will then be recycled through a treatment plant, Oman said.
“Nothing goes into the ocean,” Oman said.
While local environmentalists applaud the steps taken to lessen the environmental impacts, the immediate surroundings will be affected, said Juan Manuel Rodríguez, who heads the department of urban and environmental studies at Colegio de la Frontera Norte, or COLEF, a Tijuana-area think tank.
Manuel, who attended the public hearing for the project last month before Mexico's environmental agency, cited three areas of concern.
The first is the adverse impact that earth moving and grading would have on the animals and plants that inhabit the site and nearby waters. Next, the area is a “dry coastal zone,” and introducing lots of water and chemicals would change the indigenous vegetation.
Lastly, dumping the highly concentrated salt residue produced by desalination plants into the ocean could harm the sea plants and creatures near the outfall.
“Little by little, the grass on the golf course will invade the indigenous coastal vegetation,” Manuel said. “What the people of Ensenada want is that the beautiful coastal views and access to the surrounding waters be preserved.”
The development along northern Baja California's Pacific coast is turning it into an extension of urban Southern California, said Horacio de la Cueva, a specialist in biological conservation with CICESE, a scientific think tank near Ensenada.
“One of the things Baja California has to offer is natural beauty. And many people are willing to pay to enjoy that experience,” he said.
Golf courses are not environmentally friendly, but instead “green asphalt,” de la Cueva said.
“Once they destroy the landscape, it will never return.”
With only 120 properties for sale, the developers have little inventory to sell compared with other golf course developments. But high prices, comparable to ocean-view properties in La Jolla, could make it a difficult sale in what many economists call a worldwide recession that may last for years, said Leonard Baron, a lecturer at SDSU's business school.
The local real estate expert also questions the location near Ensenada, which is not known as a world-class tourist spot, like Cabo San Lucas to the south. Recent headlines about violence in Mexico also may make people question whether it is a wise investment.
There is also the larger issue of buying property in a foreign country and being subject to its laws.
“You're trying to create a place for people to go to that they wouldn't traditionally go to,” Baron said. “Do I want to live in such a remote area? What is the long-term viability? Those may be questions potential buyers are asking.”
Oman said the property title is clear and title insurance will be offered through a U.S. company.
Further, the Mexican government has adopted reforms to real estate laws to avoid the nightmare scenarios some Americans have experienced in the region, said Oscar Escobedo, Baja California's tourism secretary.
In 2000, more than 200 U.S. citizens at Punta Banda, which is a few miles from the Punta Brava site, were evicted after being caught in the middle of a coastal property dispute between a communal landholding group and private owners. They were forcibly removed from their homes when the land was restored to the private landowners.
The secretary said he is well aware of the tough economic climate. He noted that 18 developments between Tijuana and Ensenada have been halted for financial reasons.
But Escobedo said he is confident Punta Brava, which is expected to be permitted within a few weeks, will succeed and bring a new class of high-end tourism to the region as owners invite friends and business partners to play golf. He said he believes the current crime wave, which his office has blamed for as much as a 70 percent drop in visitors across the Mexican state, will pass and that tourism will rebound. “This golf course has the potential of putting Baja California on the map as a worldwide golf destination,” Escobedo said in an interview. “I don't see the current violence having a long-term impact. This is not the first time, nor the last, that Mexico goes through a crisis.”

Mexican Pacific Coast Tourism Project to Outshine Cancún

By Barnard R. Thompson

The Mexican government has announced a major new tourism development
that will stretch along the Pacific Ocean coast of southern Sinaloa –
a project that will ultimately be twice the size of Cancún. A master
planned tourist area to rival not just Cancún, but too the Riviera
Maya that runs along the shores of the Mexican Caribbean.

President Felipe Calderón, with officials from the Mexican
government's National Trust Fund for Tourism Development (Fondo
Nacional de Fomento al Turismo, or Fonatur), made the announcement at
the September 29 opening of the Fonatur sponsored Mexican Real Estate
and Tourism Investment Expo, in Mexico City.

Provisionally called the Pacific Coast Integrally Planned Center,
infrastructure work is scheduled to begin during the first half of
2009, with the final stage of the phased developments to be completed
by 2025. This in much the same way that other Fonatur master planned
seaside resorts, such as Cancún, Los Cabos, Ixtapa, Loreto and the
Bays of Huatulco, have been done.

The 5,884 acre [9.2 square miles] Pacific Coast CIP will be in the
midst of the Sinaloa National Wetlands, in part on the near 5,000
acre Rancho Las Cabras, owned by former Sinaloa governor Antonio
Toledo Corro. The area is 80 miles south of Mazatlán and west of the
Mexico Highway 15 town of Escuinapa, in the municipality of the same
name. On land between the Pacific Ocean and lagoons and marshes
known as the Laguna Agua Grande, the area will include 7.5 miles of
beaches between the villages of Isla del Bosque and Teacapán to the
south on the State of Nayarit border.

The coastal area is well known locally for its beauty and
tranquility. Slightly inland from the coast, the estuaries, lagoons
and mangrove stands are surrounded by palm and tropical flora filled
valleys, with a notable abundance of birds and migratory waterfowl.
Deer, mountain lions and peccary, among other animals, are found in
the area.

And fishing is big in the region, commercial fishing (and shrimp
farming), and of course sportfishing. Several species of protected
sea turtles come to area beaches, and at sea among the many species
found are billfish, humpback whales and white sharks.

Of historical significance, there are large oyster shell mounds near
Teacapán that experts say were harvested by indigenous peoples living
in the area as long as 4,000 years ago.

The investment by the Mexican government is to be around MX$5 billion
pesos [US$465 million as of September 29], according to President
Calderón (who made the announcement before the current worldwide
financial crises came to a head, and the anticipated cutbacks).
Calderón added that the aforementioned Mexican public sector
investment should spark another US$6.638 billion in private national
and international investments.

First stage construction costs will be some MX$1.5 billion [US$139
million as of 9/29], according to a Fonatur executive, that will be
applied to 988 acres. That first phase is scheduled for completion
in 2012.

The President went on to say that the mega-development will
ultimately create 78,000 direct and indirect jobs. He also said
estimates are that the Pacific Coast CIP will attract nearly 3
million tourists by the year 2025, and US$2.8 billion in foreign
exchange.

Once completed the overall complex is to include four golf courses;
two marinas for a total of 1,000 vessels; 44,200 hotel rooms (hotels,
condominiums, etc.); a five mile beachfront walk; and a light
railway. Plus the possibility of a new airport is in the offing (or
the small airport at Teacapán could be expanded).

Based on what has been learned from other CIPs, such as Cancún,
hotels will not be allowed right on the beach. The required buffer
zone will be 300 meters. Hotels will also have a maximum height
limit of four stories.

Urban zones and shopping areas will integrate open space shielded by
law against construction, as will cultural centers and convention
facilities.

Emphasis will be placed on nature and the environment, with 25
percent of the total 5,884 acres dedicated as natural protected
areas, acreage that must be devoid of development. Furthermore, 109
acres of the surrounding wetland environs will be kept intact.
Regarding the lagoon and marsh areas, visitors will be able to enjoy
ecotourism activities via a series of canals and pathways.

As well, Pacific Coast CIP developments will have to meet marine and
land area environmental standards and requisites that are included in
the 2006 Marine Ecological Ordinance of the Gulf of California
Program.

For workers, at least 5,000 homes will be built, along with schools,
hospitals and facilities for needed community services.

Water will be provided through three separate systems, wastewater
treatment plants will be built, and each hotel will have to install
not only rainwater catchment receptacles, but too separate systems
for rain and wastewater drainage and control.

On an interconnected regional basis, highway improvements are planned
for the stretch of Highway 15 from Mazatlán south to Tepic, Nayarit
(and on to Tequila and Guadalajara; or southwest to the Bahía de
Banderas-Compostela Tourist Corridor and Puerto Vallarta). Too, the
road inland from Mazatlán to Durango is to be improved, all arteries
that will give area visitors, among others, easier access to tourist
and cultural sites, neighboring cities, mountain regions,
archeological zones, and indigenous communities.

And finally, for ocean going visitors, the Pacific Coast CIP is to be
in harmony with Fonatur's Sea of Cortez Plan, the system of Transient
Marinas, and the so-called Nautical Staircase.

——————————

Barnard Thompson, editor of MexiData.info, has spent 50 years in
Mexico and Latin America, providing multinational clients with
actionable intelligence; country and political risk reporting and
analysis; and business, lobbying, and problem resolution services

GUSTAVO TORRES
www.remax-baja.com
1-866-588-2252

Flow to river channel to drop; irrigation uses seen

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 26, 2008

TIJUANA – It sits on a hillside miles from San Diego, rising above tightly packed colonias in Tijuana's fast-growing eastern end. Despite its distance from the border, the new Monte de Los Olivos sewage treatment plant has been drawing applause in California.
Expected to begin operation within a month, the $9 million plant will at full capacity treat the waste of some 265,000 residents to a tertiary level, clean enough for irrigation. Together with a smaller but similar plant, La Morita, set to open this year, Monte de Los Olivos will dramatically decrease the flow of untreated sewage down the Tijuana River channel that leads to the border.

The operation of the two plants also will relieve Tijuana's main sewage treatment plant, the over-burdened Punta Bandera facility south of Playas de Tijuana. By the middle of next year, officials hope the operation of the new plants will largely eliminate the coastal discharges of untreated sewage at Punta Bandera.

“This project puts Baja California at the vanguard of sewage treatment in Mexico,” Baja California Gov. José Guadalupe Osuna Millán told a crowd of more than 300 gathered for yesterday's inauguration ceremony at Monte de los Olivos.

The plant's opening marks the first step in an ambitious state-led reclamation project for Tijuana that will take years to develop. The city's 1.4 million residents look to piped-in water from the Colorado River to meet more than 90 percent of their water needs, and the state has been hard-pressed to expand the region's supply.

By using treated water for irrigation and industry, the state hopes to save the Colorado River water for residential and commercial purposes. But before they can proceed, they need to build a network of pipes to deliver the reclaimed water, and find enough users.

No one disputes that the plants at Monte de los Olivos and La Morita, which will treat sewage in the Tijuana River watershed, represent a major step forward for the city. Financing for the two plants, along with a third scheduled to open next year in southern Tijuana, is through a low-interest loan from the Japanese government and Mexico's federal government. The builder is a Mexico City-based company named Fypasa.

Initially, only 10 percent of Monte de los Olivos' output capacity will be used for reclamation, said Hernando Duran, head of the state public service commission in Tijuana, known as CESPT. The state is setting up a system that will pipe any of the unused treated effluent for discharge into the Pacific Ocean south of Punta Bandera.
“While the system is designed, it's not fully ready,” Romo said. “Overall, it's a very good sign, but people should not expect results by tomorrow.”

Within four years, Duran said the hope is to be using at least three-fourths of Monte de los Olivos' capacity in reclamation projects. Beyond that, the state is also studying the possibility of piping some of the reclaimed water to a point above Tijuana's RodrNguez Dam, allowing it to filter through into the reservoir.

“They deserve a huge amount of credit for what they've done,” said Bart Christensen, senior engineer with California's State Water Resources Control Board, and his agency's border coordinator. “They have the same goals as San Diego, but they don't have the resources San Diego has. They have to be really creative to get their infrastructure implemented in Tijuana. This really demonstrates Mexico's commitment to addressing their own waste water infrastructure needs.”

Despite progress, Tijuana's sewage flow continues to exceed the city's treatment capacity. Cross-border sewage spills have for decades been a contentious issue, as incidents in the Tijuana River basin are likely to be felt across the border in the Tijuana River estuary in Imperial Beach. Though dry weather flows have largely been eliminated, cross-border sewage flows during wet weather continue to shut down South Bay beaches.

Monte de los Olivos “is a critical facility that's necessary to meet Tijuana's waste water treatment needs today and in the future,” said Su Cox, an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has been working closely with CESPT on a plan to connect an additional 34,000 residents in eastern Tijuana to the sewer system.

“The thing that's great about this is that it addresses environmental health and public health needs on both sides of the border.”

Highlights
Cost: The $9 million Monte de los Olivos plant will treat sewage from about 265,000 residents in eastern Tijuana.

Irrigation: The plant launches a major reuse project for Tijuana, and officials are installing pipes to distribute the water to green areas. Most of the flow will initially be discharged into the ocean.

Coastal discharge: The plant provides relief for the overburdened coastal Punta Bandera plant. Together with future La Morita plant and new sewage collection projects, the coastal discharge of untreated sewage from the Punta Bandera plant is near an end.

Cross-border: Cross-border sewage flows in wet weather will continue, but the concentration of sewage in those flows is expected to decrease.

Other projects: A third sewage treatment plant in southern Tijuana, a desalination plant in Ensenada that will produce 5.7 million gallons of water a day, and expansion of the Colorado River aqueduct.

www.bajainvestment.com

Tiger Woods finds a way to keep busy

Since he can't play on a golf course right now, he's trying to design one instead.
Bill Dwyre
October 8, 2008
Tiger Woods had a circular stick in his hand in Southern California again Tuesday and waggled it confidently as he stood over a golf course.

It is not what you think. Tiger is not back, not quite yet.

The knee injury that will be forever etched in our memory as the focal point of his courageous and dramatic playoff victory on that Monday in June at Torrey Pines is still healing. He said his timetable for returning to the PGA Tour is still uncertain. He had surgery shortly after the U.S. Open.

"I can walk, the knee is good, we are right on schedule," he said. "There is no pain, and the work is on strength and mobility."

Well, no pain until the daily rehabilitation begins.

"Oh, man."

He rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"There is lots of work, hours a day. Man."

But it is the very nature of Eldrick Woods to be a tiger about staying busy, even while doctors are keeping him off the golf course. That's why he was here Tuesday. This was Tiger Woods, designer, rather than Tiger Woods, best golfer in the universe.

In a fancy room at a swank hotel -- the room filled with investment, developer and public relations types all dressed elegantly and a scattering of the opposite (also known as the media) -- Woods announced details about his part-time job.

He has designed a golf course on a spectacular piece of land along the Pacific Ocean, just south of Ensenada and about 70 miles south of San Diego. It is called Punta Brava (Wild Point), and is a $100-million project financed by entrepreneur and former NFL and NBA owner Red McCombs.

McCombs, in attendance, said, "When this was brought to me, I wasn't especially turned on. Then, they told me there was a good chance that Tiger would be involved. I said, forget it. It's over. I'm in."

Woods took a display pointer, stood next to an artist's rendering of a proposed Punta Brava, to be completed in about three years, and described something that sounded like it could eventually become the Pebble Beach of Mexico. Pebble Beach of California, of course, is public. Punta Brava will not be.

Woods talked about the elevation on the seven-mile peninsula that dropped from a 1,200-foot mountain to 300-foot ledges for villas and homes that overlook a golf course near sea level. That course, Woods said, will have an ocean view from every tee, fairway and green.

"Now, if you go and hit it in the bushes or the junk," he said, "maybe not."

He said that 12 of the tees or greens are right on the water, that tee shots on eight of the holes will necessitate hitting over water, and No. 18, a Pebble-Beach-like par five dog-legging left with the ocean on the left, may not be as difficult as it looks.

"Some of you will reach it in two," he said, looking away from the media people.

After they had run a video, showing Tiger standing on top of the 1,200-foot mountain and looking out to the ocean, and had finished the description, it was hard not to dash to the sign-up line for a villa. One unconfirmed rumor had several AIG executives, now with more time on their hands than Tiger, set to buy.

Designer Woods said he has purposely gone slowly in this aspect of his career.

"I told myself I would play on every continent before I started designing," he said. "I guess I have missed the Antarctica Four Ball, but otherwise, I've done it.

"I felt I owed that to myself and to the people who will play the courses to have as much experience as I can. I've talked to all the people who have done this. I've learned a lot, thought a lot about it, used the experiences I've had as a player.

"That's why Jack is so successful [at course design]. He was a cerebral player."

Player Woods said the doctors won't let him start swinging the club until January.

"I can't rotate the knee until then," he said, adding that his ideal would be to play one or two events before the Masters in mid-April.

"You just can't tell, once you start back, about things like swelling and soreness," he said. "That can set you back."

Once he gets back, there is little question that we will see more of the same fire and grit he used to fight his way down those Torrey Pines fairways that June Monday afternoon.

"I was supposed to go to Mexico on a site visit for this that day," he said, "But I was busy."

Indeed. Rocco Mediate and millions more remember.

www.bajainvestment.com

Dylan Southworth wins 4th circuit of Las Americas Pro Am

Isaac Avila Cegobiano

Dylan Southworth : photo Isaac Avila Cegobiano

Copas Las Americas Stop #4

Dylan Southworth wins the 4th cup circuit of Las Americas Pro Am > Espanol abajo

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 September, 2008 : - - The local Sayulita Dylan Sourthworth was the fourth stop in Rosarito, BC. Dylan has to be #1 in the Copas Las Americas, now, for sure, he won the Nationals first place in Nexpa as well as in Cabo San Lucas in junior category, he is #2 in the Alas Latin Tour, he ended up #11 in the World Juniors. He only just turned 18 in July.

Sunday 14

With a clear day and a pleasant sun, Playas de Rosarito showed him to surfers with its good climate that we are welcome to this pleasant Mexican Tourist Destination, the waves had dropped slightly but maintained their good form until he reached the wind and conditions varied a bit but that was not an excuse for the surfers who came to compete with everything at stake for $ 81000 pesos to distribute prize.

In this final because they saw the surfers arrived in half an hour that they gave these young surfers staged an electrifying final where more than 800 people who were on the beach appreciated applauding the actions of surfers. The winner of this fourth stop was Dylan who became the first surfer to win two stops of the circuit. Child Congratulations!

WINNERS SHORT BOARD

1. Dylan Southworth $ 30,000 pesos
2. José Manuel Trujillo 20,000 “
3. Abel Estopin 10,000 “
4. Christian Corzo 7,000 “
5. Heriberto Ramirez 5,000 “
6. Raúl Medina 1,000 “
7. Diego Cadena 1,000 ‘
8. Angelo Lozano 1,000 “

BODYBOARDS

This category ran 12 heats before reaching the finals stressing the current National champion Yolanda White, who was the only woman to compete in heats of these men, demonstrating their good level to enter the first heat and move up to the final where they faced Jonatan Lopez, who is her husband and father of the little Helio
At the end came

WINNERS BODYBOARDS

1. Jonatan Lopéz
2. Jonatan Jimenez
3. Jorge Lopéz
4. Yolanda Blanco

www.circuitosurfamericas.com

Espanol

El local de Sayulita Dylan Sourthworth se llevó la cuarta parada en Rosarito, B.C.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 September, 2008 : - - Gracias al decidido apoyo del Alcalde Municipal de Playas de Rosarito C.P. Hugo Torres Chabert la cuarta parada del circuito de surf copa las americas se llevo a cabo, en donde 32 competidores de tabla corta y tabla de cuerpo libre dierón el show durante dos días de competencías, en esta cuarta parada hubo algunos surfers de California.

Durante el día Viernes se pudo observar a los surfers entrenar en La Playa del muelle, a el torneo llegaron surfers de Oaxaca, Guerrero, Colima, Nayarit, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Baja California Sur y los anfitriones La B.C. afortunadamente para todos Playas de Rosarito le dio una gran bienvenida al circuito y lo recibió con olas de 3-5 pies con buena forma cosa que motivo a los surfers y durante este día Viernes pudimos verlos entrenar sacando aéreos y otras maniobras radicales.

Domingo 14

Con un día despejado y un agradable sol, Playas de Rosarito le mostraba a los surfers con su buen clima que somos bienvenidos a este agradable Destino Turístico Mexicano, las olas habían bajado un poco pero mantenían su buena forma hasta que llegó el viento y las condiciones variaron un poco pero eso no fue excusa para los surfers que entraron con todo a competir ya que estaban en juego $ 81,000 pesos a repartir en premios.

En esta final se pudo observar el porque estos surfers llegaron, en la media hora que se les dio estos jóvenes surfers protagonizaron una final electrizante en donde los mas de 800 gentes que hubo en la playa agradecían aplaudiendo las maniobras de los surfers. El ganador de esta cuarta parada fue Dylan quien se convierte en el primer surfer en ganar dos paradas del Circuito.¡¡¡ Enhorabuena niño!!!!

Tabla de Cuerpo

En esta categoría se corrieron 12 heats antes de llegar a la final destacando la actual campeona Nacional Yolanda Blanco quien fue la única mujer en competir en estos heats de hombres, demostrando su buen nivel al entrar en el primer heat e ir avanzando hasta llegar a la final en donde se enfrentó a Jonatan López quien es su esposo y papá de el pequeño Helio

A la final llegaron Jonatan Jiménez, Yolanda Blanco, Jorge López , Jonatan López. Quedando en primer lugar Jonatan López

Esta cuarta parada se llevo a cabo gracias a nuestros patrocinadores que hicierón posible que este torneo se llevara a cabo X Ayuntamiento de Playas de Rosarito, COTUCO, Quik Silver, Planeta Surf, Monster, Hotel Rosarito Beach, Newsurfersvillage.com.

www.circuitosurfamericas.com
www.bajainvestment.com

La Playa Motorcross

This NEW track is located just 10 minutes NORTH of downtown Rosarito Beach, Mexico, on the Toll Road K24 on the Hwy.
An incredible OCEAN VIEW track like no other!

Directions to the track:

From San Diego and LA: from Hwy 5 or 805 South, enter Tijuana, Mexico via San Ysidro. Follow the Rosarito-Ensenada TOLL-ROAD, look at the left at K24 on the Hwy (you'll see the track there, continue for about 1/2 mile, make a "U" turn at the RANCHO DEL MAR off ramp, going over the bridge, get on the Highway back to Tijuana, and Slow down for a VERY TECHNICAL exit.
The layout is the classic Outdoors MOTOCROSS Style.

www.bajainvestment.com

The Boys of Winter

Major League Baseball can often be very grueling and get tiresome after a while. Unlike football and basketball, which features a grand total of 98 regular season games combined, pro baseball players must endure through 162 of them. After this season is over, however, some players won't get a chance to catch their breath. Instead of sliding down the slopes of a mountain during their Winter off time, some ballplayers will continue to slide into second base.

Every year, the best athletes with ties to the Greater Antilles participate in a special sporting event known as the Caribbean World Series. It's a big event that attracts thousands of fans, and now for the first time ever scores of Latin athletes will be travelling to Mexicali to showcase their talent.

Political leaders from southern California and southern Arizona are thrilled that the games are going to be played close to home. They're expecting more than 15,000 fans to flock to neighboring cities and are already making the necessary accommodations in anticipation of the big series.

Bob Ingram with the Yuma Visitors Center says he expects about 2,000 rooms to fill up and believes the Desert Southwest's economy will benefit greatly as a result. "I think it'll be very beneficial for restaurants, museums and shopping centers," Ingram said. "It's our opportunity to show off Yuma."

Ingram isn't the only one who thinks that his city will improve economically, city leaders in San Luis and Calexico are projecting big gains as well and, needless to say, they're looking forward to February 2nd when the games officially kick off. In the meantime, however, the waiting game is on as preparations for the big day are still not quite complete.

www.bajainvestment.com

Baja Tourism Secretary Announces New Campaign

Oscar Escobedo Carignan, the Secretary of Tourism for the state of Baja California, Mexico, announces the implementation of a new campaign to promote tourism throughout the state of Baja. Rosarito artesan furniture event is part of initial campaign efforts.

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (PRWEB) August 24, 2008 -- In a statement issued in the just-released August/September issue of Baja Breeze magazine, Oscar Escobedo Carignan, the Secretary of Tourism for Baja California, Mexico, announced that the government is implementing a new promotional campaign to encourage tourism in the state of Baja.

Escobedo noted that this new effort has been designated as "do Baja". The initial campaign efforts are being launched primarily throughout Mexico and the United States, and focus on activities that are specific to Baja, such as gray whale-watching during their migration periods; sport-fishing; boating, bicycling, and off-road races; tours of the emerging Mexico wine country; historic tourism, featuring Spanish missions and exploration of prehistoric cave paintings, as well as the more traditional pastimes of shopping for silver, ceramic-ware and art, and native and handcrafted items from area artisans and regional Indian tribes.

The goal of "do Baja", says Escobedo, is to increase awareness of Baja's many destination locations, as well as to highlight opportunities for continued development in ecotourism, as well as the culinary, wine, olive oil and cheese industries. In addition, a special thrust will be made to promote conventions and meetings in Baja.

Among the first activities to be promoted as part of "do Baja" is Rosarito's Home & Furniture Expo, September 4-7, at the new Pabellon Rosarito Grande. This three-day extravaganza features vendors, a Tequila Show, wines from Baron Balche, and food festivals including Paella (Saturday, September 6) and Steak and Lobster (Sunday, September 7). The event is sponsored by AFAMARO, www.afamaro.com, a trade association formed recently in Rosarito Beach by manufacturers of fine and rustic furniture in wood and wrought iron, artisans and accessory dealers. Many of these vendors represent familial businesses that began decades ago in northern Baja and that have preserved a legacy of artesenal quality in the crafts and arts of Mexico.

Escobedo believes that what has been referred to as the 'Baja Bloom' is not over. He cites the fact that there are currently more than 100 residential and tourism developments under construction, comprised of approximately 23,000 condominiums and living units. He adds that Baja is the third most important destination for cruise line arrivals in Mexico, with more than 500,000 passengers arriving in the port of Ensenada, alone, this year.

www.bajainvestment.com

Binational group forms to address border issues. Inspections are among the chamber's concerns

By Janine Zúñiga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 14, 2008
SAN YSIDRO – The San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with all five Baja California border cities and with chambers of commerce from here to Calexico to create the Binational Chamber of Border Commerce.
The group will meet to tackle common issues that affect business on both sides of the border. Those issues, the group says, include inefficient border-crossing inspections and a lack of infrastructure.
Jason M-B Wells, San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce executive director and Binational Chamber of Border Commerce organizer, said the border business group can't sit idly by while politicians in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City decide what's best for ports of entry 3,000 miles away.
“We live this every day,” he said. “We know what works.”
Wells said the border between California and Baja California is home to the busiest land port of entry in the world, the second-busiest cargo crossing and the largest binational economy in the Western Hemisphere.
The group hopes its strength and single voice can help push initiatives to help speed up border-crossing times, such as putting in more “stacked” booths at San Ysidro.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is testing the idea, similar to a method used in checkout lines at some big-box stores, where two checkers help one lane of customers. Stacking has proved to reduce border wait times, the group said.
The binational group also wants at least one 24-hour lane at all California-Baja California ports of entry, and additional agents on both sides of the border where needed. The group also hopes border officials will stop conducting secondary inspections in primary inspection lanes. They said officers at various ports often spend too much time with one vehicle, when they should send it forward for further inspection to keep traffic flowing.
Wells also organized an association of business and community groups in recent months whose members were concerned with plans for a redesign of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. When plans last year showed the loss of a considerable amount of private property, the Smart Border Coalition got involved. The federal government has since reduced the amount of land it planned to take.
Wells said the coalition's efforts gave him the idea for the binational group.
“We realized that a lot of the issues aren't specific to just San Ysidro,” he said. “We had to look at our entire border and make sure we had binational buy-in.”
Wells said the Smart Border Coalition introduced the idea of a southbound pedestrian crossing on the east side of Interstate 5. He said it would help local businesses. The current southbound crossing, on the west side of I-5, diverts potential shoppers away from them.
He also said a southbound crossing near the trolley, also east of I-5, would make it more convenient for people who use the transit system to enter Mexico.
“We need both sides in agreement for how that should be,” said Wells, referring to having officials in the United States and Mexico working out the design of the new pedestrian crossing.
Wells said increased border-crossing wait times have grown to unacceptable levels. Businesses and the economy are hurt when half or two-thirds of a company's work force is a half hour to two hours late, or doesn't show up at all, he said. He said increased border wait times also have a detrimental effect on the number of trips tourists and shoppers make.
Construction on the San Ysidro Port of Entry is set to begin this month. More than 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians use the port daily to cross into the United States. Studies have pointed to an expected increase of the number of vehicles crossing of up to 70 percent by 2030.
The $577 million project will increase the number of lanes in each direction and is the federal government's largest border-crossing project.
Wells said many details on the San Ysidro redesign project aren't complete. He also said some projects such as the southbound pedestrian crossing are unfunded but included in the plans. He said the group will continue to push for improvements at all border crossings.
Members of the binational group from the United States include the chambers of commerce in San Ysidro, Calexico, Chula Vista and Tecate Community; the Imperial Valley and South County economic development corporations; and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
In Mexico, members include the chambers of commerce in Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexicali, Playas de Rosarito and Tecate.