Paving Question
 

Part of one of my main routes has been repaved. I guess they put down some tar type stuff, then covered it with fine gravel. Much of the gravel is still loose. It's pretty much unrideable now.

Will they come back and remove the excess gravel? Is there any point in complaining?

Thanks,

Sounds like you're describing chipseal. All the times I've ever seen it done, the gravel layer gets left on there, and cars driving over it eventually get it removed to the side or wherever it goes off to. Maybe give it a few weeks and you'll feel comfortable riding on it again?

Sounds like chipseal, which can vary from pretty fine gravel (ok to ride after cars beat it down a bit) to very coarse gravel (which can stay unridable for a long time). It's always seemed to me that if it's very hot and the road gets a lot of traffic, it can get beat down to "normal" reasonably quickly. But if it's coarse gravel and the road doesn't get a lot of traffic you might be in for a long wait.

Somebody here posted a cost comparison between chipseal resurfacing vs. putting in a new asphalt surface. As I recall, chipseal is much, much, much cheaper for the city/county/state.

You must be on skinny tires; my home street was chipsealed about four years ago, and there are three streets I regularly use that just received CS this spring -- my 2.0's handle it just fine. Now, my NEPHEW -- 7-y-o, rides fatties too, urban tread so he can keep up -- manages to find a way to skid out just bout every time on these newly done streets.

I'm not hating on your ride, just sayin'....

In my area, they came by and swept the bike lanes on Minehaha after they chipsealed it last year. They used 1" aggregate, so the bike lane's still pretty rough on a road bike, but the car tire tracks are smooth. The bike lane's not even that comfy on well-inflated 1.5" semi slicks.

I still need to write a letter to the county commissioner about only chipsealing to the edge of the car area of the road and leaving the bike lane alone. Should save the county thousands of dollars.

Oh, it seems like they waited a couple of days to run the sweepers. Even after the first pass, cars kicked a bunch more rock into the bike lane. After a second sweeping, loose gravel occurrence plateaued.

Our subdivision is now 10 years old, and they are redoing the streets. First, they repaired all the holes and cracks. Then a layer of asphalt covered by gravel - i.e., chip seal, Howwever, just today they passed out announcements to not park cars on the street as they are covering the chipseal with asphalt tomorrow. GREAT, as the chipseal was hard to ride on for all my bikes, including my mtn bike with1.75 slicks.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/IMG_3555.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...ril2010365.jpg

You're lucky it was "fine" gravel. Chipseal is a way of life around here.

Chipseal is an evil concoction invented by Karl Marx, and the dirty commies in Washington County, AR just chipsealed one of my favorite routes along the Middle Fork of the White River in the Boston Mountains. It was a quiet and beautiful ride. You could hear the water rushing over the rocks in the river. I suspect it will be 6 months, at a minimum, before it can be ridden again, and then it will be as rough as a cob. I asked a local about it before we turned around, and he mentioned that he wouldn't be able to ride his motorcycle over it, either.

About a week ago I got caught in a mess of fresh chipseal. There was no practical alternate route so I had to suck it up. The good news is I was riding my touring bike which sports full coverage fenders plus front mudflap. When the chipseal ended, I knocked the clinging stones off the tires with my gloved hands. Arriving home, I found no trace of stones or tar anywhere on the bike. I'm still afraid to look up under the fenders.

Fresh Chipseal is dangerous stuff. Very easy to wipe out on it. The worst is when you find yourself on it without notice, i.e., you turn a corner and suddenly.....

Thats miserable looking stuff. Makes riding around here unbearable.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x...urface_200.jpg

The chipseal in my neck of the woods can be pretty brutal.

HI,
It dissolved my new tires and was all over my bike, it was post spraying without the gravel it will really mess up a bike, next time I'll walk and carry the bike around tbe road.
my 700/23 looked like MTB tires in about 2 blocks.
Geeze ( note those ice scrappers will remove tar pretty well don't reccomend kerosene to remove tar on tire cause it will disolve tires too,
doug

Unfortunately, neither of those are the case here.

Chip seal is most definitely not cycling friendly. But, then my experience is that most township supervisors, county commissioners, or others responsible for secondary roads aren't, for the most part, all the cycling friendly either.

I've recently encountered a few dirt roads that have been sprayed with oil - no stones or gravel, just the oil. I've got to wonder how good this is for the environment.

^^^ Wow, I haven't seen that since the late 70s! Definitely non-eco-friendly.

What planet have you been living on??? Around here chipseal is all they use anymore.

SP
Bend, OR

Ooops, sorry, I was referring to dirt roads sprayed with oil to keep the dust down, mentioned in the post above mine. Should've quoted like I did here.

On a side note, however, it was a nice 10 years in the 90s and early aughts that I lived in Portland and never encountered any chipseal, that I can recall. Prior to that in AZ it was all over. Now up here in the Vancouver suburbs, it's all over the place too.

The stuff you saw on the dirt road is most likely not petroleum based oil. The road I live on is unpaved, ie gravel with lots of dry dusty dirt underneath. The town used to put a solid, granular stuff to keep the dust down, but have switched to a liquid. It looks a lot like oil, but doesn't work as well. It does get picked up by car and bike tires, which then look like they have oil on them.
I heard rumors that the town might chip seal the road, it's only 1/4 long, but I live at the very end. So I guess I'd have to walk the road bike to the other end when I want to ride it. I don't which would be worse, the CS or the dust/mud.

Will they come back and remove the loose gravel? LOL!

Around here we call it pea gravel. It can be brutal! About 3 years ago a local cyclist hit some unexpectedly and he now rides a w/c. The problem locally is that on some roads they put up a sign warning you and others they don't. In the summer time I just accept it as another road hazard and try to pay attention.

Pea gravel chipseal ain't so bad. When they dump the big rocks in the tar, like in 10 Wheels' second pic, it is teh suck, as they say.

No, this was an oil based product. I asked and was told, "It never really seeps into the ground very deep." Right.... and I've got some beach front property in Pittsburgh I'd like to sell you.

Repaving, 10 yrs ago was over $2sq. ft. This chip seal stuff goes down for much less, but does little to get rid of the imperfections. Darn, hit 1/2 a glass of North Coast Old Rasputin right to the floor. Glad this carpets got to go.

Chip and Seal, rumble strips, and speed bumps. All the work of Satan's minions.

Here's my letter to the Public Works guy, and his response:

Your public works guy describes our roads out in the wide open townships. In the denser developed areas even the local roads are paved but more traffic is present. On longer rides I usually ride on the chip and seal roads and avoid the asphalt highways with the 55+ mph traffic wizzing past my shoulder. Just about the time the #8 limestone wears off or into the asphalt, and the roads will get smooth and fast, means its time for the tri-annual chipseal process again.:cry:

FWIW, a little air out of the tires smooths out the road. I read that the little bumps from the stone makes the tires bounce, loosing contact with the road, causing a loss power to the pavement because of the lifting of the bike. Less pressure in the tire keeps the bike from using energy required to bounce. Going too low in pressure is not a good thing due to the potential of a pinch flat. On chip/seal rides I use 80 psi front and 95 psi rear on my 700/23 tires.

I have actually encountered that on some roads around here.
I don't know if it was done intentionally, but it certainly is nice.

Hey , isn't #14 a Mars Rover picture :notamused: