On a crisp, bright October morning, California State Parks Foundation staff set up their pop-up tent at the 40th annual Mount Diablo Challenge, a cycling race to the top of Mount Diablo and back down. (The winner of the race, Jovanni Stefani, completed this feat in just 44 minutes and 49 seconds. That’s four minute per mile pace over 11.2 miles and 3,249 feet of elevation gain!)
This event is part of a multi-year campaign to help make Mount Diablo State Park a safer place for cyclists. In fact, half of the net proceeds from this year’s event were donated to help bicycling safety and conservation on Mount Diablo State Park.
For many years, cycling at Mount Diablo State Park has been a popular — but dangerous — activity. From 2010 to 2014, there was an average of 23 car and bike collisions per year. According to California State Park officials, this also frequently resulted in road rage showdowns between drivers and riders.
To improve bike safety at the park, we’ve partnered with Mount Diablo Cyclists and the California Department of Parks and Recreation to build more bike turnouts along the curves of the popular cycling route. These turnouts allow bicyclists, who move at slower speeds as they pedal uphill, to pull out of the main traffic lane into their own lane so that vehicles can pass safely. After the first turnouts were created, collisions dropped to three accidents in two years, and road rage significantly diminished.
With the completion of 30 bike turnouts in 2022, there are now 45 total at Mount Diablo State Park. To complete the safety plan, 32 more turnouts are needed.
During this second phase of construction, we will complete as many bike turnouts as we can using the funds raised in our campaign.
As of October 10, 2023, we have raised $650,030.50 towards our $750,000 goal!
This total was boosted significantly by proceeds from the 2022 Mount Diablo Challenge Memorial Ride and an initial gift made from the estate of Joe Shami. Known by locals as “The Legend of Mount Diablo,” Joe’s passion for Mount Diablo State Park and cycling was exemplified by over a decade of weekly trips up the mountain well into his 80s. Tragically, Joe was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding his bicycle in Lafayette. Although he is not with us today, Joe left a special gift of $123,415.61 in his will to California State Parks Foundation to fund additional bike turnouts at Mount Diablo State Park.
“Every bike turnout has the potential to prevent a Collision and Save a life. Bike Turnouts have reduced bike and vehicles collisions by 80% on the roads of Mount Diablo.” said Al.
Together, we hope to close the remaining funding gap to construct all the remaining bike turnouts.