msincredible

So yesterday, my husband and I were driving east on 84. We got stuck behind a couple of cars that were having real difficulty passing some bicyclists descending down from Skyline (typical of weekend drivers).

The riders were on the brakes the entire way down, too wobbly to hold their line (making them more difficult to pass), riding stiff-armed and white-knuckled on the hoods. The cars in front of us finally managed to pass one, only to get stuck behind the next one.

That wasn't the bad part, though. We got down to the intersection with Portola, which as many of you know, is a blind right-hand U-turn. The bikes and cars in front of us were all planning to turn (we continued straight on 84).

Right around the corner on Portola were a group of about 10 cyclists, standing there waiting for the descending riders in the middle of the lane.

Of all places to hog up the lane, it had to be while stationary, just past a blind corner, on one of the sharpest and busiest intersections off of the busiest road in the area.

If you want to blame someone for cyclists getting ticketed in Woodside, blame people like that.

kyle16

I completely agree here. Though there isn't a big pullout, there is still one on the shoulder right around the corner. I have stopped there myself.

ericm979

Lots of flatlanders on all sorts of vehicles go up into the mountains on the weekend and think that the roads are empty and they can stop (or even back up) at will. When they are not stopping randomly they are crawling along and hugging the center of the road, scared of the edge. They rarely pull over for faster traffic but will sometimes panic and stop in the middle of the road to wave you by, even though you can't see far enough up the road to see if it's safe to pass.

Dealing with this is just part of living in the mountains. Just wait until christmas tree season. It gets worse starting the day after thanksgiving.

OTOH there is a culture among the locals to pull over and let faster traffic by. I like that and do the same when I am on a bicycle.

genejockey 

"The riders were on the brakes the entire way down, too wobbly to hold their line (making them more difficult to pass), riding stiff-armed and white-knuckled on the hoods"

You must have seen me riding down Kings Mtn yesterday. That describes me on the first 2 miles to a T.

WRT the rest of the tale - yeah, I've seen a lot of idiocy among our cycling brethren. One of my favorites is on Bicycle Sundays, when there's the roadblock at Filoli, I'm heading north, and the people in front of me go through the roadblock and come to a dead stop RIGHT THERE, while I'm going about 18-20 mph. Or worse, they swing a U-turn, deciding to look over their shoulder only after they've swung right into my path!

msincredible

Yep, driving (and riding) on the weekdays with the other locals is great, it's just the weekends that are annoying. I'm kind of missing the stormy weather from February now.

Thanks for the heads up about christmas tree season, I wouldn't have thought of that.

BlastRadius

They're probably the same type of people that pull onto the freeway, immediately head into the fast lane, and drive the speed limit.

OT, regarding Team Milosh... did their kit say "Godspeed Tattoo" on it?

mellum76

Yup, that's team M. Did they make an appearance this weekend?

uspspro

Ygduf

Is your new avatar from one of my over-the-shoulder shots at DR?

mellum76

Uh huh. You have a way of capturing me at my finest moments.

Ed Holland

I can only agree with this!

mudworm

This morning I was riding up Hwy 84 on the west side of Skyline. I first heard voices around a corner and expected to see cyclists. Sure enough, and there were about half a dozen of them coming down it. They were going at a social pace (chatting and all), yet taking up the whole lane! A poor red car was sitting behind them and obviously had to brake constantly. It made me cringe to see such inconsiderate behavior of fellow cyclists. We brushed by each other too fast. I regretted not having shouted "car behind you!" Not like they didn't know though. *sigh*

Ygduf

Black and White kits? Wild beards and tattoos?

mudworm

I'm bad at identifying and remembering such things. But the group overall is a colorful bunch (all kinds of kits if I remember right). I found this a pretty typical group riding behavior unfortunately.

ericm979

There's only one guy I know that meets that description, but he's pretty fast, and reasonably polite with traffic, at least when I'm riding with him. He's also a pretty nice guy.

UmneyDurak

Yeah it's really frustrating getting stuck behind the weekend warriors. After climbing OLH, not even a reward of a fast descent.

UD

Ed Holland

Now that's just plain wrong!

uspspro

Are you descending OLH or 84?

Descending OLH sucks I've done it 1x, and it was so lame, I've never done it again

Ed Holland

Actually, apart from the topmost section of OLH, the road surface has been renewed, and the descent is a lot smoother than it was when I first saw it. Twisty though...

uspspro

I like twisty. I'd just rather do Kings or 84 down.

spingineer

Descending OLH is almost as hazardous to your health as smoking is

x136 

I've descended both sides of OLH once, just to see what it was like.

Skyline to 84 (in either direction) is much more fun.

Ed Holland

What If I descended OLH whilst smoking? Cigarette attached impossibly to my lower lip, cycling cap on backwards, in a nonchelant 1950's British club cyclist stylee?

UmneyDurak

Yeah I meant 84. Descending OLH just sucks.

UD

johnny99

The problem with OLH is not the road surface, it is the very narrow road width. Cars and trucks going up OLH will usually take most of the road so you need to descend very slowly to avoid becoming road kill. Also, maniac bicyclists sometimes climb OLH on the wrong side of the road so head-on bicycle crashes are not unlikely.