foxyrider wrote:TrevA wrote:On yesterday's ride we encountered a 1/4 mile stretch of road covered in hedge cuttings. We were on tenterhooks as we rode past/over them but luckily nobody punctured. It's not practical to get off and walk in your cleated shoes so we just have to run the gauntlet.
We also encountered a road that was fully covered in mud, save for a narrow strip down the middle. You could feel your wheels slipping as you rode along. Farmers really do have a lot to answer for.
Horse poo, cow poo, mud, hedge trimmings, sewage - just another day riding my local lanes thanks to the very thoughtful, responsible country folk. Why do equestrians think it's okay to leave er leaving on the road? And there are lots of horses in these parts.
My experience is that the middle of the lanes is actually worse than the muddy wheel tracks, often slimy with green stuff, stones, maybe grass. Even in summer. Hedge trimming is annoying but the year round gravel washouts and excrement deposits do, in my view, offer more danger.
Maybe we should club together to sponsor a road sweeper to go around the lanes on our behalf. The scheme could be extended to cover cycle tracks / routes which seem to accumulate lots of debris. We should as cyclists be prepared to contribute to keeping the infrastructure running.
I've often thought that if I ever won the lottery, I would buy a small road sweeper and spend my time sweeping the local cycle paths on a regular basis. They certainly need it and it's a job the local councils and highways authority don't seem interested in doing, except once in a blue moon.