Local Links: Getting outdoors for a bike ride

With fall just around the corner, we're inching closer to more outdoor activities in the fresh air, and a bike rental company can't wait to see what's in store.

You can have a family gathering, a romantic ride, or bond with friends while taking a ride across the city of Palm Springs.

Bike Palm Springs Rentals and Tours is owned by Rocky Wood and Tony Torres. Torres said riding a bike is a great way to see the city, a healthy alternative, and ultimately a small carbon footprint.

The small business rents bikes and offers bike repairs to locals.

When the pandemic hit, businesses were forced to close, and travel dwindled. Bike Palm Springs was able to reopen as an essential business, but instead of rentals going out, it saw a flow of repairs coming in.

“Rentals fell way off due to the population, the Canadian population was no longer coming," said Wood. "But we had the service department went way up in volume. So it kind of offset.”

While it saw the increase in bike repairs, the money still wasn't flowing as well as it used to.

Luckily, the shop was able to get a $10,000 grant from the County of Riverside to help keep the lights on and keep things running.

When travel started picking up again as businesses reopened things started to look up.

“The hotels opened back up so we were busy months and weeks we were never before,” said Wood.

The rentals are now coming in at a faster speed. Once the weather starts to cool, the shop hopes things will be back to normal.

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