On 31 August 2015 at 09:54, Bob W-PDML <[email protected]> wrote: > On 31 Aug 2015, at 09:14, mike wilson <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> I'm fortunate that there are loads of back ways and paths for cycling >>>> locally, as nearer the kerb on the roads (locally) is mountain bike >>>> territory. >>> >>> Agreed. It's extraordinary to compare French and British roads in this >>> respect. The French ones, even deep in the remotest countryside, are superb. >> >> France: >> Population 66 million >> Area 246,000 sq miles >> road length 638,000 miles >> >> UK >> Population 64 million >> Area 94,000 sq miles >> road length 246,000 miles >> >> In very rough terms, road density is about the same but road use is >> about three times higher. >> > > That's interesting. > > Patterns of road use seem to me to be very different. It feels more uniform > in the parts of the UK where I tend to cycle. > > France itself does have a much patchier population and very significant > depopulation of large parts of the countryside - the stretch from Strasbourg > to the south-west is called Le Diagonale du Vide, and people talk about > 'desertification'; it's very noticeable as you cross the country. > > The red roads in France are probably just as busy as our motorways and big A > roads. > > There is also the matter of weather. In winter we tend to have a repeated > freeze-thaw cycle, which does the roads no good, whereas in the continental > parts of France they don't have as many thaws and re-freezes and the roads > need less maintenance. > > Nevertheless, in the parts where I've cycled the French do seem to repair > damage which would be left in the UK. This is very noticeable, and they seem > to use a much smoother tarmac - this may be because cycling is more ingrained > in the national psyche than it is here and all the local bigwigs want le Tour > to pass through their domain. > > I think there is also a more Keynesian mindset of spending public money on > infrastructure to retain jobs and stimulate economic activity than we have, > perhaps as well as some half-forgotten memory of the corvée. >
Travelling Calais - Paris - Metz last year, I was surprised at both the lack of traffic on both the motorways and in Paris and the good quality of the roads everywhere. We have better signage than anywhere else I've travelled - to the point that my Polish friends complain about it. "I felt like a child - it was good to get home and have to think about what the signs meant." I suppose it's what you are used to. Tarmac in the UK is undergoing a change in specification to a finer-grained surface. Not only does this reduce road noise significantly (not so much of a priority for cyclists) the component specification - it feels almost rubberised - should reduce weather damage. The biggest urban hazard here is broken glass from those tiny beer bottles. I was spending more on bicycle tyres in one year than I ever spent on motorcycle tyres over a similar period. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
