JAN 25, 2010 – 12:00AM
Last I saw, the city has filled and/or refilled 2,368 potholes during the past couple of weeks.
Now, it’s not for me to say whether that’s good or bad, but … holy smokes, that’s a lot of potholes. And as anyone who has used any method of wheeled conveyance in this town knows, the pavement-slingers have barely made a dent in the dents.
I can only assume the mechanics in town who can perform alignments are making a killing.
For drivers, the omnipresent voids offer a jolt at best and costly repair bill at worst. For cyclists, they provide an altogether different challenge.
The other night, I was riding to work and was somewhat lost in my own thoughts when I bottomed out on an unseen pothole less than a half mile from my house. It was the kind of jolt that makes the hands tingle and the teeth ache.
I made sure I didn’t think again the rest of the ride.
By my count, there are 15 to 20 measurable potholes on my usual commute route which I need to be particularly careful not to visit, including an impressive snowman — a big pothole, followed by a medium pothole, followed by a baby pothole in close succession — close to home. There are more, of course, but I tend not to worry about the ones left of the centerline of the lane, since I almost never ride over there — except when I’m trying to avoid a pothole.
While potholes can be annoying to motorists, they can be downright dangerous to unwary cyclists. I’ve seen a couple of bruisers that wouldn’t hesitate to pitch me over the handlebars if I hit them at speed.
Luckily for me, I’m slow, so the danger is mitigated somewhat.
The other problem with encountering potholes on two wheels is that the streets are narrowed already by a wide swath of sand and crud left over from the recent snows. That swath limits the real estate available for taking evasive action from lurking craters. Frequently I find myself tight-roping between the surface of the moon to my left and Miami beach on the right, with a car approaching from behind.
Talk about a lose-lose situation.
On the plus side, dodging the prevalent pits has sharpened my concentration and bike-handling skills, hopefully to the extent I can keep my tires inflated, my wheels straight … and my teeth in my head.