Category: Main Articles

Joan Gallagher here (I’m a relatively new VR member and know many of you from the Wednesday rides). I’m writing to give you information about the Bike East Bay Hazard Reporting service. Sally Goodman asked that I serve as a liaison between the VeloRaptors and Bike East Bay to improve our ability to get our road hazards fixed. I will work with Tom Willging who is on the Bike East Bay board and who is the official VeloRaptor liaison to Bike East Bay.

I realize that many of you are already familiar with Bike East Bay, but may not be familiar with the hazard reporting process. For those of you who aren’t, please review the information below:

Bike East Bay volunteers report road hazards to the responsible jurisdictions in Alameda & Contra Costa Counties, including any hazards reported via BikeEastBay.org.  They also liaise with local cycling groups – Grizzly Peak Cyclists, Oakland Yellow Jackets, Bike Walnut Creek, Albany Strollers & Rollers, Cherry City Cyclists etc–and now the VeloRaptors–as they often have local contact knowledge that helps them gain access to the right Public Works or city staff. 

In the case of Oakland, a monthly report of the Top Ten potholes (most hazardous to bicyclists) is submitted.  Several years ago, after lobbying Oakland Public Works for more action resulting from their hazard reports, they were able to get OPW to commit to fixing ten per month.  The volunteers are very vigilant to making sure that OPW follows up on their commitments. They don’t see that many Oakland potholes reported each month on their hazards site, so SeeClickFix (more info below) is checked to fill their allotment. 

Hazards include more than just potholes, though we all probably experience the most frustration from them.  Other hazards include traffic signals that don’t sense bicyclists (older intersections with “loops” are the worst); debris in the bike lane or shoulder (think Grizzly Peak Blvd) overgrowth blocking travel or line of sight (Bay Trail in Albany is a constant problem) and a myriad of other hazards such as regular double-parking, drain grates, poor bike lane striping, hazardous railroad crossings, etc.  

If you see a hazard, please feel free to contact me directly at VeloRaptors@gmail.com and I will submit it to the Committee and keep you apprised of its status.  You can also submit your complaint directly to this link: https://bikeeastbay.org/node/add/hazard

Other helpful links:

https://bikeeastbay.org/hazards_map    This is the link to the hazard reporting site. The reports that people have filed and are checked daily can be found here:  https://bikeeastbay.org/hazard_reports 

For an example, check out that link for the report on Debra Dryden’s South Park crash last September. 

SeeClickFix        This is also a good app for reporting road hazards. The limitation is that it is designed to address a wider range of concerns (including, but not limited to homeless issues, graffiti, etc). Bike-related complaints may not necessarily be their highest priority.

Don’t hesitate to contact me or report something because you think it might have already been reported. And it’s often useful to take a picture to document the exact location.

Thanks!

Joan

Great Rides 2013

Canada to Mexico: A tale of three guys bicycling the Pacific Coast.  This summer, club members Kevin McTighe, Dale Perkins, and a friend, Bob Liles, had a great cycling adventure riding the Canada to Mexico ride from August 31 – September 30.  They were supported by Dale’s wife Jeanne and the family dog Chico.  Check it out here.

Paris To Barcelona: This summer club members Randy Mellin, Robin Brummel, Jeff Jones, Fred Morse and Randy’s nephew, Jeff Mellin, rode from Paris to Barcelona and over the Pyrenees mountains. They were joined by Alyston Short (Fred’s friend) who provided great SAG support.  Check it out at: www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/12900. 

Southern Utah: This summer  club members Sally Goodman, Gail Husson, Bruce Bennett, Barbara and Larry DiCostanzo, and Miss Linda has a great experience cycling around Southern Utah: Check it out here.

Spain, Italy, and France:  The bucket list rides of club member Carl Groch. Check it out at: www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/12300.

Velo-Rounder – Our Metric-Century-a-Month club

Continue reading VeloRaptors Y-Rounder Club

Be sure to go to the photo gallery tab and check out the new pictures posted, more pictures to be added soon:

1.  2014 Marin Headlands Ride

2.  2014 Mt. Diablo January 1 Ride

3. 2014 Yosemite Ride

Have you Heard?  Our very own Steve Blair is becoming a super techie.  In his newest tech adventure he has started a blog about bakeries all us bike enthusiasts love to visit. So, check it out at:  “http://biketobakery.blogspot.com/“. 

Cyclist Encounters an Insect

This butterfly, the touch of a cat’s soft paw

Against my chest.  A short moment of vibration.

The soft claw of wing’s edge.   Then air.

                               Lawrence N. DiCostanzo

                              On the Volcano road,

                              May 27, 2007

Resurrection

Bury me in a meadow, some untilled waste,

Next to fields of lettuce or off the highway’s verge.

Let it be my stone, engraved in repeated rotation

Through timeless years.  Where rabbits start in the grass,

Mice rustle, and slender king snake makes his way,

In the warm breezeless understory of bush and weed;

Where song sparrow hangs on sideways to dry stalk,

And kestrel teeters, flaps, teeters, on rigid feathers

Spread out in points.  Here it is dry and quiet.

And, when the Resurrection comes, let the trumpet be

The brassy, tuneless vibration of the bee, against the clacking

Of locust wings.  Let my waking eyes gaze up

On sweet fennel or Queen Anne’s lace in sun.

And, if God should come to look for me, Let Him be

The cyclist, pausing to rest.  Hands light

On handlebars and saddle, He gazes on this modesty.

And let Him say:  This is too good to waste.

                                     Lawrence N. DiCostanzo

                                    June 27 – 28; September 14, 2005

Top of the World: Bicycling Coleman Valley Road  

 I climb above the fog, yet do not know

The reason for this effort. Can it be

The pleasure when I draw up and see

How sunlight blankets rolling grassland with no

Dark tree to stitch it to the blue. I slow

And see the seam of the horizon smooth

Against a bowl of blue, the only truth

And world my distant forebears long ago

Could love. They hoped beyond that line

There await the lovely muscled herds, the streams

Of fish, the comfort of a hunt: in short, the Place

Where limbs feel happy aches. God, rushing by when time

Runs down, should see I have romantic dreams

And fondly scoop me up from this high place —

The cycling dawdler with the dreamy face.

Lawrence N. DiCostanzo

                              July 12 – 15, 2009