Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge A warning for riders...

My friend has worked for the transportation department in a county near Atlanta for 26 years, we've been friends since high school.
I told him I had dropped my bike on Sunday, came to a stop sign, was looking for traffic, did NOT look down, stepped on a rock, and when my foot fumbled off of it, down I went, busted clutch lever, rode it home, mightly embarrassed and limping a little. He commiserated with me and passed this on. I thought of all the nice folk here.

"BE EXTRA CAREFUL AT OR NEAR STOP BARS AND ESPECIALLY ANY ROADWAY MARKINGS THAT ARE VERY NEW. REASON: NIGHT TIME REFLECTIVITY IS CREATED BY VERY TINY GLASS SPHERES...."GLASS BEADS". THIS MAKES PAVEMENT ON OR NEAR ROADWAY MARKINGS AS SLIPPERY AS AN ICE RINK, WHEN THE MARKINGS ARE NEW OR FRESH!! I HAVE SEEN COPS DROP BIKES RIGHT ON A FRESH STOP BAR..PUT IT IN GEAR....AND SLAM!!!... RIGHT DOWN ON THE LEFT SIDE!! PLEASE HEED MY WARNING AND SPREAD THE WORD TO YOUR KINDRED BIKERS!!"

This is my first post, and maybe even in the wrong place, so please forgive in advance and bear with me. I'm old but still able to learn a little.

Dont worry about your placement Stef. Thanks for the advice, ive seen quite a few new stop signs pop up around here lately, so I appericate the warning.

Welcome to the forum Stef.....food advice.

Really good advice Stef. I'm surprised that I never thought about it, as sometimes I repair those street striping paint rigs. They have hoppers with the glass beads that drop onto the wet paint. I've stepped on those beads that have spilled onto concrete floors and the effect is something like greased ice .

I have found that when wet they can be very slippery. Especially with wrong type of shoes. also need to watch center of lane. Lots of oil drippings fron vehicles. Boots even slip on them.

I havent had that experience yet but thanks for the heads up.

good post, Stef...thanks...we all too often forget things like this (if we're even aware of them in the first place)...of course, by the time riding season rolls around again for me, I'll probably have forgotten again.

Why am i not surprised that the nitwits would use a paint like that?. Somone in the DOT needs to pull his head out of his (or her) butt, and relize we are part of the public whose safty they are all supposed to be concerned about.

They're supposed to clean up the loose beads before opening to traffic. Sometimes they forget, or don't see some of the beads. In daylight they can be hard to see. Most street painting around here is done at night, so the beads are easy to find with a light and clean up.