Ray Hosler's Blog, page 59

Bicycle Detection Works Well in Pleasanton

This radar device detects bicycles at Foothill Road and Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton.

As promised, I hauled myself over to Pleasanton to check out the nifty bicycle detection system installed at the intersection of Foothill Road and Bernal Avenue. I took Calaveras Road to Sunol and then Foothill, a tree-shaded road along Arroyo de la Laguna Creek.

By the way, this creek is the site of a $650,000 streambank restoration project. One reason for the work is because the backyards of homeowners along the creek are falling away from erosion.

Also following the creek, on the other side of Foothill, there's the Niles Canyon Railway right-of-way that was lovingly restored for excursions between Sunol and downtown Pleasanton. However, the NIMBYS in Plesanton put up a stink and the plan has been shelved.

But I digress. I arrived at Bernal and Foothill on a Sunday morning, so traffic was light and I had a chance to test the Intersector without cars around. I went left from Bernal to Foothill at the light and it worked perfectly, triggering the left turn signal.

Intersector motion and presence sensor

The Intersector is made by MS Sedco, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, costing about $5,000 each.

It's basically a small radar with microwave motion and presence detection; it was installed here in January 2010, one of Pleasanton's 104 signaled intersections.

The device can differentiate between vehicles and bicyclists crossing the road and either extends or triggers the light if a cyclist is detected.

The Intersector is bolted to the upper traffic light pole and communicates with the control cabinet below. It uses Power over Ethernet cabling for power.

Train Tunnels Through the Santa Cruz Mountains

Roaring Camp train prepares to leave for Santa Cruz from Felton.

Back by popular demand, I reconstituted Train Tunnels Through the Santa Cruz Mountains on my blog. It had been located on my personal website.

The site is located under my Blogroll on the right column. Enjoy.

Photo of the Week: Glenwood Drive in Scotts Valley

Glenwood Drive looking south toward Scotts Valley. Scotts Valley High School is just down the road.

Glenwood Drive in 1921 at the same location as above. What happened to all the trees?

I saw this photo of Glenwood Highway in a book recently and immediately recognized its location. The alignment hasn't changed since the road was built. The concrete roadbed has been covered with asphalt. The photographer climbed up the side of a hill, now covered with oak trees, to get the shot.

The houses on the left were built in the early 2000s. Scotts Valley High School just down the road opened in 1999.

Caltrain Sees Uptick in Ridership

News stories gave some good news about Caltrain and other area public transit agencies.

Caltrain saw an 11.6 percent increase in ridership from June 2010 to June 2011. It's encouraging to read about, especially when Caltrain recently started ensuring more bike-friendly cars per train during commute hours.

While a lack of guaranteed funding is still a fundamental problem for Caltrain, increased ridership sends the strongest possible message that a public transit is worth financing.

New Roundtail Solves an Old Problem

Check out the Roundtail. It promises a smoother ride than traditional diamond frames.

I found out about the Roundtail bike while reading the latest issue of Popular Science.

This innovative bike has circular hollow steel hoops for rear stays, which are supposed to absorb vibration. The bike promises a smoother ride. It is eye-catching, that's for sure.

Lou Tortola, the inventor, explains that tests show the bike absorbs shock better than traditional diamond frames. No doubt the tests are right as the hoops are like giant springs.

Many bikes have been built that solve this problem, and they're traditional diamond frames. You can do it two ways — relax the head tube angle and lengthen the wheel base or use different frame materials. You can also use wider tires.

Of course they won't grab your attention.

Photo of the Week: Purisima Creek Road

Jobst Brandt gets a drink from Purisima Creek in 1981, and the same location today.

Purisima Creek Road has been a favorite route for Jobst Brandt and friends dating back to the 1960s. Then the road was still being used for logging, which was an ongoing activity in this canyon dating back to the late 1800s.

When Midpeninsula Regional Space District bought the land, the road was renamed a trail, but it's still wide enough to drive a truck on. In fact, it was recently graded, which is good news, bad news. The good news is that the road is being maintained, but the bad part is the deep tread pattern from the grader's tires. Bring your full-suspension bike.

We used to drink out of Purisima Creek and as you can see it was clear of brush back then from all the logging. Note that I'm not recommending you drink from here today.

My favorite section is the two miles from the creek (where the road is less steep) to pavement. Sunday was ideal for cycling on the coast — no fog and mild temps.

Photo of the Week: The Haul Road

Haul Road than and now. In 1984 the Haul Road experienced serious flooding.

On today's ride I was reminded of another less enjoyable ride with Jobst Brandt in 1984. It was a cool spring day and we were finishing a long ride by riding up the Haul Road.

The road was muddy and every creek crossing, of which there are a half-dozen, was washed out. We had to clamber down into the creek and back up. This particular washout was the worst, so I had Jobst take my photo.

Today the road is in as good a shape as it has ever been. It goes from Pescadero Road/Wurr Road to Highway 9, but the section beyond Portola State Park belongs to Redtree Properties.

The Haul Road on a foggy Sunday morning.

World's Most Comfortable Mountain Bike Saddle?

I like this saddle shape for the mountain bike.

After numerous long mountain bike rides I've decided there isn't a saddle that makes riding as comfortable as being on a road bike. They're different beasts.

That said, I like the Bianchi saddle. After a recent 84-mile ride I wasn't nearly as sore as I had been on previous rides using traditional saddles. Of course, it's not the Bianchi brand that matters, but the shape of the saddle. This saddle is more comfortable than the traditional racing saddle minus the groove down the middle.

Mountain bikes, as I've mentioned, put you in a different position on the bike compared to the road bike. I've found that, even with the bar-end extensions, I don't have as many places to put my hands, which contributes to finger numbness. I wear gloves and have padded handlebars; the decrease in available hand positions is the problem.

Photo of the Week – East Waddell Creek

East Waddell Creek then and now. Thirty years later the water holes are an inviting place to take a dip.

Of the many adventure rides with Jobst Brandt, Last Chance Road stands out from the rest. It's a brief wilderness trek following East Waddell Creek, which drains from Big Basin into the Pacific Ocean.

I started doing this ride in 1981 and have done it about a dozen times. Over the decades the trail, now called Not a Through Trail, has gone from being a road to a barely discernible trace.

That did not dissuade me and Brian Cox from reliving the glory days when we could actually ride the trail with not much difficulty. We found the path to be even more overgrown than the last time we visited.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the water holes where 30 years past I enjoyed a dip in the creek with fellow riders on a scorching hot day. At least that much hasn't changed.

Waddell Creek is crossed once on the trail. In the early 1980s it was a shallow crossing. Today it's a deep pool.

A Mad Max Future One Road at a Time

A short stretch of Pruneridge Avenue in Santa Clara has been re-striped from two lanes to one.

As we move at glacial speed to a sustainable future (everyone rides a bike), note that the first step on that long and uncertain journey began at Santa Clara's Pruneridge Avenue this June.

On Thursday, Gary Richards, aka Mr. Roadshow, writes in the San Jose Mercury News about the move to reduce lanes on some streets to better accommodate bikes and pedestrians, including a tiny stretch of Pruneridge. It's happening all over the San Francisco Bay Area, although it's really only a few streets at this point.

I can comment with authority on Pruneridge because I've been riding and driving on that street almost daily for more than 20 years.

The re-striped section of Pruneridge is between Pomeroy Avenue and Lawrence Expressway, maybe a quarter mile. My understanding is that this stretch of road is being changed because it's part of a network of inter-city bike routes. The plan is to extend the re-striping to Tantau Avenue. I don't know that it's part of some grand plan.

Of course, as a cyclist I have no complaints. As a motorist, I also have no complaints. In fact, it's a blessing in disguise. I can't tell you how many times I've been driving in peak traffic on Pruneridge when someone signals a left turn. I dread the left turn signal.

Invariably, there's traffic to my right, and I know of no better way to get into an accident than moving quickly into the right lane. That's no longer a problem because there's a turn-only lane in place of the second lane. I'd like to see all of Pruneridge re-striped this way.