marquhar

May 2, 2013 report

Success in penetrating the I-5 curtain from South to North.

Rode North up the CC today. On advice from other riders, I found that the Firestone exit (last one before Alondra) from the bike path is open, and is surprisingly clean. It dumps out adjacent to Mike Thompson's RV Store. We took this to the left along Firestone (2 lanes), then out to Marquadt, then turned right onto the Alondra I-5 bridge.

Alondra Bridge is open
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This bridge was up for demolition back in late January. Its still open and is an easy way to get past the I-5.
To get to Rosecrans, we then zig-zagged through the Industrial Park above Freeway Dr., first north on Spring, cross Excelsior, Spring again, then left on Pumice, then right on Best, finally right on Rosecrans.

Unethical Striping (lane markings)
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Heading east on Rosecrans, we saw some restriping after the first intersection that almost eliminated any shoulder. This seems to imply that cyclists are not in their plans in this section of Rosecrans: very bad form on their part.

I-5 Status
Bridges
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Valley VIew (N/S), open, OK for riding
Shoemaker (N/S), closed/demolished, N/A
Carmenita (N/S), open, barely passable
Alondra (E/W), open (demolition soon), OK for riding

CC Gates
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Carmenita, open, OK for riding
Artesia/Marquadt, open, not recommended << this is the suggested detour up to the Carmenita bridge
Firestone, open, OK for riding (could change soon)
Alondra, closed, forget it (closed till 2015)
Swap Meet, closed/removed, gone for good << this change was without notice and is still causing trouble

Lobby for new Swap Meet gate
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Something tells me that there is a way to convince the operators of the SM to open their fencing along the CC, about 100 yards north of the old gate, and let riders onto their access road. This service road dumps out to Freeway Dr.

I am still rehabbing my Fx Hip. Its almost 90 days since surgery and today is the first time I went north of the I-5 and climbed Colima. I turned around at Casino Dr. and descended. Today we had N/NE winds which almost gave tailwind. There are enough thermals to kill most of the tailwind. I made all the lights going down and hit 40 MPH briefly.