When the apex is icy...
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:21 am
The morning of New Year's Eve I got out for a ride on the Paso...solo and by myself, if you get my drift. It was so cold (high 30s/low 40s F) I decided to stop after only 30 miles or so, for breakfast in Ramona, hoping it would warm up afterward. Food and coffee helped warm me, but not much the weather.
One of my favorite routes here in the San Diego area is Mesa Grande, running about 20 miles from Santa Isabelle to Lake Henshaw, so this morning I took it. The road climbs about 1500 feet before descending to water level, so there was not much relief from the cold here either. Because it's on Indian land, there are places where cattle run freely across the road, but this day the hazard took a different form.
Although the air was clear and dry, the road snaking down the north facing slope presented me with a dangerous surprise, patches of ice, some right in the middle of the turns. This kind of situation results in a very high pucker factor.
I was able to negotiate all the slicks without losing control, but luck played a role in that, as I tip-toed through a couple of the turns, I had to straight line them and, in the process, crossed over to the other side. Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic. In spite of it all, or maybe because of it all, I can't think of a better way to close out the year. What do you think? :umm:
One of my favorite routes here in the San Diego area is Mesa Grande, running about 20 miles from Santa Isabelle to Lake Henshaw, so this morning I took it. The road climbs about 1500 feet before descending to water level, so there was not much relief from the cold here either. Because it's on Indian land, there are places where cattle run freely across the road, but this day the hazard took a different form.
Although the air was clear and dry, the road snaking down the north facing slope presented me with a dangerous surprise, patches of ice, some right in the middle of the turns. This kind of situation results in a very high pucker factor.
I was able to negotiate all the slicks without losing control, but luck played a role in that, as I tip-toed through a couple of the turns, I had to straight line them and, in the process, crossed over to the other side. Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic. In spite of it all, or maybe because of it all, I can't think of a better way to close out the year. What do you think? :umm: