Tar on my tyres

[Mick F]

Devon Country Council ................ in their wisdom ............... are in the process of "surface dressing" many of my favourite cycling roads. The other day, I find I'm creeping along in thick gravel and wet tar. Consequently, my nice white-wall tyres are covered in tar lumps.

I've just spent a little while cleaning it off both wheels with a petrol-soaked rag. I had hoped it would wear off, but it didn't so I had to resort to manual methods.

I'm not best pleased.

[mjr]

www.writeToThem.com and ask why they are not prioritising proper resurfacing of roads preferred by cyclists because their Local Transport Plan says that they'll prioritise walking and cycling (I've not checked Devon's, but most do...)

[reohn2]

Mick
You could always buy some black ones

[binsted]

Devon Country Council ................ in their wisdom ............... are in the process of "surface dressing" many of my favourite cycling roads. The other day, I find I'm creeping along in thick gravel and wet tar. Consequently, my nice white-wall tyres are covered in tar lumps.

I've just spent a little while cleaning it off both wheels with a petrol-soaked rag. I had hoped it would wear off, but it didn't so I had to resort to manual methods.

I'm not best pleased.

Not just Devon Mick, all over the country, group ride last Tuesday had to stop on the road and clean tyres, then the petrol soaked rag when I got home on the tyres and frame. Just surface dressed a lane near home, no repairs first so puddles in the same places, didn't even bother with the passing places so a nice lip there now.

They are ruining perfectly good tarmac with chip dressings, grrrrr

[ChrisButch]

To add insult to injury, when Devon's contractors (usually SW Highways) top dress in this area, they deliver to all houses bordering the affected roads a nice leaflet explaining the process, what precautions to take, how your car might be affected etc etc....but needless to say no mention of cycling. I've taken this up with the nominated cycling champion at DCC, but thus far to no avail. On the plus side, the standard of finish recently has been much better than it used to be - much better rolling, sweeping of residual loose material etc. Whether this is better management or better machinery I don't know.

[Flinders]

To add insult to injury, when Devon's contractors (usually SW Highways) top dress in this area, they deliver to all houses bordering the affected roads a nice leaflet explaining the process, what precautions to take, how your car might be affected etc etc....but needless to say no mention of cycling. I've taken this up with the nominated cycling champion at DCC, but thus far to no avail. On the plus side, the standard of finish recently has been much better than it used to be - much better rolling, sweeping of residual loose material etc. Whether this is better management or better machinery I don't know.

When they piled a lot of tar and rough chippings onto a road round here, they didn't bother telling anyone I know. A local described the road as now being a mile-long rumble strip and felt sorry for the people living directly on it, and if it wasn't for the fact that it is too dangerous to cycle on for other reasons despite being a mere rural road (and I speak as an ex-London commuter cyclist, so I'm not that easily put off, and I do 3 mile detours to avoid having to use it) I'd be worried about the effect on bikes.

[Pete Owens]

http://www.writeToThem.com and ask why they are not prioritising proper resurfacing of roads preferred by cyclists because their Local Transport Plan says that they'll prioritise walking and cycling (I've not checked Devon's, but most do...)

In the short run surface dressing is a pain, but councils don't do nearly enough routine maintenance which is why the roads end up so potholed. Yes, completely replacing the road surface would be nicer - but an order of magnitude more expensive. Just as completely replacing your widow frames every couple of years would be produce smarter results than repainting them.

It is worth reading this from Chris Peck:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/chris-peck/roads-bad-state

[The fat commuter]

In the short run surface dressing is a pain, but councils don't do nearly enough routine maintenance which is why the roads end up so potholed. Yes, completely replacing the road surface would be nicer - but an order of magnitude more expensive. Just as completely replacing your widow frames every couple of years would be produce smarter results than repainting them.

Similar to what I was going say. When I lived in Cumbria, the roads were surface dressed every year or two. The potholes that appeared were from roadworks. Here in Sheffield, no surface dressing takes place. The roads simply disintegrate over the winter. Riding into work down Rivelin Valley Road is like a slalom course with all the potholes - and that's one of the better roads. There is a city wide resurfacing scheme ongoing just now - can't remember how many billions it cost. However, once that scheme is over if a regular maintenance schedule isn't sorted, it will be pothole city within a few years again.
'

[mjr]

Don't misunderstand me: surface dressing done right is a good tactic, but the current bad habit of trying to use an extra thick layer of oversize chippings to hide unrepaired potholes isn't it.

[AlaninWales]

Re. cleaning it off, rather than using petrol ( what effect will that have on tyre integrity?), I would try one of the citrus hand cleaners (or maybe something like Fenwicks, used neat). I've just used the former to clean tar off a pair of my wife's kid leather stilettos, which have come up a treat.

[Mick F]

I tried white spirit, but it was very slow, so I went to the shed with the petrol for the garden stuff, and poured a little into a tub and used a cloth dipped into it.
Petrol did the job in a jiffy. Doesn't seem any problem with the rubber on the tyres.

I reckoned that petrol pipes in cars are rubber, so it should be ok.

Mick
You could always buy some black ones

Not only did the tar spoil the look of my tyres, the tar lumps were noisy and annoying. There were tiny bits of gravel stuck on there too.

[danhopgood]

Just be grateful Devon CC have still got some money to spend on road maintenance!

[ChrisButch]

Just be grateful Devon CC have still got some money to spend on road maintenance!

The pressures in Devon are particularly acute: the authority has a greater road mileage to maintain than any other (old pub quiz favourite - greater than the whole of Belgium), and the prevalence of undrained sunken lanes exacerbates the need for maintenance. Neither of these factors is recognised in the RSG.

[Mick F]

+1.

As a slightly bit off topic, I decided to ride every road in Cornwall, and I phoned up Cornwall CC to see if there was a list of roads I could tick off as I did them. As it happens, there wasn't anything useful to me other than a map!
Nearly finished BTW.

However, the chap I was talking to said that Cornwall now has the longest road system in UK since Devon "lost" Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay as they aren't in "Devon" any more because they are unitary authorities.

Yes, yes, I know .........................
His tongue was firmly in his cheek, just like mine is now, but there's nothing better than splitting hairs!