# Foothill Expressway riding...



## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

I house sat for our son and daughter-in-law in the Westgate area last week. I rode in the San Jose area back in the 70's and 80's. It was quite an experience. I am now a country bumpkin, and do all my riding on back country roads in the Auburn-Colfax area. I was amazed on the number of cyclist I saw while riding the Foothill Expressway. I opted to do most of my riding on Foothill Expressway for safety reasons. I did do one ride up Montebello Rd, which was much harder than I remembered. There are so many cyclists that no one waves at anyone. It was like being anonymous. I passed other cyclists, other cyclists passed me, no recognition that I was even there. You could stop for a red signal light right alongside another rider and they would not even glance at you. Quite different than the riding we have here. It a way it was sort of nice as I could just focus on riding. I almost got hit twice. Once at Prospect and Miller (riding out to the expressway) when a driver rolled through a red light and accelerated in front of me, missing me by inches. The second episode was at the off ramp from N/B I-280 to N/B Foothill Expressway. Some guy in a BMW almost clipped me while entering Foothill Expressway. I think these two times are the closest I have ever come to being hit by a car. Two close calls within three days. Not good. You have to be very careful.

The weather was great (best thing about the bay area). I forgot to take a water bottle with me on one day and dropped in the The Los Altos Bicycle Outfitter and asked if they had any 'cheap' water bottles for under $5.00 (that's all I pack on my rides). The gal behind the counter gave me a water bottle for free!

Getting back home on my first ride I counted two other cyclists. One waved, the other one was coming way back from behind me and we parted ways before he overtook me.

We have very little flat land here in the foothills. I loved riding in the flats. A 32 mile ride here takes around 2:30. The same distance in San Jose took under two hours.

I am glad to be home. Never will complain about riding here again. The biggest complaint about San Jose and area is the traffic.

I venture to say I saw more cyclists in one day of riding on the Foothill Expressway than within a whole year here in the foothills. I think I am in paradise.


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

I don't like Foothill much. It's flat, has too many lights, there's too many slower riders crowding the left side of the shoulder so you have to go out into traffic to pass, and there's freds who want to "race" you. But it is awfully convienent for getting up and down the peninsula.

There is a lot of good riding here. I would not judge the peninsula by Foothill.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Bad luck, I guess.*

I've been riding Foothill regularly for 14 years and I can't remember ever having a close call.

I ride Foothill just to get somewhere better to ride, e.g. Stevens Canyon, Montebello, Page Mill, Arastradero, Alpine, Sand Hill, Woodside, etc.

San Jose is a good place to ride FROM, but not IN.

I don't understand the "He didn't wave to me!" complaint. Why must total strangers wave to each other?


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> I've been riding Foothill regularly for 14 years and I can't remember ever having a close call.


Only one close call for me on Foothill, by another cyclist. He was too busy yucking it up on his bluetooth phone to notice that I had stopped for the red light. I was speechless, but another cyclist who witnessed the whole thing wasn't and gave the clown a piece of his mind. I think he was more pissed off about it than I was.



> I ride Foothill just to get somewhere better to ride


+1 

It's a North-South route which ties the great rides together. If I had someone visiting and they wanted to go on a good ride, my first thought would not be to take them to Foothill. Like Alemeda de las Pulgas, good for commuting/getting from one place to another north/south, but not a 'must-do' ride.


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

*More cyclists there I guess..*

I don't understand the "He didn't wave to me!" complaint. Why must total strangers wave to each other?[/QUOTE]

I just got back from a 32 mile ride here in north Auburn. I did not see one other cyclist on the road. Seeing another roadie here is sort of like two ships passing in the desert. You do see a few on the weekends. Most of the time we wave to each other or just nod. It's a smaller community here. Most of the time we have seen each other before. The 'not waving' was not meant as a complaint. Just an observation. Life in the big city is different.


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Wow... My impression is vastly different.

I wave at everyone I come across and I usually get a wave or a nod back. I chat up everyone at the stop lights and I've met too many people to count on Foothill Expressway at the stop lights. Many of these encounters ended up turning into rides where we chatted each others ears off for another 20 miles. There are a few people here and there that I give a wave that don't reciprocate. 

If I don't get a response, no biggie, sometimes people don't realize someone just waved or they are really focused on their ride. Sometimes I get caught up in my own thoughts that I forget to wave too.

You also have to remember that the majority of people in the valley are introverts and so they don't usually initiate contact. But I've found that most people are pretty receptive if you make the first move.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*I wave too.*

See? See?


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Rob is really nice too... I can vouch for that!

If I wasn't on the injured list I would suggest we do another ride again. Maybe this fall if I can get past this knee problem I'm having.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

CrankyMonkey said:


> Wow... My impression is vastly different.
> 
> I wave at everyone I come across and I usually get a wave or a nod back. I chat up everyone at the stop lights and I've met too many people to count on Foothill Expressway at the stop lights. Many of these encounters ended up turning into rides where we chatted each others ears off for another 20 miles. There are a few people here and there that I give a wave that don't reciprocate.
> 
> If I don't get a response, no biggie, sometimes people don't realize someone just waved or they are really focused on their ride. Sometimes I get caught up in my own thoughts that I forget to wave too..


Ditto. I've had some fun conversations with folks at stop lights. I wave/nod at most riders (except the Webcor crowd - they're way too tough to wave at anyone) and probably get a 50% or so wave/nod back. It doesn't take much effort and I like the sense of community.

The snobbery is funny though - when on my road bike in shorts (even without shaved legs) I'll get the nod or wave, but when on my mountain bike I'm invisible. I try not to do this when I'm on my road bike.

I always feel guilty if I don't return a wave/nod because I'm battling a headwind and don't want to destroy my aero


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

I see the Mountain/Road snobbery from both ends. 

There are some rules to waving though. Don't wave to people doing stupid things like riding the wrong way in a bike lane. I make it a point to give a displeasing look to those people.


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## wchane (Aug 8, 2006)

i guess i'm a waver/nodder the only time you won't get anything from me is if i'm trying not to eat asphalt. - say carving down 92, and you're coming up the other side...my hands aren't going to leave my bars/brakes and my eyes aren't going to leave the road. - other then that i wave/nod and usually get a wave/nod back...sometimes you'll get the "ugh i don't know what to do" look, but that's ok with me. 

foothill is great for beginners/freds/whatever but most of us use it as an artery to other roads. 

good to hear a 'far and near' perspective dinosaur, fwiw i was up on auburn a couple weeks ago and thought cycling up there would be amazing...however like most auburn tourists i picked up a paddle.


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

*Auburn*



wchane said:


> i guess i'm a waver/nodder the only time you won't get anything from me is if i'm trying not to eat asphalt. - say carving down 92, and you're coming up the other side...my hands aren't going to leave my bars/brakes and my eyes aren't going to leave the road. - other then that i wave/nod and usually get a wave/nod back...sometimes you'll get the "ugh i don't know what to do" look, but that's ok with me.
> 
> foothill is great for beginners/freds/whatever but most of us use it as an artery to other roads.
> 
> good to hear a 'far and near' perspective dinosaur, fwiw i was up on auburn a couple weeks ago and thought cycling up there would be amazing...however like most auburn tourists i picked up a paddle.


Auburn is a great place for riding. We also have two good shops in town. You really have to love climbing to ride here as there are no flat rides unless you want to drop down to Loomis.

I rode in San Jose from the middle 70's to '90. I lived near Foxworthy and Meridian. My rides were out to Calero, up Hicks Rd (from either side), up SR9 or out to Moran Hill and back. I rode Mt Hamilton once, just to say I did it. My LBS was the Foxworthy Bike Shop who is now on Meridian. Small mom and pop shop but they had 24 hour service. Bikes were not that complicated back then. And not that as expensive.


I opted to ride on Foothill as I was not familiar with that side of town and I wanted some flat rides. It a safety issue. It was a 20 mile round trip out and back to the Expressway alone from the Westgate area. I did one climb up Montebello Rd and it compares with some of the climbs we have here. The diff is I live in the hills and I don't have to ride to get to them.

If someone would ask me a good place to ride in the Auburn area it would be Foresthill Rd. It's a straight shot out to Foresthill (17 miles of rollers) and you can keep on going past Foresthill for about 30 miles. You can't get lost and the road is good with wide shoulders, plus places to get food and drink. To ride somewhere else it would be confusing as you need to know the area. Riding solo on unfamiliar roads heeds taking a little precaution.

If anyone gets up here, give me a holler. I'm not that fast anymore, but I know some great places to ride.

I only hit one signal light on my ride and I generally make a short u-turn and blow it. Seldom any traffic.You can do a whole ride and never unclip. The main thing here is the roads are narrow with very little or no shoulders and you learn how to hold a straight line or get run over. If you are not used to it, it can be unnerving.

Dino


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

ratpick said:


> Ditto. I've had some fun conversations with folks at stop lights. I wave/nod at most riders (except the Webcor crowd - they're way too tough to wave at anyone)


I'm a Webcor and I wave or nod or talk to other riders as appropriate. One of the reasons I joined was because I thought they were pretty friendly.

Sometimes on nice weekends there's too many other riders down in the valley to bother to wave at everyone. When your hands' off the bars more than half the time it starts feeling like you're in a parade.


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## Rojo Neck (Jun 23, 2008)

ratpick said:


> (except the Webcor crowd - they're way too tough to wave at anyone)


Huh. I am part of that crowd myself, and I generally go out of my way to wave, say "hi", "hey", "howdy", "how ya doin'" or some other nonthreatening acknowledgement other riders' presence, because I know there is this kind of vibe out there along the lines of what you're saying, and I don't want to add any more fuel to that fire. I also try to chat people up at red lights, etc..

You might be surprised how many _non-_Webcor riders I've encountered who appear to be "too tough" (or too busy or too...something) to wave or say hi back. I have come to the conclusion that some people are just more friendly than others; some like to wave while they're riding, and some don't. I don't think it's a good idea to take it personally, especially around here since there are so many people. The main take-away here though is that you generally can't tell how friendly someone is going to be based on what they're wearing.


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Rojo Neck said:


> The main take-away here though is that you generally can't tell how friendly someone is going to be based on what they're wearing.


Unless they are wearing a swastika jersey or some other hateful symbol. Then I think you can pretty much assume they are a jerk!


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## Rojo Neck (Jun 23, 2008)

CrankyMonkey said:


> Unless they are wearing a swastika jersey or some other hateful symbol. Then I think you can pretty much assume they are a jerk!


I suppose you have a point there ::checks Webcor jersey for swastika or other hateful symbols::


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

I occasionally wear a "Wheels of Justice" jersey (an East Bay bike shop) which I just learned is like wearing a target on your back. Apparently many people think it has something to do with lawyers.


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