Vehicles pose risk to Mt. Diablo cyclists

At dawn’s first light at 6:15 a.m. this week at Mount Diablo, you could hit the road on your bike, watch the sunrise at 6:45 on your way up, and have curvy Summit Road to yourself most of the way, 24 miles round-trip.

At 8 a.m., rangers unlock the gates to Summit Road. At first, the arrival of cars is a trickle. By 10 a.m. the procession starts, and it can include tour buses or large RVs.

In one video circulating in the past month, posted at www.mountdiablocyclists.org, a bus nearly sideswipes four cyclists climbing up the hill, and then when crossing the double-yellow line, nearly hits three cyclists sailing down the hill in the oncoming lane.

The conflict is simple, all the players from cycling clubs and state parks, have long said: The lanes on Summit Road are 8 to 9 feet wide — with cyclists on the road, there’s not enough room when fast drivers or buses as wide as the lanes show up. State Parks recommends no RVs longer than 20 feet and that all buses have a pilot car.

Riding Summit Road at Mount Diablo State Park is considered a rite of passage for cyclists. An estimated 125,000 make the trip each year. The climb is a 5 percent grade most of the way, where you can climb in aerobic rhythm. Near the summit, there is short butt-kicker climb with a 10 to 15 percent grade, and, with the end in sight, this is when you pay.

Cycling clubs and State Parks have worked together to implement many changes to improve safety here. A few turnouts have been added where cyclists can safely move over to let vehicles pass. (But many more are needed, both will tell you.) On uphill lanes, signs say, “Do not pass bikes on blind curves,” and on downhill lanes, the signs say, “Avoid crash slow down.”

Summit Road is now striped with double-yellow lines for 17 miles. The law that requires vehicles to keep at least three feet from cyclists is designed to keep vehicles from entering oncoming lanes on curves and then risk running head-on into cyclists sailing downhill.

For now, the only way for a cyclist to guarantee the best safety is to be on the road at dawn and get most of the ride done before the gates open.