so our rare snow is melted off, but the bike lanes and shoulders are covered in pea gravel. makes for a interesting ride. Anyway, in some places quite thick. On the way home the other day I must have hit something in the gravel that I could not see and it sliced my tire wide open on the sidewall. ended up walking the last 2 miles. It was a very clean cut so it must have been something sharp
so being rather new to year round commutes. I learned another important lesson about what you cant see on the road. I imagine riding in snow people would have similar "finds". And pea gravel can really slow you down and can act quite slippery.

Tire was only about 6 months old, luckily at home I had a good used spare and a spare tube. So back on the road next morning

I feel your pain, most of the roads I ride on are chip and oil so there is always loose pea gravel at intersections and along the outer edges of the road. They just did some of the side streets this summer so it's been especially bad the past few months. The good thing for me is that when they plow the snow off in the Winter that clears most of it out of the intersections by Spring. Still plenty of it to deal with though.

Yeah, it's too bad when they clean roads they don't consider bicycles and the sides are still so dirty.

What is chip and oil? We use regular asphalt here in the Boston,Ma area?

I'm assuming you carry a spare tube, but something else worth investing in is a good bit of tivek. You can acquire these at parcel carrier drop off boxes for...reference; it'll be the "plastic" feeling bag. You can use these to plug up slashed or torn sidewalls when you replace your tube so you can at least get back home.

Two miles isn't bad, but it's a life saver of it's twenty.

M.

Chip and oil, that looks nasty. I'll take my potholes over those roads. I'm assuming bigger tires are better for those conditions?

Here in rural Ohio we have the chip and seal type of roadways. Our chips are sharp angular crushed limestone. These are about 3/8” by 1/2” in size.


One time I ventured onto asphalt for a quarter mile. I couldn't believe how easy pedaling is - as far as tire friction. So you asphalt riders have it pretty easy as compared to country riders in the friction aspect. I would estimate that friction is reduced at least 25% on asphalt as compared to the chip and seal type roads.


On one of the bike forums we see an avatar of a young fellow grinning about his road rash. Trust me, …..if he slid on these chip type roads, he wouldn't be laughing. He would be in a hospital showing the ends of his ground down bones.


Packrat1947

Nasty stuff indeed and on hot summer days the oil/tar gets really soft and works to the top so your tires throw it all over the underside of your frame. That's when the "chips" get pushed in and the surface smooths out nicely...... until they put more chips down to cover up the soft oil. Sometimes they use sand which keeps the surface nice and smooth but gets into everything. However, the limestone also makes a white grit that gets all over everything and chews up brake pads, rims, chains, etc. I wash my bikes frequently to keep the grit off them.

As mentioned by Packrat1947 it makes for some TRULY ugly road rash and if it's warm enough you get the road tar in the wound as well. At the ER they clean it out with a stiff brush and kerosene! An acquaintance laid his motorcycle down on it and because he had alcohol in his system he got the brush and kerosene scrub sans pain killers. As soon as he was able to ride again he went out and bought full leathers and a full face helmet AND no longer rode when he had been drinking.

I run a little larger tire on road bikes, otherwise I run city tires or slicks. Knobbies throw the stuff everywhere and sink in a lot worse when it's hot out. My only other road surface options are two HEAVILY traveled 2 lane asphalt highways or several very hilly, poorly maintained gravel and dirt roads that also see a lot of traffic and people FLY on them. I've tried riding them but getting hit with gravel from a car or pickup going 40 MPH sucks big time not to mention the dust bath. I used to ride the 2 highways all the time when I was younger but traffic is so bad on them now I don't even like driving them in my car.

The lovely lady at Lovely Bicycle actually commented on the chip road stuff here: https://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2013/...l-of-road.html

M.

Can't argue with a thing she said.

You find chipseal around Boston. Some towns are forced to economize and use it on little traveled streets.