Pictures of your least favorite road?
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Pictures of your least favorite road?
I'd love to see pics of your not so favorite road(s) or riding surface.
Last edited by scottfl; 09-28-11 at 07:53 PM.
#2
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The streets of Venice are better paved, but they certainly aren't bike friendly.
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Lovely. A few weeks ago I heard about a touring rider who had his entire bike (fully loaded) stolen from a hotel courtyard. People suck.
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Nice tour! Not sure this is really about the roads, but...
Some cobbles in Germany. I normally enjoy them, but I don't think my laptop was up to it:
Heading down from Myrdal to Flåm in Norway. Quite possibly the first time I've ever had to walk my bike on tour (granted, I've never toured outside Europe):
Some cobbles in Germany. I normally enjoy them, but I don't think my laptop was up to it:
Heading down from Myrdal to Flåm in Norway. Quite possibly the first time I've ever had to walk my bike on tour (granted, I've never toured outside Europe):
#5
bicycle tourist
Least favorite is somewhat subjective since there is sometimes a love/hate relationship with a road that is "challenging" on one hand but "frustrating" on the other.
However, the road that would best fit your description was the stretch between Chita and Khabarovsk in 2007, particularly the ~1700km of gravel. I did this as part of a cross-Russia ride from Amsterdam to Vladivostok. It was frustrating and challenging for several reasons:
1. Cars depreciate more slowly in Russia than in Japan. Hence, there is a market to be made by shipping cars from Japan, selling them in large lots in Vladivostok and then hiring drivers to ferry them inland to cities in Siberia for resale. The net result is a steady stream of cars traveling the other direction - I counted about ~100 an hour at peak periods in morning. Frequently these would travel in packs but the net result was a lot of dust being kicked up as drivers zoomed around in these small Japanese cars as they were pretending they were at the track.
2. Treatment of the gravel surface was a bit different than I was used to in Canada/US including remote roads like the Dalton or Dempster. Rather than an oil surface, there was a tendency to grade over the road base and let it settle again. This led to some parts of the road that were too soft (lots of loose junk) or too hard (washboard surface) and frequently both (loose junk graded over a washboard surface).
3. The length of this part of the road meant that one had multiple weeks to look forward to on this surface. Our average day decreased from ~100km to closer to ~60km when we reached this surface and mentally it is tougher to work through day after day after day of this stuff than know you are there for only a week and will be done.
The thumbnails below show you some of the aspects of this road including:
- Active construction and road graders dumping new gravel
- A (damaged) car on small truck, kicking up gravel
- A small truck with entire windshield blocked off except for small hole. This done to prevent damage from flying rocks
- Some days of "peanut butter" roads after it rained
- Taking photos of the new sediment placed on the road
- A car caked with dust on its way
- Basic endless road, not too much loose stuff but watch for washboards
- More cars and dust on their way
- Early morning profile showing some of the surface
However, the road that would best fit your description was the stretch between Chita and Khabarovsk in 2007, particularly the ~1700km of gravel. I did this as part of a cross-Russia ride from Amsterdam to Vladivostok. It was frustrating and challenging for several reasons:
1. Cars depreciate more slowly in Russia than in Japan. Hence, there is a market to be made by shipping cars from Japan, selling them in large lots in Vladivostok and then hiring drivers to ferry them inland to cities in Siberia for resale. The net result is a steady stream of cars traveling the other direction - I counted about ~100 an hour at peak periods in morning. Frequently these would travel in packs but the net result was a lot of dust being kicked up as drivers zoomed around in these small Japanese cars as they were pretending they were at the track.
2. Treatment of the gravel surface was a bit different than I was used to in Canada/US including remote roads like the Dalton or Dempster. Rather than an oil surface, there was a tendency to grade over the road base and let it settle again. This led to some parts of the road that were too soft (lots of loose junk) or too hard (washboard surface) and frequently both (loose junk graded over a washboard surface).
3. The length of this part of the road meant that one had multiple weeks to look forward to on this surface. Our average day decreased from ~100km to closer to ~60km when we reached this surface and mentally it is tougher to work through day after day after day of this stuff than know you are there for only a week and will be done.
The thumbnails below show you some of the aspects of this road including:
- Active construction and road graders dumping new gravel
- A (damaged) car on small truck, kicking up gravel
- A small truck with entire windshield blocked off except for small hole. This done to prevent damage from flying rocks
- Some days of "peanut butter" roads after it rained
- Taking photos of the new sediment placed on the road
- A car caked with dust on its way
- Basic endless road, not too much loose stuff but watch for washboards
- More cars and dust on their way
- Early morning profile showing some of the surface
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#8
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Iceland Route 1 where the gravel starts at the end of a very long day and the road to Modhrudalur which is just nasty.
#9
Bike touring webrarian
My nomination for least favorite road was this one in Switzerland:
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
#10
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Traffic on my way out of Seoul on two different occasions. After I escaped the city the road got much better though.
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My nomination for least favorite road was this one in Switzerland:
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
The descent into Meiringen on the other side was awesome fun! We then rode over the Grosse Scheidegg (pass) to Grindelwald (next day); the climb is from 400-something meters to a bit over 1900m, and a really really nice ride as far as scenery goes.
EDIT: oops, just been corrected. Apparently my girlfriend did walk bits of it due to poor traction.
Last edited by aggri1; 09-29-11 at 06:00 AM. Reason: made a mistake
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Barbur Blvd Portland, Oregon
Speedway of hellions on a Monday morning! The road is more like riding on a freeway than anything else.
Take the lane sure? When people are passing you at 55 mph and greater you'd be a fool not to
Speedway of hellions on a Monday morning! The road is more like riding on a freeway than anything else.
Take the lane sure? When people are passing you at 55 mph and greater you'd be a fool not to
Last edited by Cyclomania; 09-29-11 at 07:04 AM.
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I often took the sidewalk at that spot. Luckily it kinda is like a freeway in that spot - side traffic is low, pretty easy stretch except for the Beav/Hillsdale exit.
Once you get past the Freddy's it's a total mess. You've got a buncha people still trying to roll 55mph and then a bunch of people trying to exit fast food joints, gas stations, grocery stores, head shops, etc. not really looking for bikes.
Oh, and if you start SB from Suki's there's the fun bit where Naito merges with Barbur.
Scary stuff to be sure.
Once you get past the Freddy's it's a total mess. You've got a buncha people still trying to roll 55mph and then a bunch of people trying to exit fast food joints, gas stations, grocery stores, head shops, etc. not really looking for bikes.
Oh, and if you start SB from Suki's there's the fun bit where Naito merges with Barbur.
Scary stuff to be sure.
#14
we be rollin'
Gee, with some of those roads above like the really muddy one, do you think it's better with 700x42 or 26x1.95 tires? I mean I'm guessing the 1.95 tires might be sluggish and sticky. But on the rocky roads, would 42mm tires do well enough?
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Once you get past the Freddy's it's a total mess. You've got a buncha people still trying to roll 55mph and then a bunch of people trying to exit fast food joints, gas stations, grocery stores, head shops, etc. not really looking for bikes.
Oh, and if you start SB from Suki's there's the fun bit where Naito merges with Barbur.
Scary stuff to be sure.
Oh, and if you start SB from Suki's there's the fun bit where Naito merges with Barbur.
Scary stuff to be sure.
Barbur needs to be modified for sure. I pine for a separated bike lane!
#17
I loved the stunningly beautiful scenery and challenging road surface until I hit this impassable snow covered portion on East Harrison Lake Road in British Columbia. Really the road is one of my favorites sans this portion, at that time.
Last edited by BigAura; 09-29-11 at 08:48 AM.
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Good post! I'm really enjoying the pictures. I can't even imagine trying to ride a bike on some of those surfaces! For me, it's any narrow road with no shoulder and lots of traffic. If the surface is bad, all the worse.
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IMG_3214.JPG by neilfein, on Flickr
That's an easy one; 25A across Hempstead Harbor. Construction had demoted the road to single-lane status, and that one lane was too narrow for me to allow passing. I booked across the bridge as quickly as I could, cars honking the entire way. I then pulled off to the site and walked the bike up the hill (walking in the grass, where I took this picture from). I then got the hell off 25A as quickly as I could.
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My nomination for least favorite road was this one in Switzerland:
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
It is part of National Cycle Route 9 and Runs along side the train line from the Lungerer sea up to the Brunig pass. The combination of grade and loose rocks made it impossible for my rear tire to gain traction as I pedaled. I ended up walking up the road, slipping about every second step as the traction of cleated bike shoes wasn't very good either.
You can read more about the day I rode over the Brunnig Pass in my journal.
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In 2010 I came across the worst road conditions on cycle route 31 in the Czech Republic. The road was just mud and there was no way around it.
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