Photo Credit: Jim's Bike Blog
I "always" ride with caution when sharing the roads with motorized vehicles. My city has recently started to put in place "cycle lanes" a place you could continue to ride safely but be a tiny bit less cautious and take in a little more of what is going on around you. If you remember a couple weeks back I had a great day. Would the day have been as great without a bikelane flat? Probably not. Does this excuse the chunk of mesh metal that was in the cycle lane brushed off the "road"? Also probably not.
The last couple days I have had amazing lunch hour rides! Absolutely amazing for November in Ontario. 8 and 9 degrees Celsius and sunny. I did a 16km loop yesterday and completed the planned route from two weeks back with a cell phone in my pocket and route plan passed on to Paul (lesson learned). Today I took an alternate route to my regular commute and surprised my wife with a luch hour visit. The rides were things of lunch hour dreams. Good climbs great cadence(just kicked a cold), etc...
I rode both of these rides watching my surroundings but also with one eye on the lane. I was amazed by the amount of vehicle and other debris that was shoved into our space. I saw chunks of metal, rusted tailpipes, nails, bolts, indescribable sharpness, but the worst offender of all was an old style manhole cover where a cycle wheel can be swallowed whole that was lengthwise and was the whole width of the "cycle lane".
I don't really have a whole lot more to say on this subject. I was just shocked that while the road seems to be cleaned of debris regularily that our space alongside seems to be the lucky recipient of their trash.
I seemed to loose my frustration while writing this. Success!!
Anyone else have thoughts/experiences on this matter?? I'm out...
Seems like every fall the amount of debris on the shoulders goes up. I always worry about flats, especially after replacing my bulletproof Gatorskin slicks with thinner cross tires, as I did yesterday. Crossing my fingers for flat-free riding...
ReplyDeleteGeez... Next item in my reader after this one was about rumble strips. My riding is generally in the burbs and city, and I'm glad not to have to deal with this! http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2010/11/rumble-strips-can-be-done-right.html
ReplyDeleteI actually rode the same route today and alot of the debris had been cleaned up. Much better ride. There was one large bolt that was there last time and had not moved. It is half way up a crazy climb. Next time I will stop and retrieve it so that I can maintain the right to complain. :)
ReplyDelete