We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below. This from David Moorse. Ed
A week ago, I was taking my usual exercise on my bike, and despite it having rained earlier in the day, the road surfaces were dry, although it was just becoming dusk, so there may have been a small amount of dew beginning to form.
I was approaching the Military Road from Brook Village along one of Island Roads’ lovely smooth new tarmac surfaces (normally a delight not to have to avoid the potholes), and was slowing down gently for the turn left onto the main road when, without warning I instantly lost all traction and hit the deck.
With hindsight, the smooth surface did have one benefit, in that once I had impacted the surface, I slid… and slid… and slid. The surface was SO smooth that no damage was done to my clothing!
Unsure as to whether anything was broken, and in excruciating pain, I remained in the road for a while, during which time I was MOST grateful to the two motorists who kindly stopped to check I was OK.
I now have first-hand experience of what some horse-riders have previously mentioned regarding the very slippery nature of the new road surfaces, and wonder what it will take for these warnings to be heeded, or perhaps we all need to potter around at extremely low speeds, as even ABS cannot stop a car if there is little or no friction.
