Country lanes and grit..

[kipster]

I gave commuting a miss this week as I found black ice on Monday and my thumb just hasn't been the same since. I had the afternoon off work and the sun was out so I decided to make up some miles so ventured into some country lanes. The narrow ones were full of mud and grit from the fields and while approaching a bend a hired transit came into view, no one in the wrong and we managed to avoid a collision, him going up the verge a bit and me pulling over to the left, through a puddle which disguised a pot hole. Carried on my way, got home ok, had a cup of tea, went to clean the bike off and flat front.

Fixed the puncture and went to check rear tyre, full of air and so carried on cleaning bike down, wiping the rear tyre down noticed some grit between the nobly bits and prised it out, followed by a rush of air. Good practice for puncture repairs I guess but i'll be keeping clear of the little used lanes for a while. Might be time to invest in some marathon plus tyres. Tomorrow I'll see how good my repairs skills are as a few of us are out for a 20 ish mile ride .

Kipster

 

[Eribiste]

Our roads are an increasing threat to us in many respects. I was barrel assing towards a turn on a tour of Bredon Hill a few weeks ago, when fortunately on the approach to a turn a fellow cyclist coming the other way gave me a warning. Just around the approaching turn, the road was sea of grit, gravel and other wash out from water run off, which I'm sure would have seen me having a real moment if I hadn't chipped 10 klicks off my pace.
The other thing that offends me is this habit that councils have of pretending to maintain roads by carrying out what they are pleased to call top dressing, whereby they splosh some thin bitumen on a ropey road and toss tons of gavel on top, leaving road users to roll it out for them. It pebble dashes cars and imperils bikers and cyclists. It wasn't good enough in the last century, and it's plain barbaric now! Rant, rant. Time for a Highland Park methinks!

 

[Biker Joe]

Bad luck with the punctures. I hope your ride goes well tomorrow.

Much of my riding is done on such country roads. Where I am they are normally very quiet. Not many houses around ,just farms.
I love the peace and quiet.
Because many of the roads are narrow and quite twisty, when a vehicle appears there is not often much room, especially if its a delivery vehicle.
Normally they are quite respectful towards cyclists. The vehicles that give me most trouble are the big 4x4s. The drivers of these seem to be a bit distainful , you get dirty looks and they don't like to give way.. However, they are few and far between.
Because of the grit and gravel covering these roads at this time of year, as well as the mud from farm vehicles, with many roads streaming with rain water, I tend to use my hybrid with its Marathon tyres which handle the conditions very well.
As the weather improves through Spring and Summer, road conditions improve considerably and I move over to the road bike.
Good luck on your ride.
Take care.

 

[mark1974]

I also spend most of my time on the back country lanes
They are quite bad at the moment so i take my time to not enter any puddles.
The worst part for me is the slurry/mud when the tractors are crossing field to fields seem to leave lot crap on lanes

 

[cyberknight]

My commute takes in a lot of country lanes, the return trip is particularly bad as its a single track lane with the sides crumbling and the road is getting filled with gravel patches from all the floods.

 

[Ern1e]

"The vehicles that give me most trouble are the big 4x4s. The drivers of these seem to be a bit distainful , you get dirty looks and they don't like to give way."

Around my neck of the woods we seem to have quite a few of the above and I could not agree more, IMO they are a strange breed they simply must not be stopped by something as lowley as a bicycle ! and as to the roads Eribiste is also correct about the repair methods but this seems to be a sign of the times ! if questioned the local council just tell you they have not got the cash to spare for better or more permanate repairs and tell you to talk to the people at county council yes I have had a try at this but after a short while you kind of give up due to them passing you from one to another.

 

[RWright]

The other thing that offends me is this habit that councils have of pretending to maintain roads by carrying out what they are pleased to call top dressing, whereby they splosh some thin bitumen on a ropey road and toss tons of gavel on top, leaving road users to roll it out for them. It pebble dashes cars and imperils bikers and cyclists. It wasn't good enough in the last century, and it's plain barbaric now! Rant, rant. Time for a Highland Park methinks!

They do that here too. I hate it. There was a nice country road I could use to ride to work on as well as get out onto other nice country roads. Now there is gravel piled up everywhere except in the car tire paths. I don't like to even have my bike on it because it is such a rough ride. Not to mention the risk of wiping out hitting the piled up gravel in the center and on the sides.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Here, we have the same problem. The fellows from the township get near the end of a truckload, and they just dump the remainder of the gravel in the road as well, figuring autos will spread it out. Almost all truly rural roads around here are oil and gravel. If you encounter asphalt or concrete, you are on a dangerously busy road.

 

[kipster]

My first 25 mile ride was good, a nice early start, 4 miles in another puncture on the front caused by a small shard of glass on a cycle path. First attempt of road side repair held out for the next 21 miles. Hopefully that'll be the last puncture for a while! Some nice hills to test my fitness and some long flats to get some speed going.

The overall time was a bit slow as a couple of the others I was out with started struggling after 10 miles so had to keep stopping so they could catch up, but still nice to ride with a small group.

All but one driver really good, the one idiot was in a 4x4 and passed me very close. I was at the front and apparently they gave the others in the group plenty of room, so was probably fed up with cyclist by the time they got to me.

 

[ayceejay]

The problem with windy English country lanes is the hedges that obscure vision, of course they also cut crosswinds which is an advantage. Around here there are no hedges and acres of flat open fields (corn or beans in the summer) and the roads are generally straight too, any wind at all is a bummer. Farm implements that leave ridges of mud and cow sh*t have to be negotiated as well as the occasional car driver. If you have never rounded a bend to encounter a machine they use for cutting corn you have not lived.

 

[ayceejay]

This is the machine I am talking about

 

[Alan57]

The only way into the village where I live is via 4 different lanes , with it being a valley the tarmac on the road is barely visable for the mud,crap, twigs, leaves gravel and contents of various animals arses . On my MTB it`s not too bad but I tend to pick my days on the road bike and am mainly using that in the dryer ? summer ??? months .Another problem is cars , they think lanes are for going as fast as you can even though you cannot see around the bends . I came off previously because of such an idiot and 2 weeks ago a 4x4 came through the same place I came off before and I had to get right into the hedge to avoid being hit . I was going very very slowly due to my previous experience , she actually slowed and said sorry but I told her to slow down on the lanes , in no uncertain terms. Also a couple of times tractors have been coming out of a side gate from a field , skid marks are not just on the road believe me

 

[Biker Joe]

4x4s again.

 

[Lanzecki]

Not all of us 4*4 drivers are nutters. And not all of us 4*4 drivers have bought them just for the Kudos, some need one for work.

I'll no go and hide in fear of the comments

 

[Gravity Aided]

This is the machine I am talking about View attachment 18425

See them all the time, but I live in the great corn forest of the prairies. Soybeans too, also done up with the combine harvester.
Forage harvester even scarier. But only at planting and harvest. Otherwise, people are pretty thin on the ground in rural areas in the states. Sometimes I'll go for a ride and not see anyone, or maybe a test vehicle from the auto plant. Or people that went through town, made a wrong turn , and are now lost in a featureless landscape. 4x4s are useful, especially when no one plows your street of snow for a day or two.