# Watch out for that skunk, Lance (stage 3 ToC)



## morg292 (Feb 9, 2009)

I hope the opening of Stage 3 in San Jose doesn't include some elected official claiming that San Jose is bike friendly, because I'll miss my chance to heckle.

I rode out to Sierra Rd. to scout a place to watch the climb & hit the transition from the bridge concrete to road asphalt *hard* on the Mabury bridge over 680 . I'm running/rocking/rubbing 40mm tires, so didn't pinch flat & with the road closed, the racers won't be stuck in the slum ^H^H^H^H bike lane, but it'll pretty nasty all the way across at 120psi.

There was also a dead skunk in the gutter on the South side of Mabury near N. Jackson.

Do they sweep these roads before the race?

How authentic is "road racing" supposed to be anyway?


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## sometimerider (Sep 21, 2007)

morg292 said:


> Do they sweep these roads before the race?


Over in Santa Cruz County, they've been patching, paving, sweeping, and even brush trimming along the route of stage 2. (The latter is normally not done before May. Wonder who's paying for the stepped up maintenance?)


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

Go ride your bike in Atlanta GA, or Biloxi MS for a while. San Jose is heaven compared to some of the places I've ridden.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

What is the deal with all the dead skunks in the road at the moment? Is there something special about the time of year or phase or the moon that makes the skunks go play in the street?


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

ukbloke said:


> What is the deal with all the dead skunks in the road at the moment? Is there something special about the time of year or phase or the moon that makes the skunks go play in the street?


Ah, it is their mating season, probably earlier than usual because of the warm weather recently. Evidently they have really bad eyesight which makes them very susceptible to ending up as roadkill.


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## sokudo (Dec 22, 2007)

Are they going to fix Tunitas all the way?


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

Anybody who complains about dead skunks should have to deal with live ones. A couple of years ago I had two near misses on the local MUTs. One twilight I came up upon what I thought was a black cat at about 20 MPH. I expected it run. When it started to waddle I locked my brakes and came within about a foot of the black and white 'kitty.' It raised its tail but didn't shoot. A week or so later I came across another one a few miles away on a different trail. It waddled away as fast as it could, about 3 miles an hour, but wasn't smart enough to get off the trail. I had to follow it for a couple of minutes before it finally decided to get off the trail.


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## acctnut (Dec 31, 2008)

These guys ride Paris Roubaix, I don't think they care about a couple cracks in the road. I'm sure they're stoked coming to California with the nice green winter hills and temperate weather. I bet these guys even love ending up in LA.


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## morg292 (Feb 9, 2009)

wipeout said:


> San Jose is heaven compared to some of the places I've ridden.


Sure, but what contributes to Santa Clara County's bicycle friendliness is 1) good weather 2) flat valley floor for when you want to go fast or get to work plus a wide variety of climbs 3) great mountain biking terrain in addition to all those roads 4) other cyclists to ride with, support shops and advocate for infrastructure and 5) (in my experience) reasonably friendly traffic including drivers that wave back when they wait instead of left hooking me & I wave in gratitude.

The cities of Santa Clara and Cupertino are doing a good job on infrastructure, but San Jose's roads are crumbled and the striping is fading. It would be fine for a city that considers cyclists 2nd class road users, but if they're going to get out & congratulate themselves at the start of stage 3, I'd just have to laugh.


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## walrus (Jan 29, 2004)

morg292 said:


> How authentic is "road racing" supposed to be anyway?


Just like the moon landing, it's all fake. Lance et all are drinking wine and fondling gorgeous babes in a very expensive NYC or SF penthouse hotel. Chump


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