I have ridden through the S of Death more times than I care to count over the last 5 years. I have never had an issue, nor was I particularly careful. Of course, I am usually riding knobbies when the leaves are down. I've even ridden it with my wife on our tandem (granted, more slowly and carefully) with no issues. Where I have had problems is a couple of miles up the Curtis trail where it crosses under Washington Blvd. There's a spot before the bridge that doesn't drain well. The speed this area encourages combined with smooth pavement and copious amounts of wet leaves has seen me in a slight two wheel drift a couple of times!

Old Army