He once said; "Just give me smooth pavement, and I'll be happy to do the rest regarding my safety and access."
Amen, brother!
Around here, some roads are so bad, local governments go out of their way to deny responsibility for them.
Here is a case in point. Prachyl Road is so poorly maintained, it is now a hodge-podge of nearly interconnected filled in potholes. If you were to remove all of the "fixed" potholes, there would scarcely be any road at all!
The surface here resembles cobblestones, but without the uniformity afforded by them. It is a disgrace to whichever road department that thinks this is an acceptable level of maintenance for the long-suffering taxpayers of Ennis. Ellis county is officially denying any responsibility, and they have even put up a sign to make sure you know!
In the photos above, I took them from the same spot but pointing the camera in the opposite direction.
Operators of automobiles are often annoyed that they are not able to proceed at their desired speed on the main roads. They have told me to use more of the secondary roads to make their trips more pleasant.
The answer, of course is the same as this one posed to the motorists; "why don't you use those secondary roads?" Cyclists prefer the busy main roads for the same reason motorists do.
Secondary roads are not as direct between popular areas as the main roads are.
Secondary roads are poorly maintained, as local governments siphon away dollars dedicated to maintenance for other things.
Secondary roads have more stop signs and uncontrolled intersections and junctions. Often with an extra helping of poor sight lines to boot. They have lower speed limits for a reason.
You want me to ride off of the main roads? Make them more attractive to cyclists then.
I am not asking for special lanes and infrastructure. I am simply asking for better roads. I won't even mind if you use them too!
