Off-camber turn on Arastradero Road in Los Altos Hills
Les Earnest
off-camber downhill turn in Los Altos Hills. Our attempts at getting the
city to address this problem have yielded no constructive response so far.
Riders heading eastbound on Arastradero Road come to a long descent that
includes a sharp left turn by the entrance to the Seton Provincialate at
26000 Altamont. Unfortunately the roadway there slopes downward toward
the outside of the turn and there is usually gravel along the right
edge, which makes it difficult to stay on the road. A cycling
acquaintance has personally witnessed crashes there on three occasions
recently, each of which resulted in serious injuries to the rider.
I would guess that a number of crashes there have gone unreported. If
you have crashed there or witnessed someone else doing so I invite a
report, either in this forum or by email to me. Please be as specific as
possible regarding who was involved as well as the date and time.
I witnessed a crash at this same spot a couple of years ago that was
less serious -- the rider had a number of contusions and a broken bike
but was able to telephone his wife to come get him.
The city has recently made a couple of changes. They put a stencil in
the downhill lane approaching this curve saying "SHARP TURN AHEAD",
which I believe is a good thing, but they also put up a steel guardrail
on the outside of the turn, which I believe has made matters worse. When
a rider went off the road earlier he was likely to sprawl on the
adjacent driveway, but now he is likely to slam into the guardrail and
go over the top, resulting in broken ribs and other bones, as my cycling
colleague has observed.
The best fix for this, I believe, would be to regrade the curve so that
the road slopes up toward the outside of the turn, as should have been
done in the first place. In any case, I believe that the guardrail
should be removed before it claims more victims. What do you think?
-Les Earnest
CJ
How many motor vehicles have crashed there?
--
Cliff
critposer
> Riders heading eastbound on Arastradero Road come to a long descent that
> includes a sharp left turn by the entrance to the Seton Provincialate at
> 26000 Altamont.
Don't you mean riders heading eastbound on Altamont? That turn has
been a challenge to get throught quickly for ages.
critposer
correct, mostly for the danger it presents to auto traffic. If it
weren't for the danger it presents to auto traffic, I'd prefer just
keeping it clean and removing the guardrail. Off-camber turns are
interesting for cyclists who want to improve their decending
technique.
critposer
Enter the address, zoom in as far as possible, then click the human
figure at the top of zoom bar and drag it to the corner in question.
By clicking and dragging in this view, you can get an exact view of
what it looks like to approach this corner, which shows the off-camber
nature, and the guardrail that Les describes. You can get either an
uphill or downhill perspective, and by clicking on the arrows on the
path, a good feel for what its like to go through the corner. Pehaps
if the unfortunate riders Les mentions had done this before riding the
road, they'd have know what was coming!
critposer
of this turn. Enter the address, zoom to maximum. click the figure at
the top of the zoom bar and drag it to the corner in question. By
clicking and dragging, you can get an exact downhill or uphill
perspective of the turn, showing the off-camber nature and the
guardrail that Les describes. By clicking the arrows on the path, you
can negotiate the turn as it would appear on your bike.
critposer
Les Earnest
There is clear evidence that at least one motor vehicle has hit the
guardrail there. If there were no guardrail it would have slid into the
adjacent driveway, likely with no damage.
-Les Earnest
Bill Bushnell
> It appears that an increasing number of riders are crashing on a certain
> off-camber downhill turn in Los Altos Hills. Our attempts at getting the
> city to address this problem have yielded no constructive response so far.
> Riders heading eastbound on Arastradero Road come to a long descent that
> includes a sharp left turn by the entrance to the Seton Provincialate at
> 26000 Altamont. Unfortunately the roadway there slopes downward toward
> the outside of the turn and there is usually gravel along the right
> edge, which makes it difficult to stay on the road. A cycling
> acquaintance has personally witnessed crashes there on three occasions
> recently, each of which resulted in serious injuries to the rider.
> I would guess that a number of crashes there have gone unreported. If
> you have crashed there or witnessed someone else doing so I invite a
> report, either in this forum or by email to me. Please be as specific as
> possible regarding who was involved as well as the date and time.
I assume this was on Altamont, not Arastradero Rd.
I was with a group of cyclists, including my boss at the time from work,
descending Altamont at this point in summer of 2003, before the guardrail was
installed and before most of the eucalyptus trees were removed.
I warned everyone that the descent was trickier than it looked and that they
should exercise caution. I was in the lead and made it through, but when I looked
behind me on the straightaway at the bottom I saw no one. I stopped and waited.
A car came past and slowed. The driver told me that some cyclists had crashed up
the hill.
I rode back up to find a few from our party, including my boss, standing around
nursing some scrapes. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, nor were
bicycles damaged.
As I recall what had occurred was that the cyclist behind me had braked suddenly
before the off-camber turn. My boss was too close behind him to brake in time and
ended up off the road, tumbling into the landscaping. If the guardrail had been
there, things would have gone differently.
To his credit my boss was in good spirits and finished the ride (to Saratoga)
without further complaint or grudge.
I can send you my old boss's contact information if you wish.
--
Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/
Les Earnest
Quite right, it is on Altamont -- sorry for my mistype. I would be
interested to who the victim was.
Yes, before the eucalyptus trees were removed the road was often covered
with leaves, which made it quite slippery. However the gravel there,
which gets washed down the hill, remains sufficient to do the job. I
expect that if the guardrail had been there your boss would have ended
up with broken bones.
-Les Earnest
Rick
I have done that descent a couple hundred times at the very least;
while I still lived in Mt View I would do that section 3-4 times a
week as part of my morning loop. I have never had a problem. The
solution: take it slow until you know the road, then you will know how
to handle the curve properly. Sure it is a challenge, but it is
unlikely to be regraded anytime in the near future so it is left to
personal responsibility to ride it safely.
- rick