Friday, May 28, 2021

I hate Chip Seal!

We got a half day off from work to start the Memorial Day weekend early and I headed out for a ride wondering whether I was going to get rained on at some point because the weekend weather outlook was pretty crappy. 


With no goal in mind I rode towards the War Memorial and then climbed up Sunset Hill, a through road, between Hanover and Currituck that I had been meaning to try. Then I headed to Tower Road in Brookfield, another road that I haven't ridden yet. Both roads gave me an additional 2.2 miles to my Wandrer total.

I rode all the way into New Milford and thought about doing an extra loop through the town but after a quick check of the weather decided to head back via Ericsson Road.  I got a little drizzle when I started climbing Cod Fish Hill Extension all the way to Hattertown Road but another quick check of the weather told me this was just an isolated cell and that it wasn't going to lead to more rain, just yet, so I pressed on.


The surprise came when I got to the intersection of Platts Hill and Brushy Hill and found both roads had been chip sealed. A woman driving by slowed down and told me that Platts Hill was chip sealed all the way down to Orchard Hill. A woman running by confirmed that Brushy Hill had been done to Beaver Dam and then from Cedar all the way to Elm Street.  


Once the surface gets driven in after a couple of weeks it's OK to ride but after it's just been laid it's like riding gravel and not my favorite surface on 23c tires.  Also, it seems whoever does this likes to leave areas of too much gravel which turns into a washboard that makes riding through there scary.  It seems towns in our area tend to go this route rather than fixing the road proper. It's a shame that they have to resort to this.

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