Ride Director: Diana Trager
Ride Co-Director: Sue Bunten
Report by: Lary Schiller
Our diverse group of 24 BACers arrived from across the country and beyond, including Canada. We gathered at Las Brisas Best Western Plus Motel in the heart of Palm Springs. Our enthusiastic and dynamic hosts were Diana Traeger and Sue Bunten. After welcome drinks and snacks, we introduced ourselves; collectively we had over 200 BAC tours under our belts. Sue, a part-time resident of nearby Indio, gave us an entertaining history of the Coachella Valley, situated between the imposing and partly snowcapped Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges. Our group dinner featured a bounteous Mexican dinner at a local restaurant.
Palm Springs is famous for its weather, scenic beauty, beautiful neighborhoods, and abundance of golf courses. Our opening ride was a nostalgic 23 mile ride that took us past homes of movie stars like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Lucy and Desi, Cary Grant, Elvis and Liberace to name a few, all marked on our GPS maps. Our ride continued past attractive mid-century modern homes. At Happy Hour, we gathered by the pool to review the ride to La Quinta, 41 miles south of Palm Springs.
The next morning, we loaded our luggage on the van and biked to La Quinta’s Embassy Suites. The weather was perfect for cycling, and we rode through lush golf courses and on streets named after celebrities and presidents. At the corner of Bob Hope and Dinah Shore, I didn’t know whether to break into song or crack a joke, so I just turned right. At Frank Sinatra, I just turned My Way. At the Embassy Suites in La Quinta, Sue enlightened us with the sad saga of the dying Salton Sea.
The next morning, we boarded a bus up to the General George Patton Museum where we began our ride downhill through colorful desert scrub and a fascinating box canyon, a geological wonder. and a view of the Salton Sea, and finally agricultural fields of peppers, carrots and date palms. For those of us on e-bikes, the extra power helped us finish the long, hot ride.
The highlight of the next day was the expansive Desert International Horse Park, where we watched skilled riders on beautiful horses practicing jumping. Shields Date Shakes was on the route for those willing to endure a longer ride in spite of the 90 degree heat. Sue entertained us at Happy Hour with a thorough history of In-N-Out Burger, started locally in 1948.
We welcomed cooler temperatures on our 44-mile ride back to Palm Springs, which took us through upscale neighborhoods, golf courses, and gated communities. We looked for Bighorn sheep who wander down from the mountains to feed on neighbors petunias. Most of us bypassed two hills and took a shortcut. Back at the BW Las Brisas, we had time to relax before Happy Hour at Lulu’s, where we enjoyed drinks and and enough appetizers that dinner wasn’t needed. Outside was the weekly Street Fair with food, crafts and buskers. The beautiful Palm Springs Museum was open admission free.
On our final 46-mile ride, we biked to the Coachella Valley Preserve Oasis. Where a docent explained the local geology and the significance of the Andreas Fault. We learned that in 23 million years, San Francisco will be a suburb of Los Angeles.
Apart from biking, many of us hiked the local canyons, visited Sunnylands gardens and home, visited the Air Museum or rode the famous Aerial Tram. Before our final dinner, we gathered for a group photo in front of the iconic 25 foot statue of Marilyn Monroe. Our final dinner was excellent and we said our goodbyes to our wonderful hosts and new and old friends.
Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org