1. posterid:910677
  2. Dangerous pavement on Skyline Blvd Oakland

Moderated Re: Dangerous pavement on Skyline Blvd Oakland

Nick Laszlo <laszlonick@...>
 

I’ll have to give this some thought, Julie.  In spite of being a relatively new member of FFBC, I have in fact lived in Fremont for nearly 2 years now and know of some safe & interesting routes that I have done dozens of times and have never spotted you guys, so I might be able to come up with something new.  I just need some time to come up with something good.  You’re right in that many  Bay Area roads are indeed utter crap (I have a titanium plate on my left collarbone as proof of that) but the danger of crashing can be lessened greatly through avoidance of the most egregious roads, which unfortunately can change dramatically from one week to the next because of erosion and seismic influences.  

No place in the world is a perfect panacea for cycling (south of France comes close).  We for instance have great weather compared to most of the world, but not such good roads.  Other places have great roads, but you can only ride on them safely 6 months out of the year because of harsh weather.  It’s a mixed bag.  One of the things that I look for riding in the Bay Area on a beautiful day like Tuesday is that if I notice a glaring scarcity of hardcore cyclists on the road that I’m on (other than the group I’m riding with), that’s always a red flag for me!

Let’s see what I come up with.  My big problem with being group leader is that I’m lousy with directions, but I guess there’s a solution for that too.  I could ride with GPS and a single earbud in one ear, that way I wouldn’t have to take my eyes off the “obstacle course” that I’m riding on.  Route sheets are useless for me because I’m extremely far-sighted!

See you guys next week.  By the way, except for when we’re riding on lousy roads, I really enjoy riding with FFBC.  You guys are one of the most pleasant clubs I’ve ever ridden with.  You’re good people! 😃

Nick


On May 31, 2018, at 1:13 PM, Julie Gilson <jmgilson1@...> wrote:

Nick - we need more ride leaders! Love to have you volunteer ☺️
Ride leaders select or create the routes so that’s the best way to make sure you,  as part of FFBC group, get to ride what you’d like to ride!!
it’s hard to be prescient about every road we ride - as you noted, California roads in general are in far worse shape than any non-California roads. 
I wish we could transport outside California each week to ride!

Julie

On May 31, 2018, at 7:27 AM, Nick Laszlo <laszlonick@...> wrote:

Good call sending out this email, Julie!  My life definitely flashed before my eyes more than once on Tuesday, and my front wheel had to be retrued after that ride, so that’s not exactly my definition of a “fun ride”.  I suggest we should be a bit more selective when choosing our routes in the future.  Our #1 priority should always be to stay upright when we ride.  I think that the big guy upstairs was looking after us all on Tuesday, but we shouldn’t push our luck.  Broken bones don’t heal so quick at our age! 😉

Cheers,

Nick



On May 31, 2018, at 5:55 AM, Yahoo-Julie via Groups.Io <jmgilson1@...> wrote:

All - just a heads up that the Tuesday ride group noted significant pot holes on the southbound direction at the descent to the stoplight of Skyline and Joaquin Miller. This is the stoplight at which one makes a left turn to go to Redwood Road.
Fortunately we were riding northbound but the holes were large enough we all noted them. While they were circled with white paint, possibly to mark for repair, I doubt a descending bicyclist would see them in sufficient time to avoid as they are in the shade.
Northbound had holes also in shaded sections but not as extensive and we were ascending so more time to react. Most of us still hit a few though. Luckily no mishaps.
Be careful out there.
Julie
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