Illustration by Leigh Douglas

There is an appreciation that Santa Cruz cyclists have for rushing down and around hills littered throughout the county. Between beachside ocean views and sun-kissed streets, it’s easy to get lost in the blissful blur that whips beneath and behind a set of handlebars.

In a city that has become host to the Amgen bicycle tour, dozens of bike shops and hundreds of cyclists, Santa Cruz’s cycling community has never been stronger. But the appeal of throttling down the slopes from UC Santa Cruz or cutting through downtown traffic presents local cyclists with their own challenges of responsibility.

On March 29, Chris Bucherre allegedly sped through a San Francisco street intersection at 35 mph, crashing into and fatally injuring 71-year-old Sutchi Hui. The incident, which has sent ripples of discontent among perturbed pedestrians who experienced similar close encounters, casts a hard light on the privileges afforded to cyclists on the go.

There is no denying the harrowing incidents cyclists experience daily from motorized traffic — the U.S. Department of Transportation reported 618 cyclists killed last year and over 51,000 injured from collisions alone. But a sympathetic public demands that cyclicists should extend the same courtesy to pedestrians that drivers extend to cyclicists.

To that end, many local organizations, like the Santa Cruz County Cycling Club, strongly advise their members and other cycling enthusiasts to remain aware of the law.

In the city of Santa Cruz, for example, it is unlawful to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk. At UCSC, Transportation and Parking Services continues to encourage student cyclists to decelerate when heading down the winding paths that cut through campus.

In the interest of protecting pedestrians and cyclists alike, the city and campus should consider a number of projects.

For years now, members of People Power demanded that King Street be converted into a bicycle boulevard, reducing the number of cycling-related accidents along the parallel Mission Street. The county can also approve funding for expanding the bike lanes near schools, such as Calabasas Elementary, where parked cars force cyclists into the road or onto the sidewalk.

In a similar fashion, UCSC can help push better illumination or reflective surfacing along Empire Grade. The university has made no changes to the bike path, despite the deaths of two cyclists in recent years.

While the number of pedestrian injuries and deaths resulting from bicycle collisions are staggeringly lower than those of cyclist injuries and deaths from a car collision, cyclists are not exempt from observing the rules of the road.

If Santa Cruz’s cycling community expects a more bike-friendly city, it needs to keep its own cyclists in check. Bucherre’s negligence can either be a catalytic change for preventative measures or a monument in demonizing cyclists.

But with that revelation must come the temperament and discipline to obey traffic laws.

“The light turned yellow as I was approaching the intersection, but I was already way too committed to stop,” said Bucherre on an online forum. “The light turned red as I was cruising through the middle of the intersection and then, almost instantly, the southern crosswalk on Market and Castro filled up with people coming from both directions … I couldn’t see a line through the crowd and I couldn’t stop, so I laid it down and just plowed through the crowded crosswalk in the least-populated place I could find.”

Losing control of one’s speed on a bicycle can endanger the lives of cyclists and pedestrians alike. Bucherre should consider himself lucky that he is still alive and relatively unharmed.

Biker David Zabriskie (front left) narrowly defeated Michael Rodgers (front right) and Levi Leipheimer (back left) to win the Third Stage of the AMGEN Tour of California Tuesday. Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

Everyone from bike aficionados to casual observers packed the Beach Street finish line of the AMGEN Tour of California. The crowd of 20,000 people crammed into every available crevice behind the barricades, some even taking to the trees. All of them strained to get the best glimpse of the incoming riders.

In the third stage finish of the sixth annual AMGEN Tour of California race, professional cyclists rode 113 miles from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, finishing in front of the Boardwalk. In a photo finish, David Zabriskie came in first place with a time of four hours, 26 minutes and 10 seconds. Following on his wheels was Michael Rodgers and last year’s winner Levi Leipheimer, who finished third.

“Coming into the race, I was a bit unsure, but the feelings I had today were very good,” Zabriskie said. “Coming into Santa Cruz was beautiful, the sun came out [and] there was a big crowd.”

The tour rode into town for the second year in a row, and was highlighted by the participation of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

This year, there was a slight change of scenery. Instead of ending stage three of the race downtown, the finish line was moved to the area in front of the Boardwalk.

“It’s nice to finish in front of the Boardwalk, which is a really iconic figure for the town, and is a monument to our tourist heritage,” said Peter Koht, economic development coordinator of Santa Cruz.

The Boardwalk was one of several major sponsors of this year’s race, providing $185,000 of the total $245,000 it took to put on the event.

“The city’s commitment to this race, and why we’ve put so much effort into it, is to encourage more people to come to town — not only to enjoy our beaches, but also to enjoy our roads and our trails for biking,” Koht said.

Santa Cruz resident Dean Whiteman came out to watch the race and look at the various vendors selling the newest bike technology.

“Santa Cruz, for the last hundred years, has been a tourist destination for lots of people,” Whiteman said. “I want to see people bringing their kids into town, and just enjoying what we have to offer here. It’s a beautiful city and it’s a great place for people to come and visit.”

Jason McCrary, manager of the Ideal Bar and Grill on Beach Street, estimated that he saw a 50 percent increase in business from an average Tuesday night because of the tour.

“This event is great for the community. If it builds up every year, it turns into a tradition, something people start to put on the calendar every year,” McCrary said. “It’s a nice thing to offer Santa Cruz, something different than we normally do. It brings a different aspect to the city.”

The benefits of the Tour of California come not only from increased revenue from tourism, but also from an increased awareness of the cycling community and the use of bikes as alternative transportation.

People Power is an organization that has been operating in Santa Cruz for over 20 years, and works in conjunction with the city to promote sustainability through the use of bicycles on an everyday basis. For the past two years in which the Tour of California has passed through Santa Cruz, the group has offered a free bike valet service to spectators who want a safe place to leave their bikes while they watch the race.

“We want to encourage people to ride down to today’s bike race, and secondly just to honor people, because, when they ride somewhere, we want to be there and say ‘Welcome! Let me take your bike,’” said Micah Poser, director of People Power. “It’s like being at the front door of a party and taking someone’s coat. It’s that kind of energy.”

Whiteman believes that the bike race’s presence in Santa Cruz helps highlight the city’s notoriety as a popular destination for bike riding.

“Santa Cruz is a bike-friendly city. We give just as much right and freedoms [to bikes] on the road as cars,” Whiteman said. “Even when I’m driving my car, I’m more respectful to bikers, even before I started riding a bike — only because, everywhere you go in Santa Cruz, you’re going to see bicyclists ride and having a good time. We’re just a bicycle community.”

Santa Cruz Economic Development Coordinator Peter Koht says that, although the city cannot determine whether it will be involved with the Tour next year, the idea is open to consideration.

“We’ll do the analysis of how much it cost and how much it returned in tax revenue, and we’ll make a decision at a later date,” Koht said. “What I can say is that the energy and excitement that we see outside and on the race course — as well as the response we got from AMGEN and the Tour — is very encouraging.”

Meanwhile, Dean Whiteman will attend next year’s event, whether it’s in Santa Cruz or not.

“If it doesn’t come back here next year,” Whiteman said, “I’ll go somewhere else to see it.”

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

Santa Cruz bike enthusiasts, rejoice.

Last week the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk signed on as the official sponsor of the third-stage finish for the Amgen Tour of California, affirming that the famous bike race will be making a return to the city in 2010. Organizers are hoping it will be an even bigger success than last year, with a larger venue for the finish line and a variety of local sponsors.

Boardwalk spokesman Kris Reyes spoke highly of last year’s event and said that the Boardwalk wanted to take on a bigger role as a result.

“The folks who organized the event last year did such a great job and brought a lot of positive energy to the city,” Reyes said. “It’s because of this that the Boardwalk wanted to become a bigger part of the event, which is why we donated $50,000 to help fund the cost.”

Matt Twisselman, chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, worked for three years to get the race to consider a stop in Santa Cruz. All his work paid off in 2009, and the Amgen Tour thought the job was so well done that Santa Cruz was awarded the stage again for 2010.

“Santa Cruz is a town that loves their outdoor activities, [such as] surfing, biking, beach volleyball … it’s a very active community,” Twisselman said. “The Amgen Tour of California celebrates the outdoors and living an active lifestyle.”

Such a huge event doesn’t come cheap, but Twisselman assures that the committee is doing all it can to help raise money.

“We are well on our way to reaching our goal of $245,000, which is what it would cost the city at the most,” Twisselman said. “The things that cost the most are police services, getting hotel rooms for the bikers, and making sure there is food for them too, but our organization and our sponsors are doing what we can to offset these costs.”

Spokesman Bicycles is just one of the many local sponsors of the event, who hope to gain business while promoting Santa Cruz and its active community.

“It was such a great event last year, [and] I don’t think there is anything we would like to change,” said Matthew Potter, who works sales at the store. “We had an expo down at the finish line, which was packed with people, and threw a little party back here at the store after.”

Potter, much like Twisselman, sees the event as a way to promote and give back to a community that has helped keep many local bike shops alive.

“Running a bike shop is no easy task, so when the chance came along to become a sponsor to this event we jumped at it,” Potter said. “It gives our store a chance to promote ourselves and give back to the city and the overall biking community.”

Boardwalk spokesman Reyes feels that the event can only be a benefit to the community of Santa Cruz.

“The event last year really showed Santa Cruz in a positive light. It really showed the best that our community has to offer,” Reyes said. “It really shows everyone in California, and even the world, how great our city is.”