Is this route safe anymore???

[Anthony Scozzari]

As I'm healing and looking to get back leading rides again I was looking at routes and came across this one which we did once or twice in the 5 years I've been riding with the club.  Opinions on taking 78 from Ramona down to the wild animal park?  Too much traffic to do it safely?

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1016683


Thanks,

Anthony

[karlos]

I generally don't like taking a large group down that road. I am very comfortable doing it on my own, however. The downhill part is really pretty safe, as you're going fast, 30-40, and you should be positioned in the lane so that cars just cannot pass. There are places where the shoulder changes width quite a bit. Once it flattens out and you're going slower, you need to be a little more careful as the relative speed between you and cars approaching from behind is higher. You still should be generally left of the fog line, close to the right car tire track to let cars know they need to cross the center line to get around you, unless it's an area where the shoulder is consistently wide. And, if more than 5 cars line up behind you, it's difficult to get a large group to find a safe place to let them pass, as you are required to do by law. I guess I would avoid it, as I can't vouch for everyone in the group being able to ride this area confidently and if just one person went down, for whatever reason, I would feel real bad. Where this really becomes unsafe is if the riders are hugging that edge line and a vehicle thinks they can squeeze by. They're not trying to hit you, but may realize too late there isn't enough room and you could be whacked by a mirror, or worse yet, a following trailer where the driver has misjudged the clearance between the cyclists and the trailer. This is one case where lane control is your safest option, but it can annoy cars and if many cars line up, it can be cumbsersome to figure out how to courteously let them by.
-Karl

[Anthony Scozzari]

Thought so but thanks for confirming. 

[Joe Strafaci]

In agreement with all Karl has said, I would also add that local drivers may not be used to interacting with cyclist going down SR78 and may have little patience while attempting to pass. Commercial trucks and large pick-ups/SUVs are common, too. Would rather climb it than descend.
Glad to hear your back...no pun intended. 

[karlos]

And I shouldn't have said "this is one case where lane control is your safest option." I needed to keep the TS 101 instructor hat on a bit more securely. I would say that is most often the case on all the great rural roads we ride, which vary from 10-12' in width and where a bicycle with a safe operating width of 4-5', together with the 3 ft law and average car width of 7 ft, means you just are not safe trying to squeeze into nearly any lane side-by-side with motor vehicles. However, because of what I and Joe said, it really is important on that downhill stretch of SR-78 to keep all that in mind.