You dare not stop or dismount as you would be stuck in place!
I saw a shoe (sandal?) once that was stuck to the tarmac in a busy road on a hot day. It gradually disappeared in time over days.
I guess the owner had been crossing and had to run in busy traffic, leaving the footwear behind and the vehicles mad it a bad choice to go and retrieve?
In our shire, we do have this melting-asphalt variety as well. But, moreover, you can sometimes also tell what part of the summer it is, judging by the combination of the “adhesive tires” sound modulation and the appearance of the road.
For example, when it looks like somebody spilled lots of red/purple/bluish paint (in all tones and shades) on evenly-spaced spots along the road, which have then been connected by the wheels of vehicles passing and spreading the “paint”… well, its about the end of June – over-ripe cherries falling from the trees, being smeared along by the traffic. The result is a sticky line with periodically varying degrees of stickiness…
There are some sticky/bumpy varieties as well (plums, apples…). Things get really interesting towards the autumn. Sugar beet, for instance… if some falls on the road, it needs to be crushed well by the tractors or other heavy vehicles first – but then you can get a wonderful super-gluey surprise spot on otherwise clean road. Wine-harvesting season is also great. Then we get nice and continuous stripes of very sticky road, looking just like slightly wet – especially in up-hill sections of the road, where the carriages tend to loose most grapes…
Oh, well, THAT’s a rich topic.
(And yes, I do prefer rural back-country roads for my on-road rides).
Sounds like the last two weeks in our area. I’d be out at 0530 for my morning roadwork and would be a sweaty mess 45 minutes later when I got home. Fortunately, this week is being a lot more regionally normal for this time of year.
Anyone remember when Joseba Beloki broke his femur in 2003 TDF when his rear tire folded due to the hot tarmac and hard braking??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_8m5-sR6I4
Tencon – not the video Pops linked to… looks like Beloki’s back wheel skidded out, he over-compensated and slid out, hitting the deck. Neither wheel looks particularly bent, either at the time or in the follow-up shot. Didn’t see a dog – I think you’re thinking of a different incident!
The tar used to patch cracks become “tar snakes” here in Arizona. They are well past the sticky phase and have reached the greased frying pan state. Hitting one in a curve pretty much guarantees road rash on all the exposed skin on the apical side. The good news is that there is very little bleeding, since the asphalt immediately cauterizes the wounds.
What we wouldn’t give for some melting asphalt here in London, UK. We’ve had nothing but rain for months – I’ve never known an “English summer” like it. Could be a shock for all those boys cruising around the sunny Tour de France when they get here for the Olympics in a few weeks!
I know what you mean! I got in a short ride today from Oxford, southwest towards Wootton, by taking some time off after lunch when it was sunny. A few minutes after I got home the rain started again. I was in Paris this spring and it was the same story there: summer came in March and then it was back to cold, wet weather from April to June. It’s still rainy and cold in Paris; the nice weather in France is further south. The finish on the Champs-Elysées is likely to be damp.
That is awesome!!
So true – but in pretty short supply here in the UK this summer, so far! Hoping it REALLY improves in time for the Olympics…
You dare not stop or dismount as you would be stuck in place!
I saw a shoe (sandal?) once that was stuck to the tarmac in a busy road on a hot day. It gradually disappeared in time over days.
I guess the owner had been crossing and had to run in busy traffic, leaving the footwear behind and the vehicles mad it a bad choice to go and retrieve?
you could tell who the owner was by seeing someone hopping down the street on one shoe…
Or perhaps following the trail of blistered bare feet?
In our shire, we do have this melting-asphalt variety as well. But, moreover, you can sometimes also tell what part of the summer it is, judging by the combination of the “adhesive tires” sound modulation and the appearance of the road.
For example, when it looks like somebody spilled lots of red/purple/bluish paint (in all tones and shades) on evenly-spaced spots along the road, which have then been connected by the wheels of vehicles passing and spreading the “paint”… well, its about the end of June – over-ripe cherries falling from the trees, being smeared along by the traffic. The result is a sticky line with periodically varying degrees of stickiness…
There are some sticky/bumpy varieties as well (plums, apples…). Things get really interesting towards the autumn. Sugar beet, for instance… if some falls on the road, it needs to be crushed well by the tractors or other heavy vehicles first – but then you can get a wonderful super-gluey surprise spot on otherwise clean road. Wine-harvesting season is also great. Then we get nice and continuous stripes of very sticky road, looking just like slightly wet – especially in up-hill sections of the road, where the carriages tend to loose most grapes…
Oh, well, THAT’s a rich topic.
(And yes, I do prefer rural back-country roads for my on-road rides).
(…maybe for those from completely different landscapes
– such is a fine road for the “fruity-sticky-tires” phenomenon to emerge: http://www.freedland.cz/images/jine/11/110419_op-nj/p4206793.jpg 
When I was a kid, I lived on a farm (Ohio,) and we’d go out and pop the tar bubbles in the road on a hot summer day. :)
Sounds like the last two weeks in our area. I’d be out at 0530 for my morning roadwork and would be a sweaty mess 45 minutes later when I got home. Fortunately, this week is being a lot more regionally normal for this time of year.
Anyone remember when Joseba Beloki broke his femur in 2003 TDF when his rear tire folded due to the hot tarmac and hard braking???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_8m5-sR6I4
Was it that his tyre folded? I thought he just skidded out at the back end. A very nice recovery from Armstrong, a horrible shame for Beloki.
The video shows him turning his front wheel 90 degrees right to avoid the dog and the whole wheel folded in 2.
Tencon – not the video Pops linked to… looks like Beloki’s back wheel skidded out, he over-compensated and slid out, hitting the deck. Neither wheel looks particularly bent, either at the time or in the follow-up shot. Didn’t see a dog – I think you’re thinking of a different incident!
The tar used to patch cracks become “tar snakes” here in Arizona. They are well past the sticky phase and have reached the greased frying pan state. Hitting one in a curve pretty much guarantees road rash on all the exposed skin on the apical side. The good news is that there is very little bleeding, since the asphalt immediately cauterizes the wounds.
I hate Tar snakes, Never had an accident from them but they have caused more than a few “pucker” moments
What we wouldn’t give for some melting asphalt here in London, UK. We’ve had nothing but rain for months – I’ve never known an “English summer” like it. Could be a shock for all those boys cruising around the sunny Tour de France when they get here for the Olympics in a few weeks!
I know what you mean! I got in a short ride today from Oxford, southwest towards Wootton, by taking some time off after lunch when it was sunny. A few minutes after I got home the rain started again. I was in Paris this spring and it was the same story there: summer came in March and then it was back to cold, wet weather from April to June. It’s still rainy and cold in Paris; the nice weather in France is further south. The finish on the Champs-Elysées is likely to be damp.
I’ve had that multiple posting in the past. I worked around it by hitting refresh two seconds after posting, but it seems to have fixed itself.
Now watch it multiply this time because I’m not going to hit refresh …
It worked”
twice !!