The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Blue Skies and Desert Blooms - Palm Springs

February 21st to March 1st

Ride Director: Diana Trager
Ride Co-Director: Sue Bunten
Report by: Terri Bakke-Schultz

Palm Springs, the epicenter of the mid-century modern (MCM) architectural movement in the United States, was warm and sunny when 20 mid-century BAC members met to spend the last week of February cycling in California’s Coachella Valley. Diana Trager and Sue Bunten, trip leaders, planned a wonderful week of cycling and dining. The well-organized trip featured daily rides starting from base hotels in Palm Springs and La Quinta.

Our first day’s group ride was a “get to know Palm Springs” loop that featured the MCM homes that define Palm Springs, many of them owned by movie stars past and present. We rode by homes once lived in by Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Liberace, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Jack Benny, Cary Grant and others. The home Dinah Shore lived in is now owned by Leonardo Di Caprio. For those of us (i.e. the entire group) raised on the Ed Sullivan Show and countless other variety shows, it was a delightful step down memory lane to meander along downtown’s “Walk of Stars”, Palm Springs’s celebration of over 400  individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the arts, sports and community. So many names from 60s television!

Diana and Sue planned a variety of rides most days, so participants could choose a route that had special features and mileage that interested them. Much of the ride from Palm Springs south to La Quinta and back was on the amazing  CV Link, a 40-mile transportation and recreation trail designed as a safe route for walkers, runners, bikers or use low-speed electric vehicles like golf carts. With moderate distances and virtually no elevation, the route choices were perfect for those of us getting our first cycling miles of the year. Special sites that riders could enjoy on the different routes included the vast Sunnylands estate, the Desert International Horse Park, the Living Desert Museum and the Palm Springs Air Museum.

The days of riding out of La Quinta featured date shakes, polo grounds, and Indio, home of Sue Bunten’s fabulous fresh grapefruit juice bar on her back patio. One day we were shuttled up Hwy. 10 to the south entrance to Joshua Tree NP. Rather than ride into the park, though, we enjoyed a 20-mile descent down Box Canyon Road and before returning to La Quinta on a route that took us close to the Salton Sea.

Why am I recommending this bike tour?

·        Warm (at times HOT), sunny weather

·        Easy ride options for early season riding (1B rating)

·        Many great restaurants in both Palm Springs and La Quinta

·        Excellent ride leaders! Sue and Diana were friendly, thoughtful and organized. They did a super job planning routes and selecting the two hotels we were based at, as well as the restaurants we enjoyed for group dinners.  Happy hours were informative and fun. The box of dates was always full for stocking up for road snacks.

Keep your eyes on the BAC calendar for winter of 2027. If you’re lucky, Diana and Sue will lead this trip again. It was great!

Respectfully submitted by Terri Bakke-Schultz