Category: santa cruz

Open roads in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Richard MasonerJanuary 27, 20171 Comment on Open roads in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Happy Friday, all. More rain is on the way to the SF Bay Area and Monterey Bay region Wednesday so enjoy the sunny bike riding weather while you can. This information is collected from county public works departments the morning of Friday, January 27, 2017 and from scouting and is thought to be accurate, but please use caution even when riding on familiar roads, because pavement conditions may have changed since you last rode there. Even roads not listed on the closure lists may have issues; some roads I ride in the Santa Cruz Mountains, for example, have enormous potholes that have probably damaged more than a handful of automotive front-ends this week.

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Posted In news | santa cruz

National ad features Santa Cruz niche bike builder

Richard MasonerDecember 2, 20161 Comment on National ad features Santa Cruz niche bike builder

shaq on a dirtysixer 36er bike

David Folch of Santa Cruz, California designs large bikes around thirty-two and thirty-six inch wheels for large riders under the DirtySixer brand. His bike appears in a nationally aired ad for American Express featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Wanda Sykes at Berkeley Cycle Works.

I love that it shows the wonderful fun of cycling.

Posted In santa cruz

Driver kills man on bike in Soquel, California

Richard MasonerOctober 27, 20161 Comment on Driver kills man on bike in Soquel, California

The Santa Cruz County California Highway Patrol responded to a fatality traffic collision after an 18-year-old man drove his vehicle into the back of a westbound 31-year-old man riding a bicycle on Soquel Drive near Rosedale Avenue at 8:30 P.M. Wednesday night.

Update: The cyclist has been identified as Kevin “Jack” Meehan, who moved to the Santa Cruz area from San Francisco in 2015.

At least one witness reports the driver was “speeding too fast before hitting the bicyclist.” The speed limit on this part of Soquel is 35 MPH, slowing to 25 MPH at Rosedale just one block west of the site of the collision. CHP investigation continues; they ask anyone with information to call (831) 662-0511.

I ride this way occasionally and I’m always somewhat uncomfortable on this stretch of Soquel Drive. Santa Cruz County is fairly small and there’s a fair chance I know somebody connected to the driver or the victim.

Information from the CHP bicycle incident report page, with a hat tip to Steve Piercy for bringing this to my attention. Steve, who maintains this map of Santa Cruz County pedestrian / bicycle collisions, was hit on his bike at this location just last month.

Windows Media dispatch audio can be streamed from here. It’s heartbreaking listening to this.

Posted In accident | santa cruz
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