Question for Joerg

On 2017-01-23 07:45, wrote:
Joerg wrote: A friend was cycling Salmon Falls Road had three guys on
crotch rockets scream by. Later he saw them again parked at the edge
of the road. But only two of them, looking down a long embankment
...

Joerg, in about 2000 I was riding Salmon Falls Rd. when I came upon
stopped traffic; was informed by the auto drivers that the road was
closed due to a fatal motorcycle accident; and that the body had not
yet been removed. The California Highway Patrol was really ****ed off
at the time about all the fatal motorcycle accidents that were
occurring on Salmon Falls, and they wanted the public to know about
it. Also, they wouldn't let traffic through until the coroner
removed the body, and the coroner wouldn't do his thing until a
priest had arrived and administered the last rites.

I spoke to the pickup driver, who was really upset. The motorcyclist
had been going about 80 mph when this man pulled out of a driveway in
his white Chevy Silverado pickup after dropping his young daughter
off for a birthday party. Due to the curves in the road, there was no
way he could have seen the rider coming. The motorcyclist hit him
full tilt in the left front fender and slid across his hood. The
truck was not driveable and had to be towed away. Later when I
stopped for lunch, the tow truck, pulling the Silverado, stopped to
gas up and I saw that the entire front of the truck was buckled and
would need some heavy-duty body work. It was also drenched in blood.
There was a small article in the Sacramento Bee about the accident
the next day, and the decedent's family erected a small white
memorial cross on the spot, which has long since disappeared.


Unfortunately there are motorcycle riders on Salmon Falls Road who would
consider another rider going "only" 80mph a slowpoke.

One of the guys I sometimes ride MTB with was a firefighter. They often
had the grueling task of going out there as first responders. Not just
for motorcycle riders and car drivers but also cyclists. I don't think
he'll ever ride that road on a bicycle after what he has gone through.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

A couple of cyclists happened to be passing the very driveway where the motorcycle accident happened when GoogleEarth took its Street View image!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zibi0z8ggc...ation.jpg?dl=0

Cycling is a lot safer than motorcycling because you're going so much slower that you can really be on the lookout for cars trying to kill you and avoid them.

On 1/22/2017 9:42 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 1/22/2017 6:22 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-01-22 10:42, wrote:
This video is more my cup of tea, Joerg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns9YwOKR8-U


I did a few of those trips when I was young but even then I longed for
nature instead of the din of cars.

Din of cars? Amazing. The video showed one A road with some traffic.
All the rest looked like absolutely gorgeous roads with mostly zero
traffic. To me, it looked like a cycling paradise.

Speaking of that cycling paradise:

I'm nearly done (I hope) battling through my annual winter bronchitis.
And again this year, when I'm feeling too sick to do much, I take solace
in browsing through my collection of Frank Patterson pen and ink
sketchbooks.

http://www.foodman123.com/fpat.htm

These sketches, as much as anything, make me long for a time machine
large enough to transport me and my bike. I biked in Britain quite a
bit in 1976 and a little in 2001, but I wondered how traffic-choked the
roads had become since then.

The video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns9YwOKR8-U
gave me hope. Much of it looks like a Patterson sketch.

I wonder if Phil can comment. What areas have low enough traffic for
really peaceful riding?



--
- Frank Krygowski

On 1/23/2017 10:45 AM, wrote:
Joerg wrote: A friend was cycling Salmon Falls Road had three guys on crotch rockets scream by. Later he saw them again parked at the edge of the road. But only two of them, looking down a long embankment ...

Joerg, in about 2000 I was riding Salmon Falls Rd. when I came upon stopped traffic; was informed by the auto drivers that the road was closed due to a fatal motorcycle accident; and that the body had not yet been removed. The California Highway Patrol was really ****ed off at the time about all the fatal motorcycle accidents that were occurring on Salmon Falls, and they wanted the public to know about it. Also, they wouldn't let traffic through until the coroner removed the body, and the coroner wouldn't do his thing until a priest had arrived and administered the last rites.

I spoke to the pickup driver, who was really upset. The motorcyclist had been going about 80 mph when this man pulled out of a driveway in his white Chevy Silverado pickup after dropping his young daughter off for a birthday party. Due to the curves in the road, there was no way he could have seen the rider coming. The motorcyclist hit him full tilt in the left front fender and slid across his hood. The truck was not driveable and had to be towed away. Later when I stopped for lunch, the tow truck, pulling the Silverado, stopped to gas up and I saw that the entire front of the truck was buckled and would need some heavy-duty body work. It was also drenched in blood. There was a small article in the Sacramento Bee about the accident the next day, and the decedent's family erected a small white memorial cross on the spot, which has long since disappeared.

In an older industrial area of our metro area, the city built a new
industrial park. It featured an internal access road between the
various small manufacturing plants, probably half a mile long, dead
straight, nice and wide, and with zero traffic after hours.

The local crotch rocketeers discovered it and swarms of them began using
it for late night stunts. Nearby residents began complaining about the
excessive noise and cops began trying to prevent the horseplay, but
there are only so many cops and they often have higher priorities. And
it's very difficult to catch a 100+ HP motorcycle.

Eventually, one of the stunters proved he was mortal after all. The
rumor I heard was it was a very high speed nose wheelie gone bad. The
reaction from his family, quoted in the paper, was "At least he died
doing something he loved."

I suppose that statement might apply to heroin users and Russian
Roulette fans as well.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 1/23/2017 11:04 AM, wrote:
A couple of cyclists happened to be passing the very driveway where the motorcycle accident happened when GoogleEarth took its Street View image!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zibi0z8ggc...ation.jpg?dl=0

Cycling is a lot safer than motorcycling because you're going so much slower that you can really be on the lookout for cars trying to kill you and avoid them.

At least some data indicates that bicycling in the U.S. is over 30 times
as safe as motorcycling, on average. That's on the basis of fatalities
per hour exposure.

Of course, being a grand average, it includes both the crotch rocketeers
and the no lights, wrong-way at night drunk bicyclists.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 5:16:05 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote to Joerg:

Seriously? That looks like a great ride. http://tinyurl.com/h4rupuz That's a quintessential Sierra foothills ride. Reminds me of this local ride: http://rideoregonride.com/road-route...ge-long-route/
http://norcalcyclingnews.com/words/w...1.28.07-AM.png

Holy Mother of God, either somebody's got an incompetent camera, a heavy hand with Photoshop, or you live in a Neon Nature. (Germans say, "In the nature", complete with definitive article, which makes "In the neon nature," the next logical step...)

If those types of roads are frightening for you, you'd basically have no fun place to ride around here.

Here in the Green and Beloved Isle, almost every agreeable cycling road looks like that, or smaller (and usually a bit rougher). The difference is that the cycling road starts at my front door and, of course, you don't need to truck the bike to the start of the ride (I haven't driven a car in a quarter-century).

Andre Jute
Fortunate

What I meant when I said all the good rides here look like that, only now (in winter) not so neon:

http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index....9.msg89515#new

On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:06:34 PM UTC, Andre Jute wrote:
On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 5:16:05 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote to Joerg:

Seriously? That looks like a great ride. http://tinyurl.com/h4rupuz That's a quintessential Sierra foothills ride. Reminds me of this local ride: http://rideoregonride.com/road-route...ge-long-route/
http://norcalcyclingnews.com/words/w...1.28.07-AM.png

Holy Mother of God, either somebody's got an incompetent camera, a heavy hand with Photoshop, or you live in a Neon Nature. (Germans say, "In the nature", complete with definitive article, which makes "In the neon nature," the next logical step...)

If those types of roads are frightening for you, you'd basically have no fun place to ride around here.

Here in the Green and Beloved Isle, almost every agreeable cycling road looks like that, or smaller (and usually a bit rougher). The difference is that the cycling road starts at my front door and, of course, you don't need to truck the bike to the start of the ride (I haven't driven a car in a quarter-century).

Andre Jute
Fortunate

On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 10:06:34 AM UTC-8, Andre Jute wrote:
On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 5:16:05 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote to Joerg:

Seriously? That looks like a great ride. http://tinyurl.com/h4rupuz That's a quintessential Sierra foothills ride. Reminds me of this local ride: http://rideoregonride.com/road-route...ge-long-route/
http://norcalcyclingnews.com/words/w...1.28.07-AM.png

Holy Mother of God, either somebody's got an incompetent camera, a heavy hand with Photoshop, or you live in a Neon Nature. (Germans say, "In the nature", complete with definitive article, which makes "In the neon nature," the next logical step...)

If those types of roads are frightening for you, you'd basically have no fun place to ride around here.

Here in the Green and Beloved Isle, almost every agreeable cycling road looks like that, or smaller (and usually a bit rougher). The difference is that the cycling road starts at my front door and, of course, you don't need to truck the bike to the start of the ride (I haven't driven a car in a quarter-century).

Did you think I was going to post an actual, unfiltered picture of a forest service road with ratty BPA power lines overhead? No way!

Cycling roads start at my front door, too. I jump on my bike and ride to work or out to the country. I ride here from my doorstep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSyGGID-YrQ&t=7s (note vaguely Celtic music, which is always playing) and here on the Washington side. http://tinyurl.com/gmhlwxb (shot from a road hanging on to the side of a cliff). Of course, I'm editing out the miles of ugly east county where you can smell the meth cooking, but hey, somebody has to attract the tourists. Waterfalls! https://www.travelportland.com/wp-co...y--652x521.jpg

BTW, a more realistic vision of riding forest roads near Mt. Hood. http://pathlesspedaled.com/2015/08/r...ke-hood-river/ There are actually some non-sucky ways to get out to Mt. Hood from my house, although RT is beyond my current ability or desire. My doorstep to top of Mt. Hood and back is 120 miles with lots of climbing. But there is beer at the top -- and snow this time of year. http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1427045/th...EGON-570.jpg?2

-- Jay Beattie.

On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 3:35:53 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-01-22 11:18, wrote:
On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 10:04:53 AM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-01-22 09:28, wrote:
Jay, I assume you are referring to the Salmon Falls ride. It
really is a great ride; I have done it quite a few times; and I
wouldn't consider it to be a particularly dangerous bicycle ride
because you're pretty much always going slow enough to stop if
somebody pulls out in front of you from their driveway. But it is
really dangerous to guys riding fast motorcycles because it
became well-known as a popular fast motorcycle ride when the area
was rural, but after it became somewhat suburban there were quite
a few motorcycling deaths on the road.


Yup. They often ride like these guys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiYFqGhrw1o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HkeEMwkIYk

Speed limit? Phhht ....

This is the sort of riding you'll see everywhere from Palomares
(presently closed due to landslides) To Mt. Diablo or Mt. Hamilton.
Even out on 1 1/2 lane country roads at 85 mph.


Looks like he pulls it up to 160mph at about 1:20min in the 2nd video. I
am surprised people post that in public.

My wife tells me that before my head injury I drove like a maniac but I sure as hell don't remember that. And cops think I'm suspicious because I'm the only one on the road driving at the speed limit.

The only bit in that pulchritudinous missive I believe is "Margarita salt is an electrolyte replacer, right?!"

Of course it is.

Andre Jute
Skeptic

On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 8:17:10 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 10:06:34 AM UTC-8, Andre Jute wrote:
On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 5:16:05 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote to Joerg:

Seriously? That looks like a great ride. http://tinyurl.com/h4rupuz That's a quintessential Sierra foothills ride. Reminds me of this local ride: http://rideoregonride.com/road-route...ge-long-route/
http://norcalcyclingnews.com/words/w...1.28.07-AM.png

Holy Mother of God, either somebody's got an incompetent camera, a heavy hand with Photoshop, or you live in a Neon Nature. (Germans say, "In the nature", complete with definitive article, which makes "In the neon nature," the next logical step...)

If those types of roads are frightening for you, you'd basically have no fun place to ride around here.

Here in the Green and Beloved Isle, almost every agreeable cycling road looks like that, or smaller (and usually a bit rougher). The difference is that the cycling road starts at my front door and, of course, you don't need to truck the bike to the start of the ride (I haven't driven a car in a quarter-century).

Did you think I was going to post an actual, unfiltered picture of a forest service road with ratty BPA power lines overhead? No way!

Cycling roads start at my front door, too. I jump on my bike and ride to work or out to the country. I ride here from my doorstep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSyGGID-YrQ&t=7s (note vaguely Celtic music, which is always playing) and here on the Washington side. http://tinyurl.com/gmhlwxb (shot from a road hanging on to the side of a cliff). Of course, I'm editing out the miles of ugly east county where you can smell the meth cooking, but hey, somebody has to attract the tourists. Waterfalls! https://www.travelportland.com/wp-co...y--652x521.jpg

BTW, a more realistic vision of riding forest roads near Mt. Hood. http://pathlesspedaled.com/2015/08/r...ke-hood-river/ There are actually some non-sucky ways to get out to Mt. Hood from my house, although RT is beyond my current ability or desire. My doorstep to top of Mt. Hood and back is 120 miles with lots of climbing. But there is beer at the top -- and snow this time of year. http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1427045/th...EGON-570.jpg?2

-- Jay Beattie.