01-07-2005, 05:18 PM
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#39 (permalink)
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| Guest | Re: Potential good news for Mt. Washington access.
<jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org> wrote in message
news:tgFDd.662$m31.7334@typhoon.sonic.net...
> Matt O'Toole writes:
>
> > Mountain bikers ride fire roads like that all the time. The
> > mountains of the western US are riddled with them -- 4000' climbs at
> > over 10%, sometimes over 15%. Rims get hot, but not enough to blow
> > tires. So I don't see what the big deal is. There are a bunch of
> > roads around here with sustained grades like that, but nothing that
> > long -- 2-3 miles at most.
>
> I'm unclear on what you are proposing. Do you mean that tires do not
> blow off rims from brake heating? As a counterpoint, I have had two
> of these occurrences and have witnessed many more. Beyond that, most
> tandems use hub brakes because tire bow-off is such a problem for
> them, having more mass and less wind drag than single bicycles and
> only two rims for two people.
>
> > However, when you have such a road that's a magnet for cyclists, you
> > have a management problem. As mentioned, that particular road is
> > privately owned, so there may be liability concerns too. I say
> > people ought to be free to crash if they want to, but unfortunately
> > US law and insurance doesn't work that way.
>
> I think the management doesn't want the contention for road space
> between bicycles and cars. I am aware of these problems locally
> because there are a great many drivers who will not pass a bicyclist
> climbing a grade on a curvy road even if the bicyclists rides outside
> of the edge stripe on a paves highway. On an unpaved road this could
> case traffic jams even with light auto traffic.
>
> Jobst Brandt
> jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org
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