Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
I think a "SLOW" sign would be pointless. Honestly, IMO, if someone's going to be barreling down a tight set of switchbacks with unknown surface clutter and NO safe runoffs, they're either stupid or blind. I figure that there are very few blind bike commuters, so that only leaves the other option.
I've been up and down that thing, too. In either direction, it's easily the slowest segment I ride on that route. Pushing it harder is just moronic.
I think the point is that, while it looks dangerous, it's actually more dangerous than it even looks. I've always taken it verrrry slow and careful there, and I still wiped out, at 10mph or less, when my front wheel hit something I couldn't even see at the apex of the upper turn. which is banked badly the wrong way, I might add.
I've thought about that S-curve a bit since my own crash - and since it came up after bdcheung's crash. I've come to the conclusion that the reverse banking is the most dangerous aspect of the turn, and it's something you aren't likely to fully appreciate until you're in the turn and your wheel's sliding out from under you. That's why you need a sign. You can think you're being careful and still wipe out.
Put another way - there are many of us here who have in fact wiped out on the thing, and I don't think we're all idiots.
I would honestly have a sign that says 'anyone with tires < 32mm should dismount on downhill.'