"Sport" motorcycles on Mt. Palomar, I nearly got killed

[Nerius Landys]

I rode Mt. Palomar on Sunday and nearly got hit by a motorcycle on my way down.  I was riding down at a normal speed on a straight, and was approaching a left turn.  I was in the middle of the right lane.  Then all of a sudden I see in front of me a car coming around the turn, and a motorcycle is passing the car.  The motorcycle is in my lane, heading straight at me at 50 miles per hour.  The motorcycle didn't care to make sure the lane was clear before passing the car, and decided to pass the car while in the turn.  I came close to hitting the bike.  It would have been a nasty accident since I was going 35 miles per hour and the bike was doing about 40 or 50.  I think I would have died.

Now, it seems that these sport bikers are using Mt. Palomar South Grade road as some sort of "racetrack" on the weekends.  They are obviously not obeying the traffic laws, and are endangering the lives of cyclists in doing so.  I feel threatened.

Do the police know about this?  Are they doing anything about it?  Who can I report this to?  I'd like to visit some police department in person, just don't know which one to go to.

[karlos]

The police are well aware of the situation and patrol South and East Grades, especially on weekends. A few years ago, Eric Belgum, who hasn't ridden with us in a while, was ascending S Grade, and a motorcycle came around the corner ahead of him, hit the deck and slid across the road, nearly taking him out. (btw, Eric is rumored to be riding motorcycles now). Here is a 2007 UT article discussing motorcycle fatalities and an earlier 2005 article discussing some serious feuding between motorcyclists and Palomar residents.

[Margareth Demery]

I also ride my Harley up the mountain on Sundays and have had many near misses with those sport bikes.  There are many highway patrol guys out there, but they are mainly looking for speeders. So relieved to hear you are okay.