Scary Road Sand!

[RolliePollie]

Weather's nice...soooo tempting to ride. But I've been holding back because of road sand and snow burms lining the road. DOT went a little nuts with the sand a few weeks back...it's literally piled up inches deep in places. But almost all the snow is gone now, so today, I was unable to control myself any longer and I headed out for a spin.

Ummmm...extremely bad idea. Road sand IS dangerous! About a mile out, I dumped my bike on a corner...luckily I had slowed way down and miraculously I got my foot unclipped so I didn't go down with it. I really have no idea how I stayed standing up on one foot, but thank heavens I did. Only damage to my poor bike is chewed up bar tape where it hit the pavement and a new scuff on my seat. Something cut my leg through my tights...not sure what bike part did it...but it's minor.

Anyway, the moral of my story is:

Don't ride on sandy roads in winter!!!

[maillotpois]

wow - glad you weren't hurt or your bike damaged worse. for sand you realy have to slow way down before the turn. once you start the turn, braking in sand is bad bad bad.

[Biciclista]

how about be careful on sandy roads in the winter? we have a lot of sand too, i just avoid it or slow down and be really careful.

[sbctwin]

Glad to hear you are ok...Many years ago (early 80's) I found out about sand and corners and....well, luckily I was wearing a helmet in those days too because I probably would have a very damaged ear. As it was I had a horrible case of road rash and torn up clothes and my orange MSR helmet was a mess....

[malkin]

Sand is very scary!!!

[smilingcat]

bad stuff is just a mild understatement.

And it's not just being able to ride through it, turn in it, or stop in it. If you manage to stay up, it scratches and grinds away at the precision components on your bike. Ruin chains...

stay away stay away!!

[tzvia]

Lucky you!
I hit some sand in a crosswind about 2 1/2 weeks ago and went down hard. All of the sudden- my bike just makes a hard right turn and the handlebars just jerked out of my grasp! I slid on my elbow for a bit (joy). The frame was damaged and is being 'crash replaced' to the tune of about a grand. My left elbow looked like it went through a cheese grater, and is still sore, and my ribs are still aching. My month old L.A.S helmet had to be tossed too, and I had to order new Ultegra shifters because mine look like they were sanded down. Great. Maybe my new bike will be built up by this weekend. I went up from the Specialized Ruby Elite to the Expert frame, which is ok but I would have rather done it the normal way.

Yea, sand SUCKS. :mad:

[Biciclista]

December's snow remedy wreaking havoc on cyclists

By Susan Kelleher

Seattle Times consumer affairs reporter

One minute, Gary Prince was riding his bicycle to work along the University Avenue bridge. The next, he was looking groggily into the face of a motorist who had witnessed Prince keel over onto the road next to him

"I hit a patch of gravel, landed in the roadway and passed out," said Prince, 52, who remembers little else about the circumstances of the crash that broke his pelvis, and left elbow and wrist on Jan. 9.

Prince, an avid cyclist who commuted 18 miles a day, had crossed the bridge and entered the bicycle lane when he went down on one of the small sand berms that have formed on the sides of streets throughout the city.

A vestige of the city's efforts to provide traction on icy streets during December's snow storms, the sand has made navigating Seattle streets tricky — at times treacherous — for bicyclists.

David Hiller, advocacy director for the Cascade Bicycle Club, said he's heard from about a dozen riders who got hurt. "We know people who have been injured, and some of those injuries have been serious."

Instead of salting roads to melt ice — a practice the city deemed environmentally harmful — the city sprinkled more than 12,000 tons of sand along well-traveled streets throughout Seattle.

The city said it will clean up as much sand as possible to keep it from clogging up sewer drains and basins used for flood control.

The city had cleaned up about 6,000 tons as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Seattle Department of Transportation spokesman Richard Sheridan. SDOT's goal is to complete an initial pass on 1,531 miles of roadway by Thursday.

"The streets will not be completely free of sand, as that takes multiple runs over many weeks," Sheridan wrote in an e-mail.

Hiller said the pace of the cleanup has been frustrating and dangerous for many of the 2,400 people in Seattle who commute to work on their bikes.

"If the sand's deep, it's like hitting a patch of glue and ball bearings," Hiller said. "It slows down your forward progress and you slide."

Late Tuesday, the city called Hiller to hear his concerns. Following the conversation, Sheridan said the city would commit additional sweepers and crews to cleaning up bike lanes.

The sand also has stripped away traffic and bike-lane markings on many roads, Hiller said. Some of the bicycle-lane markings were laid down as recently as six months ago, he said, and probably won't be repainted until the spring, creating additional hazards for cyclists.

"Any of our constituents out there should be able to safely travel on a public right of way," Hiller said.

Hiller and Prince — a senior-project manager for the King County Department of Transportation and a former Cascade board member — said that in the past the city has given priority to cleaning bike lanes after storms.

Seattle's bicycle-master plan calls for cycling lanes to be swept at least twice a year. Hiller said that, in practice, the city has cleared the lanes more frequently in an effort to help sustain and build ridership.

But staff turnover at the city's transportation department has called what seemed to be a policy into question, he said

The city is planning to revisit its bicycle-lane-sweeping schedule later this month, and to take up the issue when it evaluates changes to its snow-response practices.

Sheridan said the city performs "spot sweeping" of bike lanes located in areas not scheduled for street sweeping. Bicyclists also can call in trouble spots to 206-684-7623.

City crews also will be restriping lanes on major roads over the next few weeks as weather permits.

"SDOT crews are replacing only lane lines that were severely distressed following the recent spell of snow, and are giving priority to streets and bridges with the highest volume of traffic," the department said in a release.

Prince, frustrated at the pace of sand removal, said he went to a town meeting in White Center last week to meet face to face with Mayor Greg Nickels and Seattle Department of Transportation Director Grace Crunican.

"She said in the future, she would try to get special cleanup of the bike lanes," Prince said.

On Friday, Prince walked slowly around his house in Ravenna, and filled time making calls to the Department of Transportation in Portland, where he said sand removal from bike lanes is being done on a "call-us" basis. He also spent part of the day online, reading about the rides his friends will be taking over the weekend.

It could be weeks before Prince is back on his bicycle.

"I could use some good news right now."

[Miranda]

I'm glad you are ok!

That sand is so awful. I had the same thought the other day like your roads. Oh, and the sun was shining beautifully too. It made me want to ride so badly:(.

My main routes are the rual county roads and the city street cleaner machine/vehicle does not visit out in the boon-docks.

My biggest fear is that when you hit a patch of sand to go down on the bike is having a car right next to you at the same time. Only the visions of going down and sliding under an auto axel kept me in on the lovely sunny day.

Agreed too as posted... the corners are the worst!

[Crankin]

Well, this is why I don't ride in the winter at times, even when it's nice out. This is par for the course here in New England. Our streets get cleaned up in April into the beginning of May. So for the first two and a half months of the season (usually I start back outside in March) you have to be very cautious.

[OakLeaf]

Florida roads have sand year round - everywhere, in quantities to grind down moving parts; and in many corners, in slippery piles. Ohio and many other Eastern states use cinder in addition to salt for winter traction. In Ohio in the warmer months, corners are likely to have accumulations of gravel kicked up from the shoulders.

Anywhere motor vehicles travel, intersections are likely to have oil slicks.

Anywhere that drainage isn't ideal, roads may have water running across them.

Bottom line: when you're on two wheels, you gotta pay attention to your road surface.

Rollie, I'm very glad you're OK, but consider that the lesson may not be "don't ride," but rather "be aware when you're riding."

[beccaB]

I have seen signs in past years, at an intersection near my home- Too Much Salt-I think cars are even having a problem getting traction with so much salt/sand mixture being put down. Ironically, our local road commission has made it very well known that there will be less of that ( and there HAS been less of that) and in fact we're lucky if they even run the plows. The economic crisis is so bad here it affects everything. Even stores and public areas are not being kept clear. People aren't even having their driveways plowed. It's like a ghost town here. I have to drive a school bus around in all that, and I'm finding myself very cranky this time of year! And yes, I have tried to ride in past years in the middle of winter and find a dry road almost impassable.

[Aggie_Ama]

Do you have a lot of snow and ice? What about getting a cyclocross bike with knobbies? We RARELY get ice (1-2x a year) so they get a little crazy with the sand since we don't know how to drive in it. There is one road it is still on from 12/10 ice issues and I jsut take the lane since it only in the shoulder but the road is very lightly traveled.

[kfergos]

Bottom line: when you're on two wheels, you gotta pay attention to your road surface.

Rollie, I'm very glad you're OK, but consider that the lesson may not be "don't ride," but rather "be aware when you're riding."I second this. Cycling is about taking acceptable risks after mitigating whatever risks we can. Every time we go out we risk serious injury or death, but it's acceptable because we're careful and alert. If we let anything hazardous keep us off the roads, we'd never get out at all! I agree sand is certainly dangerous to cyclists, but with diligence (and the right tires; fat treaded ones in the winter make a big difference for stability on sandy surfaces) we can fairly safely venture out even in sandy conditions.

[RolliePollie]

I second this. Cycling is about taking acceptable risks after mitigating whatever risks we can. Every time we go out we risk serious injury or death, but it's acceptable because we're careful and alert. If we let anything hazardous keep us off the roads, we'd never get out at all! I agree sand is certainly dangerous to cyclists, but with diligence (and the right tires; fat treaded ones in the winter make a big difference for stability on sandy surfaces) we can fairly safely venture out even in sandy conditions.


I totally get what you guys are saying, but my personal choice is going to be not to ride until some of the sand is off the road. I live in a rural area where it is pretty dangerous to ride anyway (no shoulders or bike lanes, etc.) and the addition of sand on the road is too risky for my taste. I knew I shouldn't ride, I tried it out, and now I know I don't want to risk it. And I was being very careful. If others are ok with it, that's fine with me. I'm just saying for me, no more riding on sandy roads. I am actually very glad they sand our roads when it's snowy. I'd rather give up riding on my local roads for a couple of month a year than have my car slide off the road when it snows.

[bikerHen]

Yeah, we've got the sand/gravel thing going on here in a big way too. I haven't had to much trouble with it yet mostly because it's still wet or frozen to the roadway. But those icy patches and bumps are a whole different story. :eek: My commute time is way up cause I have to go slower and scout for hidden ice.

I ride with wide tires,1.5", on my commuter bike and at the moment have my studded tires which I think are 1.75". My road bike, with it's narrow tires, doesn't come out until the road sweepers have been out at least a couple of times. Thankfully the city/county get the sweeping done fairly quick because of all the dust the sand generates once the roads begin to dry out. I have been known to blow kisses to the sweeper crews on my commutes.:rolleyes: bikerHen

[Crankin]

Yes, you have to be aware, and that's the key all of the time, but sometimes, I just won't take the risk. Just like I don't ride when it below a certain temperature.
Around the time I first started riding, my husband came home from a quick Saturday morning ride. He was taking a cool down lap around the cul-de-sac, which was at the bottom of a teeny hill when he wiped out on sand. He came home with a bloodied face and shoulder, torn jersey and shorts, and wrecked shifters, etc. This was at the end of April and in my old town, they never cleaned the streets until May 10th or so. We had to call the town many times in the following years and explain how unsafe these conditions were for cyclists (there are a lot of riders in this area).
But, I don't want them to stop sanding the roads. Even though I have a car with all wheel drive, I want everything possible to make conditions safe for driving in a storm. And around here, if you don't shovel your sidewalk, you get a fine.

[Bluetree]

Sand scares the dickens out of me, esp. since the seaside winds can blow it all over the place. You never know if the roads will be clear one day to the next.

I've been taken out twice by sand on corners. Once in a double paceline training ride, another time while riding solo pre-dawn. I was lucky both times. In both instances there was just so much sand that it spared me from a more severe road rash. In my solo crash, I slid across an intersection and stopped at the feet of an old man walking his chihuahua. Poor guy almost died of shock. My bikes went straight to the shop for thorough cleanings!