Good to see you outside, Fresno. Now obey social distancing or parks could close, too
More dogs got walked last weekend in Fresno and Clovis, I’ll wager, than over any weekend in years.
More people jogged through their neighborhoods. More families went out for bike rides, or piled into the car for a trip to Woodward Park.
This at a time when all of us are supposed to be staying home, by order of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, to help slow the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
Newsom’s edict permits outdoor exercise as long as there’s social distancing, and the benefits of walking, running and cycling are extolled by every doctor and health expert. I wrote about this very topic a few days ago.
However, there’s a growing sense these two ideas may not be congruous. At least not in some places. Woodward Park, for example, was as crowded last weekend as I’ve ever seen it without some music festival or large event going on.
Parking lots were crammed as hundreds took advantage of the lack of entry fees. So many that, at certain pinch points within the 300-acre park, it was nearly impossible to maintain a 6-foot separation from others. Some people acted like it was up to you to stay out of their way. Others were completely clueless.
If this keeps up, I can see the city of Fresno having no choice but to shut the gates to Woodward Park and others. (Update: The parking lots at Woodward Park, Roeding Park and all city-owned parks will close effective Wednesday, March 25.) Same goes for Fresno County and its parks. On Monday, Newsom ordered the closure of all parking lots at state parks and state beaches. In the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego, municipalities already started taking these steps to protect their public spaces from becoming overcrowded.
We could very easily be next.
More smiling and waving
The coronavirus pandemic has upended our lives, but it’s the little things you notice when out and about.
How more people smile and wave when passing each other on the sidewalk or a bike path. How no one wants to push the button at traffic signals. I saw one guy use the bottom of his water bottle. I saw a mother shepherding three kids use her elbow.
Speaking of elbows, one guy tried to give me one of those pandemic-approved elbow bumps (from a distance of 15 feet) after I stepped out of his and his wife’s way on the sidewalk near Buchanan High. I didn’t return the gesture, only because it was so foreign. Just smiled and nodded like a doofus.
There are definitely more people venturing out, some for the first time.
At Sycamore Island Park (which is officially closed and practically deserted), I got stopped twice for directions. Once by a shirtless guy on a mountain bike wearing a golf visor and sunglasses to ask if I had a pump. His rear tire was low.
I did and handed it to him using a paper towel.
“Does this just keep going and going?” he asked while gesturing upstream.
I assumed he meant the dirt road we were riding on and not the San Joaquin River, which does keep going and going provided you can surmount Friant Dam.
“It goes almost to Highway 41, and there’s a trail that connects to Wildwood Native Park,” I responded. “From there you can get to the back entrance of Woodward Park by riding across the old 41 bridge.”
Wading the San Joaquin River
Then it was my turn for questions.
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
He gestured across the river to the gravel haul road that starts from behind the Park Place Shopping Center at Palm and Nees avenues — the same road many access-starved Fresnans take to get down to the river.
“How deep was the water?” I asked, knowing there’s no bridge for miles in either direction.
“Almost up to my cell phone,” he replied with a grin while pointing to the front pocket of his cargo shorts.
I’m pretty certain this guy would’ve rather spent his Sunday afternoon swinging golf clubs than wading across a river with his mountain bike. Still, good for him for getting out.
Unlike the hordes at Woodward Park, at least he found a place where social distancing happens naturally.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
