Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Great idea - Comments welcome

We all know the roads in our areas well but are less familiar with roads not at all in other areas. I think it would be great to share info on roads to enable us all to get more enjoyment out of our riding. I personally hate trying a new road to find it in such poor condition that it is impossible to drive the posted speed and I finding myself repeatedly pulling over to let cars/trucks riding up my tail go around me. Conversely after finally trying a road that you have ignored for years you find out it is a fabulous ride you could have been enjoying all the time.
The things that interest me about a road are:
    1.    the condition of the surface;
    2.    the scenic value, and;
    3.    the ride fun/challenge.
The surface is strait forward; on a scale from 1- 10, 10 being the best, new pavement to, the worst, such as old broken, rutted and hole filled - to be avoided. Obviously few roads in NS are all new, most have some bad sections but the rating should reflect the average condition, with a warning/comment if there are sections with a 1 rating.
The scenic value is very subjective and most roads in NS have good to great scenic value but some stand out, like the #3, # 14 and almost any road in Cape Breton. On a scale from 1- 10, 10 being the Cabot Trail and then working down to ??? - the most boring rides like some sections of the 100 series highways ???
The ride fun/challenge value is also very subjective and would based on the twists and turns. Again the scale would be 1 - 10 with 1 being very twisty with hills/rises and 10 being wide, flat and strait. Some (most) might find a 1 more trouble that it's worth, but most of us like some twists and some (most) would fine flat/strait/wide dull and boring.
At the very least a Blog providing info on road conditions would be an invaluable help and may even save life or two.

Great idea submitted by

Eric Compagnon
Kingston, NS

Help us find the best ride!
Posted by at 00:33:23 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |
Comments
1 - There are several great rides in western NS, where I now live. One of my favourites is the 201, which runs between Auburn (west of Aylesford) to Annapolis Royal, for aprox 65 km, along the south side of the Annapolis Valley. It is a great ride; road conditions average - 7 (very good, lots of new pavement), scenic value - 7 (very good to great) and ride fun - 5 (good). Combine this with a trip on the # 1 highway between Annapolis Royal to Auburn and you have a nice 130 km loupe. The part of the # 1 from Coldbrook to Annapolis Royal is a great ride also, road conditions average 6 (short sections of fair to mostly very good), scenic value is 7.5 (very good to great) and ride fun average 5 (very good to fair)

CAUTION - I feel a comment on the #10 highway from Middleton south to Bridgetown (aprox 85 km) in necessary. Unfortunately this once very good ride is now DANGEROUS as the road surface is one of the worst I have seen in NS; wide lateral and more dangerous long and wide longitudinal cracks, large holes often through to the gravel bed. In addition, there are very frequent high ridges and low dips. I travelled the route in April and May and would NOT travel it on my bike.

I hope to see more ride info form other rides.

Eric C
 (Comment this)

Written by: Anonymous at 2008/05/18 - 16:16:47
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