Area is a haven for cyclists, but motorist conflicts, safety violations still frequent
Deanne Miller got a new bike for her birthday, an eggplant purple two-wheeler made by Diamond Back. For her inaugural ride, she and her four children, Kevin, 14, Kyle, 12, Allison, 9, and Timmy, 7, wheeled down to Lucky Donuts on State Street for a morning treat on the first day of summer.
"I don't think Los Altos is very bicycle friendly," Miller said. Allison's bike, a Diamond Back black Outlook, stood next to Timmy's Diamond Back silver Viper.
"Cars park in the bike lane on Los Altos Avenue. So, you're riding with your kids, and they have to go out into traffic to get around the parked car. It makes me really nervous," she said.
Brian McKie, 30, manager of Valley Cyclery in Los Altos and an experienced bicycle road racer, agrees that there are always problems riding in traffic. But he gives the city high marks for its attitude toward bicyclists.
"Los Altos is one of the more bike friendly towns," he said. "In Woodside you could actually get run off the road."
Just ask Los Altos resident Bob Pearl. Pearl, past president of Western Wheelers, a bicycle club with more than 900 members from San Francisco to Morgan Hill, likes local biking.
"Los Altos is one of our prime riding areas. It has all kinds of neat places to ride," he said.
But that's not true in other nearby areas.
"I've been up on Skyline Boulevard," he said, "the only thing on the road, and a car comes by, missing me by 6 inches and then gives me the finger."
His worst experience happened on Page Mill Road, one rainy September a few years ago, when he was riding with a friend.
"I stopped to wipe off the brake pads of my bicycle before going down a hill. A black pick-up truck stopped behind us. When we started down the hill, it pulled in front of me and the driver put on the brakes. He did it once, then went on and did it again."
Pearl had to swerve or run into the back of the truck. The pavement was slick. "I fell and broke my collar bone, and the truck took off and ran. I still remember the dogs barking in the back of the truck."
It takes common sense and politeness on both sides, from bicyclists and motorists, Pearl said. "Cyclists are so vulnerable."
The city of Los Altos wants to teach bicycle safety to both car drivers and bike riders. This spring the city received a grant from the El Camino Hospital District to fund a bicycle/pedestrian safety officer.
Matt Hartley, eight-year Los Altos police veteran, began the job as bicycle officer in April. His goal: to make the community safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
After two months of visiting schools and educating the community to safe biking, he began patrolling on his bicycle June 20 and issues warnings and citations to bicyclists and motorists.
"I've educated, given a card (with bicycle laws), and I will cite. I'm trying to work with the public, but we're heavily enforcing," Hartley said.
The most common trouble he spotted his first day involved stop signs.
"We saw 11 violations (bicyclists running stop signs) in 30 minutes. It was primarily adults - just four juveniles.
"Bicycles are a vehicle," he said, "and must obey the laws of the road."
Kevin Shluker, 19, bikes to work every day in Los Altos to the Daily Grind on State Street and worries about motorists who don't obey the laws of the road.
"I avoid Main Street between First and Third streets," Shluker said. "Motorists make U-turns from one side of the street to the other to park. Chances are, I'd get run over immediately if I didn't know the town and know to avoid that section of Main Street."
Hartley cited a motorist June 22 on Main Street for a U-turn. These maneuvers are dangerous because motorists may not see cyclists.
"You'll see a car cut off a bicyclist. You'll see a bicyclist whack the side of the car," Hartley said.
Hartley offers some tips for safe riding: wear a helmet (required by law for cyclists up to age 18), ride on the left side of the road, obey stop signs and traffic lights.
Bicycle safety is important to Los Altos, and Hartley's work confirms that.
"I think it's a great program," he said. "Ours adds a flair because of the education aspect."