CoCo County Goes “Cuckoo” for Bike to Work Day

From once-a-year riders who dusted off their bicycles for the annual Bike to Work Day to dedicated, every-day bicyclists clad in bright yellow and orange spandex, Contra Costa County’s participants in Bike to Work Day 2008 on May 15 were hot but gung ho.

MTC staff writer Georgia Lambert, along with photographer Lawrence Migdale, visited Energizer Stations starting at a relatively cool 7 a.m. at the BART Pleasant Hill Transit Village, then continuing to BART Walnut Creek and the Iron Horse Trail near Whole Foods Market in Walnut Creek, where there were plenty of riders willing to tell their story, despite the rising heat. While our team didn’t make it to Bishop Randy Business Park in San Ramon, the Contra Costa Times reported that the Energizer Station there served 463 riders from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. — a record for that location compared to years past.

Interviews with Cyclists at Pleasant Hill BART Energizer Station

Bike lockers at the BART Pleasant Hill Transit Village make it a popular destination for cyclists. The energizer station was situated near the escalators and had a steady flow of riders, who could avail themselves of muffins, fruit, juice and water as they picked up their complimentary Bike to Work Day 2008 goody bags filled with an assortment of energy bars, leaflets and special offers.

Tony Almeida

Tony Almeida bicycles from his home in Walnut Creek to the Pleasant Hill BART, about a 20-minute ride, and stores his bike in the locker facility. He catches BART and rides to 16th and Mission in San Francisco, where he gets on another bike and rides 10 minutes to work. “It makes me feel good health-wise,” says Tony, who’s been doing the bicycle/BART/bicycle commute for about five years.

Ed Ostrowski

Ed Ostrowski of Pleasant Hill was riding his bicycle for exercise, enjoying Bike to Work Day, then returning home to take his two children, ages 2 and 4, to school. “Pleasant Hill really tries to take care of the roads, increasing safety – cars and bicycles seem to cooperate well. A clean shoulder is really important to bicyclists,” he said.

David Favello

David Favello is a dedicated cyclist who describes himself as a “goodwill ambassador” on his business card. He has a folding bicycle with a bucket attached to the side of the back wheel that he uses as a seat when BART is crowded. He said it comes in handy and he once offered the “bucket seat” to a woman in the advanced stages of pregnancy who boarded the train and had nowhere to sit. His magnanimous gesture prompted one of the people sitting in the seats set aside for the elderly and disabled to make a proper seat available to her. Dave uses a “Third Eye” mirror attached to his goggles that he says is so clear that he can read cars’ license plates in it. He lives less than a mile from BART and travels to San Francisco, where his 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. work hours make for an ideal commute, he said.

Sue Larsen

Once a year, Sue Larsen joins in the fun of Bike to Work Day. She lives in the Pleasant Hill Transit Village area and rides the Iron Horse Trail to the Walnut Creek/Alamo border before taking to the streets to complete her commute to work in San Ramon. “I’m 43 and I can still kick out 40 miles roundtrip,” she said proudly.

Nadav Ahituv

Proudly showing off his folding bike, Nadav Ahituv of Walnut Creek commutes daily on BART to the Civic Center/UCSF station, then rides through Golden Gate Park to work, taking a total of about 75 minutes. His three-year-old son is a frequent back-seat passenger on rides around Walnut Creek, he said.

David Pepper

David Pepper, a physician, enjoys a reverse commute, riding his bicycle three or four times a week to BART in Berkeley, exiting at Pleasant Hill, and cycling on to the Contra Costa Medical Center in Martinez. “The ride take about an hour,” said the youthful-looking doctor, who is 48. “It keeps me young and healthy; I just hate being in the car.”

N Reddy

Weather is the deciding factor when it comes to bicycling to work, said “N” Reddy, 30, who said he rides from his home in Pleasant Hill to Concord on “good sunshine” days.

Karen Edwards

Karen Edwards, 37, is a math teacher. She completes her commute from Berkeley to Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill in about 70 minutes. “I’ve never been a car commuter,” she said.

Robert Richards

A real estate agent, Robert Richards of Martinez has a home office, but rides his bicycle faithfully every Tuesday and Thursday to Pleasant Hill. He is 75 and has been bicycling regularly for the last 30 or 40 years, he said.

Keith Leung

Keith Leung, 23, cycles from his home in Danville to the Pleasant Hill BART, where he catches a train to Pittsburg and then bicycles on to work for a total commute time of 75 minutes. He said his employer, Criterion Catalyst, encourages employees to ride their bicycles to work and he has done so about six times so far in 2008.

Interviews with Cyclists at Walnut Creek BART Energizer Station

The Walnut Creek BART energizer station, located at the corner of Ygnacio Valley Road and California Street, counted 39 cyclists between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. on Bike to Work Day 2008. Cyclists who stopped by were treated to free bananas, water, t-shirts, Walnut Creek Open Space trail maps and Bike to Work Day bags packed with energy bars and informational flyers. Volunteers staffing the station included Bob Brittain, Gary Locke and Craig Hagelin of Walnut Creek. Craig is a member of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition and rides to the Pleasant Hill BART station, where he can utilize the bike lockers, and exits in Emeryville, where he catches the Emery Go-Round that takes him on to work.

Keala Meyer

Keala Meyer, 25, travels from her home in Oakland to the MacArthur BART station, exits at Walnut Creek, then cycles to John Muir Hospital. “I ride to work virtually every day,” she said. “It’s eco-friendly and I don’t have any road rage.”

Jason Holmberg

A resident of Albany, Jason Holmberg, 38, cycles to the Berkeley BART station and out to Walnut Creek for a 45-60 minute commute. He said he cycles for basic transportation and to help save the environment.

Dorothy McDonald

Bike to Work Day was the inspiration for Dorothy McDonald, 59, to cycle from her home in Walnut Creek to BART for the ride into Oakland.

Eric Latz and Alex Gloster

Eric Latz, 19, of Walnut Creek, and Alex Gloster, 18, of Berkeley, cycled from Eric’s home to the Walnut Creek BART station and were headed to work. Alex was using her Bike to Work Day bag from two years ago, showing she’s a veteran of the event.

Lauren Ottaviaro

Living only two miles from the Walnut Creek BART station, economics is the main reason Lauren Ottaviaro cycles to work. “I don’t have to pay for gas and I sold my car,” she said.

Interviews with Cyclists at Walnut Creek Whole Foods Energizer Station

Whole Foods Market in Walnut Creek, at the corner of Newell and Broadway, is situated right next to the Iron Horse Trail. The first three cyclists arrived at 5:45 a.m. By 9 a.m., 300 riders had availed themselves of energy beverages, water and/or Bike to Work Day bags, according to Whole Foods “team members” on duty (Dana Kim, Ben Kim, Kara Manning and Bismarck Vasquez).

Ray Ternstrom

Ray Ternstrom, 79, riding his low-slung bike with oversize plexiglass windshield, said he was out doing errands in Walnut Creek, where he resides.

Rich Slakoff

At age 65, Rich Slakoff of Walnut Creek said he enjoys the camaraderie when he rides his bicycle to Danville to meet with friends at Pascal’s. The 14-mile roundtrip also gives him some great exercise.

Rand Mahoney

Rand Mahoney rides his bicycle from his east Danville home to Shadelands in Walnut Creek, usually cycling one-way and driving the other because he also likes to run six miles three times a week. He said he’s been commuting by bicycle off and on for about a year, with trips taking about 53 minutes in the morning and 65 minutes in the evening.

Roy Sanger

Roy Sanger said he has frequently pedaled from his home in Concord to work at Abbey Carpet in Danville over the last three years. He cycles between 40 and 50 miles a day.

Frederick Gary II

Frederick Gary, 34, said he cycles from Pleasanton to Concord every Thursday. He works at the Institute on Aging and normally rides BART from Dublin/Pleasanton to the Embarcadero station, where he continues on to the Richmond district.

Barbara Little

Barbara Little rides her bicycle daily from home in Walnut Creek to the Walnut Creek BART and on to work in Oakland, often delaying her trip until after the peak hours so as to comply with rules for boarding the train with her bike. “It’s too bad we can’t get on BART all the time – it’s too crowded during commute hours and we aren’t allowed on,” she says.

Art Marchetti

An injury to his disc in 1995 inspired Art Marchetti of Walnut Creek to take up bicycling. He rides from his home in Rossmoor to Pleasant Hill for work about twice a week, when he doesn’t need a car for clients. “Bicycling energizes your life in so many ways – you feel so lively and energetic,” he said.

Scott Hughes

“For me, it’s actually almost faster to ride my bike than drive,” said Scott Hughes of Walnut Creek, who lives only 2-1/2 miles from work. He tows his son, 2-1/2, to daycare in a colorful trailer before work and usually cycles about five miles a day.

Denece Dodson

Riding for the first time this season, Denece Dodson dusted off her bicycle to participate in Bike to Work Day. She said she’s the only person in her office to ride a bike to work. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m 55 and proud of it!”

John Damiano

John Damiano, 51, said he works from home but was out enjoying a morning ride from San Ramon to Walnut Creek. His bike is decked out with a Garman GPS cycle computer that tells him exactly how far he’s ridden — it would be 25 miles by the time he rode home, he said.

Jonathan Heaps

As soon as he gets a job, Jonathan Heaps of Pleasant Hill will be riding his bicycle to work, he said. On Bike to Work Day, he was riding from Pleasant Hill to a Walnut Creek café, for both pleasure and exercise. He just graduated from North Park University in Chicago, where he could ride a single-speed bike because Illinois is so “flat.”

Erika Lindquist

A scientist at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Erika Lindquist, 44, takes time to ride her bicycle to work once a week from her home in Alameda. It takes her two hours and 20 minutes each way. “There are so many great bike trails — it’s a really nice ride,” she said.

Tom Enright

Bicycling to work for the first time on a workday, Tom Enright of Lafayette was toting a bag with a full change of clothes. His CPA firm, Goldstein Enright Accountancy Corporation in San Ramon, was having a post-season tax celebration, he said, and he wanted to have the right attire. He expected that the 14-mile trip would take him about 1-1/2 hours.

Mario Tosto and Heidi Sheldon

Mario Tosto and Heidi Sheldon met while riding up the Iron Horse trail on Bike to Work Day and struck up a conversation. Heidi, 45, was on her way to the Walnut Creek BART station to catch the train to North Berkeley, while Mario, 67, planned to do some shopping at the Apple store in Walnut Creek.

Dinah Katague-King

Sporting a hamburger bell on her bike that was given to her by her children for Mother’s Day, Dinah Katague-King was riding from her home in Walnut Creek to Pleasant Hill and back, running errands and enjoying the outdoors. “I just love the fresh air and exercise — it makes me feel younger,” she said.