Dear Ms. Helfinstine,
I am writing in response to the message you submitted to the Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes (SOBs) website. I am one of the directors of the SOBs. You asked:
• How far up the mountain do you typically go, and would you like bike lanes up to a certain point?
• Where are you starting/ending your bike ride? At trailheads, the ski basin, the city, etc.?
• Are there specific locations where you feel unsafe on Hyde Park Road/NM 475? Is this because of vehicles or the road itself?
• Anything additional you’d like to share?
We have three groups of riders. The most advanced group goes all the way to the ski basin. The medium group goes as far as the ranger station at Hyde Park. The least advanced group is afraid to ride on Hyde Park Road at all. Many of our riders will go up Hyde Park Road alone or in small groups, not as part of our organized rides, and they will go to someplace between the ranger station and ski basin. If given the choice, we want bike lanes everywhere. If bike lanes are not feasible, then a white line delineating at least a one- or two-foot shoulder would be preferable to no space whatsoever. And intermittent bike lanes where feasible would be preferable to no bike lanes at all.
As a group, we typically start at the pickleball court parking lot on Murales Road, but go up Valley/Vallecita/Gonzales to pick up Hyde Park Road at that point. Sometimes we go further on the back streets and go through Sierra Del Norte to pick up Hyde Park Road at the Dale Ball Trials parking area.
Since the road was recently repaved, the road itself is not a problem. Prior to the repaving, potholes were a problem. Now, the main problem is vehicular traffic. The problem is most severe on the uphill lane because bikes go so slowly uphill, and it is particularly severe in the turns because vehicles often can’t see ahead of them and will hug the shoulder.
The only other thing I would like to share is that we worked with John Tascheck of Ecosphere Environmental Services in March of 2022, in apparent anticipation of the repaving project. At that time, we told him many of the same things that we are telling you now. It does not appear that any of our concerns were heeded. Might we expect more action this time around? It is disappointing to participate in studies that do not lead to concrete results. I can share with you some of the 2022 correspondence if you would find it helpful.
Your message was posted to the SOB blog, which means that it was emailed to the 150-200 members of the club. I will post this response to the blog. But you might get responses from other members in addition.
Sincerely,
Lynn Pickard
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