Black death

**Madness** · 5th January 2011, 15:15

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** · 5th January 2011, 16:40

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** · 5th January 2011, 16:44

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

**cs363** · 5th January 2011, 16:52

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** · 5th January 2011, 17:08

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** · 5th January 2011, 17:57

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

**caseye** · 5th January 2011, 18:45

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** · 5th January 2011, 19:58

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** · 5th January 2011, 19:59

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

**Gremlin** · 5th January 2011, 20:06

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** · 5th January 2011, 20:11

Originally Posted by SPman

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** · 5th January 2011, 20:19

Originally Posted by Madness

I went for a pootle

Originally Posted by Fatt Max

I went for a pootle

Originally Posted by Mully

I went for a pootle.

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

**Madness** · 5th January 2011, 21:03

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

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** · 5th January 2011, 21:11

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...

**Ocean1** · 5th January 2011, 21:20

Originally Posted by 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...

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.