Damien Keehn	Archive

How long is your commute?

 8 miles roundtrip

How often do you commute?

 I commute 97% of the time. Rain, sleet, snow or hail – it doesn’t matter. Usually I drive if I have to get to a doctor’s appointment or if my wife demands that I get somewhere in a timely fashion after work.

Some people use the “but my kid could get suddenly sick at daycare” excuse to not commute by bike. At hp we have a ride system that people using Alternative Transportation have access to. It makes me feel secure to know that I can get a ride in an emergency. So far, I never even needed to use it!

What bike do you ride?

I have a dark green 25 dollar Specialized Rock Hopper from a Rocklin garage sale. I have replaced many of the parts as they have worn out over the last 5 years. I doubled the value of the bike by adding some REI fenders and a nice brass-duet bell that I received as a Christmas gift. The bell is my favorite bike part!

What special equipment do you use for night riding?

 I use a white helmet and my vest and jackets have reflective striping. For lighting I rely on a rechargeable 6v CygoLight.

What kind of riding do you do?

98% of my riding is commute riding. I do about 1% in workouts and you may not like to hear it but I don’t enjoy working out on a bike all that much. It’s hard to find a good route around hp. Either you ride towards the city where you get stopped at almost every light or you go towards Fiddyment, which is a bit of a bumpy ride.

To stay in shape I usually go running or play soccer. Only when I have a slight injury which prevents me from doing either will I hop on my bike and go for a pure workout.

The remaining 1% is recreational mountain biking.

What is biggest challenge for you to ride Roseville?

The biggest challenge is the high-speed four to six lane boulevards. It is really hard to make a left turn with traffic coming from behind at 65 miles per hour.

I also noticed an increase in traffic since I moved here 6 years ago. We live in a new development neighborhood and as development increases that traffic has kept pace.

The biggest problem for Roseville is its disjointed neighborhoods and commercial spaces linked by the main, high trafficked arteries. It really is a planning problem. We need to get to an integrated system where people can walk and bike to neighborhood stores.

Another thing I am noticing is that Roseville has many bike paths that take you to nowhere. They are meant for recreational riding and are not usable for commuters or people running errands on bicycles.

And sometimes you just have to shake your head. For example, there is a bike trail from Veteran’s Park that recently got extended nearly to Woodcreek Oaks Boulevard. But instead of using the existing foot trail that the local population has been using for years that would have directly connected to the bike path going under Woodcreek Oaks for the future connection to Foothills Blvd, they managed to bring it to a dead end and a fence 100 yards away. So when you come from the east side of Woodcreek Oaks there is no obvious connection. If you were to wander into the nearby neighborhoods you might find it.

What was the longest you have ridden in a day?

I have ridden 25 miles on countless occasions. A couple of loops around hp, just squeezing it into a lunch break for a workout.

The longest time in the saddle was during a mountain bike ride with my dad last year. It was only 24 miles, but twelve of them were uphill for an elevation gain of 5,000ft! That was the hardest, but also the most rewarding ride I had ever done.

What was the fastest you have ever ridden?

As a kid I commuted to school and we lived on a hill that gained 450ft in a mile. It was tough coming home, but going to school was easy. I once hit 43 miles per hour going down that hill! Did I mention that it wasn’t a straight road?

Have you found BikingRoseville useful?

Yes! One of the biggest benefits for me was learning how to trigger the lights. Prior to that I was using psychic power, but the loop detectors work more reliably J

Other communities use bike stencils to show where bicycle riders can trigger the lights. I am not sure why Roseville doesn’t.

Have you seen any improvements in Roseville in the last year?

I used the Miner’s Ravine bike path for the first time during Bike Master Plan kick-off ride that was sponsored by the city. That is a great trail. I was astonished how few bicyclists were out there. It is mostly used by walkers, but what a gorgeous place to ride! It’s nice because it shows how the area used to look like. It also has a nice dirt trail at the end near Orvietto road where I have been running a few times.

But for specific improvements in the last year? You got me there. I’ve seen a couple bike trails to nowhere like I mentioned before, but I wouldn’t call that an improvement.

What would you like to get addressed the most?

Mostly the city should address the problem of the bike paths to nowhere and the bike paths that aren’t safe. There is a one in my Woodcreek Oaks neighborhood, but it crosses major boulevards every block or two. It is not a safe place to ride, especially for kids as they have to cross a road every block, and they rarely stop or look!

 We need good, safe connections between the residential and the commercial areas. There is a patch of bike path in a residential area near Wal-Mart. Why can’t the two be connected together? I also think that a safe, convenient bicycle connection between Rocklin and Roseville is badly needed.

For hp a connection between Woodcreek Oaks and the hp campus would make a lot of sense. It would actually reduce traffic, especially once the mixed housing and commercial area is in there. Hp Employees could actually walk to lunch places.

You took the Road I class form the League of American Bicyclists this year. What did you find most beneficial?

I think learning to take the lane when it is too narrow to share with motorists. It is safer and fully backed by the California Vehicle Code. I also learned to create space around me and act like an RV!

What could be improved in the class?

You know, I actually have given it some thought over time since I took the class and I really don’t know. I feel that everything in the class was important and it would be very helpful to people who want to ride here in Roseville.

Roseville is somewhat of a special place in terms of its traffic patterns and layout and it really takes some ox testicles to ride it. The class helps people get confident in traffic and ride safely.

Have you ever gotten a ticket?

Sigh – yes. I went to school in Chico and I once got a ticket for rolling a stop sign. It’s kinda funny, the cops did it all the time and then the bicyclists get the tickets. It was given to me by a Bike and Pedestrian Enforcement Rookie. I think they had a special “Let’s make some money off cyclists” week at the time. The ticket was a hundred bucks – that’s really a lot when you are a student!

Roseville is the complete opposite. There isn’t enough enforcement going on towards bicyclists. I see dangerous riding all the time. You know, people riding the wrong way, running red lights or riding at night without a light and dressed in black.

There is a lack of recognition of dangers. Kids ride especially dangerously. Their parents can’t teach them as they often don’t know how to ride a bike safely themselves.

I notice for example that kids in my neighborhood cut the corners on left hand turns, even though they can’t see the traffic in the street that they are turning into. It is really dangerous.

As a side note BikingRoseville will be offering Kids classes as well. You mentioned you went to school in Chico. Can you compare the riding between Chico and Roseville?

Chico is definitely less scary. The bike paths are more practicable. They usually go somewhere and don’t just stop in the middle of nowhere. They also used the bike stencils to show bicyclists where the trigger point is for the signal light change detection.

Chico also has a beautiful five mile trail that went up to Bidwell Park. In that park there is a dirt path for mountain biking. But you need at least front shocks, as it is really bumpy!

What other places have you ridden that you think are great?

In this area I really like the Miner’s Ravine bike trail. Also, when you go past the MRF on Athens and Fiddyment it gets very rural. Reminds me a bit on where I grew up. Occasionally you have to sprint past one of those hungry dogs, though.

I also like riding in the Folsom Lake area. Salmon Falls on the other side is a very nice dirt trail for mountain biking.

In Ukiah, where I grew up, Low Gap road is very nice. You could technically go all the way to the coast, but I usually keep it to around 10-12 miles out. Actually with some local insider knowledge you can also make it a loop.

Hull Mountain is the 5000ft climb that I did with my dad. It is about 80 miles northwest of here just north of Lake Pilsbury. Quite a view at the top of that one!

Do you know about the bike master plan?

You know, I am aware of it, but I don’t know specific details. I know the city is updating it currently and the kick-off ride in September was great! It was good to see such a community turnout. There is hope after all!

How do you think we can attract more people to biking?

Well, some people won’t like to hear it, but really the gas price has to go up. Right now what people pay at the gas station is heavily subsidized in that people aren’t paying the full price of a car’s environmental impact. The overall impact of cars on everyone in the community is much bigger than $2.50 a gallon. I am willing to pay for the benefit of the communities.

Also, we need to provide less parking so people have more of an incentive to use alternative means of transportation.

It is my feeling that in general, most people are too small minded and lazy to make the right decision for the future. It really comes down to self-centeredness, greed and a lack of foresight.

I feel that biking is a great way to stay fit, save resources, make a statement, and set a good example for others. I can only hope that someday we’ll need to deal with the environmental impacts of too many bicycles!