California is a beautiful state, and many cyclists like to capitalize on the incredible scenery and weather by taking long rides. A bike route could be an opportunity for you and your loved ones to enjoy the outdoors together. Cycling can also prompt tourists to come into California and spend their money while exploring the state.
The state of California itself, as well as many municipalities, have invested substantially in the creation of bike lanes and biking paths. However, there are also federal programs that help establish new biking routes and encourage cycling.
The United States Bicycle Route System is a federal program that creates, upgrades and posts signage on bike routes around the country, typically by adding signage or lanes to existing roads. Their most recent announcements included the development of two new bike routes here in California.
There are now hundreds of more miles of official bicycling routes
The U.S. Bicycle Route System recently announced major progress and additions to its network of routes. The addition of 18 new bicycling routes includes routes in Indiana, Washington, Utah and Ohio in addition to the new paths in California. The California projects included improvement on existing paths and the creation of new routes.
The New U.S. Bicycle Route 66 runs for 329.8 miles and follows along the historic path of Route 66. The project also created U.S. Bicycle Route 95, which is 440.4 miles spanning from close to the Oregon border on to San Francisco, primarily tracing the path of U.S. Highway 101, taking cyclists through redwood forests on the way.
Those looking for an exhilarating and challenging trip will likely find that either of these routes will expose them to incredible scenery and also give them access to some wonderful communities around the state.
With more cyclists comes more awareness of cyclist safety
Cycling has become more popular than ever in the last few years, thanks to continued investment in programs like the U.S. Bicycle Route System. Although some people worry that the presence of more cyclists on the road made crowd bike paths or result in additional crashes, more cyclists inevitably also means more people concerned about bicycle safety.
