This is a tragedy and I'm sorry for the family. Words are profoundly lamer than can be expressed.
It doesnt mean much that skyline is dangerous as fuck. On a motorcycle or in a car there is a luxury of being able to slow down for blind curves. On a bike, the choices are being one with a car, breaking a collar bone on a redwood or plummeting hundreds of feet. Wiping out or considering leaping over might be options.
For anyone not familiar with Skyline, it's a ridge country road that hugs the mountain range btw the pacific and the valley. It also gets hairier towards Los Gatos IIRC. Random fog and clouds can turn visibility to near zero in an instant. For most of it south of San Mateo county is gentle road with more/less some visibility apart from over-the-horizon hills. In San Mateo, it starts to become twistier and more/less switchbacks up to 92 (crosses skyline). Elk Tree and Skyline decline would be easy to get going faster than that maneuverability would allow.
A guy I used to work with at Stanford bikes San Mateo to campus and back on Skyline. It's the options leading to/from 192 that are most concerning.
Damn important: Quick turn maneuver for cyclists, wouldn't have helped here but it might save your ass one day:
It doesnt mean much that skyline is dangerous as fuck. On a motorcycle or in a car there is a luxury of being able to slow down for blind curves. On a bike, the choices are being one with a car, breaking a collar bone on a redwood or plummeting hundreds of feet. Wiping out or considering leaping over might be options.
For anyone not familiar with Skyline, it's a ridge country road that hugs the mountain range btw the pacific and the valley. It also gets hairier towards Los Gatos IIRC. Random fog and clouds can turn visibility to near zero in an instant. For most of it south of San Mateo county is gentle road with more/less some visibility apart from over-the-horizon hills. In San Mateo, it starts to become twistier and more/less switchbacks up to 92 (crosses skyline). Elk Tree and Skyline decline would be easy to get going faster than that maneuverability would allow.
A guy I used to work with at Stanford bikes San Mateo to campus and back on Skyline. It's the options leading to/from 192 that are most concerning.
Damn important: Quick turn maneuver for cyclists, wouldn't have helped here but it might save your ass one day:
http://www.bamacyclist.com/articles/QuickTurn.htm