I’d be tempted by one of these road bike things if we had lovely smooth german tarmac. But there’s very little round my way. It’s bad enough on my slicked up ragley.

So where is the loveliest, smoothiest flowing tarmac around? What’s the longest stretch of this loveliness? I’ve tried talking to roadies about this but they seem to prefer to talk about ‘data’.

I always find pavements smoother and its better fun trying to miss folk on them than pot holes in the road

Chapel gate.

Silverstone?

not in the new forest, fo’ sho’ – splash and (pebble)dash round here

every time they “resurface” a road it’s like friggin paris-roubaix for a month after, then shit for a couple of years before the car wheels wear in a lovely smooth line

… then resurfaced 6 months after that first appears

Buy a Specialized Roubaix SL4 for £1300 (you’ll get 12.5% discount without even trying) and enjoy 2014 carbon frame technology and a fantastically smooth ride with superb handling even on terrible roads.

Will it be more or less forgiving than a Mmmbop with Fox 32s, a Pave carbon seatpost & 2.3 Slicks? Because I’m not a masochist.

Actually I agree about pavements being better. More fun and less cars!

I do have a theory that a lot of road wear is because cars have got so much heavier.

My commute has a stretch of the most perfect tarmac- new and well made, well drained, but not too smooth. The rest is all surface-of-the-moon

It’s a year or so since I last rode it but there’s a stretch of Dean Edge Road near Haworth which is almost perfectly smooth. It’s the only road I’ve ever ridden that’s so smooth I had to stop and take a photo.

Cars are getting lighter… I took some stuff to the scrappie and was amazed to discover that my Passat estate diesel weighs a mere 1600kgs – I’d have guessed at a couple of tons.

It’s traffic that’s getting heavier in volume.

Here

I would disagree overall: Compare a Fiesta or Polo now to 20 years ago. They are huge! Then you’ve got a lot of things like the RR Sport – old one was 2.5 tons.

I’ve seen signs in a few car parks saying ‘no vehicles over 1520kg’ …obviously written in a different age. You’d be out of luck there!

So how long is a ‘stretch’, mile or two? Less?

Can you get, say, a 10 mile stretch of decent tarmac anywhere in this country?

The infamous Box Hill.
If you draft someone up it you don’t even have to pedal, you just drift up.
It’s dreamily smooth.

Now that looks nice hot fiat. More fun in a car I’d reckon.

It’s one of those roads that was built for no real reason, so never has any traffic on it. I used to think Southbound was best, but looking at that view I might give Northbound another go. Both the KTM and the Abarth are sublime over it. On the katoom you can hang over the bars & feel like you’re flying through the forest.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Haworth&hl=en&ll=53.836544,-2.017804&spn=0.004109,0.009903&sll=55.310151,-2.655853&sspn=0.000498,0.001238&oq=hawor&t=h&hnear=Haworth,+West+Yorkshire,+United+Kingdom&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.836584,-2.018013&panoid=DpyudxMCJrkcWiedxzOQNA&cbp=12,136.62,,0,8.78

Bradfield – Sheffield.

peachy.

I thought I recognised that road lemonysam, but there’s a very similar one West of there that I rode a couple of weeks ago that goes past Widdop Reservoir. Straight after a killer climb, it’s very fast because it’s slightly downhill and great fun because it’s swoopy and devoid of cars. Seem to remember it was smoothish too.

The infamous Box Hill.
If you draft someone up it you don’t even have to pedal, you just drift up.
It’s dreamily smooth.

Suppose that explains all the chubbers riding on it ? – no exercise

Otterburn ranges in northumberland is supposed to have great roads as they are built to handle massive artillery. They national park produced some routes a while back.

The whole TdF route is will be re-tarmaced ready for the UK stages, so we’ll soon have some lively smooth Swaledale roads to ride on 🙂

M6 toll road? 😉

Definatley not on my commute, I look forward to the cobbles as a smoother alternative to the potholes.

Around Newcastleton which is just over the Border in Scotland.

Some classic Highland rides surely?
Round Loch Rannoch this week in the Autumn.
Glen Lyon.
Out from Sunart to Ardnamurchan?