You know when you cycle on a road which used to have a good surface but now has a lot of loose stone and sticky Tarmac-ish crap all over it? Well, welcome to the many 'joys' of cheap road surfacing.
Apparently spraying all that sticky stony mix on the roads is an inexpensive way to protect roads from damage caused by traffic. Well, it's also a way to cause cyclists to fall over and get cut to buggery.
Just last week I was out cycling with Kirby Girl and she fell prey to some particularly bad loose stone, leading to a tumble. Thankfully the damage stretched only to a couple of fairly deep cuts, grazes and the odd bruise. Whilst that was unpleasant, it could have been much much worse. Still, it really didn't have to happen. If there hadn't been mounds of loose stone, which I would estimate about two inches thick in places (and I promise I'm not exaggerating), she would have been completely fine and made it home happily after a pleasant cycle. Whilst turning a corner, Kirby Girl was unfortunate enough to get her front wheel just into the edge of one of these mounds. On any normal road surface this wouldn't happen and I'm certain Kirby Girl is only one of many many cyclists who has suffered from such surfacing woes.
It seems rather odd to me that on one hand we're being advised to 'Help the environment. Get out on your bikes and leave your cars at home' and then on the other hand we're having all this stuff sprayed over our roads making it dangerous to cycle on. I'm sure I've seen at least half a dozen roads I like to ride on covered in this within the past fornight. Come to think of it, it's probably well over my estimate. More and more roads keep coming to mind.
My guess is the old 'Cyclists don't pay tax' chestnut would be aired out over and over again if any cyclist had the audacity to complain about his/her life being put at risk by such terrible surfacing and the whole situation wouldn't be taken seriously. Am I being overly negative about this? I certainly hope so.
Whilst I fully appreciate something has to be done in order to keep our roads from falling apart completely and how the budget for road surfacing is not limitless, is it really too much to ask that such roads are properly cleared of loose stone after the sealcoating has taken place? Surely the stone which doesn't bed into the Tarmac (or whatever the sticky element of the surfacing is) is only going to end up skittering about the roads until it eventually piles up at the sides, isn't it? Maybe a small percentage of it will get worn in over time by the weight of heavy vehicles but (and please someone let me know if this isn't right) isn't it possible to spray the hateful surface cram the stones in with a steamroller and clear up all the excess? I would guess you would still get the odd stone popping out but it has to be better than the way it currently operates. Is it really too much to ask?
I think that's about the first vaguely proper rant I've done here but it is something which annoys me greatly when I'm out cycling. It's incredibly ropey trying to cycle along with the likes of 700x23c tyres when the road surface is completely covered in a thick layer of loose stone. I'm sure it can't do one's tyres much good either and that in and of itself could lead to dangers.
What does anyone else think about this process and am I just ranting about something nobody else gives a damn about? I know there are more important problems in the world but it's pretty important to me personally if it could lead to me, or someone I care about, being badly hurt over the sake of someone else's carelessness.
Apparently spraying all that sticky stony mix on the roads is an inexpensive way to protect roads from damage caused by traffic. Well, it's also a way to cause cyclists to fall over and get cut to buggery.
Just last week I was out cycling with Kirby Girl and she fell prey to some particularly bad loose stone, leading to a tumble. Thankfully the damage stretched only to a couple of fairly deep cuts, grazes and the odd bruise. Whilst that was unpleasant, it could have been much much worse. Still, it really didn't have to happen. If there hadn't been mounds of loose stone, which I would estimate about two inches thick in places (and I promise I'm not exaggerating), she would have been completely fine and made it home happily after a pleasant cycle. Whilst turning a corner, Kirby Girl was unfortunate enough to get her front wheel just into the edge of one of these mounds. On any normal road surface this wouldn't happen and I'm certain Kirby Girl is only one of many many cyclists who has suffered from such surfacing woes.
It seems rather odd to me that on one hand we're being advised to 'Help the environment. Get out on your bikes and leave your cars at home' and then on the other hand we're having all this stuff sprayed over our roads making it dangerous to cycle on. I'm sure I've seen at least half a dozen roads I like to ride on covered in this within the past fornight. Come to think of it, it's probably well over my estimate. More and more roads keep coming to mind.
My guess is the old 'Cyclists don't pay tax' chestnut would be aired out over and over again if any cyclist had the audacity to complain about his/her life being put at risk by such terrible surfacing and the whole situation wouldn't be taken seriously. Am I being overly negative about this? I certainly hope so.
Whilst I fully appreciate something has to be done in order to keep our roads from falling apart completely and how the budget for road surfacing is not limitless, is it really too much to ask that such roads are properly cleared of loose stone after the sealcoating has taken place? Surely the stone which doesn't bed into the Tarmac (or whatever the sticky element of the surfacing is) is only going to end up skittering about the roads until it eventually piles up at the sides, isn't it? Maybe a small percentage of it will get worn in over time by the weight of heavy vehicles but (and please someone let me know if this isn't right) isn't it possible to spray the hateful surface cram the stones in with a steamroller and clear up all the excess? I would guess you would still get the odd stone popping out but it has to be better than the way it currently operates. Is it really too much to ask?
I think that's about the first vaguely proper rant I've done here but it is something which annoys me greatly when I'm out cycling. It's incredibly ropey trying to cycle along with the likes of 700x23c tyres when the road surface is completely covered in a thick layer of loose stone. I'm sure it can't do one's tyres much good either and that in and of itself could lead to dangers.
What does anyone else think about this process and am I just ranting about something nobody else gives a damn about? I know there are more important problems in the world but it's pretty important to me personally if it could lead to me, or someone I care about, being badly hurt over the sake of someone else's carelessness.
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