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A PSA About Chipseal

 I’ll start this entry off as I often do by complaining about chip seal. According to Wikipedia, chip seal “is a pavement surface treatment that combines one or more layers of asphalt (I’m going with one and one only) with one or more layers of fine aggregate“ which means you basically have the smoothness of gravel dumped in asphalt. Actually, a gravel road would be more comfortable.It seems to be the official pavement of the Southwest— and possibly, if there is no God, the Southeast as well.


Riding on chip seal for any distance beyond across the street turns your bike seat into a Cuisinart. It rattles your fillings and makes you wonder if your bike fork will split in half. After several hours on it you begin to HOPE your fork will split in half. Lord, save me from more chipseal!




Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 22, 2022 at 4:05 AM

    You need to look for a gig doing standup when you get back! Sue G

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 22, 2022 at 4:31 AM

    Ok. I am sure you already know all of this, but thought I'd just some some helpful hints I saw about riding on chip seal (I guess it's the mother in me to try to help): Some cyclists swear that you get a better ride on rough stuff by lowering the recommended tire pressure a few pounds in the front, and a little more in the back; you’ll need to experiment with it. Don’t lower it enough to get a pinch flat.High cadences tend to bounce you around on the bike. Try to maintain a higher speed – depending on how rough the road is, to help you glide over rough patches. Keep your cadence lower and pedal in a higher gear when possible.
    I think you probably just need to head up a group called BACS: Bikers Against Chip Seal.
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete

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