Mines, chip seal, and cattle guard
08-26-14, 12:39 PM
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Mines, chip seal, and cattle guard
I rode last Saturday from the softball complex in Livermore out Mines Rd. to the Junction Café. I am generally the slowest rider on the road out there, but only one person passed me going up between the time I left Tesla and the time I got to the Cafe. I couldn't help but think that there were fewer cyclists than normal out there for an August Saturday when the temperatures were going to stay pretty moderate. All the cyclists I saw coming down as I was going up were when I was still pretty early in the ride. Either they left really early in the morning, or they didn't go that far up the mountain. Higher up Mines, nobody coming my way. Even the motorcycle traffic seemed lighter than normal. At the junction, saw a total of 5 cyclists, one guy who had come over Hamilton was leaving as I arrived, 4 others who came over Hamilton arrived when I got there, and they were the only ones to pass me when I headed back. Nobody came the other direction as I headed back.
The only explanation I have for the light traffic is that regular riders got the memo that I didn't get. I discovered on my ride up when I got to the county line, the road from the county line to the junction had been chip sealed a month earlier, and not swept particularly well. Last year, I learned about chip seal work on the Alameda County side when I was talking to someone who lives up there and saying I was thinking of riding soon. I decided to avoid it until at least after the rains came, and then avoided it even longer due to time of the bike after breaking my hand in a fall due to a U-turn in gravel I did see. Did a ride to the Junction and back last Memorial Day weekend, by which time there was no longer a fresh chip seal experience, the road was fine.
This time, however, I didn't get the word. None of the 5 cyclists I saw at the café who came over Hamilton knew about it. One guy had ridden Mines when the Alameda County side was freshly chip sealed last year, and wasn't happy to hear he would have to experience about another round of fresh chip seal on the Santa Clara side.
When I was heading back up towards the top, one group of motorcyclists came the other way. The slowest I've ever see motorcyclists on that road, but there were obviously being cautious with the relatively fresh chip seal, that stuff can really ding up a motorcycle.
My bike is great for those roads after all fresh loose tar covered stuff is gone, I've got 28mm tires and a steel frame, I'm not really bothered by a chip seal road being a little rougher than smooth asphalt, I can even tolerate a poorly done chip seal job. But when it is fresh, my tires are like a magnet for those loose tar covered pieces, and they really stick on the slow up hill climbs. I cannot stand it. They don't stick for long at faster downhill speeds, and with the project now a month old, the worst of the loose gravelly patches are gone, but still, more caution than usual was required on the downhill, and nothing like the frequent ping of loose chips getting thrown up onto the frame as I ride downhill.
Last May, I'd say the road was kind of crappy and in need of resurfacing, but at least on the uphill climbs, someone had already done something nice for bicyclists, there were a lot of places that had been repaved only along the fog line and a few inches into the road. Didn't do cars or motorcycles much good, but it was nice for pedaling on a smoother surface. The road as a whole isn't crappy anymore, and once it isn't full of freshly tarred gravel anymore, it will likely be as fine as the Alameda side is now, but for now, yuck.
There is a nice benefit already, though. Heading south just before the top of the last rise right before the Forestry Dept., I saw the cattle guard sign that has been there for as long as I've been riding out there. Came over the top for the last tiny downhill run past the Forestry Dept. to the Junction, kept my speed down ready for the cattle guard, and then it didn't come. Was it farther than I remembered? No, it is gone. The cattle guard sign for the northbound direction is also still there, and this time, knowing the cattle guard was gone, I was able to figure out where it had been. There are slight deflections in the chip sealed surface right around there that I could notice when I knew I was in the former cattle guard spot, but it is better to have no cattle guard.
I don't have a clue as to how long fresh nature of the chip seal job will make the Santa Clara side of Mines a bit of a PITA, but at least for now, either it was a coincidence that there was lighter than normal bicycle traffic, or a lot of cyclists are avoiding it. In case any of you care and didn't have the memo, now you do.
The only explanation I have for the light traffic is that regular riders got the memo that I didn't get. I discovered on my ride up when I got to the county line, the road from the county line to the junction had been chip sealed a month earlier, and not swept particularly well. Last year, I learned about chip seal work on the Alameda County side when I was talking to someone who lives up there and saying I was thinking of riding soon. I decided to avoid it until at least after the rains came, and then avoided it even longer due to time of the bike after breaking my hand in a fall due to a U-turn in gravel I did see. Did a ride to the Junction and back last Memorial Day weekend, by which time there was no longer a fresh chip seal experience, the road was fine.
This time, however, I didn't get the word. None of the 5 cyclists I saw at the café who came over Hamilton knew about it. One guy had ridden Mines when the Alameda County side was freshly chip sealed last year, and wasn't happy to hear he would have to experience about another round of fresh chip seal on the Santa Clara side.
When I was heading back up towards the top, one group of motorcyclists came the other way. The slowest I've ever see motorcyclists on that road, but there were obviously being cautious with the relatively fresh chip seal, that stuff can really ding up a motorcycle.
My bike is great for those roads after all fresh loose tar covered stuff is gone, I've got 28mm tires and a steel frame, I'm not really bothered by a chip seal road being a little rougher than smooth asphalt, I can even tolerate a poorly done chip seal job. But when it is fresh, my tires are like a magnet for those loose tar covered pieces, and they really stick on the slow up hill climbs. I cannot stand it. They don't stick for long at faster downhill speeds, and with the project now a month old, the worst of the loose gravelly patches are gone, but still, more caution than usual was required on the downhill, and nothing like the frequent ping of loose chips getting thrown up onto the frame as I ride downhill.
Last May, I'd say the road was kind of crappy and in need of resurfacing, but at least on the uphill climbs, someone had already done something nice for bicyclists, there were a lot of places that had been repaved only along the fog line and a few inches into the road. Didn't do cars or motorcycles much good, but it was nice for pedaling on a smoother surface. The road as a whole isn't crappy anymore, and once it isn't full of freshly tarred gravel anymore, it will likely be as fine as the Alameda side is now, but for now, yuck.
There is a nice benefit already, though. Heading south just before the top of the last rise right before the Forestry Dept., I saw the cattle guard sign that has been there for as long as I've been riding out there. Came over the top for the last tiny downhill run past the Forestry Dept. to the Junction, kept my speed down ready for the cattle guard, and then it didn't come. Was it farther than I remembered? No, it is gone. The cattle guard sign for the northbound direction is also still there, and this time, knowing the cattle guard was gone, I was able to figure out where it had been. There are slight deflections in the chip sealed surface right around there that I could notice when I knew I was in the former cattle guard spot, but it is better to have no cattle guard.
I don't have a clue as to how long fresh nature of the chip seal job will make the Santa Clara side of Mines a bit of a PITA, but at least for now, either it was a coincidence that there was lighter than normal bicycle traffic, or a lot of cyclists are avoiding it. In case any of you care and didn't have the memo, now you do.
