On Sat, 30 Mar 2024 07:39:51 -0500, AMuzi <
am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
On 3/30/2024 1:12 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 29 Mar 2024 10:41:22 -0400, Zen Cycle <funkmaster@hotmail.com>
wrote:
In my area they streets are swept once a year (really, not kidding),
usually sometime in mid spring after the threat of any more snow has
become negligible, mostly to remove sand that has accumulated from the
snow storms.
Bike Lane Sweeper:
<https://bikelanesweeper.com>
<https://www.facebook.com/bikelanesweeper>
<https://newatlas.com/bicycles/bike-lane-sweeper/>
Last year, I acquired a small chipper and vacuum cleaner:
<https://photos.app.goo.gl/4x73QwhV22k423pk7>
When assembled, it usually has a large bag attached, such as in a push
behind lawn mower. I thought it might make a tolerable road debris
remover, but haven't had the opportunity to try it.
We used to have a seemingly incurable problem with construction debris
in the road. I would roll around a magnetic floor sweeper, something
like these:
<https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=magnetic+floor+sweeper>
It worked in the flat spots but wouldn't pickup anything in even a
small pothole. The problem was solved when the contractor, who was
responsible for most of the scrap metal debris in the road, sold his
house. We still run a leaf blower and a magnetic sweeper along the
road during summer when the road is dry. We had the road re-surfaced
in June 2022,
<https://photos.app.goo.gl/U4cn1ZuMnepBBm9B9>
making magnetic pickup more effective. No car or bicycle tire
punctures reported since then.
Fortunately you have a private road.
>
https://nypost.com/2024/03/30/us-news/california-couple-alex-and-daisy-de-la-rosa-ordered-to-stop-fixing-compton-potholes/
Sometimes, that can be an advantage. To get from State Hwy 9, the
first miles of Scenic Way is a country maintained road. The county
does a tolerable job of patching pot holes. I once tried to help the
county and was treated by a long, detailed and quite informative
lectures on why cold patch doesn't work when it's cold, why
do-it-myself asphalt patches don't stick when the pothole is wet, why
they put drainage gravel at the bottom of the pothole, and how to
recognize if the pothole is from an underground stream or a leak in
the water districts plumbing. About 1/4 mile above the end of the
country maintained road are a tangle of private roads. I live on one
of these owner maintained roads and am currently the de facto chair of
the road committee. My job is to extort enough spare change from the
residents to pay for patching, resurfacing and overlaying. Ideally,
the road needs to be resurfaced at least every 10 years. We don't
even come close. We resurfaced it in June 2022. Prior to that, it
was resurfaced in July, 1999. When the inhabitants are mostly home
owners, extorting road maintenance fees is painless. When they are
renters, neither the landlords or renters want to contribute. The
2022 resurfacing was not exactly planned. Some of the neighboring
roads were being resurfaced, so we arranged a deal with the paving
company to expand the project for a substantial reduction in costs.
The neighboring road got a super-highway, while we got whatever was
left in the truck when the job was almost done.
Amazingly, there was some bicycling involvement in road maintenance. I
don't recall the exact year, but my guess is the 1975 to 1985 range.
At the time, most of the owner maintained roads were compacted base
rock sprinkled mostly with automotive engine oil. At the time, the
road was used by the local marijuana growers to ride up the hill to
the state park and water their crop. Panniers front and back with 4
gallons of water (33.2 lbs). On summer weekends, there were quite a
few cyclists going up and down the road. As a joke, someone asked if
they wouldn't mind contributing to the road maintenance costs. They
donated more than expected. Returning the favor, we did a better than
usual job of maintaining the road during summer.
Like all good things, it didn't last. We had a major storm which
washed out the trail to the top of the hill. Short of building a
bridge, there was no trail for the growers. So, no more cyclists.
I won't mention the problems with parking, right of way, property
lines, county "assistance", irritating neighbors, oversized propane
delivery trucks, construction traffic, property appraisers, county
building inspectors, etc.
Owning a piece of a private road is rarely a "fortunate" thing.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.comPO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.comBen Lomond CA 95005-0272Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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