Future road pizza

[Lyse]

Had a bicyclist almost mow me down. Whipped around a corner on the side walk at high speed directly into my path and then got pissed at me. Meanwhile, the road's nearly empty (6am in a commercial area) AND has wonderful clear bike lanes. Nope, he had to use the sidewalk instead.

[Shalom]

Crushed slightly smaller, then after crushing they ran some of it through a mixer, to knock off the edges. Resulting mix of sharp-edged and smooth gravel made for a nice surface that tended to pack well and stay cohesive.

This technique isn't new; it was invented about 1816 by a guy named John Loudon McAdam. (OK, so he didn't use mixers. He hired entire families to work on the roads; the men would haul the rock off the road, then the women and children would bash it to bits with hammers. Once it was smashed down to a weight of less than six ounces per piece, the menfolk would haul it back on to the right of way and spread it out.)

Macadam pavement (AKA "tarmac") is named for him. I actually read his book ("Remarks on the present System of Road-making : with Observations, deduced from Practice and Experience, with a View to a Revision of the existing Laws, and the Introduction of Improvement in the Method of making, repairing, and preserving Roads, and defending the Road Funds from misapplication") and found it interesting, but then I'm weird that way. You can find it on archive.org if you so desire.

[wolfie]

Macadam pavement (AKA "tarmac") is named for him.

From what I've heard, "Macadam pavement" and "Tarmac" are NOT interchangeable terms - tarmac is a variant of macadam pavement to which tar has been added to make it more stable and longer-lasting.

[Shalom]

From what I've heard, "Macadam pavement" and "Tarmac" are NOT interchangeable terms - tarmac is a variant of macadam pavement to which tar has been added to make it more stable and longer-lasting.

This is correct; McAdam's original formulation used only water as a binder. (He preferred to lay roads in the rain, per his testimony.) Someone else came later and added the tar.

I shouldn't have used the "AKA"; sorry.

[bbbr]

I'm a cyclist putting in thousands of miles a year on the road and in the woods and as a rule, I'm as far to the right as I feel is safe. The edges of the roads in my area range from broken asphalt mixed with glass to perfectly smooth and wide enough to drive a big rig down with everything in between. So there are times when I'm across the white line because the edges are more likely to get me hurt. But otherwise I'm trying to stay out of the traffic flow (NYC excepted, riding like a maniac is the only way I found not to have Taxis try to run me over repeatedly). The only time I'm out in traffic, or "claiming the lane", is when I need to turn and its moving at the same speed as I am (I'm good for about a half mile @ 25mph) and the conditions are safe to do so.

On the group rides I participate in, we're no more than 2 across. There's always someone in the back calling out cars so we can tuck in single file and let the car go about its way while still being able to chat with a buddy during the rest of the time. Last fall I ran across one group that I knew about that had decided to claim the entire road (5-6 riders across) and stay that way for 3 miles that I was behind them. At no point did they make any motion to move over so I could safely pass and it was getting rather annoying. I emailed the organization that was doing the ride a couple of photos of them 6 across @15 mph. That day a notice went up on the website about following ALL the traffic laws and especially being no more than 2 across at any point in time. Haven't run across em again being that bad about riding in a pack since then.

I've also been hit a few times by arses and lost my share of skin along with a broken arm. Of course, I also dented somebodies hood with my fist when they turned into me in the middle of an intersection that i had the right of way in.

[wolfie]

(NYC excepted, riding like a maniac is the only way I found not to have Taxis try to run me over repeatedly)

NYC cabbies are nucking futs - on occasion, they've tried to force ME out of the way. Seems like they don't make any distinction between the other person having 2 wheels, 4, or 18.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I'm a cyclist putting in thousands of miles a year on the road and in the woods...

bbbr, you're doing good work in making sure that you yourself and as many of your fellow cyclists as you can educate are obeying traffic laws and generally trying not to be a nuisance.

If only all cyclists were like you.

[bbbr]

Not totally perfect on the bike but there is the effort not to be an arse out there and make things worse. Idaho has a law that allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield, red lights as stops but only where traffic and lane conditions allow (aka "The Idaho Rolling Stop"), that makes sense to me as there are just some intersections that are inherently safe for me to go through without stopping (3 way stops where I'm heading straight and not crossing any lanes, if that makes sense). Or where I'll never trip the red light to green because the sensor grid isn't capable of acknowledging the bikes presence or its completely dumb and on a timer only.

I have a bells on all my bikes as the local touroids don't look both ways when they try to cross the street. The expression of shock that something else is in the road with them always amazes me. In the woods, the mountain bike is really quiet, like "deer running through the woods quiet". I've accidentally snuck up on more than a few hikers (along with deer, turkeys and assorted small critters) on the multi-use trails as we all enjoy our respective time outdoors. When I'm out doing lift served DH (downhill mtn biking at ski resorts) the DH bike is LOUD all on its own courtesy of the 3" tires and suspension system clanging around on the rocks and gravel. And yet, I still find people that aren't paying attention while walking down the DH specific trails (non-bikers aren't supposed to be on them as they have their own specific trails to try and keep everyone safe). Which is just crazy as the speeds easily go over 40mph for extended periods of time and the amount of notice that there's a bike right next to you can be be minimal even with good bell.

[mhkohne]

go over 40mph for extended periods of time and the amount of notice that there's a bike right next to you can be be minimal even with good bell.

Even when not at DH speeds, getting clobbered by a bike can be nasty for the pedestrian - my Boss's friend ended up in the ICU for a couple of days after getting hit while out for a run (she stopped to turn around and WHAMMO!. We don't know if the cyclist really did anything wrong or not.)