danger

All this fabulous weather and to dangerous to get out. Don't know what its like where you are, but around here the hot weather has seriously melted the road surface. Was out on Wed. and could feel the bike moving around. Stopped for a closer inspection, yup, soft guey tar. Not happy.

Roads are no worst than normal here (no melting) but drivers are getting more irritable/stupid.

Just hit 24deg up here today, not noticed the tar melting yet,  but is this not greatttttttttttttttttt weather for a change?

Davie basking in the sun

I ran across a patch of it on the road up the hill from Aberfoyle (it was a repair on a bend that probably won't last the weekend).

It's touching 30 degrees down here and it's way too hot for the bike.

Unbelievable how many riders have shorts & tshirts on.

Be careful everyone.

There must be a market for an armoured string vest.


I'm only wearing jeans and my jacket since it's so damn hot, and even then I had to stop half a dozen times to peel my junk off my thigh and 'dress' myself again.  

Mine seems to overheat real quick in this... The bike that is..

I have not noticed any melting tar down this part of the world yet , just me melting in my leathers.

Ditto, roads around 'ull are fine, so far. only using the bike to and from work tho. Cool while I'm movin' steaming when stopped!

kev jeans mico mesh jackets with full armour so not to bad
the jackets a god send cost a furtune but well worth it now only want a helmet with holes drilled in it lol

Was out for a ride in the Cotswolds today.  On plenty of roads it was a choice between slick melting tar on the wheel tracks and the loose gravelly bit in between - it seriously detunes your cornering enthusiasm on roads like the Charlbury TT.  

Plus, all the car drivers round here seem to have decided that the NSL has been dropped to 40, so you do come up on them a bit suddenly  

Found a summer off-white Hein Gericke suit in the back of the wardrobe that I'd forgotten about - perfect for these conditions.  I bought it in their sale for about £100 some years ago and used it for one tour to France - IIRC the weather there was so bad I spent most of the time with waterproofs over it.  Glad now I didn't chuck it out.

I have been having great fun doing my 92 mile a day commute on the Thundercat, really flying at times. But I have noted the melting tarmac too on the A425 in Warwickshire.

Got too hot for me and I retreated to my airconditioned car again yesterday!

[quote="bobh"]Was out for a ride in the Cotswolds today.  On plenty of roads it was a choice between slick melting tar on the wheel tracks and the loose gravelly bit in between - it seriously detunes your cornering enthusiasm on roads like the Charlbury TT.  


Ah I didn't know you did the Charbury TT great little loop , just a short ride from me to!

MrNutt wrote:

bobh wrote:Was out for a ride in the Cotswolds today.  On plenty of roads it was a choice between slick melting tar on the wheel tracks and the loose gravelly bit in between - it seriously detunes your cornering enthusiasm on roads like the Charlbury TT.  


Ah I didn't know you did the Charbury TT great little loop , just a short ride from me to!

I quite often end up Chippy way, have seen signs for Charlbury but not been through there yet, will have to give it a try. What points make up your route?

Do we have the basis for a Cotswold ride out?

Radar wrote:Do we have the basis for a Cotswold ride out?

maybe if we did 15 loops lol

Stu wrote:

MrNutt wrote:

bobh wrote:Was out for a ride in the Cotswolds today.  On plenty of roads it was a choice between slick melting tar on the wheel tracks and the loose gravelly bit in between - it seriously detunes your cornering enthusiasm on roads like the Charlbury TT.  


Ah I didn't know you did the Charbury TT great little loop , just a short ride from me to!

I quite often end up Chippy way, have seen signs for Charlbury but not been through there yet, will have to give it a try. What points make up your route?

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thats the route I use stu, maybe we could have a wee small rideout of those local to it, do a few laps sometime

bobh wrote:Plus, all the car drivers round here seem to have decided that the NSL has been dropped to 40, so you do come up on them a bit suddenly  

The good weather brings out the unhurried daytrippers and foreign tourists in the scenic areas and I tend to go with the flow until it suits me to press on.
Fair play to them, most will see you behind pretty soon, slow down and wave you past on narrow roads..but sometimes (gawd bless 'em) at the most inopportune places.  
(Not forgetting a lot of them will be looking at the scenery at times, and may drift on the roads a bit)

Today I had a people carrier slow down in front on the Loch Venachar road to Callander, the arm came out the window waving me to pass on a 100yd straight bit and I had to indicate/gesticulate (politely) that I wasn't in any hurry to pass right there and then and I'd overtake in my own time.

What the driver probably was unaware of was the fact that there was a site entrance/exit warning on the upcoming bend and gravel all over the road on the approach.
..if I'd boosted past, the rear would have probably spun up with a choppy gear change or two, and if a lorry was pulling out, there probably wasn't much chance of stopping without dropping it.

..can't fault him for the consideration though and gave him a  when I went past a bit further on.

..at the end of the day, it's not like we're stuck for opportunities to put the hammer down on a bike.

p.s.
I've also noted that there are far more cyclists on the minor/rural B roads I've frequented in recent years (far more this year).
I was taught to use the whole width of these roads and take a wide line in order to see farther ahead, but I've noticed I've had to cut back in far more sharply a fair bit due to frustrated motorists overtaking cyclists in places that aren't exactly ideal. (So you can find yourself with far less room than you expected)

Something to be aware of.

Apparently cycling has gone through the roof on the back of the Olympics last year..and it looks it. The single boat that runs up Loch Katrine to Stronachlachar offloaded about 30 tourists who'd hired bicycles (the boat has been fitted with a rack to accommodate them) to pedal back the six miles to the start.
...Three years ago they'd pile off, have some tea and cake in the wee café, get back on the boat and sail back again while listening to Runrig and Teuchter music.

bloody cyclists
to be honest i hate them law to them self traffic lights mean nothing to them or junctions

Well... about a month ago we had quite extreme heat here in Germany and it caused serious accidents on a couple of motorways. One motorcyclist was killed when the concrete road surface bulged up in front of him basically turning the road into a ramp.

Here's an English article about it...
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Well the fazer 8 normally sits at 72 degrees engine temp from 60mph+. Now, reads 86 degrees and its cooking my legs. Feel sorry for it when I get stuck in traffic on the M1 and cars ain't letting me filter on times (ars&@) and the poor fan is working over time almost.
Now that I've given it a good clean, to good for a building site so will try the R1 on Monday and see how I cook on her.

Roads seem to be fine near us though. Good grip (really good) from the bridestone 023's on the R1 but the 021's on the fazer, still can not trust them fully as they have a mind of there own.  

Wooster wrote:p.s.
I've also noted that there are far more cyclists on the minor/rural B roads I've frequented in recent years (far more this year).
I was taught to use the whole width of these roads and take a wide line in order to see farther ahead, but I've noticed I've had to cut back in far more sharply a fair bit due to frustrated motorists overtaking cyclists in places that aren't exactly ideal. (So you can find yourself with far less room than you expected)

Something to be aware of.

Apparently cycling has gone through the roof on the back of the Olympics last year..and it looks it. The single boat that runs up Loch Katrine to Stronachlachar offloaded about 30 tourists who'd hired bicycles (the boat has been fitted with a rack to accommodate them) to pedal back the six miles to the start.
...Three years ago they'd pile off, have some tea and cake in the wee café, get back on the boat and sail back again while listening to Runrig and Teuchter music.

I had some Runrig over 10 years ago Wooster. 

BlueZed wrote:Well... about a month ago we had quite extreme heat here in Germany and it caused serious accidents on a couple of motorways. One motorcyclist was killed when the concrete road surface bulged up in front of him basically turning the road into a ramp.

Here's an English article about it...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

 

That's tragic. Poor guy.

MrNutt wrote:

Stu wrote:

MrNutt wrote:

bobh wrote:Was out for a ride in the Cotswolds today.  On plenty of roads it was a choice between slick melting tar on the wheel tracks and the loose gravelly bit in between - it seriously detunes your cornering enthusiasm on roads like the Charlbury TT.  


Ah I didn't know you did the Charbury TT great little loop , just a short ride from me to!

I quite often end up Chippy way, have seen signs for Charlbury but not been through there yet, will have to give it a try. What points make up your route?

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thats the route I use stu, maybe we could have a wee small rideout of those local to it, do a few laps sometime

Thanks for that Dave. Was down that way today but went from Woodstock to Charlbury  which is a good road then on to chippy.
Only bad bit was the surface dressing on the way back to Banbury.
The wee small rideout sounds like a good idea.