[9] Escondido Bmw Motorcycles At Daily Issue

At times along Palomar Mountain’s South Grade Road the air shakes with the sounds of motorcycle engines.

Sunday morning, Labor Day weekend: hundreds of sports bikes and cruisers traverse the six-mile stretch of ridiculously curvy road that winds its way from State Route 76 to the top of the mountain.

Some do it because they love the feel of the wind, the forest atmosphere, and the challenge of the curves as they leisurely ascend and descend. Others, many, love to race up and down, often staging by the dozens at the base of the mountain.

They share the road with tourists, campers and mountain residents. They also share the road with drivers of high-performance sports cars also there for the adrenaline rush of the curves, and with hundreds of bicyclists who understandably find the roar of the approaching engines disconcerting at the least, terrifying at the most.

It can be a thrilling ride for the motorcyclists who often illegally pass slower moving vehicles by crossing double-yellow lines while approaching a tight bend. Sometimes they pass in pairs, or three at a time, or even more.

And it is dangerous.

( / J. Harry Jones)

Cal Fire reports that in just the past 13 months firefighters and paramedics have responded to 24 motorcycle accidents on the mountain, most along South Grade, some along its less windy counterpart East Grade Road.

Twice this summer the accidents have been fatal.

“When the weather gets nice, people like to get out there an ride their motorcycles and sometimes they do it a little too fast and a little too carelessly and they end up crashing,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Chris Amestoy.

“The thing that draw them to the roads are the same things that make them dangerous,” he said — tight turns. “Speed seems to be the primary factor. A lot of time it’s inexperienced riders who are just trying to push the envelop for what their skill set is.”

Over the years authorities have tried to engineer safety features along the road. Rumble strips in the center alert motorists to when they have crossed into the opposite lane and locator signs announce every quarter of a mile exactly where they are so that when medical help is needed the paramedics can find the victims quickly.

At the top of the mountain is the Palomar Mountain General Store and Mother’s Kitchen Restaurant where a group of bikers can almost always be found hanging out and talking.

Sunday morning around 9:30 Steve Holub, 51, of El Cajon, decked out in his gear that includes scuffed armored knee pads for when his knees touch the pavement as his BMW sports bike rounds a bend, was all smiles.

Every Sunday morning for 15 years he’s been coming to the mountain.

“Palomar is pretty much the only place I go,” he said. “I like the tight curves.”

He said he goes up and down South Grade a few times early in the morning, then waits for Mother’s to open up for breakfast where he’s usually joined by a small group of friends, including Gary Bryson, 80, from Fallbrook.

“I’ve been coming up here for 21 years,” Bryson said. He too rides a sports bike, a Yamaha, but he said you won’t see him leaning to close to the pavement. “If my knee hits the ground my ass is right behind it,” he said.

Bryson said he comes to the mountain twice a week all year long. “For recreation and for the freedom,” he said. “It’s the roads. I like the challenge of the curves. This is about the only thing my body will do anymore.”

Francisco Valdovinos is the manager of the store and restaurant. He said on weekends roughly 30 to 40 percent of his business comes from the motorcyclists, who he said come in every shape and demeanor.

“We get all types,” he said. “For the most part they are a nice bunch of fellows.”

Valdovinos said he often has heard the experienced, older riders trying to coach the younger ones.

“Sometimes they advise the younger guys to mellow out” he said.

Exactly how many motorcycle accidents happen every year is impossible to say. Authorities suspect that most minor accidents — the ones where the rider can walk away — go unreported. Bikers have confirmed in the past that they would rather take care of minor mishaps on their own than have accidents reported to their insurance companies.

“We’re under the impression that happens a lot,” said Cal Fire Engineer Ariel Sosa, who works out of the Palomar Mountain station.

In years past mangled bikes have been found down embankments or abandoned along the shoulders, only to disappear later in the day when their owners come to retrieve them.

Valdovinos doesn’t ride motorcycles but does like to bike. He said the sound of the approaching motorcycles while you’re slowing riding up South Grade can be terrifying.

Two female bicyclists resting near the store agreed Sunday.

“You hear them coming so you try to get to the side, but sometimes there aren’t any shoulders,” said one of the women, Cindy, who didn’t want her full name used.

“It’s so scary.”

“It gets your heart pumping,” said the other.

But they still ride up the mountain. The fear seems to be part of the experience.

“If I go, I go happy,” Cindy said.