Do you remember the Watsonville Open Streets event last May? Watsonville Pro Tem Felipe Hernandez (shown below to the right of Open Streets organizer Saskia Lucas) participated and loved it so much he now rides a bike to city hall meetings. He created a group called Bike Friendly Watsonville to improve conditions for cycling in his city.
Hernandez invites you to join him on a community bike ride this Saturday.
The Bike Friendly Watsonville Inaugural Community Ride begins 10 AM on Saturday, June 27, 2015 at the Second Street Cafe, 28 2nd Street, Watsonville, CA. This is just a block away from the Watsonville Transit Center served by Santa Cruz Metro and Monterey-Salinas Transit. I always either bike or ride the bus to Watsonville, so I have no idea what the car parking situation is like for downtown Watsonville.
Second Street Cafe is donating coffee and water for participants, and Yogurtland Watsonville will provide free yogurt coupons along the ride itself.
Traffic counts conducted by the Santa Cruz County Traffic Safety Coalition show downtown Watsonville with the highest pedestrian mode share in Santa Cruz County, with people on foot constituting around 20% of traffic. Bicycles around downtown Watsonville make up two to three percent of traffic in what can be a somewhat hostile environment for cyclists. I’m excited to see city leadership in Watsonville organize this event with the hope of creating a more bike-friendly Watsonville.
To learn more, visit:
- Bike Friendly Watsonville Facebook page.
- Facebook event page for this weekend’s community ride.
- A tip of the hat to Mari Lynch who let me know about this event and invites you to bike over the Pajaro River Bridge to check out the offerings in neighboring Monterey County.
- My buddy Karen Kefauver wrote about this event and Mr. Hernandez’s new-found cycling enthusiasm for the Sentinel.