• Wildomar Multi-Purpose Trail Bike Ride

Today there was a bike ride lead by KOA Corporation who is doing the bike lanes on Grand along with a multi-purpose trail.

It started out at city hall, headed west on Clinton Keith, then north on Grand and ended at Corydon... the proposed length of the project. There were about seven stops in between where some ideas about the project were tossed around.

We started with about 15 riders, including Public Works Director/City Engineer Dan York, several representatives from KOA and at least half a dozen residents including Planning Commissioner Chairman Veronica Langworthy.

Dan York is seen pointing as we regrouped after crossing Clinton Keith where the USA gas station is.

The first test was crossing over the freeway. I stayed on the sidewalk as often as I could, but the others maintained a single file in the street. It was a bit dicey crossing Hidden Springs Road due to the large Right Turn Only lane.

Crossing the freeway on the Clinton Keith overpass.

We made two quick stops before stopping at the corner of Clinton Keith and Grand, then headed towards David A Brown Middle School. That part of Grand is NOT bike friendly and I was on the edge as much as I could be. Still, cars were going by rather fast, though most seemed to be straddling the double yellow line.

The car bringing up the rear was being driven by Gary Andre as he was insuring the safety of the riders.

We stopped again just north of McVicker. What a beautiful site there was today, even with the unusual cloud cover. It was pointed out that this was near the original location of The Brown House.

This field is already in the development stages (that's why The Brown House was moved in the first place), though I haven't seen anything hit a Planning Commission meeting on it yet. Something tells me that Miss Miller may want to weigh in on the wild mustard losing its home... but that'll be for another day.

A view of the hills on the east side of Wildomar.

The timing was perfect for gauging the foot and bike traffic from the school. We Stopped there just as the day was over and the wave of kids crossing the street was something to behold. They had two crossing guards. One at the crosswalk, the other about 50 yards north allowing cars to get out of the parking lot. I'd heard how congested, and how crazy it can get there.

Before we got to Corydon, we'd lost at least half a dozen riders. Most that left decided to go straight home once they got to their area, but Kenny Mayes broke his chain. I was glad to make it to the end of the ride, but was also happy to hitch a ride in Kenny's truck back home.

I asked Dan York for a quote about the project:

I'm confident that we hired the most qualified team for this project. These guys have already demonstrated a lot [ideas for some] of the unique features [along this route], this is more than just painting a stripe on the street. They're paying attention to details like grates, bumps and widths of parking areas. I'm very impressed, I think it's been a good meeting and I'm glad that the public was able to participate. Both of these projects are funded through CMAQ which requires us to get state and federal approval before we can spend on the next steps.

You see a lot of things when not traveling by car. When we stopped near a flood canal area there were some RivCo workers doing some clean up and I happened to see a Sheridan for Congress sign. I tried to tell his camp it was a waste of time for him to run since California is gerrymandered to death, and nearly every seat is a safe seat... but did they listen?

Poor guy probably actually thought he had a chance too.

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Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. —H. G. Wells

Wildomar Rap would rather tape up a pant leg and risk looking like a dork, than have it get caught in an oily chain and have to explain how another pair of school pants were ruined.