Sort of a goofy (and cold!) ride, checking out the damage to West Old LaHonda road. As you can see, it’s on the upper section (the forest), less than half a mile from Skyline. A bit more than half the lane had been undermined and was originally hanging mid-air; that has since collapsed. Since there are two saw horses (caution signs) down the hillside, it looks like the collapse continued after the county closed off the road.

The collapse was apparently caused by water eroding around the outside of an under-the-pavement pipe. Repairs to this section could prove difficult as the hillside can’t be cut into as it was further down a few years ago (too steep and likely unstable). Presently the outlook doesn’t look good.

It appears the county did temporarily lay in a new drainage pipe to try and prevent further erosion. Remaining pavement is wide enough for bikes to get through, but there’s no certainty that will continue, or that it couldn’t collapse while transiting it.

I will contact the county to find out what their plans are, as I believe this is a safety issue for cyclists, given that the alternative route up to Skyline is via 84, which has heavy & fast car traffic as well as very narrow and sometimes non-existent shoulders on some of the corners, due to continuing rockslides.

And yes, it was cold out there. Strava says the average was 36, but that doesn’t take into account the 20 minutes or so that it was recording too high because it had been in a relatively-warm garage overnight. Had we left a bit later, it would have been less wet and warmer. By 10am it was not longer raining, or even drizzling, but the roads were a mess so our “rain” bikes were a very good choice. Lowest temp we saw was 31.1 degrees, as we rode from Star Hill to Skyline. It was pretty much right at freezing the entire way along Skyline, warming up to a nice toasty 41 on our return to Woodside. A bit of snow but we were hoping for more. No ice, always a good thing!