Black death

[Madness]

I went for a pootle yesterday and was suprised by the degree of melted tar in certain spots. I had a sphincter-clenching moment at the top of the hill above Kawakawa Bay (the boring one) that had me thankful there was no oncoming traffic.

Is it me, or is it a bit early in the year for this sort of crap?. I prefer the moss in winter over melted tar, at least you can usually see it coming.

[Fatt Max]

Funny that,

I went for a pootle myself, Howick/Whitford/Clevedon/Manurewa/Manukau/Howick, mostly the back roads and come across exactly the same thing.

Yes, there certainly seems to be a lot of it on the road, farking annoying

[SPman]

Yet....here we are...temps up to 44C, and the tar remains stable. Typical cheapskate kiwi road builders....!

[cs363]

Worst part is that the 'fix' is usually to chuck a few spade fulls of loose metal on it and of course, no warning signs...

[Mully]

I noticed that on Monday when I went for a pootle. On the way home I came back via Taupaki Road and it was rubbish.

[crazyhorse]

No surprises for those in HB. We've had a few days now with the temps in the 30's - and this is something very common here.

At least you only had a moment, and managed to stay upright :first:

[caseye]

Guys, girls, for fucks sake, stop simply saying something about it on here, go to the report a road site on MAG-NZ, tell your local council representative, complain to your local MP.
If you don't and someone who comes after you dies as a result is it worth the few minutes it took to write, pick up a phone, or go see em??????
I know it's foreign for Kiwi's to bitch to authority, but from now on consider this.
We've been slugged heaps for using the BULLSHIT Roads we have got and it's not going to get any better, money wise.
So make the barstards pay, mkae em squirm, complain, make em accountable, follow up on complaints.
Guess what, once a complaint is made officially there has to be an outcome, if you stick at it, sooner rather than later that stretch of road will be repaired.

If WE all do this, it'll happen sooner and less of our number will end up as statistics on a single vehicle accident register.

So come On Get With the Programme, report the bloody road, make the beaurecrats responsible for them and see what happens next.

[banditrider]

Several of us had little moments in the tar on Sunday. Be warned, it's not just the obviously "tarry" looking bits - Meanie was leaving tracks even where there was a covering of stones...

[SMOKEU]

I thought hot tar would provide more grip than cold tar.

[Gremlin]

Hot hot mix, yes, generally great grip. Chip seal melts. When it starts glinting like a starry sky, the tar has melted, and the stones will move on the tar.

[Ocean1]

Yet....here we are...temps up to 44C, and the tar remains stable. Typical cheapskate kiwi road builders....!

Cheap and nasty it is, but there's no "roadbuilders" involved. Just the lowest priced of a bunch of dodgy local contractors.

It actually doesn't usually cause me too much drama, seems to push so far and then stabilise. What really tears my panties is the fucking mess it makes of the bike, takes bloody aaaaages to get off.

I'm off to find the local council's number to put in my phone. Next time they'll get an invite to clean the bike.

[2wheeldrifter]

I went for a pootle




I went for a pootle




I went for a pootle.


Maybe you should all go for a good thrash...... instead of this little ole pootle thing :yes:

[Madness]

I thought hot tar would provide more grip than cold tar.

Think mid-corner, tipped over in a downhill series of sweepers. Now imagine the stable road you've been "pootling on" (read: thrashing the bejeezus out on) suddenly turns into what feels like a 5 to 10mm thick layer of golden syrup laying on top.

There's hot tar, then there's hot tar.

Give me moss & lichen in the winter any day.

[Maha]

Normally you can smell the road conditions...
And using your sense of smell, can be a potential life saver..
Moss has a smell, melting tar has a smell, cow shit/diesel etc...:yes:

[Ocean1]

Normally you can smell the road conditions...
And using your sense of smell, can be a potential life saver..
Moss has a smell, melting tar has a smell, cow shit/diesel etc...:yes:

It's true, you can smell all that. Especially since I gave up smoking.

But only if you're riding downwind of the shit in question.

[nutjob]

Maybe you should all go for a good thrash...... instead of this little ole pootle thing :yes:

Yeah isn't that a type of dog? :weird:

[HenryDorsetCase]

Think mid-corner, tipped over in a downhill series of sweepers. Now imagine the stable road you've been "pootling on" (read: thrashing the bejeezus out on) suddenly turns into what feels like a 5 to 10mm thick layer of golden syrup laying on top.

There's hot tar, then there's hot tar.

Give me moss & lichen in the winter any day.

because I am a riding god, and where I ride there is no oncoming traffic, or dangerous objects to hit, and I am riding a bike with teh power and control of a MotoGP bike, but with the stability of a Can Am Spyder, All I usually do is stick my knee out, do a fantastic knee save, then straighten it up and go on to win, and stuff.


Have I mentioned I recently bought a Playstation?

[fliplid]

All I usually do is stick my knee out, do a fantastic knee save, then straighten it up and go on to win, and stuff.
Have I mentioned I recently bought a Playstation?

Wonder what effect dipping a plastic knee slider onto hot melted tar would have? Just curious, not planning on testing it out. Only time I've "had me knee down", as it were, was the same time as my elbow, wrist, shoulder, chest- you get the idea! :facepalm:

Too much overly melted tar round this way as well- with no pootling involved :blink:

[Madness]

Normally you can smell the road conditions...
And using your sense of smell, can be a potential life saver..
Moss has a smell, melting tar has a smell, cow shit/diesel etc...:yes:

Aaah, that's where I'm going wrong. I'm still going through a pack of Marlboro a day & I've been bunged up with a cold for a week now. I can hardly smell my own shit at the moment - and that's saying something!.

[Grumpy]

Normally you can smell the road conditions...
And using your sense of smell, can be a potential life saver..
Moss has a smell, melting tar has a smell, cow shit/diesel etc...:yes:
.... and that "OH F##K!" moment when you hit that wet tar can leave a lingering smell too ....:sick:

[Maha]

.... and that "OH F##K!" moment when you hit that wet tar can leave a lingering smell too ....:sick:

No so bad if Madness is behind you, he can't smell shit....:blink:

[buellbabe]

Seems a few of us had the same idea (going for a pootle I mean). I was out doing the manurewa-whitford-maraetai-kawakawa-kaiaua-hunua stretch on Tuesday and I actually thought the road was fine til on my way home...I had stopped for gas and the back end twitched as I was going around a little roundabout I use every day!

Made a mental note of that and will be wary as summer progresses cos the wear and tear is only gonna get worse.

One summer I was riding over the Kopu-Hikuwais and was stunned to see a water truck spraying the melting road...ok maybe there is some chemistry thing I am not getting here buuuuuut...seriously how can that possibly HELP the situation???

[caseye]

Seems a few of us had the same idea (going for a pootle I mean). I was out doing the manurewa-whitford-maraetai-kawakawa-kaiaua-hunua stretch on Tuesday and I actually thought the road was fine til on my way home...I had stopped for gas and the back end twitched as I was going around a little roundabout I use every day!

Made a mental note of that and will be wary as summer progresses cos the wear and tear is only gonna get worse.

One summer I was riding over the Kopu-Hikuwais and was stunned to see a water truck spraying the melting road...ok maybe there is some chemistry thing I am not getting here buuuuuut...seriously how can that possibly HELP the situation???

For a bike rider it simply adds to the problem, hot melting tar plus diesel and other oils rising to the surface on the little bit of watrer that the truck can drop on a piece of road at any given time.
Real solution, when building the road in the first place.
Put the right amount of Tar in the pot and don't use turpentine to thin it out and make it do another Kilometer or so.Did I mention making sure that you ring, go see in person your coulcil, politician. local beaurecrat and make an OFFICIAL COMPLAINT, seriously, this then has to be actioned and a result has to be achieved.
Ride safe out there guys and girls.