Surveying Saturday's route

I just returned from a midday trip to survey most of tomorrow's route (the interesting parts). In short: I saw no show-stoppers, but extreme caution is advised. We will have a SAG vehicle on our route to provide limited support if needed.

Keep in mind that conditions probably will improve somewhat by tomorrow morning. Here are some of the details as of midday Friday:

Many of the bike lanes have large amounts of various ground cover -- leaves, twigs, and such. There is standing water in a couple of places, especially along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. In some places, we probably will need to go into a traffic lane.

On Kennedy Road, water is flowing along our side of the road in several places both climbing and descending, but the main travel surface is mostly OK. Again, there is more debris than usual. And because most of this road does not receive direct sunlight, chances are that parts will continue to be wet tomorrow morning, so please use caution on the descent.

After turning onto Shannon Road, it's clear that this road was only recently reopened after flooding -- the burned-out flares placed across the road are evidence of that. There are some large branches and rocks along the very edge of the road, and there is one place where mud apparently flowed across the road but no longer is doing so. This area could be very slippery tomorrow, and it is on a descent.

The intersection of Hicks and Camden was partially submerged when I passed through, but our travel direction was clear ... and a bicyclist was going through safely while I was there.

There is road work at the corner of Blossom Hill and Santa Cruz/Winchester, and the right lane looks like it still will be closed tomorrow. We will need to merge left into the one available lane while climbing this short but steep hill.

Quito Road is mostly in its normal condition, with nothing special to note.

On Via Roncole just before Prospect, there is a small but bicycle-eating sinkhole that has opened in our travel direction, right where we would normally be riding. It's marked with a barricade, but please be extra careful and watch out for it.

That's the bad stuff I've seen. On the other hand, the creeks are flowing much more strongly than usual, and tomorrow's ride could be very scenic. If you haven't already RSVP'd, please go ahead and do so ... and please be on time tomorrow so that we can ride out on schedule at 10 a.m.