Do they sweep TdF routes?



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Raptor

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I see a bunch of riders riding in the gutter or on the fringe. If you try that on most roads I've
seen, you'll flat for sure eventually.

So is there a road sweeper crew in the pre-race caravan or do they do something else?

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Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
> I see a bunch of riders riding in the gutter or on the fringe. If you try that on most roads I've
> seen, you'll flat for sure eventually.

> So is there a road sweeper crew in the pre-race caravan or do they do something else?

Maybe the French don't chuck beer bottles out of their cars into the gutter?
 
Not only are French gutters cleaner that he is acustomed to, but a lot of places in the US can
actually be ridding without fear of flats.

Imagine...

"Benjamin Weiner" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I see a bunch of riders riding in the gutter or on the fringe. If you try that on most roads
> > I've seen, you'll flat for sure eventually.
>
> > So is there a road sweeper crew in the pre-race caravan or do they do something else?
>
> Maybe the French don't chuck beer bottles out of their cars into the gutter?
 
You mean no bubba's in pickups thinking that you should be run of the road for having the nerve to
be on their road.

Wow Imagine that

"Nick Burns" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> Not only are French gutters cleaner that he is acustomed to, but a lot of places in the US can
> actually be ridding without fear of flats.
>
> Imagine...
>
>
> "Benjamin Weiner" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > I see a bunch of riders riding in the gutter or on the fringe. If you try that on most roads
>> > I've seen, you'll flat for sure eventually.
>>
>> > So is there a road sweeper crew in the pre-race caravan or do they do something else?
>>
>> Maybe the French don't chuck beer bottles out of their cars into the gutter?
>>
>
 
"Chris" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> You mean no bubba's in pickups thinking that you should be run of the road for having the nerve to
> be on their road.
>
>
>
> Wow Imagine that
>

I know the roads in Bavaria are like hospital corridors compared to the **** in our gutters and on
our roads. And very few potholes..imagine that. In the spring here we sometimes get potholes that
actually damage the suspension on your car. I'm sure Michigan and other northern states are similar.
Farm roads in Bavaria are in better condition than our main roads.

Cheers,

Scott..
 
Nick Burns wrote:
> Not only are French gutters cleaner that he is acustomed to, but a lot of places in the US can
> actually be ridding without fear of flats.
>
> Imagine...

The ones with returnable bottle laws.
 
On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 17:22:02 -0600, Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:

>I see a bunch of riders riding in the gutter or on the fringe. If you try that on most roads I've
>seen, you'll flat for sure eventually.
>
>So is there a road sweeper crew in the pre-race caravan or do they do something else?

When it came to the UK in '94 they resurfaced practically the entire route, and the part that ran
near our house hasn't been touched since!

Gareth
 
"Nick Burns" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Not only are French gutters cleaner that he is acustomed to, but a lot of places in the US can
> actually be ridding without fear of flats.
>
> Imagine...
>

Have you been to France before? The few times I've been there, if it wasn't a strike by the garbage
men, The garbage cans were either removed or bolted shut to prevent people from setting off bombs in
them (This was in Paris, granted a few years ago). Instead of putting garbage in the cans, people
would stack it up next to them, or in the gutter. I know they try to keep the streets clean, but it
seemed to be a losing battle. Have things changed since the late '90s?

-T
 
"Tom Schulenburg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Nick Burns" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Not only are French gutters cleaner that he is acustomed to, but a lot
of
> > places in the US can actually be ridding without fear of flats.
> >
> > Imagine...
> >
>
> Have you been to France before?

Yes

The few times I've been there, if it wasn't
> a strike by the garbage men, The garbage cans were either removed or
bolted
> shut to prevent people from setting off bombs in them (This was in Paris, granted a few years
> ago). Instead of putting garbage in the cans, people would stack it up next to them, or in
> the gutter. I know they try to keep the streets clean, but it seemed to be a losing battle.
> Have things
changed
> since the late '90s?
>
> -T

As far as filth and trash, the European cities are generally worse than American cities but outside
the big cities people tend to be a lot more careful. Paris and Milan are both a bit more filthy but
I never had problems with glass. There seems to be specifically more glass on the ground in the US.
That is the topic. I never had training based in a large city, but I did spend some time with my
bike visiting both of those. I only ever got one flat in Milan, near the Galleria (between the
Galleria and the Duomo). Cars are not allowed there any longer. Since it was night time, I did not
even look to see what caused the flat, I just changed the tube. Geneva is the cleanest city I have
ever seen. I have only been there twice but both times it looked about as clean as Disneyland.

The city in the US where I spent most of my time was San Francisco. I understand that to be the
cleanest American city? That is what they claimed anyway...and it was terrible with regard to glass
on the ground. It was terrible anywhere that you would see shoppers, tourists, the financial
district and certain ethnic neighborhoods. The parks were fairly free of glass and so was the
Presidio. I am living in Northern California right now and I will usually see glass from a freshly
broken bottle on average of about once per hour. I perceive that people do not throw the bottles
from cars because the glass is usually near an area where you could find pedestrians. I have heard
people talk about other parts of the US where bottles are thrown from cars. I don't think that
happens here. I have never seen it.

YMMV
 
"S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I know the roads in Bavaria are like hospital corridors compared to
the ****
> in our gutters and on our roads. And very few potholes..imagine
that. In
> the spring here we sometimes get potholes that actually damage the suspension on your car. I'm
> sure Michigan and other northern states
are
> similar. Farm roads in Bavaria are in better condition than our
main roads.

Go to Wisconsin if you want to see clean roads and streets. Embarassing for a person from California
where every main street is 2 feet deep in gum.
 
In article <[email protected]>, Tom Kunich
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > I know the roads in Bavaria are like hospital corridors compared to
> the ****
> > in our gutters and on our roads. And very few potholes..imagine
> that. In
> > the spring here we sometimes get potholes that actually damage the suspension on your car. I'm
> > sure Michigan and other northern states
> are
> > similar. Farm roads in Bavaria are in better condition than our
> main roads.
>
> Go to Wisconsin if you want to see clean roads and streets. Embarassing for a person from
> California where every main street is 2 feet deep in gum.

So that must be why the tire sidewalls used to be called gumwalls.

Move to a better part of California. I get about one flat for every 300 hours of riding east of
Sacramento and into the foothills.

-WG
 
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