Watch Out for Wet Paint!
Okay, so we all know that you'll find "watch out for wet paint" signs on a bench or handrail after the painters have been there and we're waiting for it to dry. But the wet paint I'm warning you about is the markings on the streets -- arrows turning this way or that, big fat reflective stripes, lane markings, etc. When they get wet whether it's from rain or something else, they can get slick as the dickens for cyclists. The reflective material in the paint causes them to get way slicker than ordinary pavement when just a little bit of moisture is added, and this is especially true if you're in a place where it doesn't rain much and as there will be a thin sheen of grease and oil already on the pavement.
This is the voice of experience talking too, as I had a darn good wipeout the other day from just this situation, taking a right turn in a small town city square when my tires got wet from where a lawn sprinker was leaking over on to the road. I wasn't going very fast but just like that I was laying on the pavement with my bike skidding out in the middle of the intersection after the wet tires shot out from under me when they got on the paint.
So if there's moisture on the street or your tires, all I'm saying is to be very, very careful around the stripings and painted markings on the road.
Ever had this happen to you? Comment below.
Image: Photographer's Choice/Getty
Comments
Yepper, when you take a motorcycle course its one of the first things they tell you. The other big ones are manhole covers when wet and train tracks (not just the steel but the ones that have the rubber to level it out.
The first few minutes of a rain are the worst as the oils are not rinsed away.
Another I have seen is coolant from a car, its really slick!
I believe I saw that happen to the US Postal team in a rainy team time trial early in the Armstrong streak.
This happen to me at about 1 year a go
I had crack ribs
This has happened to me on my motorcycle. Fortunately, I didn’t go down. Be careful out there!
Thank God i havent had that experience so far. but i will be mindful whenever i see those road paints. thanks…Ü
This was from another email list I’m subscribed to . . . described exactly this sort of thing:
“Some of you know Cathy who rides on our Thursday night rides. This past Thursday, we were riding down Ballas near Adams and Cathy crashed after sliding on the road stripe, which was wet from the rain. She broke her wrist and got pretty banged up. The break is unusual and will require surgery, which is scheduled for Tues. morning. “