COMMENTS
John Chamorro  -  Received 12/15  1:46PM

I have many thoughts on this "race,"  One of many is that it is OUR TAX DOLLARS paying for all the people involved from the state and counties.  So not only do we get this thing shoved down our throats and get to be literally held captive for a day, WE GET TO PAY FOR IT TOO!!

John
John Chamorro  -  Received 12/20 6:07PM

From: John Chamorro
Subject: Newsletter Update

Today 12/20/07 Several members from the MHRIA and Rural Roads met for 3 hours for an interview with Jonathan Partridge from the Patterson Irrigator. We were able to openly discuss some of the previous problems we as residents  have been faced with in the past.  We were also able to cover some of the ideas that residents have submitted for the upcoming Amgen bicycle race. 

After he has a chance to interview the Amgen people he will be publishing an article in the Irrigator in the next few issues.   We have a date set for our first ESCCRR meeting with Supervisor Don Gage.  It will be held at the Smith Creek Cal Fire Station on January 16th at 3:30 pm Supervisor Gage is requesting that the officials from  the City of San Jose be present and the Amgen organizers, to discus and  hopefully resolve some of the issues we as a forgotten community may  have concerning the race and the closure of our roads.  If you are not able to make the meeting PLEASE VOICE YOUR CONCERNS IN WRITING to any of the MHRIA or ESCCRR residents.  We have made it pretty easy to submit ideas through the www.esccrr.com web site.  It can even be done anonymously.  As long as the ideas are legal, we will print them. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

John Chamorro  -  Received 12/26 6:54PM

Subject: Two Way Street?

After reading Mr. Turners letter, I see many valid concerns.  As a resident of Del Puerto Canyon I could relate numerous stories but it would be just more of the same.  I read all of the "rebuttals" to Mr. Turner's letter and the thing that struck me most was that the bicycle community had nothing constructive to contribute but chose instead to attack Mr. Turner personally!

I think that you will find good and bad on both sides of the coin, riders and drivers alike. While I have personal, factual knowledge of some of the events alluded to in Mr. Howard's letter, they seem skewed in the bicyclists favor.  I guess you would expect this, as selling bikes is his living and not his hobby, as is the case with most of the riders.

That said, I feel the real root of the ongoing problem is the road itself.  These back country roads are beautiful for tourists, riders, and residents.  After all, that's one of the reasons why we live here.  If one is familiar with Mines Road you will realize that most of the road is not even designed for 2 way traffic.  In fact these roads were never originally designed for vehicular traffic.  If you were to read Dr. Cutler's book "Red Mountain" you would see that they were originally built for mining traffic only.  These roads were originally dirt and were paved over with little or no improvements.  When you add residents
in an ever increasing number, add bikes, add commercial traffic, throw in a motorcycle or two and a few sports car clubs, things get pretty crowded.  Something has got to give.  I have complained to the public works officials at the quarterly Rural Roads meetings at the Martinelli Center in Livermore about the up keep of the road, or the lack thereof.  They gave it lip service but that was it.  The bike lanes that were installed some years ago are overgrown with trees and bushes.  This I
would imagine prevents the sweepers from cleaning them and in turn the riders from using them.  Where are the bikes to ride? In the traffic lanes!  Most of Mines is the same.  There just plain isn't room for the bikes to move over in most areas.

Now let’s come up with the absolutely brilliant idea of closing the road entirely!  This will surely make it safer for the bikes but what about the residents?  Are we as a community to put our lives on hold?  Mr. Howard mentioned the inconvenience of not being able to get to his home near the rodeo grounds.  Let me expand on that statement a little.  How about if we block all roads into and out of Livermore?  Let's block ALL the roads all the way to Castro Valley, Tracy, Fremont and Danville.
Let's block EVERY SINGLE RESIDENT into their driveways so they can't leave their homes so that 100 or so riders can ride down First Street.  Closing Mines, Del Puerto and Mt Hamilton roads is in effect what will be happening to us when the roads are closed for the "race".  There are only a few hundred of us residents, so who cares?  We do.

John Chamorro
Del Puerto Canyon




John Chamorro - Received  Fri 1/18/08 10:45 AM

Regardless of which side who is on, the sheer volume of riders both recreational and organized is should force some kind of legal adjustment ->before the accident rate goes up<-

I’m not convinced that any of the three counties involved are ready to step up like that.

Required mountain safety courses for bicyclists
Stricter ordnances (no stopping on pavement etc.)
And if it gets bad enough – cycling permits for specific sections of specific roads with fees to cover the enforcement and rider education costs

John


FROM JOHN CHAMORRO
Comments By John Chamorro

Below are some thoughts from Don Turner. He has some very valid points. I have received many more but his were printable without editing and cover most of the issues.

I would think that any preparations that are SPECIFICALLY needed for the upcoming race should be billed to the Tour of California organizers. Examples could be temporary fencing of access areas and driveways, no trespassing signs, yellow caution tape etc. (maybe the county could come up with these?)  Whether or not they pay them is another matter.

A conversation with Eric Smith today provided some more useful info as to their pre-race activities. He says there will be 7 vans with work crews that will be sweeping the road as necessary and even going as far as to fill potholes with cold patch. That will certainly improve the condition of the roads. He also said there will be a strong police presence ahead of the race clearing away illegally parked spectators and to make sure the roadways are clear of any problems. It would seem that if you encounter trespassers/illegally parked vehicles they would cite and remove them well ahead of time. The general opinion is that it would be better to totally close the roads but the CHP says they don't have personnel  available for that.

John Chamorro
Another Bike Race Set For Saturday January 26 - From John Chamorro

I just received this. I thought with all the other Bike race commotion going on the timing was great!! They call this a training race. I hope the local counties are requiring them to have their permits in order. Now that there is NO Volunteer Fire Dept. the usual wrecks will just be swept off to the side of the road? Hopefully the Sheriffs dept from all counties can step up their patrols(at our expense) for the day.

John Chamorro:

I am the organizer of the 18th annual Early Bird training bicycle road race on Del Puerto Canyon Road, set this year for January 26. In past years we dropped info at each gate along the road to inform about the event, but were discouraged from doing so several years ago and began e-mailing residents via a list that we put together from e-mails to us that year. The list has become obsolete over the years, (for example, yours is on our list at redmt@pacbell.net ) and only a few names remain active. Is there a chance that you could send our resident letter (attached) out to your members or in some other way help us to inform them? I also enclose a copy of our "residents' concern sheet" that is posted for riders at registration, and read to each starting group by the officials.
I would appreciate your help or comments,
Thank you for your time,
--Robert Leibold

PS: We would like to again make a donation to the local volunteer fire department, if I can get an address to send a check to.

To: Residents & Property Owners, Del Puerto Canyon area
Re: Early Bird Bicycle training race to be held in your area Sat. January 26, 2008
(This year we are again doing notification by e-mail, pursuant to your request; as this will not reach everyone we would appreciate you letting your neighbors know, or providing other e-mails addresses to us for us to send out.)

Dear Friends:
   The Golden Chain Cyclists and Velo Promo are planning to conduct the 18th annual Early Bird bicycle training race on Del Puerto Canyon Road on Saturday morning, January 26, 2008. We ask your cooperation in making this a safe and successful one again this year. Greater care will be taken to address concerns of you, the residents, after 2004’s problems. This year we will have a nurse on the course, as well as better communications, more police assistance and transportation.
   The event will take place on a 24 mile stretch of the canyon road, with an assembly point and start area west of Patterson off Rogers Road at Villa del Lago.. From there, starting after 8:00 a.m., ten separate groups of bicycle riders will start out. All should be done by 12:00 Noon, all groups going up the Canyon nearly to the Junction and then back almost to the freeway, where the finish line will be located.
   The cyclists will include California and Nevada amateur riders; some 300 riders in all, split into 12 different starting groups by age and ability. Part of each rider’s entry fees will again be donated to the San Antone Valley Volunteer Fire Department, if someone can give us a contact address.
   While the road will not be closed to regular traffic during the events, we ask that you keep your eyes open while driving the morning of the race. Likewise, we will stress to the riders that they should be watching for and cooperating with drivers. The riders are required to stay to the right lane as under normal conditions, but there may be as many as 25-50 together at any one time, moving along at up to 40 mph on the downhills and 25 on the flats. Please be aware that the riders may be going downhill faster than you normally would in a car.
   If you have dogs or other animals (other than range cattle), we ask that you keep them under control if possible for the morning, as loose animals often mean injured bicyclists and animals in this sort of situation. Course marshals will be stationed along the course, along with the California Highway Patrol, to direct and assist the riders and to inform motorists. If you are having difficulties with the events, please contract them and they will try to assist you. If you have difficulties with a particular rider, and can notify us of the race number (on the right side of their body) we can disqualify them from the event and recommend harsher penalties.
   We hope that you will enjoy the event and that it will not be a major inconvenience for you. Our crew will pick up debris left from the race during the afternoon of the race day. In 2006, we picked up a total of three 33-gallon trash bags (only one in 2007!) of beer bottles, cigarette packages, cans, cardboard boxes, glass and plastic soda bottles, and fast food containers –not race debris--, as well as several water bottles, inner tubes and power bar wrappers and the like from the racers.

   Thank you for your cooperation,


   Robert A. Leibold, Race Director
   Golden Chain Cyclists
   19780 Soulsbyville Road
   Soulsbyville, CA 95372
   (209) 533-4996
   velopro1@sonnet.com

Be Aware of the Locals’ Concerns!!

“Some of the residents are long time ranchers; asking them to control their cattle so you can have a bike race is ridiculous.”

“Some of the residents are 8-to-5ers that welcome their weekend to possibly take a little trip down to town to do shopping or just relax. Pretty hard to do when there are literally 100s of bicyclists on the road. By the way, the riders in one race far out number the residents who live here.”

“Some of us, like myself, have equipment we move up and down the roads on weekends. Could you imagine the confusion created by cows, tractors, local and tourist traffic, (not to mention thick fog and rain) all on the same road at the same time?   Who’s to give?”

“Should the residents stay off the roads so that cyclists can litter, cause wrecks and confusion, urinate and harass the locals?  I think not!”

“We have very few problems up here. We have no police dept, no sheriff, no full time fire department; only our volunteers. When the riders wreck, it sometimes takes hours before help can be on scene. The whole time the roads are at least congested if not closed.”

“My guess is that your people like to ride up here for a combination of the scenery and the challenge of some of the hills. Speaking only for myself, I live here for the peace and quiet and the freedom from town noise and clutter.”