Tour Planner Helps Bicyclists Avoid Pitfalls and Potholes

Deep in the recesses of the Auto Club’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles sits a man whose encyclopedic knowledge of bike routes brings raves from cyclists nationwide.

In a company that promotes adventures on four wheels, Norton “Norty” Stewart is an expert on the two-wheeled variety.

Stewart, 58, is the bicycle touring coordinator for the Automobile Club of Southern California. Give him time to flip through his tour books, maps and atlases and he will come up with a route that will make your trip easier, whether you’re biking 10 miles to work or 2,000 miles cross-country.

In his 36 years on the job, Stewart has drawn up itineraries for adventurers pedaling every mile of old U.S. Route 66 and for people visiting grandparents in Kansas. He also has assisted skateboarders, roller skaters, and covered wagons retracing historical trips out West.

One of his most challenging assignments was charting a cross-country relay trip on horseback, beginning at Boston’s Old North Church, for a group celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

“My trips take a lot of thought because I have to think of what’s right for that person, such as whether they can do hills,” Stewart said, shuffling through stacks of marigold-colored trip-request forms that pile up on his desk each day. “It’s very creative.”

As more people take up bike-riding for exercise, commuting or recreation, Stewart’s fame has grown. His many repeat customers pass along his name to other bike enthusiasts.

Tim Brennan of Oceanside asked Stewart for help in mapping out a 200-mile cycling trip in Northern California’s wine country.

“He spent a lot of time with me mapping out different routes,” Brennan said. “Anyone can look at a road and tell you how to get from Santa Rosa to Napa, but can they do it on a bicycle route that will be pleasant for a ride? His tips routed me around a lot of traffic and some busy cities. I thoroughly plan on using him to the max.”

One recent evening, as Stewart strolled through his Glendale neighborhood, two cyclists pulled up to a red light and began waving when they recognized him from an earlier Auto Club visit.

Cycling magazines and a tour book called “Bicycling Across America” also rhapsodize about his singular skills.

“Norty has created bicycle tour routes for AAA members for over 35 years,” writes the book’s author, Robert Winning. “He knows every pothole in the country.”

“That may be an exaggeration, but I try to, at any rate,” Stewart says with a laugh.

The book also describes Stewart as the Auto Club’s only bicycle touring coordinator in the nation. (The American Automobile Assn. says it has some part-time bike-travel coordinators.)

“He offers a valuable service,” says Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Auto Club of Southern California. “He’s knowledgeable, he researches his facts and he knows the routes.”

Ironically, Stewart, once an avid cyclist himself, is under doctor’s orders not to ride because he has vertigo. Those meticulously mapped cross-country trips seem to provide a vicarious pleasure for Stewart, who said he has never cycled from coast to coast himself.

“I never had time,” Stewart said wistfully. “I’d like to, though.”

Stewart, who designs about 2,500 trips each year, finds himself turning down out-of-state requests these days to leave more time for local Auto Club patrons.

Also out of luck are corporate executives looking for help in setting up transportation programs as mandated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Since 1988, the AQMD has required that companies with more than 100 employees in one location draw up transportation plans to reduce car trips. Firms have to submit updated plans each year to show what they’re doing to comply, said AQMD spokeswoman Claudia Keith.

According to a recent Louis Harris poll, the number of bike commuters would soar if safe bike paths, employer-funded incentives and bike parking and shower facilities at workplaces were available.

But Stewart, who has preached the benefits of biking for more than a quarter-century, points out that, for the most part, such incentives and safety measures are not available in Los Angeles.

“We’re really not fully equipped for riding in this city, and we’re not up to date to deal with some of the things you have to contend with,” he said.

Like muggings and robbery, for instance.

Crime is up on city bike paths, especially along deserted stretches, Stewart and police say. Last year, a man pedaling home from work was shot to death on the Ballona Creek bikeway near Marina del Rey.

Harassment, assaults and robberies also have been reported by cyclists on the San Gabriel River and Los Angeles River bike trails.

To be prudent, Stewart urges riders not to travel alone and to be wary of confrontations, especially in inner-city areas.

Several bike paths stretch from the mountains to the ocean, passing through gritty urban and industrial areas, as well as scenic vistas.

One such route is the San Gabriel River Bikeway, which begins in the San Gabriel Mountains, four miles north of the Sante Fe Dam in Irwindale, and roughly parallels Interstate 605 to Seal Beach.

Another Stewart favorite is Arrow Highway, which begins as Live Oak Avenue in Temple City and goes east to San Bernardino. In Glendale, Stewart favors Glenoaks Boulevard and Stocker Road, which goes to Brand Park.

In Pasadena, he likes Del Mar Boulevard for east-west travel. For riders crossing Los Angeles en route to the beach, Stewart recommends Olympic Boulevard because it is wide and traffic moves smoothly.

On some stretches of California freeway, Stewart said, it is legal to bike on the shoulder. And some western states, such as Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada and Utah, allow cyclists on the freeway itself, he said.

But, he cautions, “You have to know where those freeways are. Or you can get into a lot of trouble.”