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Sunday Ride Protocols |
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Ride notes: This is an informal ride, and as always, remember that this is a social ride; your safety and the safety of your fellow riders is paramount. As a reminder here are some basic group ride protocols which you may also find useful for your own rides. Safe speed: The safe speed for road conditions will differ from rider to rider. You are responsible to pick a pace that is comfortable and within your ability. There will be plenty of opportunities to regroup. Never ride beyond your limits in an attempt to keep up with another rider! Safe distance: Do not follow closely; leave a safe distance between you and the next rider. It is especially important to avoid following closely on secondary roads where you can't see around the next corner and circumstances can change without warning. Passing: If you must ride faster than the rider in front of you, put your blinker on and pass. If you see a rider behind you preparing to pass, move over. There is little point to passing when riding in a group, however. We all get there about the same time... Lane discipline: Never cross the double yellow line! Always stay in your lane, and pick your line accordingly. Passing: If you are prepared to ride faster than the rider in front, put your blinker on and pass. If you see a rider behind you preparing to pass, move over and give plenty of room. Don't speed up! Stopping: If the group stops, pull off the road completely. When the group starts, be sure to look over your shoulder for approaching traffic before you pull out after the person in front of you. Don't assume it is clear just because they pulled out... Breakdowns: The sweeps and riding friends may stop and provide assistance. It is not safe for then entire group to stop for one rider unless there is plenty of room to pull off the road. Taking off early: It is fine to head home early, but it is appreciated if you let the others in the group or the sweeps know so we don't wait around or go looking for you. |
Welcome to the July CALmoto Shop Ride! We will be riding out on Sunday, July 4th, leaving the shop parking lot at 9:00 am. Please be gassed up and ready to go at that time. We'll have a short safety meeting before the ride, and a sign-out sheet for contact information if needed. As always, we'll have coffee and Danish by 8:30 or so. Please arrive a little early for a chance to relax and socialize before the ride.
This ride is a rather short one, on some very tight and narrow roads. The route is chosen specifically to practice on the type of goat-path roads that one might find in the smaller passes of the North Italian Dolomites, or some of the minor Swiss and Austrian passes. We've had requests for a slow, technical ride, and you can be sure this will be very technical. There will be a short discussion of proper riding style for roads like this, and the rest of the morning will be practice. The ride is not very long, and we should be back at the shop by noon or a little before.
We'll leave the shop and go out Charleston/Arastradero Road to Portola Valley and left on Old La Honda Rd. We'll cross Skyline Drive and take the continuation of Old La Honda to its junction with 84, then down 84 to San Gregorio for a brief stop. After the stop, we'll go north up the hill via Old Stage Road and rejoin Highway 1. Then north to the turn-off for Tunitas Creek to Lobitos Creek and back up Tunitas Creek to Skyline, and south to Alice's. We'll stop there and the ride will officially end at Alice's. You can descend via 84 to Woodside and 280, or retrace our steps back to the shop via Page Mill Road or Kings Mountain Road. I'm not going down 84, will probably return via Page Mill or Hwy 9. These roads are TIGHT and we'll be going slowly and cautiously. There will be many, many bicyclists! As to skill level, I'd say this ride is a little too challenging for a pure beginner unless you are very confident in your bike-handling ability, but it should be OK for anyone with a moderate level of experience. There are bail-out opportunities if it proves to be too tight for you to enjoy. I like riding these little, slow, technical roads. They are terrific practice and require great concentration, smooth throttle control, the ability to anticipate, and ride comfortably on different surfaces. And of course follow the basic safety rule: DON'T RIDE ANY FASTER THAN YOUR COMFORTABLE PACE! It is going to be a little different for everyone. We will stop often enough for everyone to catch up, so there is no need to hustle, and believe me, crashing takes pretty much all the fun out of the day. Don't do it.
I anticipate that with this route we should be back at Alice's by 11:30 am so there will be plenty of time for family and husbandly or wifely duties. If we end up running late, you can forego Tunitas Creek and come back on Hwy 84 with plenty of time in hand.
Please, be sure to stay within the safe limits of your riding ability. This is a social ride, not a race, so always ride within your comfort zone and work on being the smoothest rider on the ride, not the fastest. True riding skill is built on the practice of smoothness, control and a sense of the right line, not on trying to go fast. So as always, this is a leisurely ride, nothing difficult, and please, no racing! I hope you can join us.
Have fun and be safe! E-mail me or call me at (650) 966-1183, ext. 3, if you have any questions or concerns.
Best Regards!
Kari Prager
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