When President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the huge stimulus package, into law I figured he was probably doing his job and putting some peeps to work. Merckx knows this country needed some help and I voted for the guy so I thought ‘what could possibly go wrong?’
That was until this huge contraption chiseled out three-quarter inch deep by three inch wide by eight inch long crevasses in the road I ride 80% of the time. The rumble strips are supposedly designed to keep drunks and other crappy motorists from falling asleep and putting their car in the ditch. I suppose that might work. But fuck-all if they’re not a pain in the ass for cycling.
At first I thought they’d be a handy little audible signal that would broadcast an approaching car from the rear that had veered onto the shoulder. This warning would alert me to grab hold of the bars tightly and hit the ditch myself. Upon reflection, it seems the only signal they would broadcast would be that of my impending doom as I still would not have time to get out of the way and the last sound I’d hear would be that of a twelve decibel rubber fart. These sizeable divots also hold water for most of the day after a rain. It’s not that I mind riding wet surfaces but damn if I have to clean my steed twice as often.
I suppose they’re not all that bad for solo rides. Occasionally when I glance back I might get a little surprised by drifting over and riding over the strip which I’d prefer not to do. But riding with a partner or in a group has become a pain. As it stands, the shoulder is barely wide enough for two riding abreast. Switching off pulls at the front now requires crossing back and forth over the rumble strips. This leads to images of fatiguing and cracking carbon fiber, loosening teeth fillings, and choadal jackhammering. Not fun.
Sure I need revisit Rule #5 and keep riding my local road. I have and I will. But damnit, as a voter and a taxpayer aren’t I entitled to giving a little feedback? I realize, Mr. President, that you’ve got two wars to “win”, a global financial crisis to solve, and a bit of a leak in the Gulf to plug, but did you have to jack up my road too?
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@wvcycling
Sounds like paradise is taking shape, grassroots style. How much blowback did the DOT get from the ATV crowd for paving the shoulder? That was certainly a sore spot around here for a while back when they widened the rode.
Money wasted. Accommodate the drunkards' needs and ignore the legal commuters'.
Whereas the UK seems to have given it a lot of thought ...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/index.htm
Here in France cyclists tend to get respect instead of lazy reliance on elfin safety standards.
@al
I am often astounded by the tales of friends who have lived in France. While french drivers have a reputation for being "quirky," those who have lived there describe a reverence for the safety of cyclists. It must be nice to truly share the road.
@al
That picture is too much. There's a few similar spots on my rides here in Seattle...amazingly poor design - doesn't seem like the challenges that presents should have been easily overlooked.
I avoid all the bike paths around here. they all have stop signs for one thing and you get all kinds of people walking/running on them.
I don't know if its kosher here to post in an older article, but I'm going to anyway. I'm new around here but I have been reading through old articles, because waiting for the next new one isn't cutting it for me.
Here in PA there isn't much of this stuff, but they like to put it on the major roads with higher speed limits.
To be honest, they aren't great, that's for sure but if there is enough shoulder then I don't mind quite so much. Especially if the pavement has been well cared for.
However one of the road close to my house and part of my route to some climbs around here has this stuff with ZERO shoulder. Thanks to a barn built to close to the road, there is no room for shoulder. Come on people. This is what eminent domain is for. Just because there is one historically significant barn on the road that would be threatened by a shoulder, we will give none on this 45 mph (often abused) road with rollers you can't see over. Fucking Brilliant.
@Marko Now 2 years later (Jul 2010) and rumble strips have invaded the Southeastern Coast. Blasted onto road sections around schools and coming into towns.
The NC DOT has started doing this on some roads here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. It's taking our already sometimes narrow mountain roads even narrower for cyclists. I understand why they do it, just not a fan of it. I've had to cut out a few really decent riding routes just to avoid these cut markers. Major bummer.....
-Dinan