tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post3952839931985430659..comments2024-03-22T18:01:20.065-05:00Comments on Geezer with a Grudge: Extravagant Methods and Extreme ResultsT.W. Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04078254371483458356noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-46077108831878921842010-08-28T23:45:28.670-05:002010-08-28T23:45:28.670-05:00I've been playing grandpa. My youngest daughte...I've been playing grandpa. My youngest daughter gave birth to my 3rd grandkid, Weston Robert, on Monday. My wife and I flew down to meet him over the week.T.W. Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078254371483458356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-23122215554477786582010-08-27T09:10:43.084-05:002010-08-27T09:10:43.084-05:00Hey, where've you been? Riding someplace inter...Hey, where've you been? Riding someplace interesting I hope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-31108933554084372012010-08-09T22:38:25.639-05:002010-08-09T22:38:25.639-05:00Interesting comments. I put in several hundred mil...Interesting comments. I put in several hundred miles on upstate New York rural roads two years ago. We, apparently, have dramatically different opinions of what is "tricky and dangerous." I thought New York roads were pretty much the same as what we have here and that they are overkill for the minimal traffic they encounter. Of course, my preference would be to not waste the energy or resources paving such roads. I'm good with dirt, clay, or gravel roads in rural locations. I don't think there is a rational reason to pave roads that experience such minimal use.T.W. Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078254371483458356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-59998117405157240632010-08-09T19:31:04.794-05:002010-08-09T19:31:04.794-05:00Our rural roads are just as bad if not worse than ...Our rural roads are just as bad if not worse than the urban ones, except they thrown in tricky and dangerous maintenance more often. New York has bought the absolute slipperiest tar for making snakes and they use it liberally. Frequently you have no choice but to pick your line through the least worst section of snakes. They particularly seem to slather this stuff around on blind corners. Another favorite is to fill in some mud hole with the coarsest possible gravel, which promptly gets washed all over the road during the next rain storm. Recently the power line crews have been out sawing down limbs and leaving lots of little sticks and sawdust all over blind corners. One stretch of Rt. 9 in upstate NY has somehow sunk into a repetitive wave pattern between joints that sets your cycle into a rythmic leaping motion at the speed limit. The only way I could control my bike was by riding 20 over or 20 under, but at 20 over I spent half the time in the air like doing motocross. Really, anytime I happen upon a well maintained stretch of road (usually short lived) I consider myself lucky and enjoy the experience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-31312177811587760712010-08-09T15:20:15.942-05:002010-08-09T15:20:15.942-05:00We have all of that in the Cities. Where the traff...We have all of that in the Cities. Where the traffic is the highest, we have the worst roads in MN. In uber-rural places like the ones I described in my column, the roads are great. It makes no sense at all, but we're humans and we rarely make sense.T.W. Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078254371483458356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950664143576637249.post-88777198534608141252010-08-09T10:44:36.939-05:002010-08-09T10:44:36.939-05:00I'm not sure I'd agree, at least here on t...I'm not sure I'd agree, at least here on the East Coast. With budget cuts at all levels of gov't a lot of roads are in terrible shape. I hit a pot hole that nearly killed me (in a car) on the Mass Turnpike at night, in the rain, while passing a tractor-trailer rig. If I had hit that thing on a bike it would have been bad news. Around here cornering line is determined by which road hazards you want to miss: potholes, tar snakes, dirt, crap, gravel, etc. But, don't worry, our continuing economic decline will surely be coming your way and your roads too will deteriorate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com