Found this on Phil’s site awhile back:
I’m with him. Some of the roads here are atrocious.
I have actually hit Chuckholes around here locally that launched me clear of the seat and pounded my head on the roof of my truck. Because it’s an Old School 3/4 ton 4wd, it rides like an old Buckboard to begin with but sometimes the damn front end comes off the ground.
Yup. Me Too. My Excursion is pretty much an F-250. It rides OK, for the most part, but when things go rough, I get battered. So do the dogs, that don’t dig that whatsoever.
Sometimes they actually make it worse because they will put twenty individual patches down instead of just repaving the bad stretch.
That eventually turns into washboard and defeats the fucking purpose.
That’s Dallas, for sure, but add in horrible drivers that don’t think five seconds ahead of themselves. Going through the city, from 67 to i35 to NDT, you need to concentrate and position yourself to not only be in the right place at the right time, but also avoid the potholes.
Now, when I go to the Girlfriend’s, I can go through Dallas, where the roads and the traffic sucks, or through Plano, around the airport, and out that way, mostly on toll roads built like the Autobahn. I gave up going through Dallas. Mileage wise, it’s slightly longer, but since the roads are far better and wider, it actually takes less time. Less accidents as well.
They are building a new rail line, and making the roads go above or below south of me. So going south, like to my Church, is a beating. For the most part, it’s nearly impossible to go side roads north and south any longer due to this. I have to go a mile west to go south, then pivot back, or navigate the torn up roads, before getting to the potholed part. It’s bad enough in the truck. It’s damn near suicidal on the bike. I plan my routes carefully when I go to Richardson and Dallas.
This month, Plano started fixing both east-west arteries by my house. So, most of the time there’s a lane down, sometimes two.
At least they are fixing the roads here, God bless’em. Plano has good roads, and they keep them maintained, more or less. At least I see my tax dollars do something. But they are concrete. So as they heat and expand, the road surface isn’t very smooth. The joints jostle me.
Part of me wonders if I shouldn’t buy an old ghetto sled like a 70s Olds 98, or a vintage Caddy. They’d float over this crap, and they are plenty big enough not to be bothered by the pinheads in small cars. I had a 98 back in the day. Loved the car.
I have a Doctor appointment down in Dallas today. Hopefully I can get there and back without a bruised kidney.
Inspected By Pat 