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Mines and Mt Hamilton Roads: The Official Thread

I ripped up and down the SJ side of HaMmy yesterday afternoon 4 some Mid day fun.

Coming back down, there was a black FZ07 parked on the shoulder that I stopped to check on. There was some repaving done (with excessive gravel) in one of the downhill left handers (westbound) between the Fire station and Grant Lake. The rider lost it in the gravel and dislocated his shoulder. The road patch has been there for a week or two but the gravel hasn't been dissipated by the traffic. I also rode through a flock of 40 or so turkeys, a few deer hopping through the barbed wire, and strangely on the way home after passing grant lake, there was a cow on the wrong side of the fence.
 
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cjymiller said:
I ripped up and down the SJ side of HaMmy yesterday afternoon 4 some Mid day fun.

Coming back down, there was a black FZ07 parked on the shoulder that I stopped to check on. There was some repaving done (with excessive gravel) in one of the downhill left handers (westbound) between the Fire station and Grant Lake. The rider lost it in the gravel and dislocated his shoulder. The road patch has been there for a week or two but the gravel hasn't been dissipated by the traffic. I also rode through a flock of 40 or so turkeys, a few dear hopping through the barbed wire, and strangely on the way home after passing grant lake, there was a cow on the wrong side of the fence.
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I rode up to the observatory and back 2 weekends ago and I didn't think the gravel was all that bad. What I was able to see, I was able to see well in advance and slow for. Repaving must have been pretty recent. I too came across a ton of turkeys and almost hit a coyote about halfway up the mountain. This was at like 10am, not dusk or dawn.
 
Though I know it is unrealistic... "do not outride the pavement you can see"... is especially true on rural roads like Mt Hamilton, San Antonio Valley Road, Mines, and Del Puerto.

Ya' know, the bitchin' roads...

I've met many locals. They are largely cool with moto behaviour, as it is self enforcing. Roadies (bicycists) on the other hand, piss them off.
 
cjymiller said:
I ripped up and down the SJ side of HaMmy yesterday afternoon 4 some Mid day fun.

Coming back down, there was a black FZ07 parked on the shoulder that I stopped to check on. There was some repaving done (with excessive gravel) in one of the downhill left handers (westbound) between the Fire station and Grant Lake. The rider lost it in the gravel and dislocated his shoulder. The road patch has been there for a week or two but the gravel hasn't been dissipated by the traffic.
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These 2 patches? Last Wednesday night I slid my front tire on the second patch (deeper in the turn) but recovered; it could've been nasty. It's ridiculous how messy/loose they left them - an accident waiting to happen for bikes. Looked like an amateur DIY patch job. BTW, I've ridden on Mt Hamilton Rd probably over a hundred times but I didn't know there's a fire station until you mentioned it.

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ctwo said:
How or why (or not) is that?
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I have been told that they defficate on the side of the road.
I have heard they block traffic by refusing to yield to faster vehicles.

I have actually seen some of this behaviour. The locals I met at a county roads meeting at the fire station were pretty passionate.

Can't we all just get along?
 
I understand the behaviors, but how is one self enforcing?

The implication seems that motos self enforce against bad behavior. I just took that as if we misbehave, we crash and die. Problem solved. But I suspect that is not what you meant.
 
ctwo said:
I understand the behaviors, but how is one self enforcing?

The implication seems that motos self enforce against bad behavior. I just took that as if we misbehave, we crash and die. Problem solved. But I suspect that is not what you meant.
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Yup. That and when there were noise problems around the observatory we got the word out and there was actually a difference.

We so rock.
 
Gary856 said:
These 2 patches? Last Wednesday night I slid my front tire on the second patch (deeper in the turn) but recovered; it could've been nasty. It's ridiculous how messy/loose they left them - an accident waiting to happen for bikes. Looked like an amateur DIY patch job. BTW, I've ridden on Mt Hamilton Rd probably over a hundred times but I didn't know there's a fire station until you mentioned it.

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Time to get that new Niken, so much front grip.
 
I never seem to see any wildlife when I am there on weekends. Looks like they don't venture out on weekends..
 
ctwo said:
How or why (or not) is that?
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We can zip past them in the same lane with no issue, they hardly affect me when I'm up there. In a wider vehicle like a car, it's next to impossible to do a same lane pass, you need to go into the oncoming lane, and there are not very many places where you have good visibility of the road ahead to see if it's clear. If the bicycle doesn't yield to the side, your options are to either sit behind this slowly-climbing bike for long time until you get to a straight bit, or put your life and that of other road users at risk and make a blind pass in the oncoming lane. I drove my car up there a few weeks ago, and found bicycles to be frustrating to a degree I would have never expected coming from a moto.
 
Thats why I call them "Road Rats". They absolutely have no place on a mountain windy road with narrow and shared lanes. They are downright dangerous not only for the safety of cars and motorcycles but their own too. I would personally would never ride a cycle on such roads unless its a dedicated course. Hell not even on public roads in traffic.
 
CrazyBiker said:
Thats why I call them "Road Rats". They absolutely have no place on a mountain windy road with narrow and shared lanes. They are downright dangerous not only for the safety of cars and motorcycles but their own too. I would personally would never ride a cycle on such roads unless its a dedicated course. Hell not even on public roads in traffic.
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I like 'spandex squirrels' better. Captures their attitude perfectly. I have been lucky enough not to run into any when on Mines or Hamilton but the climb to Lick from SJ would be the worst given that is where i have seen cars blowing the double yellow the worst. They should just stay in Marin and the Peninsula where their tax bracket hangs.
 
CrazyBiker said:
Thats why I call them "Road Rats". They absolutely have no place on a mountain windy road with narrow and shared lanes. They are downright dangerous not only for the safety of cars and motorcycles but their own too. I would personally would never ride a cycle on such roads unless its a dedicated course. Hell not even on public roads in traffic.
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Actually, Mt Ham, San Antonio, Del Puerto and Mines are great road bike destinations. There really is very ittle traffic. They just need to pay attention and be considerate of other users.

Can't we all just get along?
 
Butch said:
Actually, Mt Ham, San Antonio, Del Puerto and Mines are great road bike destinations. There really is very ittle traffic. They just need to pay attention and be considerate of other users.

Can't we all just get along?
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Based on your conversations with the locals, apparently not! :laughing
 
I want to take the new WR there this weekend, I wonder how bad traffic will be
 
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