Grooved Pavement

[jpwkeeper]

I'm fortunate in that where I work I can bike at lunch. However, the road just outside of my work is being re-paved (4 lane road with a median and full shoulders), and right now they're grooving a huge swath of the road on my side, including the shoulder. It wasn't a big deal till yesterday, when the grooving finally passed the entrance to my work (there is no other choice for exiting, not even off-road).

The one time I attempted the grooved pavement, it was a nightmare. I was vibrating so bad I could barely focus my eyes and I was constantly in fear of flatting. If they continue (and I think they will), I'll have around .4 miles of it to deal with in two sections (about .2 when leaving and .2 when coming back).

Has anyone else had experience with grooved pavement, and if so what did you do?

 

[Corzhens]

The speed breaker they are putting on the streets to impede the speed of the vehicles before the pedestrian lane is annoying for a biker. It is very similar to the grooved pavement. But even our car vibrates in that speed breaker especially with our small car. That grooved pavement in your area is a disservice to the bikers.

 

[Jcycle]

I hate grooved pavement with any vehicle let alone a bicycle. Got a nice mountain bike you can ride to work on for a while? Seriously, I would take a detour whenever possible even if it's a bit long. Walking in sections maybe, or carpooling temporarily could be options. Besides rattling your cage it isn't all that safe to ride on. I wish I had better advice.

 

[ZXD22]

Pain in the butt for me. Luckily for me I ride on my mountain bike most of the time so its never a big issue. If I were you I would take another route like Jcycle recommended.

 

[Damien Lee]

There are absolutely no grooved pavements in my home town. I remember them being around back in the 80's but they were removed, and that's a good thing. They were terrible to ride over when I was a kid. The bike would vibrate violently and it was hard to sustain a constant speed.

 

[Froze]

I've ridden on many a grooved pavement including those awful sound grooves they put in to alert a driver that they drifted off the side of the road, and I never got a flat, it just feels awful, so I wouldn't worry about a flat. You can reduce the severity of the vibration a tad by going to a larger tire then reducing your air pressure a bit to correspond with your weight, also a wider tire will help the bike to track better on a grooved surface.