peterws

Speaking for meself, I`ve never seen them so bad, so dangerous. Now, the country`s strapped for cash and public services (some) are being cut back dramatiocally resulting in holes in the roads which`d be an issue for maby cars, let alone bikes.
Not safe to give hand signals anymore. And for every 4 holes you spot, there`s at least one i don`t. Our city is supposedly cycling friendly, and i been spending more time on the thing lately. But I do question the safety of it particularly on the main roads.
Any from UK concur with this? And how is it wi the rest o` you?

I will NOT buy fat tyres . . . . .

TimothyH

Not like that down south.

They are paving every road in North Georgia whether the road needs it or not.

The interstate is being widened from two to four lanes each way and they are putting in huge flyover bridges, a billion dollar drainage program for downtown Atlanta, universities expanding, new stadium for the Atlanta Braves, building a 22 mile bike trail (Beltline) around downtown Atlanta, etc., etc., etc.

Roads are smooth as silk and we have a 96 mile MUP patrolled by county sheriffs in Smart Cars.

Y'all come down.


-Tim-

DaveQ24

US, "Rust Belt" industrial state in the southern Great Lakes. We have, as a rule, horrible roads in my area, which is the 'burbs of the state's largest city. Outstate, where there are fewer roads with much less traffic load, they seem to be better.

OTOH, we have a great regional MUP system, due to Rails to Trails, and most communities here also have great "safety paths" which are legal to ride on as well.

I've been mostly on a hybrid and mt. bike kick lately, but when riding my road bike and my new tri-bike (which alas has seen little action) I've taken to riding around a brand new shopping center with great pavement in the early am hours (3-4-5 am) when it's essentially deserted. Smooth pavement, great dimensions for doing HIIT training and cornering, etc.

MinnMan

Minnesota, with its rough winters, is notorious for pot holes. But unlike our neighboring state of Wisconsin, with its various woes, Minnesota has a healthy economy and state government and the last two years have seen fantastic improvements in road repair. It's never perfect, because the roads get trashed every winter, but it's better than it's been in years.

EnjoyinTheRide

I live in Syracuse NY lol.... we use pure rock salt lol....our roads are fine lol

Rick@OCRR

No easy one-fits-all answer here in Los Angeles area. Some roads are pretty horrible while other are freshly paved and wonderful.

Still others have been freshly paved but with chip-seal which is pretty awful until it ages several years.

Even on the MUP's your riding surface may vary. Some sections of our local (Coyote Creek) trail are very much in need of a re-pave.

Rick / OCRR

BobbyG

Sorry. Colorado Springs just spent this year resurfacing more roads than I have ever seen done in a year. It is really amazing.

Carbonfiberboy 

Ah, austerity. Fixes everything. Around the Pacific Northwest, it could be better, but outside the cities the roads are in excellent repair. I always run enough pressure so that I never pinch flat because we do have the occasional pothole, but it's a long way from being dangerous. Quite safe in fact.

1989Pre 

How are the smaller roads outside of Lancaster? Blackpool? Preston? Where I live, the shape of the roads depends on which county you are in. A lot of the times, you can tell when you just crossed a county line by the condition of the road.
Now that Britain has E.U. off it's back, things might look up.

JanMM

Lots of truth to that in Indiana, in the American Midwest.

jon c. 

Our schools may not be the best, but we're willing to pay for roads.

Given the absence of freeze/thaw cycles, the lightly traveled rural roads here never get that bad. A few roads I ride regularly hadn't been paved in at least a decade and they were still in reasonable shape. The edges got gnarly in some places, but there was still plenty of decent road surface. But over the last two years, they've re-paved them all as well as newly paving a number of roads that had previously been dirt. It's been great for cyclists as the newly paved roads open up more variety. My regular routes are all in the poorest county in the state, so I don't know where they got the money. They're even putting in sidewalks in few places in the sort of rural areas where they've never been previously seen and don't really seem all that necessary. However they're managing to fund these efforts, it's a good thing for me.

TGT1

In LA county you can always tell where the city limits are and the mile or two of county maintained road between incorporated cities begins without looking up at the signs.

Third world pavement ,with often movable parts.

The OC seems to be much more consistent and better.

Barrettscv 

Southern Illinois has a mixture of surfaces. 90% of the rural roads are paved, but they are vaguely maintained, usually getting a layer of chip-seal. I'm using 700x25 or larger tire. The 700x27 Vittoria Pave is ideal for riding here.

There is also plenty of firm gravel, grassy trails and singletrack. Having a Cyclocross or 29er provides some alternative cycling fun.

MinnMan

Or not.

canklecat

What's the point of refusing to adapt to conditions? Unless you're a community activist determined to improve the infrastructure -- and find mutually agreeable ways to fund it -- the conditions will not adapt to you.

Get some tires that offer a reasonable compromise between speed and comfort.

Then go run for public office, become a news media magnate, and change the world. Or your little chunk of it.

peterws

I was joking . . . . actually I have had a mountain bike, I find the road bike tyrea 700 X 25 are generally more comfortable.
But conditions throughout the country are pretty similar, Nowt to do wi the EU, (nothing`s changed yet apart from imported goods prices) everything to do with allocation of public spending. priorities. Like, the country is stuffed full o` migrants and asylum seekers and nobody`s planned for this . . .. And I`m too old to stand for Parliament!

John E

In north coastal San Diego County I have far more issues with bicycle-hostile traffic engineering than with lack of road maintenance. Bike lane buffers continue across the mouths of shopping center driveways, bike lanes disappear at various spots, sharrows are used effectively in some areas, but conspicuously absent in some others where they could be very effective, etc.

qcpmsame 

It depends on what part of the county you live in here. If you are living in a district where the county commissioner has seniority and the pull to do things, especially where their friends and contributors live, the roadway is well maintained and had bike lanes/sharrows, etc.

If you live in a district where your commissioner is a first termer, or one that alienated the other commissioners, your roads are trash, with pot holes and really worn surfaces. I am in one with a first term commissioner that is trying hard, but it will take time for him to build up the support it takes to get work done properly in our district. Meantime, its hit and miss on getting things shaped up, and repaving the older, worn surfaces are beating us to death.

Bill

dendawg

In NYC spring is pothole season, but things get patched by the summer. Bergen county in NJ and Rockland in NY are not too bad. Westchester was pretty rough the last time I rode up that way. Some of the local MUPs are in pretty bad shape due to a few years of unrepaired frost heaves.

mephisto2k2

I don't miss the roads in Central California that I left behind earlier this year. Poor road conditions with lots of pot holes and almost every road uses awful chipseal. Now I live in Virginia which has excellent road conditions. Smooth asphalt and not many pot holes.

locolobo13 

Potholes, pressure ridges, cracks that go crosswise, we have them all here. Sometimes weird bumps that look like the construction just had some extra asphalt. The ridges and cracks seem to be more prevalent on the edges where the bike lanes go. Maybe it's just me. Regardless I think the roads around here are pretty good.


The observations about different counties making a difference is true. In addition different localities have better or worse road conditions according to their respective pecking order in the political system. Gotta figure that's no different anywhere.

John_V 

In Central Florida, most of the roads are in very good condition, especially the main roads. There are lots of back-roads that can use a new surfacing but they aren't nearly as bad as some of the roads I've driven on in areas where it snows. I have one road that gets me in and out of my neighborhood and they just got done repaving it. It really wasn't bad before they paved it, but now that it has a new coat of asphalt, people think that means an extra 20 mph on the road.

tg16

Down here in Louisiana our politicians don't let tightened budgets and austerity prevent them from making money for friends and family. Road construction is big business and we have lots of it in the Baton Rouge area.

_ForceD_

Unless you're from Illinois, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, or Colorado I don't want to hear it. Rhode Island's roads are deplorable. See here -- https://www.businessinsider.com/these-are-the-states-with-the-worst-roads-2015-7/#california-4
I can't imagine how bad they are in those five states. There is a hill on one of my routes that until a year or so ago I could descend with only using my brakes some. But in the past year it's gotten so bad that I have to creep down it. In fact...I actually have to slow down some when climbing it.

Dan

FullGas

not sure what's worse...

potholes, pressure ridges, cracks wider than a bike tire...

or fresh chip-seal.