SPECIAL REPORT: Yuma’s bike scene heats up
News 11's Chennell Ramos showcases Yuma's bike culture scene. The bikes, the creativity, and the people who make it all happen.
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - You’ve probably seen them around town, bike groups pedaling their way all across the city.
Bikes, bicicletas, cruisers, low-riders, whatever you want to call them, they are taking over the streets of Yuma.
COVID came and stalled the world.
For many, outdoor activities served as a refuge. Cue the resurgence of bikes.
For Maribel Lopez, who is a part of Gorditas BMX bike crew said, “It wasn’t until a couple of years ago when COVID hit there wasn’t nothing really a lot to do outside."
Lopez and her friends started riding for fun and said, “Then we ran into these people and we were like whoa, we love this, and ever since then we’ve never stopped.”
These people were other bike groups who formed Yuma Bike Life.
Cynthia Chavez is known within this special community and serves as an organizer and rallies various bike crews for rides and events.
To Chavez, this hobby she fell in love with quickly evolved into a passion project.
Chavez said that Yuma Bike Life is, “Somewhat of an association. You have a group of several different types of clubs or groups, in general, that ride together and we form kind of like a bigger group and that becomes the Yuma bike life.”
A longtime staple in the Latino community, bikes have been intertwined in the Latino culture for decades from East L.A. to San Diego and recently more visible in Yuma.
Bike life runs deep and here in the Desert Southwest it's so much more.
According to Chavez, “Simple, it’s just family."
Chavez said they build bonds.
"Bike life is another way of describing people who are not blood but still, you ride with them. You spend a lot of time with them, otherwise, would not meet these people in different surroundings. So this has brought unity and a bond through people who wouldn’t even interact with each other," explained Chavez.
The bikes serve as the common thread of the culture, they're majestic, modified, and they tell a story.
Mike Lucero interacts with bikes at Mr.B’s mall location and said the cost for customized bikes can wildly vary.
“It just depends on how much money you want to spend and how much time you have and how much room you have for more bikes, cause once you do one, you’re gonna wanna do more than one," explained Lucero.
Customized from back to front, these bikes are masterpieces.
They are chromed out, with candy-coated paint jobs, wheels, and spokes. If you can dream it up you can have the wheels of your dreams.
Lucero said when it comes to building, and creating a bike, “It’s usually like a theme when it comes to the bicycle or they have a colorway they’re trying to try and match up, like an outfit. Sky is the limit.”
Bike Life in Yuma is also about community, service, and outreach.
Chavez said Yuma bike life, “in other ways that we give back, our riders our community reach out to us for whatever reason. Whether it be fundraisers for the community we involve ourselves deeply in all of that stuff, Humane Society, the Mission, when it comes to food donation, clothes, you name it. We give back in any that we can.”
According to Statista, in one year, the bike industry globally saw an increase from $6 billion to $8.2 billion spent on bicycles and accessories in 2021 during the height of COVID.
Although the pandemic is in our rearview. The need for recreation fostered a resurgence of bikes in Yuma.
And from the looks of it, they are here to stay.
Maribel Lopez wants others to know, “Get yourself a bike if you haven’t gotten yourself a bike. Get out and ride.”
Yuma bike life gathers at various parks and locations throughout Yuma during the weekdays.
