March 2014 President’s Letter
Rough Times Ahead for KBC
This morning, I walked downtown from my house at the top of West Main hill. A little skiff of snow had fallen overnight, concealing large areas of glare ice on the sidewalk that had formed, courtesy of rain that fell a week or so ago.
Everything was, as they say, "slickern' deer guts on a doorknob." I nearly went down a couple of times when my feet suddenly flew out from under me. Only my cat-like reflexes, honed fine by dodging metaphors, kept me upright.
As I walked, in the brief moments when I dared cast my eyes away from the path in front of me, I noticed something peculiar. West Main Street had turned into a gravel road.
There was gravel; stones the size of red kidney beans, lying where the pavement used to be. I looked closer and suddenly realized that the gravel actually was the pavement. It was pavement - asphalt - broken into bits and pulverized by the continual pounding of tires from the 18,000 cars and trucks that utilize West Main Street in a 24 hour period.
It was obvious, a moment later, from whence the gravel came. A white utility van hit a deep, water-and ice-filled pothole and showered me with filthy, salty, freezing cold water. Water had filled the place where the pavement used to be. And the pavement, now loose on the road, was being converted swiftly and efficiently into gravel.
This all occurred on Monday morning, February 24. And the weather forecast for the next ten days is calling for no daytime temperature higher than 22 degrees. Sub-zero cold is predicted for several of the next few nights. So, technically, we're not even into "pothole season" yet, and won't be until there are definitive signs of spring. Yet, already, the roads are crumbling at an astonishing rate.
I spoke with Kalamazoo's Vice Mayor David Anderson and Portage Mayor Pete Strazdas a few weeks ago at an open house, and both said this winter has strained road budgets to the break point. Not only have Kalamazoo and Portage's city coffers been drained by all the extra snow plowing required by a 100+ inch snow depth winter, but materials like salt, sand, and beet juice, used to melt snow and provide traction, have run low and at the same time are escalating in price.
Both Anderson and Strazdas said that every dollar that comes out of road funds to deal with this exceptional winter is a dollar that is not going to be available to repair the roads in the spring and summer. That is true on both a city and county-wide basis. Connecting the dots, it looks as though we're in for a very bumpy ride this year.
How Do We Deal With It?
In the past few years, I have noticed, on our evening group rides especially, that the practice of cyclists at or near the front of a group pointing out road hazards like branches, potholes or deceased rodents has declined markedly. It is not clear as to the reason for this; perhaps it can be attributed to the large number of new bikers in the club who are strong enough to ride in a group, but are not yet versed in group riding etiquette.
That won't be an option this year. Roads everywhere are going to be more dangerous to ride on, and we will need to be more vigilant - and courteous to our fellow cyclists - than ever.
Let's make it a point to .... well, point out road hazards this year. As you ride at the front of your group, remember what it felt like to be near the back and to have ridden over a stick, pothole, or woodchuck that was not pointed out further up the line. A little reciprocal looking out for one another goes a long way...
Let's get together after the melt and ride!
Zolton Cohen, KBC President
