Charting New Commuter Routes for Bike to Work Day

The heat was on last weekend, just in time to kick off the outdoor festival season. But instead of riding over to the A la Carte and Art festival in downtown Mountain View, Dick and I rode across town to REI to represent the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) at REI CycleFest. In addition to working with government and businesses for improved bike facilities, SVBC also provides education and encouragement for riders through programs like Safe Routes to School and Bike to Work Day, which is coming up this Thursday.

Bike to Work Day is the kickoff of the biking season for casual riders, who will dust off their bikes, pump up the tires and dig out a messenger bag for a bike commute to work. For people who ride every day, Bike to Work Day can lack excitement. It’s just another work commute, albeit with a few more riders out on the road and a chance to get a free muffin or banana along the way at an Energizer Station.

For Dick and me, REI Cyclefest was a perfect way to help people jumpstart their riding. The other booths had gear covered, so we spent most of our time pointing at the bike map talking about where to ride: efficient, low-traffic routes to work or stores and scenic, quiet routes for fun. About half the attendees were neighborhood and bike path only riders, while the rest were comfortable with on-street routes. All were looking for new options.

First it was a couple from East Palo Alto that was curious about riding across the bay on the Dumbarton Bridge. Then it was a double century rider looking for a cross-valley route to Mt Hamilton east of San Jose. Then a woman in her 70s who sees the Guadalupe River Trail from the freeway but can’t find a trail entrance. Then a teenage boy from Palo Alto who loves roam the gravel levees in the Baylands–how far they could take him?

For all the rhetoric about why people don’t ride, I think what limits cycling is how many nearby places there are where people feel comfortable riding. People love bikes, but if they don’t have a good route to work or school, or they have to load bikes on a car for every social ride, they won’t ride as much. It all starts with the route.

Do you find yourself doing same old rides? How do you find new routes or ideas for places to ride?

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Bike Rack FAIL: Hide and Seek on Castro Street

What good is bike parking if you can’t find it? I’ve visited this small retail plaza in downtown Mountain View for over 15 years. With no bike rack on the sidewalk out front, I’ve always locked up to a sign post or tree. The other day I stopped at the dry cleaners and found a bike rack, hidden behind the azaleas. I don’t think it’s new.

If the dry cleaners had an entrance was on Castro Street like the other shops, instead of only an entrance from the back parking lot, I would have never found the inconspicuous rack facing Church Street. Who knew?

The rack, big enough for six or more bikes, seemed fine at first glance.

One big problem: it’s impossible get in and out without walking through dirt.

After struggling to get past the other bike, the stairs were no big deal.

Location: Castro Street at Church Street, Mountain View, CA, USA.

 

Bike Path Revisited: The Little Trailer That Could

Remember those chicane fences on the Stevens Creek trail I wrote about a few months ago? I got a comment from Andrew who didn’t agree with my assessment that the fences were wide enough apart: “Try getting through these easily on a cargo bike,” he said. He has a point. I don’t have a cargo bike so I can’t say it works.

But I DO have a bike trailer, so I decided to test the trailhead fences on the way home from a Costco trip.

It was my first cargo grocery trip and I didn’t hold back at Costco, buying big and heavy items like toilet paper, dishwashing soap and bulk food items. Everything I would never dream of buying with just panniers.

I learned a lot more than whether the trailer could navigate the chicanes. I learned that an empty trailer is an unstable beast, that typical bike parking doesn’t work for trailers, that the angle of a curb cut can make or break you, and how hard it is to accelerate when you’re dragging 70 pounds of cargo. It was eight miles of hard work.

Did the trailer work on the chicane fences? Yes, much better than much of the ride.

To all you parents out there who haul kids and gear like this every day: you are truly amazing! Those eight short miles and four overpasses were more tiring than 40 miles of rolling terrain on my road bike.

Have you ever ridden a cargo bike or a bike with a trailer? What did you notice that was different?

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Bike Path SUCCESS! Bollard Be Gone

A round of applause for the City of San Jose! In less than a week after reporting this bike path hazard, poof! the bollard is gone. Kudos go to Yves Zsutty and his San Jose parks team who manage the city’s extensive trail network. They investigated it immediately, determined the bollard wasn’t needed, sent a removal crew out quickly and kept us informed at every step through twitter. That’s service! (And it’s not the first time either)

First you see it.

Now you don’t.

Thank you, City of San Jose, for the quick response!

Location: Guadalupe River Trail at Hwy 880, San Jose, California, USA.

 

Bike Path FAIL: Oh, Bollards!

They stand like sentries at trail entrances, guarding paths dedicated to people on foot or on bikes from the intrusion of motor vehicles. But bollards can be a hazard to more than cars when placed improperly, like this one that mysteriously appeared on the Guadalupe River Trail at the Hwy 880 undercrossing. Woe to the unsuspecting bicyclist rolling along at full speed who hits this iron guard standing in his or her path!

Why did they install that single bollard anyway? There’s a full set of bollards at the trail entrance 100 feet away.

As darkness falls, the yellow bollard fades into the yellow center line.

Even when you get close, the post is still hard to see. And where are the reflectors for night?

Location: Guadalupe River Trail at Hwy 880, San Jose, California, USA.

 

Bike Lane FAIL: Hack of a Bike Bridge in Sunnyvale

Little known fact: I have a degree in Computer Science and worked as a software developer for 12 years. It’s why I moved to Silicon Valley right after I graduated. As a software developer, I aspired to only create elegant solutions where the code flows naturally to meet the requirements for the software’s necessary functions.

As often as not, new requirements were thrown in after release that didn’t fit the existing structure. With no time to change the structure, I was forced to make a workaround, a kludge, a hack. It killed me every time because I knew that a kludge that solves the problem at hand has the potential to create bigger problems down the line.

Like this bike bridge, which provides a critical connection between Yahoo!, NetApp, Juniper Networks and Lockheed-Martin offices and their employees’ homes. A great idea, but it’s a hack in so many ways.

Yes, that’s a guard rail in the bike lane forcing you into traffic with a stop sign that drivers often blow through.

You know a hack is coming when they add warnings, like this solar-powered pedestrians ahead warning sign.

A soft hit post serves as warning for bikes coming down off the bridge. “Don’t roll into the road!”

Coming from the opposite direction, the bike lane ends with less drama.

It just disappears. Oh, and there’s another solar-powered pedestrians ahead warning sign.

You’re left sharing a narrow lane with cars and big trucks on a nominal 35 mph frontage road.

For the pedestrians coming off the bridge, it’s a crosswalk to nowhere. No sidewalks and steep curbs to boot.

What bothers me most about this bridge is the wide, unused lawn on the other side of the road. If this were a freeway project, that land would have been appropriated to make a better interchange. Sadly, cities often shoe-horn bike projects to save money and everyone–on bikes, on foot, and in cars–are stuck with a hack.

Location: Borregas Bike Bridge at Moffett Park Drive, Sunnyvale, California, USA.

 

Bike Lane FAIL: Construction for the America’s Cup

The America’s Cup is sailing into San Francisco this summer and the city is scrambling to get its waterfront ready. When Dick and I took our anniversary bay cruise on New Year’s Day we saw the preparations firsthand.

Construction spread from the piers across the sidewalk and into street. Since it was a holiday, no one was working and yet the bike lane was blocked needlessly. Couldn’t they move the signs closer to the curb before they went home? Such a small thing, but so considerate to the streams of people that ride there every day.

I was back in San Francisco the other week to meet with our ad agency and cruised the Embarcadero again. The workers were on duty, construction was in full swing, and the bike lanes were still out of order. And I was left wondering what the waterfront would look like after the America’s Cup sails away.

Same spot 3 weeks later. What are the bumpers for? A bikeshare corral?

I don’t mind bike lane closures so much when workers are on the job.

And I’m grateful when they clear the bike lane before they go home.

Location: The Embarcadero near Piers 9-29, San Francisco, California, USA.

 

Bike Rack FAIL: Bad Rack Redux at Hobee’s

First I complained about the rickety, useless bike rack at Hobee’s in Mountain View. Then I was (mostly) pleased to see they had installed a new rack. On Sunday, we discovered an ill-placed, immovable garbage can that blocks the walkway when bikes are parked. A complete FAIL that makes bikes look like the problem.

There’s barely room between the bikes and the garbage can for walkers, and no room for the family with a child in a wheelchair that walked up just as we finished locking the bikes. We slid the bikes over to let them pass.

The good news is that when I reported it to the manager, she came out and looked carefully at the situation and agreed it was a problem. Anyone willing to guess what their solution will be? Will they move the garbage can, move the bike rack or removed the rack completely?

At first glance, Hobbee’s new bike rack under their covered walkway seems to work well enough.

But it’s too close to the curb. Our front wheels barely fit the narrow space and were almost hitting the car bumpers.

If the garbage can weren’t sticking out from the corner of the building it wouldn’t be so bad.

Location: Hobbee’s on Central Expressway at Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, California, USA.

 

Law Enforcement FAIL: Red Light, Green Light

An incident this weekend reminded me of this letter I drafted last year but never sent. I really wish I had.

Dear City of Palo Alto,

I am angry that a Palo Alto police officer did not cite the driver who ran a red light and nearly hit me on my bike. I appreciate that the officer lectured her, but that’s not enough. We need law enforcement to crack down on careless drivers that threaten others, especially vulnerable people who are walking or bicycling.

I was on West Bayshore waiting to cross Oregon Expressway in the left traffic lane. When the signal turned green, I starting crossing. I saw that a driver approaching from my left was rolling through slowly instead of stopping, so I put a foot down and yelled: “What are you doing!! You have a red light!” and pointed at the signal.

She was halfway into the intersection and less than five feet from me when she stopped. As I rolled away, I saw a police car behind her and thought: “For once they’re here to see it.” I smiled when I saw his lights come on.

From the bottom of the bike bridge I saw that the cop had pulled her over. She gave him something, probably her license and registration. He talked to her. I waited and watched for almost 10 minutes. He didn’t write a citation or warning, and she drove away. I shook my head and pedaled to work.

What’s your experience with your local law enforcement as a bicycle rider? Have they been helpful in protecting you from aggressive or careless drivers? Or do they seem to have more sympathy for the drivers?

Location: Oregon Expressway at West Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, California. Streetview from my vantage point.

 

Crosswalk FAIL: Skyport Drive at Guadalupe Fwy

How many buttons do you have to push to cross under this freeway? How many minutes does the crossing take? This dull video goes on and on, just like crossing this road. It’s no surprise that everyone jaywalks here.

The crosswalk connects workers like me in nearby office towers to an entrance to the Guadalupe River Trail. Fortunately, there aren’t many scofflaw pedestrians. Since there aren’t any trail signs, few even know it’s there.

Location: Skyport Drive at the Guadalupe Freeway, San Jose.

Update: I contact the City of San Jose’s Bike and Pedestrian group within their Department of Transportation. They agreed that the crosswalk signal wasn’t timed well. Unfortunately, the State of California’s DOT regulates this particular intersection so they urged me to contact them. I’ll do it after they open tomorrow.