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Alien Asphalt

The best clue about surface hazards is a change in color or texture.

You’re out for a ride with some buddies and, at the moment, you’re leading the group. The weather has been sunny and warm, and you’re pleased that there’s almost no traffic on the back roads you’re following. You see what appears to be new paving ahead, but there aren’t any orange construction signs warning you of a serious hazard. Something about the situation spooks you a bit, but you don’t want to be seen as overly cautious, so you maintain speed.

But just as your front tire rolls onto the darker surface, steering gets funny and the bike starts plowing from side to side. You realize the new asphalt is very soft, allowing your tires to sink in. You roll off the throttle and stab at the rear brake pedal to warn the riders behind you, but it’s too late. Your front tire digs into the berm of soft asphalt at the center of the lane, and the bike veers toward the ditch. You barely manage to stop in the deep gravel at the side of the new paving without dropping the bike. The next rider isn’t so lucky. His bike wiggles around and then muddles into the gravel berm and crashes on its side. The next rider in line attempts to brake quickly enough to stop short of the soft pavement but is rear-ended and knocked down. It’s a disaster.

Road maintenance doesn’t always work out as planned. Sometimes the asphalt mix comes out very soft or oily and doesn’t bond together well enough to roll down firm and smooth. In this situation, the asphalt might eventually pack down under the weight of passing vehicles, but at the moment, it’s like soft gravel coated with slippery black oil. If you had looked a bit more carefully, you might have noticed the loose gravel pushed to the sides of the wheel tracks, hinting that perhaps the surface is not as firm as it may appear. You might want to blame the road crew for leaving such a mess, but a big part of your job is to maintain your awareness of the situation and not be surprised by surface hazards.

You know what the surface is like under your tires at the moment because you can feel it. When you see a change in the color or texture of the surface ahead, be suspicious and reduce your speed until you can determine the feel and makeup of the new surface.