A Biking We Will Go
Bicycling is an excellent form of exercise and it’s also the best way I can think of to explore our beautiful city. If your family doesn’t already have bikes, you can rent them at Shoreline Park Aquatic Center. They also have tandems and kids bikes and a helmet comes along with each bike that is rented. Safety First! They rent them year round. After renting for the day, I’m sure that you’re going to want to buy your own bike.
One of my favorite bike stores is The Off Ramp on the El Camino Real. They’re a bay area bike store that has been around since the 70s. They have everything you ever wanted, including tons of those groovy-retro looking bikes with baskets and streamers. I bought black leather streamers for my bike from them. They even put the streamers on for me so I could ride home in style. Just a block away from that store is Performance Bicycle. And there’s also a great selection of bikes and bike-related-stuff at REI. REI let me race around in the parking lot behind their store on a few test rides before I made my final purchase.
It’s easiest to ride your bikes on the Stevens Creek Trail or on any streets that have a Bike Lane. Our city is very bike friendly. Here’s a link to the official Bike Map for the city. Bicyclists should know what streets have bike lanes and the volume of traffic that travels on those streets. The map shows you the recommended streets, the streets that have Bike Lanes and it also gives you a list of safety tips for bike riders. And the city website has a link called Stevens Creek Trail Etiquette. It’s probably a good idea to familiarize yourself (and your family) with the proper rules to riding on our trails. We all want to be on our best behavior out there since the trail isn’t very wide in some places.
Even though it’s raining today, the warm spring weather will be here in no time at all and you’ll want to have your bike ready for action. Now is the perfect time to replace worn tires, try on a new helmet and shop for some squishy gel-filled gloves so your hands don’t get tired. We’re lucky to live in a climate where we can actually enjoy the outdoors year round. So get your bike spiffed-up and I’ll see you on the trail.
For more information about biking in our city, please visit: Bicycling in Mountain View.
Tagged with bicycles, bicycling, bike route, bike stores, bike trail, Stevens Creek Trail
I’m most of the time the only who goes shopping with the bicycle. The streets in Mountain View are actually very bicycle friendly and I experienced the car drivers as really cooperative.
I would like to see many more people using the bike not only for sports and the Stevens Creek Trail cruising but for a daily practical use. It was refreshing to see so many bikes in use at Stanford University.
Maybe we need more incentives to introduce a change in culture like it has taken place in so many European cities.
Don’t forget that you are required to get a bicycle license from the city.
My family and I LOVE the Stevens Creek Trail. I’ve been taking them there since they were little and the ride from home was too far, so I’d put our bikes in the car and drive out to the end of Central Ave. We’d pedal all the way to L’Avenida, where we’d ride down the hill, have a snack, and toss rocks into the creek. Now we ride from our house and the boys always say it’s the best bike ride ever!