Costa Mesa community ride to salute safe street projects, honor city’s fallen bicyclists
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A community bike ride in Costa Mesa Sunday will be part celebration, part somber reflection as officials, cycling enthusiasts and residents recognize the city’s effort in creating safer streets while reflecting on lives lost in local collisions involving bicyclists.
Hosted by District 5 Councilmember Arlis Reynolds, the 10-mile route (with a 5-mile option) kicks off at Costa Mesa City Hall at 2:30 p.m. and takes riders along a circuit with stops designed to showcase recent infrastructure improvements, including bike lanes and other safety features.
Other stops will allow participants to reflect on those who lost their lives in collisions while cycling on the city’s roadways — part of a Nov. 16 World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims being recognized in cities across the nation.
Riders, for instance, will pause at the juncture of Arlington Drive and Junipero drives near TeWinkle Park, where on Dec. 6, 2020, 12-year-old Noel Bascon was killed by a DUI driver while biking with his father.
The inaugural event, which begins outside City Hall at 1:30 p.m. and includes remarks from local officials and safe streets advocates starting at 2 p.m., aims to create a space for people to connect with one another and learn more about initiatives being undertaken by the city, as well as efforts being made at the state and national levels, Reynolds said Wednesday.
“My goal is bringing people together who’ve been part of, and want to be part of, the safe streets movement in Costa Mesa,” she added. “I want people to know we’re taking this seriously, and we’re doing projects that improve safety.”
To foster conversations and collaboration among local citizens and organizations, Sunday’s ride will conclude with a community meal at Fairview Community Church, beginning at around 4 p.m.
A longtime safe streets advocate, Reynolds had known about the global day of remembrance but was inspired to mark the occasion this year after learning about an Oct. 20 collision on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach in which a trio of cyclists was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
Two men were hospitalized while the third, Garden Grove pastor and father of four Eric Williams, died at the site. The Costa Mesa councilmember kept seeing news of the crash on social media, realizing she and Williams had friends in common.
“I thought it was an important time to remind ourselves and the public that this is a real public safety issue,” Reynolds said. “Let’s get folks together, start something small, get a flag in the ground and say we are part of a movement.”
Williams’ death also reverberated throughout the local cycling community, including the Reconnect Cycling Club, through which the pastor regularly participated in rides.
Reconnect founder and Huntington Beach cyclist Chris Capotosto began riding seriously during the pandemic and never looked back. Today, he helps organize group rides and is careful about picking the safest routes but realizes not every rider has that option.
About a week after the crash that took Williams’ life, another cyclist was critically injured on the Pacific Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. Capotosto said it was a wake-up call.
“It just raised eyebrows about, are we actually safe doing this?” he recalled Wednesday. “In both instances, cyclists were following the rules. I asked Arlis [Reynolds] ‘is any change happening?’ And she got back to me letting me know about this ride.”
Reconnect Cycling Club, along with Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets and the California nonprofit Streets for All, among other advocacy groups, will participate in Sunday’s ride.
The event begins at 1:30 p.m. at Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. Riders must sign waivers, available the day of the event or online at cmabs.org/events. For more on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, visit wdor-usa.org.
