TfL and their slippery cycle super highways

[Bungle73]

Got covered on this week's GCN Show. Didn't say too much about it, apart from saying that painted surfaces can be slippery.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Got covered on this week's GCN Show. Didn't say too much about it, apart from saying that painted surfaces can be slippery.

Motorcyclists always avoid painted white lines for that reason.

 

[Dogsauce]

Double yellows can be slippy, and I've come across some before that have been slightly recessed forming a shallow channel which my back wheel skidded along. All the more reason to ride out a bit further.

 

[Orang Utan]

They are definitely more slippy than the road, even dry

 

[nick]

You want to slippy - try cycling where an overfilled diesel car has previously gone too fast over a speed bump.
No visible marks on the road but still ended up ass over tit in the middle of upper Tulse Hill. Wasn't even turning or braking at the time - just had the temerity to push on the pedals.

 

[Orang Utan]

You want to slippy - try cycling where an overfilled diesel car has previously gone too fast over a speed bump.

how did you know that?

 

[Pickman's model]

how did you know that?

because it's left something of a slick behind it of course.

you do ask some daft questions

 

[Orang Utan]

because it's left something of a slick behind it of course.

you do ask some daft questions

how do you know it's diesel though? does it look/smell different?

 

[Pickman's model]

how do you know it's diesel though? does it look/smell different?

i am relying on nick who i have always found reliable

 

[nick]

how did you know that?

How did I know it was diesel? - I knew because Diesel feels greasier than petrol and smells different. There was sufficient in my road rash to let me spot the difference. Also I walked the few metres from the crash site to where I had lost control and noticed diesel splashes on the road (just past the speed bump).
It is also very slippery and I had to rub my tyres down after the event in order to get any friction back on them.

How did I know that it was due to an overfilled car going over a speed bump? Pure supposition + Occam's razor - I had discounted most possibilities, and what remained, no matter how improbable was the answer. Granted - it could have been some evil doer spraying diesel over the road on purpose for the lolz, but I work on the assumption that most people are not complete twats so felt it unlikely

 

[nick]

Anyway. Back on topic: Some road surfaces are less grippy than others. Only the suicidal ride along / over white lines or manhole covers etc unless unavoidable

 

[Dogsauce]

Some block paving surfacing is fucking lethal too, especially if damp with frost/condensation or with a light spray of rain. Broke an arm skidding on some in Leeds many years ago when evading a daydreaming pedestrian.

There's a few 'traffic calmed' roads in London where they've built road tables at the road ends out of it, I was sliding all over the place on some back in winter. It's exactly in the place you need to use your brakes too.

 

[T & P]

On the subject of spillages, it's disturbing to see how many vehicles leak oil. Whenever it has rained and the road is wet, rare is the day when I don't see the telltale rainbow coloured puddles for the entire length of my commute.