Youth Who Bike: Dani

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Biking Monterey County

by Dani Heimer

I love riding my bike, and it’s something I have been doing for around 12 years. I have so many memories of riding to Lovers Point with my dad on the weekend and going to the Fisherman’s Wharf to try every single clam chowder sample.

As I got older and started to ride by myself, I realized how we could improve our county and make it easier for bike riders to get around. Even though we have the bike path that goes from Pacific Grove to Castroville, there are many places around Monterey County that aren’t easily accessible by way of bike. Especially the highways, such as Highway 218 and Highway 68, are not that bike friendly—even though, since they aren’t freeways, you can legally bike on them.

It is sometimes intimidating riding where there aren’t bike paths, even in town, and it would be so much easier if there were more bike paths around Monterey County. I think that by improving our infrastructure—including more bike racks too—it would encourage more people to ride bikes. I frequently see cars drifting into bike lanes (class 2), and it would be much safer if we added more bike paths (class 1) and protected bike lanes (class 4), especially class 4 lanes with a physical barrier.

What does Dani mean by those classes of bikeways? Click here for photos and definitions.

Below: Dani by some of the 110 new bicycle parking racks being installed in 2018 on West Broadway, in the Monterey Peninsula city of Seaside.

Riding bikes is not only fun, but a great way to reduce our carbon footprint and an exciting way to exercise. It’s nice to get out in nature and take a break from our chaotic world; it can truly affect our mindset and way of thinking in a positive way.

I know it’s not possible for everyone, but I encourage those who can to get on a bike and try it out as a mode of transportation in place of a car. If more people rode a bike even once a week instead of driving a car, it would make a huge difference in their personal lives and for the environment.

Scroll down for more posts of interest

to children, teens, and young adults.

Bike-and-ride options including Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) can be helpful, for example, at times when you didn’t bring bike lights because you hadn’t planned on night riding—you were just having too much fun, and the day got away from you! Unless it seems best to have a family member or friend to pick you up, check the MST schedule to see if you and your bike can catch a ride on the bus: http://mst.org/maps-schedules/overview/. (BTW, bicycles ride free with a paying passenger.)

A sampling of some

related posts on the

Bicycling Monterey website

• Back to the Books and Bikes: Tips for college students
• Kids biking to school: Elementary, middle, and high schools
• Children and teens growing up bikewise
• Salinas: East Market Street Safe Routes to School Project, including Protected Bike Lanes
• Monthly bike-ped meetings, open to the public: help improve infrastructure
• Monterey-Salinas Transit: What to do when bike racks on buses are full, or if there’s no rack on an MST trolley. Plus many more MST tips!
• June 1-Aug 31: Summer Youth Pass from Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST)
• Bicycle Culture and Youth—including “Beauty and the Bike”
• Bike Fashionistas
• Bicycle Riding Skills, Bike Safety, and CA Bicycle Laws–for Children, Teens, and Adults 
• Confused about bike laws?
• Natividad Medical Center employees to youth: “Bike! It’s health-building and fun! And first, clip this on…”
• Bicycling on Sidewalks: Misconceptions and Advisories. Also: Crosswalks, and “What Pedestrians and Bicyclists Want Each Other to Know”
• Biking Downtown Monterey: Sidewalk riding advisories
• Carmel and elsewhere: Sidewalk confusion abounds
• Local ordinances on sidewalk riding and more: Monterey County cities and unincorporated areas
• Trucks, buses, and other big vehicles sharing the road with bikes
• Street Harassment and Other Bullying: Ways to help stop it – resources in Spanish and English
• Monterey County Teens Bike: At high school bike championships and elsewhere
• Children Celebrate Cycling at the Sea Otter Classic
• Campfires and flat tires: The Warwick sisters on keeping up with Dad
• Bike the Bay: Santa Cruz County teens bike to Monterey County
• Salinas youth and others for bikes:  Bikes make life better
• Ciclovia Salinas youth internships
• Monterey Park Cycling: For South Salinas kids, “Your community is your classroom,” and you get to class by bike!
• Fleet & Family Support: Family Fun Day, including bicycling information and support
• Little Bellas
• Keeping the Local Bike Scene Cool: It’s a multi-pronged effort
• Castroville Library: A resource for people who bike
• Teach Teens Well: Monterey County’s first high school bike tech class
• Bike road skills classes for ages 14 and up
• Bike maintenance classes for ages 8-14 and up
• “Stay in Your Lane”
• Bicycling Monterey Audios
• Bicycling Monterey Videos
• Distracted? Watch out, we’re all family – with video
• Vids for Kids, and Adults; and Bicycle Infrasructure – with videos on taking the lane and on making a left turn
• Tips for dog lovers biking
• Team Bike Monterey County: Stickers, poster for Bike Month

For additional relevant info, check the Children, Teens, and Schools section of this website.