Archived Community Comments
Don Turner Received Fri. 2/08/08
Necessary preparations for Amgen bicycle race, February 20, 2008
Land Owner: Donald E. Turner
Addresses: 23777, 24441 and 24650 Mines Rd.
Introduction:
As every land owner/resident knows, the general public has NO appreciation for the rights of landowners or the concepts of trespassing and the laws that apply. This has been demonstrated numerous times for all of us. To the best my knowledge, all the land in this area is in fact privately owned and as such ANY unauthorized use beyond simply passing through on the county road constitutes trespass.
Under normal conditions, the situation is manageable. Reasonable people leave when confronted with their trespassing. With the prospect of a major bicycle race the conditions change. If no road closure to non-residents is in affect, I expect to have to deal with crowds of spectators and of course their lack of knowledge and respect.
The following is a list of items I will have to accomplish before the race. Some fit the above intro, others don’t:
1.) I own a small parcel on the east side of Mines Road that is not currently fenced. Under normal conditions, no one steps foot on this land. Although the land has no place to park a vehicle or easy walking access, it reasonable to expect spectators to find their way onto an unfenced piece of land. I will have to either fence this land before the race or come up with another alternative. Any fencing will have to be coordinated with the neighboring landowner.
2.) During the rainy season a certain amount of run-off occurs at my driveway. This unavoidably contains gravel which finds its way to the county road. The county makes an effort to clean the road of this run-off. This is no problem for motor vehicles but probably constitutes a hazard for bicycles, especially for those at extreme speed! Regardless of Amgen’s assurances about insuring the race and the landowners, I do not want to be judged negligent if an accident occurs as a result of this gravel run-off. I will have to clean up this mess myself!
3.) My driveway has a small “landing area” between the county road and the gate. This allows a vehicle to clear the road while opening the gate. It is big enough to park a car or two and will become an attractive place for spectators to park regardless of the fact they will be trespassing! I expect to get little or no response if I call the county sheriff or CHP to get them removed! Somehow I will have to “tape” or fence the area at my expense of course. Most landowner/residents on these roads have the same arrangement, they are all at risk.
4.) My property is boarded by another owner who I have never actually met. He and his wife are elderly and live across the bay. They are incapable of dealing with any of the issues. Their properties border the county road. Since I have an easement through their property, I owe it to them to explain this situation and watch out for their interests as best as I can. Fences, gates etc.
Conclusion:
I will have to provide all the effort, cost, coordination to accomplish the above tasks. And I might add, for a race that isn’t necessarily coming this direction. No one on Mines Road will know if the race will be diverted away from Mt. Hamilton road until the day of the race!
A hard closure of the road one day before the race would save me from most, but not all of the above work. The lasting allure of amateur racers to the route the “Big Boys’ used is going to be with us for years after Amgen and their band of 650 are off terrorizing other communities. If this race is so important to the Cities, Counties and Amgen, atleast provide the hard closure for us landowners to reduce the misery of spectators.
From Don Turner/Turner Mines:
As a resident of South Eastern Alameda County, I travel Mines Road routinely and have experienced the impact of bicycle traffic first hand. I have encountered bicycles more often and in greater numbers over the past few years. My travel on Mines Road is often a “nerve wracking” trip because of the bicycles. They are often riding two, three or more abreast occupying more than half the road and refuse to move over in the presence of motor vehicle traffic. They exhibit this behavior even into blind turns! Their lack of common courtesy and worse yet, disregard for their own safety is appalling.
Mines, Del Puerto Canyon and Mount Hamilton Roads are rural roads capable of modest motor vehicle traffic. In long stretches these roads are very steep, too narrow for two lanes, have little or no shoulder and many blind turns. With light traffic and careful driving these roads are moderately safe for those that know them. Any reasonable person can see the hazards for those riding bicycles is extreme. Add masses of bicycles (at times), their obvious defiance and bravado in large numbers to the dangerous conditions of the road and injury/fatalities are almost guaranteed.
It is clear those who choose to ride a bicycle under these conditions are risking their life, but they are not the only ones at risk. When cars and bicycles collide, the quality of life for the motorist may be permanently ruined due to the resulting criminal and civil actions regardless of the innocence of the driver.
The situation described here is serious and there seems little is being done by County officials and law enforcement to curtail the problem. To make matters worse there is a bicycle race planned for February 20, 2008. The route of importance is up Del Puerto Canyon road and over Mt. Hamilton into San Jose. According to organizers, the route will be changed to proceed down Mines Road to Livermore if conditions are poor on Mt. Hamilton. Organizers for this event are proposing the CHP provide a “rolling closure” in the vicinity of the race in addition to stopping any motor vehicles in the area preceding and following the race. This race would in affect close the entire road. Residents will be prevented from using the county road to and from their property. Organizers of this race are seeking permits from the affected counties and support from the CHP.
What sort of warped, upside down logic permits the closure of these roads to residents for the amusement of bicycle enthusiasts. Residents pay thousands of dollars in county property taxes each year in addition to road taxes from fuel purchase. It is an outrage they will be prevented from using the county road! By granting permits, participating counties and law enforcement are condoning this dangerous use of public roads. Simply put, the counties and CHP should at least discourage the use of these roads by bicyclists and possibly prohibit the organized events. Prohibiting bicycle use on public roads where risks are extreme is done in other areas, why not here?
I am personally offended and angered that these obvious problems get so little attention and I am not alone. Many of my easy-going neighbors become enraged when this subject comes up.
Don Turner
Anonymous Comments - Received Fri. 1/18/08 5:58 PM
Well at least they acknowledged that they have indeed caused problems in the past.
Maybe we should all pay Bruce and Fritz to work that day and sweep them off the
road before they cause a problem. I hear that decaying cyclists make pretty good
fertilizer.
Well, again, My comment is that I don't see the value of being "informed" of such a thing before it happens. "Hi, just a friendly note to let you know that we plan on turning your neighborhood into a series of life-threatening obstacles." does _Nothing_ to comfort me. Nor will it help me make that critical decision; "Do I run over the bicyclists sitting in the middle of the road like quail, or go head on with an oncoming full-size pickup." Which is a decision I have come perilously close to making Every. Single. Year. I guess it does assist me in letting me know which days are best for looking for spare bicycle parts along the side of the road. Which I _do_ find every year.
From Jill Owens:
December 10, 2007
Hello neighbors,
I have read the three letters forwarded by John and Cheryl, and while I agree with many of the points people have made, let me suggest that since we are probably not going to get anywhere with our objections, why not embrace the project? This race is a huge deal for the bicyclist community, and in comparison, perhaps the restriction of my freedom to travel on the county road for a few hours is not such a loss, especially with months of advance notice. (By the way, my 2008 calendar shows February 20 to be a Wednesday, not a Saturday.)
I think it is a good idea to voice concerns, but in the end, if we can’t beat ‘em, why not join ‘em? As a community we could choose to take this opportunity to make a concerted effort to show hospitality and appreciation to folks who have worked hard to excel in their sport. In our household, we’re planning to have some relatives—themselves avid bicyclists—up for an overnight, sit out by the road on lawn chairs, and cheer ‘em on.
Nevertheless, I do feel strongly that there should be rules about public-road use on an every day basis. I have been held up by packs of rude bicyclists like everyone else, and I agree that it is most annoying and often unsafe. If bicyclists were required to pay road-use taxes and prominently display license plates, then we could identify and report the offenders. There are probably many useful ideas that could be considered. The bicyclist issue is certainly an appropriate one for our Rural Roads community action effort to tackle!
Jill Owens
From John Hayward:
Response to proposed Amgen Bike Race.
First of all, I think it necessary to state that I have nothing against bike races. I do have something against bike races that effectively shut down one or two of the only three roads that lead to my house effectively “trapping” me in my house or forcing me to go about 100 miles out of my way to accommodate a bicycle race. I would feel the same way if the organizers of the Grand Prix “discovered” this area and wanted to race here because it wouldn’t “inconvenience” anybody if they shut down the road exclusively for their own benefit.
I would also like to state that before *any* of the residents of the area around Mt Hamilton were notified, and then only indirectly, the race has basically been treated as if it’s unstoppable by both the organizers and then the local law enforcement community. I am absolutely certain the organizers did this intentionally so by the time the residents found out about the race it was, in fact, unstoppable. I fear they may have succeeded in this goal, but it is sneaky and underhanded to start from the very beginning by trying to “get around” the residents of the affected area for their own benefit. Why was this done? It was done because the organizers knew there would be significant resistance to the race from local residents and with good reason. Now that it’s a “done deal” because they “snuck” around the residents, the suggestion is to “work with them and look at this as a good thing.” NONSENSE! This race benefits the residents of the Mt. Hamilton area in absolutely no way, and serves, at best, to inconvenience us, and, at worst, could cause serious harm. Let me explain. I will try to move from the most important items to the lesser issues.
First and foremost – The issue of “minor inconvenience” is a lot of nonsense, especially for anyone wishing to go down the mountain to San Jose after the race has passed their gate. I will wager that not one rider in the race will go the last 5 miles up to Mt. Hamilton at anywhere near 30 mph nor will anyone of them average that speed over the portion of the course in the Del Puerto Canyon and Mt. Hamilton area. Not all the riders are “world class” and there will be many stragglers because the roads are steep and narrow and windy. This also does not account for things like the inevitable breakdowns or flat tires. The race organizers, in trying to convince people who don’t live here and have no clue about what the roads are like that the race is a “minor” inconvenience, say things like the race will pass in 10 minutes. NONSENSE!!!! What do the organizers and the local law enforcement monitoring this propose to do with breakdowns and stragglers? Are they going to tell everyone that lags 10 minutes behind the leader they are out of the race??? NONSENSE!!! If the race goes over Mt. Hamilton as planned, then they will be stretched out well over an hour and the organizers know this. Statistics from the finish of the Mt. Hamilton Classic will bear this out should anyone wish to check. Cars following that race come in hours after the lead bike had finished. So are we proposing that if somebody up here has a flight to catch in San Jose and figures it’s “no problem” because these riders will all be going 30 mph they should miss their flights to “accommodate” a bike race? The organizers know all this but have their own agenda and really don’t give a hoot about the impact on the residents. They feel it’s not their concern. I am hoping that some of the people who read this are able to convince them otherwise. This is a pretty place to ride and that attracts riders. The “tiny inconvenience” argument is valid in towns where residents may only have to go one block over because a road is closed for a bike race. IT DOES NOT WORK UP HERE! The intersection of Del Puerto Canyon Rd, Mines Rd and San Antonio Rd is 23 miles, 31 miles and 38 miles respectively, from the nearest other intersection. In this entire area which is 54 miles going to Livermore and 60 miles going to San Jose, there is no way for people wishing to use Highway 130, a designated scenic highway, to “go around.” Again going back to the race moving at 30 mph, I have a fast car, know the roads and, probably, drive too fast. I *CANNOT* move at an average of 30 mph and yet you wish me to believe that the slowest of these bike riders can? NONSENSE! I ask again, what happens to the bikes more than the proposed “10 minutes” behind the lead bike even *if* the lead bike was maintaining 30 mph?
Let’s move on to the subject of notification. How do the organizers propose to notify the residents? Most of the people up here don’t have mail service as they maintain a house and/or post office box somewhere else. How do the organizers propose to notify them? Are they going to go to county records in Stanislaus, Alameda (since it might go through there) and Santa Clara and get all the mailing addresses for the owners of record for all the parcels up here? Again, I have to say, NONSENSE! Is it therefore considered a minor inconvenience if somebody from town who has cattle or horses up here that need to be fed or watered or are in need of urgent medical attention and finds that they cannot get to their property because of a bike race? Do the organizers of the race propose to pay for a cow or horse that dies because of this “minor” inconvenience? Even if the organizers mailed notification to all property owners of record up here, there are lots of ranchers running cattle up here on leased land; how do the organizers propose to notify them? What if a resident has a friend from town visiting and the friend has to get back to pick his children up at daycare? Are the race organizers proposing to pay the additional fees for the children being stuck in daycare for, perhaps, several additional hours? I say again, “closing” the road for a bike race in this area is *not* a minor inconvenience.
Life is not certain, and it’s even less certain up here. I have come across trees fallen across the road and bridges flooded and I have dealt with it, as have all the other residents. These are natural disasters *NOT* bike races! Being inconvenienced or missing a flight because of a natural disaster is one thing, but a bike race that only benefits the organizers and riders is quite another! Are the organizers proposing anything to make up for the inconvenience to me or to any of the other residents? Are they proposing to do anything to help the community or contribute to the community in return, I THINK NOT! They benefit, we lose, TOUGH! The organizers say they don’t want to inconvenience anybody, but what they mean is “nobody important” and they have already demonstrated they consider us “unimportant.” I hope we are able to convince them otherwise!
I could come up with other reasons why this is not a “minor” inconvenience but should move on to what can and, hopefully, *will* be done to not effectively shut down a 220 square mile area for a bike race.
Suggestions for mitigating the negative impact of any race run on Mt. Hamilton, San Antonio, Mines or Del Puerto Canyon Rds.
First – If there is any actual road closure there must be provisions for cars traveling in the same direction and coming up behind the race. It is totally unreasonable for cars coming up from Patterson or going down to San Jose to have to travel at the pace of the slowest bike rider. I WANT TO SEE THE CHP ESCORT CARS AROUND THE RACE WHEN 3 CARS GOING THE SAME DIRECTION ARE WAITING TO PASS OR WHEN A SINGLE VEHICLE HAS BEEN BEHIND THE RACERS FOR TEN MINUTES. If the racers are going at 30 mph, as they claim, this should never come up. On the off chance that the slowest rider *doesn’t* maintain 30, then this provision is quite reasonable. After all, cars driving on mountain roads are required to pull over when 3 or more cars are behind them! If CHP is unable to safely “escort” cars through the racers because of windy roads and lack of forward visibility, it is my intent that the racers be pulled over in the same manner as proposed for the passage of emergency vehicles. While we are on this topic, I would like to understand “how” law enforcement proposes to “stop” the racers for emergency vehicles or any other reason! I was on the volunteer fire department up here and during one race, the racers refused to pull over to let the fire truck through to pick up one of “their own” injured riders even though its lights and siren were going. If there is a mass refusal to pull over, as in the case above, there won’t be enough officers to arrest them all. How will this work?
Second – The race organizers should be required to post a bond to each county involved to cover the cost of cleanup or any other documentable financial loss directly attributable to the race. If the organizers clean up after the race, then the bond would be unnecessary, but if not, the affected counties would not be left with the expense of cleanup. If it is truly a “minor” inconvenience then there should be no documentable financial losses.
Third - Notification of the race should be posted at all gates on all the roads that will or might be used. Notification should be posted at least two months in advance and indicate both the date of the proposed race and the time and location of the public hearing for each county and an address and timetable for mailed in or email comments. For races run when it’s winter and rainy season, the notification should be made both very visible and impervious to water for at least one month.
Fourth – There should be a requirement from all three counties that in all future races the notification requirements above will be adhered to and the rural roads committees from the affected counties will be notified of an intended race in time to schedule public hearings and *prior* to the first application or discussion with CHP or any other law enforcement agency. This would eliminate the “perception” that the race committees are trying to “get around” the local residents.
Fifth – The counties should enact an ordinance (?) or some other legal vehicle stating that all race applications that do not meet the notification requirements of item four above are summarily disapproved.
If race committee organizers think these requirements are too onerous, then I feel they should find venues to hold their races where there really *is* only a minor impact and there are alternate routes that do not require residents to go 100 miles out of their way to accommodate their little get together.
Sincerely,
John Hayward
11600 Del Puerto Canyon Rd.
Livermore, CA 94550
From Tony Logan:
One of the issues for me, should I be headed for the ranch on that day, they make no mention of pulling the whole shitery over to let someone pass that does not want to wait behind a bunch of bun's wiggle up the road. I get the impression that they want control of the road anywhere near the race pack but never a thought to forcing them over if more then two or three truck
pile up behind them. Further, at another time, I was caught behind 50-100 of these riders and not only were they covering both lanes but a CHP was out in front so that even if I tried to pass, there I would be right behind the
CHP and in the wrong lane.
They have the same privileges as cars/trucks on the road, I understand that, but, they should also obey the rules of the road as well. If cars/trucks pile up behind them they should be forced to stop/pull over, just like I must do if cars pile up behind me as I pull a trailer back and forth to the ranch.
Tony
From Shannon Moore:
Feel free to forward to whomever,
I find the premise that these people can just deny me access to my own roadway, and can get the police to enforce such an idea so totally inappropriate, I am at a loss as to what suggestions I would offer. I guess I would say that a "mobile road block" out here is functionally a total road block as there is no alternative route of travel. What difference does it make to me if the road is blocked 20 miles down, 10 miles down, or right in front of my gate?
I would point out to the supervisor that not only does a road closure deny meaccess to my public roadway, and as a consequence the entire outside world (barring air travel, or teleportation), but as my property is divided by the roadway, it denies me access to my own property. I am meant to be content with postings and notices? Should I care how many ambulances they have?
I guess if I were to try to come up with a requirement that would reduce the impact this will have on my life I would suggest the following;
I understand it is often the case that when road work occurs in front of store fronts, the businesses are compensated for their loss of business. Why not then compensate the people who are deprived of access to their road ways, the outside
world and even their own property?
-Shannon Moore
From Wayne Armbrust:
While these folks keep calling it a rolling closure it really is a complete closure to any and all traffic (except emergency vehicles) going into or out of the area as there is absolutely no alternate route. I live on Del Puerto and Saturday is usually my one day week that I can go into Patterson to get my mail, I would be prevented from doing that until the race had completely passed my gate.
As to the speed of the race most of it from I5 to the bottom of the quicksliver would probably be able to maintain close to 25mph (I used to race with the best of them on the east coast) and about 15mph up the quicksliver grade (the main hill in front of the McGowan Ranch). As for Mt. Hamilton it would probably take close to an 1h15m to get to the top from the junction.
A concern of mine is that there will be numerous crashes, mostly a single rider going down and possibly over the edge from sand or gravel as they will not be cleaning the roads just before the race as they often do on closed circuit races. These crashes will require emergency personel and vehicles and keep the roads closed a much longer period of time and will most likely use nonrace provided
emergency personel. If doubt that they (the race organizers) will provide even 5 emts and ambulances to clean up injured riders and if they are seriously injured they will have to be air ambulanced out further straining the nearly nonexistent
emergency services we have up here.
An interesting legal twist is that most of us with road frontage actually own the land that the road is on and have granted an easment for the road for the normal ingress and egress of traffic. A race is not "normal" traffic by definition as a special
permit is required thus probably violating terms of the easment. Also have all landowners upon who's land the race travels been granted complete immunity for any injury, etc. that may happen upon our property? I know that I have not been contacted in that regard.
When I raced many years ago except for closed circuit races roades were never closed and per the USCF and UCI (governing race associations) all riders were required to obey all traffic laws from stop signs and traffic lights (unless waved on by authorized traffic control officials) to moving to the right to allow faster moving traffic to pass. At no time was any rider allowed to cross the double yellow (we don't have wide enough roads to have them everywhere up here) or they would face the real possibility of being disqualified.
There are just a few of my thoughts on this race. It is a beautiful area to ride but like most things should be done with real consideration for those who live here. One of the reasons most of us moved here because it is rural without the normal
traffic problems of the city.
Wayne Armbrust
From Chuck Piper - Received 1/3/08 1:23PM
Located on Adobe Canyon Rd
I'm somewhat dismayed to hear all of the bad feelings and negative comments regarding the upcoming bicycle race. My wife and kids and I have gotten stuck on several occasions behind bicyclist going down Del Puerto Canyon Road. Yes, some of them have been rude, and inconsiderate. On one such occasion, I believe I yelled out suggesting that the chief offender "get a stool and milk it.” However, to be absolutely fair to the cycling community, I must say, that this doesn't happen very often. Most of them will eventually pull over and let you pass. After all, they are required by law to do so. They have to obey the traffic laws just the same as we do.
After reading some of the "gloom and doom" scenarios posted on this site, I was concerned enough to follow Mr. Mason's suggestion and call Eric Smith and talk to him personally, and voice my concerns. After all, communication is a two way street.
We talked for almost a half an hour, and he assured me that he is quite concerned about the negative images that some of the rude cyclists are giving the bicycle community as a whole. He did not appear to be arrogant or brash. I also assured him that he need not worry about us litigating his socks off because the road was going to be closed for an hour or so. He assured me that whatever road closure did occur would be minimal, and that essential emergency vehicles would still be allowed in and out of the area.
I told him that before forming an opinion one way or the other, that I would probably attend the Jan 16th meeting and hear what he and the other representatives of the bicycling community had to say.
It sounds like this is a worth while event, with the proceeds going to benefit cancer research. The event is sponsored by the California Tourist Bureau and has been endorsed by "the Governator.” I may just take the day off and watch the race.
I do hope that cooler heads will prevail, and that this thing doesn't escalate out of control. It's hard enough living up here without things getting ugly. Maybe if we all just cut these folks some slack, things won't be so bad as we think. There may actually be some benefits to being nice, and performing some random senseless act of human kindness. I mean it’s not like this happens everyday. I can certainly see if it happened on the weekend more than a couple times a year that people would get a bit twitchy, and pushed out of shape......... but hey.....this is on a week day. These folks (bicyclists ) pay taxes too, and deserve some small measure of consideration.
I've been stuck behind bulldozer transports, mobile homes, cattle trucks, convoys of RV's and motorcycle transporters going to Frank Raines Park, concrete trucks, and yes.... even water tanker trucks, and I didn't have a brain aneurism over it.
Is it really worth getting that worked-up over. As for me, I think I'll just twist the top off a spring water, take a few Atenolol and Lotensins, and get on with life, until I have more facts. I'm not ready to get my squirrel gun down off the mantle piece just yet.
Chuck Piper
Adobe Canyon Rd
