Clamping down on 'Skaggs Springs Raceway'

It's known as Skaggs Springs Raceway, a 10-mile pristine stretch of remote road in northern Sonoma County that attracts the fastest motorcycles and street cars from around the Bay Area and beyond.

For years, it's been touted in motorcycle circles and on websites for its smooth surface, challenging twists and turns, limited traffic and lack of law enforcement.

It's a racing playground for riders and drivers, who document their efforts in online videos displaying speedometers hitting 120 mph.

Now, area residents and law enforcement officers want to bring a stop to the illegal racing and CHP officers will use the holiday weekend to step up enforcement.

"The neighbors on Skaggs Springs Road essentially are being held hostage by this illegal racing," said county Supervisor Mike McGuire, who represents the north county.

"The reality is it's one of the most popular places in the nation to come out and race," said CHP Sgt. Robert Mota. "We're not going to stand by and allow Sonoma County to be known as a place to come and do unlawful activities up there."

The two-lane Skaggs Springs-Stewarts Point Road stretches about 30 miles from Lake Sonoma, west of Geyserville, to the Sonoma Coast.

The favored 10-mile race section is closer to the lake and Warm Springs Dam. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers when the agency constructed the dam and created the lake in the early 1980s, it is well-engineered. Unlike most rural county roads, it has no potholes as it weaves through a series of tight turns and sweeping curves.

"It's better designed than some motorcycle tracks," said Mark Honig, 44, a Santa Rosa resident and sport bike rider.

He said that local riders familiar with the curves and the community have been joined by hundreds of outside riders.

"The word has gotten out literally on a planetary scale," he said Wednesday. "I've seen people from other countries come to ride this road."

The challenge, he said, "is how do we ride quickly, safely and not upset the neighbors."

Riders' online blogs often highlight the reduced risk of traffic for racers, given the area's few residents.

But crashes occur. And while the racers may feel comfortable, area residents do not.

They cited numerous crashes, vehicles crossing into their traffic lanes and screaming speeds of passing and approaching vehicles that make their daily drives full of fear.

Last Sunday, one motorcycle rider going too fast on a Skaggs Springs Road curve lost control and crashed, breaking an ankle, according to CHP reports.

"You never know when you're going to end up with a Suzuki in your lap when you come around every corner," said one neighbor who asked that his name not be used, fearing hostility from racers.

"The fact that this is the only road we have to get to and from town and that many of us use this road to shuttle our children to school, friends and activities, only makes the stakes that much higher," he said.

While it used to be mostly motorcycles, now the two-wheelers are joined by suped-up cars, said residents and the CHP.

"One weekend, the beamers come out, then the Subarus, the Lotuses come out," said the resident.

This isn't a Harley crowd. Riders arrive on a variety of streamlined, super-fast sport bikes with names like Ducati and Suzuki.

They typically gather about 12 miles out from the dam at a bridge known unofficially as "bungee bridge," named for the bungee jumpers that it has attracted over the years.

Often decked out in full leather riding gear, they hang out, take turns racing each other or timing their runs to the dam and back.

As well as increased patrols, the county is planning to add "no parking" signs to the bridge area to discourage the activity there, McGuire said.

County public works crews plan to install "rumble strips" on sections of the road. The glued-down strips include low bumps that shouldn't affect car drivers but are designed to slow down motorcyclists, Mota said.

While reducing the risk of serious crashes is a priority, reducing the noise from the roaring vehicles and litter from the bridge area also are goals.

"It's a quality of life issue," Mota said.

"We want to ensure these folks taking part in the racing know there is not going to be a welcome mat out," said McGuire.You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.