Latest ‘Bike the Boulevard’ comes to El Cajon Boulevard Dec. 8

By Monica Garske | SDUN Reporter

Thanks to the ongoing organizing efforts of the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association (BIA), dozens of bicyclists will hit the streets Saturday, Dec. 8 for a quirky quarterly event known as “Bike the Boulevard.”

For the past two years, the BIA has hosted eight group bike rides along El Cajon Boulevard.

BIA Marketing Director Beryl Forman said the free rides are designed to bring Uptown locals together while highlighting unique El Cajon Boulevard businesses along the way.

Each Bike the Boulevard ride, she said, typically includes several pit stops at small businesses where participants can take a break from biking and enjoy special deals, treats and activities hosted by shops and eateries.

“It’s a three- to four-mile bike ride, but it’s really about stopping at these businesses for an hour at a time and getting to know the owners,” Forman said. “I always say these rides are like getting a key to El Cajon Boulevard because a lot of times these [participating] businesses open just for us [during the event].”

Forman said the Dec. 8 trek marks two years since the Bike the Boulevard rides began, and came about after she spoke with the owners of Live Wire bar, located at 2103 El Cajon Boulevard, about ways to become more involved in community activities.

From there, it grew to a quarterly event that Forman said includes 60 to 70 bicyclists each time, and gives locals a new way to explore the expansive Boulevard.

“El Cajon Boulevard is so long and wide. This is a great, easy way to see it, especially those little clusters of businesses that are constantly growing,” she said.

In each ride, different Boulevard businesses are showcased. The Dec. 8 event, for instance, begins at Live Wire at noon with happy-hour specials, free bike services and balloon art until about 1:50 p.m. From there, the ride heads to the Media Arts Center at 2921 El Cajon Blvd. for a free backyard barbeque and a homebrewed beer demonstration.

At 3 p.m., the group pedals over to Soda Bar at 3615 El Cajon Blvd. for a “Streetfighter II” arcade game tournament.

By 4 p.m., the ride will wrap at College Billiards, located at 5303 El Cajon Blvd., which is hosting a “Billiards for the Brave” trick shots demonstration as part of a fundraiser for veterans.

“It’s a party at every stop,” Forman said. “The business owners are all excited to be a part of it and host their own specials. Sometimes it’s a free barbeque; sometimes there’s live music. Once the Media Arts Center hosted a series of short films about bicycling. It varies a lot and is up to them.”

Forman said some rides have even included pit stops at joint-use parks along the route, where participants have hopped off their bikes to play a light-hearted game of kickball.

The rides also include prizes, usually awarded at the end.

Forman said she likes to play a mobile poker game throughout the ride, in which she hands out a random playing card to each participant at every stop. Whoever has the best poker hand at the end wins a prize.

Anyone who would like to join the latest Bike the Boulevard ride is encouraged to do so by meeting at noon on Dec. 8 at Live Wire. From there, Forman said she will happily lead the way.

For more information about this and other events planned by the BIA, including details on “Boulevard Nights,” a community block party scheduled for Dec. 14, visit theboulevard.org.