You can listen this story here, which includes a follow-up discussion between reporter Annelies Kuiper and Weekend News Anchor Robert Haydon:
The Morongo Basin has little to no infrastructure for bicycles even though over 130,000 Southern California commuters use a bicycle daily. While it is technically permitted to ride on the paved shoulders of Twentynine Palms Highway, there are no bike lanes and the shoulder varies in width, often disappearing.
According to calbike.org, CALTRANS is behind in their roadway maintenance projects, as only 215 miles of bikeways were included which is less than 8% of Caltrans’ 10-year bikeway target.
Recently, enthusiasts gathered in Yucca Valley to join Eric Linnert of Basin Bike Path on the first Bicycle Cafe bike ride. Most cyclists wore shorts and t-shirts, there were no racing bikes or fancy gear, just eager bicyclists, their faces shiny with recently applied sunscreen. When the last flat tires were fixed, all the cyclists pedaled off towards Old Woman Springs road and Sunnyslope Drive.
I drove West on Twentynine Palms Highway to the Bicycle Cafe of the day, Matson Ambroise Coffee Shop. The cyclists pedalled in via the back entrance to the coffee shop. Folks lined up to order hot or cold beverages before finding a spot to relax and recover from the approximately three mile bike ride. I managed to corner Eric Linnert for a quick interview:
Eric: “You know, our goal with that Basin Bike Path is to kind of emulate what is existing in Southern California. It’s a super successful idea, is just to follow the flood channels that exist. So, down in the lower desert, Coachella Valley, they have the CV Link, which is a 40-mile path that goes from Palm Springs all the way to Coachella, and so that is our precedent. That is our example that we want to strive for, and even here in the hi-desert in Yucca Valley, we have a county-maintained flood channel.
We rode just right by it, and it’s already maintained by the county as an access road. Technically, it’s off-limits, but I’ve seen people jogging on it, walking their pets on it, you know, on their ATVs on it. And so, I think that model is probably the most realistic and wouldn’t be that much of an effort, because, you know, everyone’s always like, well, who’s going to pay for this, right? So, that’s one angle, at least for that bigger idea of the greater Basin Bike Path, and then just in general, we need more bike lanes in our town, in our cities here.”
As a former resident of Amsterdam, the cyclist capital of the world where bicycle lanes and lights are part of every major road and intersection, I can vouch for the convenience of zipping around town on two wheels! It is Eric Linnert’s wish to have a bike path all along Highway 62 from Yucca Valley to Twentynine Palms, circling back through Joshua Tree National Park.
Eric intends to hold Basin Bike Path events and introduce different Bicycle Cafes across the Hi-Desert where enthusiasts can gather to proclaim their support for bicycle paths and end up at a community venue for eats, drinks and a good chinwag!
You can find more information on Instagram @basinbikepath and at basinbikepath.com.
