The same road debris day in day out...
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The same road debris day in day out...
Since I ride the exact same route when I ride, I see the same metal parts (screws, nails, bolts) and broken glass every day. Remembering where they are keeps my mind occupied and my tires inflated. The other morning there was a new broken bottle glass that covered a large area, and I avoided it by turning out of the bike lane into the car lane. I ride early in the morning after sunrise, and this is near the top of a rise so luckily it's easy to see if traffic was clear (take-a-look mirror on my glasses helps).
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I ride the same route most days as well. Thankfully I don’t see much debris, but we do have a lot of holes and cracks in the pavement. It’s nice to know where those are.
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There was a dead fish on my route. Fresh, but dead. This was about a month ago. It's moved about 30 yards up the path, is completely desiccated and the head has come off, but is still near the body.
Every time I see it now I sing the song "Fish Heads" by Barnes and Barnes to myself.
Every time I see it now I sing the song "Fish Heads" by Barnes and Barnes to myself.
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One of my usual routes passes some bars, h0nkytonks and stripper joints so it never surprises me to see fresh broken bottles or other debris (including sex toys near the stripper joint and porn shop). The only exception is the biker bar. They know better than to litter their own routes with broken glass. It's always the guys in pickup trucks tossing beer and whiskey bottles out the windows while driving.
However with the pandemic and shutdowns of non-essential businesses such as bars, there's a little less debris.
While I empathize with the business owners, frankly, I couldn't care less whether any bars reopen. Nothing good ever happens in or around bars. I can't remember ever visiting a bar in my misspent youth when something sketchy or outright dangerous *didn't* happen. In recent years I've ridden with friends on some pub crawls and whenever they stop at a joint that's too much like a bar rather than a pub or tap room, I either stay outside while they have a drink, or bail out and head my own way.
I'm more sympathetic toward friends and acquaintances who own or work for microbreweries and tap rooms, but they have the beer production business as backups so they're still chugging along.
Occasionally I'll stop to remove some dangerous debris that's in the wheel tracks most cyclists use: lumber, rope, wire, shredded truck tires, anything that might snag a wheel. I know dozens of other riders pass that same stuff but they won't stop when they're in a competitive group ride. I've avoided all group rides since March so I don't mind stopping to chuck that junk out of the way.
However with the pandemic and shutdowns of non-essential businesses such as bars, there's a little less debris.
While I empathize with the business owners, frankly, I couldn't care less whether any bars reopen. Nothing good ever happens in or around bars. I can't remember ever visiting a bar in my misspent youth when something sketchy or outright dangerous *didn't* happen. In recent years I've ridden with friends on some pub crawls and whenever they stop at a joint that's too much like a bar rather than a pub or tap room, I either stay outside while they have a drink, or bail out and head my own way.
I'm more sympathetic toward friends and acquaintances who own or work for microbreweries and tap rooms, but they have the beer production business as backups so they're still chugging along.
Occasionally I'll stop to remove some dangerous debris that's in the wheel tracks most cyclists use: lumber, rope, wire, shredded truck tires, anything that might snag a wheel. I know dozens of other riders pass that same stuff but they won't stop when they're in a competitive group ride. I've avoided all group rides since March so I don't mind stopping to chuck that junk out of the way.
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If it's an actual bike lane you might have some luck lobbying for it to be swept. If you are riding on a shoulder, yeah that's where the junk ends up. The first foot or so of a shoulder may be cleaner, just don't think too hard about why.
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If there are large pieces of debris in the bike lane I always stop to move it for the benefit of the next cyclists.
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