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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, friends, to the August shop ride, a much shorter ride than July or September. This will be a ride suitable for intermediate and experienced riders, on paved roads only. Some of the roads are very tight but take it slow and you should have no problems. The roads are all local and the ride will not be very long (about 90 miles total). Some of these roads are very scenic, and it should not be too hot since we will be very close to the coast. Reinhold Lohkamp-Schmitz will be leading the ride, as I am committed to taking my daughter back to college that weekend.
Our route will be one that is familiar to many of you, with a few surprises thrown in. We'll leave the shop and go out Charleston to Page Mill Road, take Page Mill to Hwy 35, cross it and descend Alpine Road to Pescadero Road into Pescadero. At the light, we'll turn right and take Old Stage Road through San Gregorio and back to Hwy 1. We'll follow Hwy 1 to Half Moon Bay and visit the old part of town, hopefully get seating at Reinhold's favorite coffee shop/Jazz bar for a cup of coffee, or one of the other coffee shops along the strip. After the break, we will head back south briefly on Hwy 1 and take Higgins/Purissima Road to Verde Road to Lobitos Creek Road, which drops us onto Tunitas Creek Road. That leads us back to Hwy 35. We'll cross Hwy 35and descend down Kings Mountain Road. At the bottom of Kings Mountain Road, as we come into Woodside, the ride will be officially over and people can go home via 280 or follow Woodside Road to 101.
Departure time is 9:00 am from the shop. Be gassed up and ready to leave by 9:00 am sharp. We'll have a short rider/safety meeting at 8:50, and the shop will be open by 8:30 for bathroom stops. I want to earnestly request that all riders ride within your comfort zones. Stay within the safe limits of your riding ability, and work on being the smoothest rider on the ride. True riding skill is built on a sense of smoothness, control and a sense of line, not in trying to go fast. Practice performing the smoothest possible upshifts and downshifts by good throttle control and matching engine and road speed, and experiment with slight changes in body position and weight transfer to help control the bike in the corners. For this Sunday's ride we are going to set an easy pace, and anyone who exceeds that pace and passes the leader is on his or her own.
I hope you can join us. Have fun and be safe! E-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best Regards,
Kari Prager/ Reinhold Lohkamp-Schmitz
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