the love of riding

cobbled streets is something unique. something beautiful. something challenging. the way that they flow. the way that they are worn in & not worn out. that's part of the beauty...they wear in. they become this mirror of the traffic that drives on them. a reflection of auto traffic. 

cobbled roads are often built upon sand that stabilizes the base of the street. then the bricks are laid with either a machine or by hand. then more sand to fill the gaps between the bricks. with this "base" there becomes this movement. the bricks have room to move not only with the traffic, but also with nature. the sand may shift, or (my favorite) is when grass grows mid-summer in between the bricks. there's something tranquil about it. now ride your bike down these streets at speed. you don't know what the next fifty feet are going to bring. how the road will be. will it dip unexpectedly? will it rise? maybe both.

asphalt roads do not do this. not even close. they decay. they fall apart. they create potholes. when they are filled, or if; they become bulbus bumps. jarring if you're not paying attention. possible car wheel swallowing impediments. forget about cars...i've seen some destroy bikes & cause serious injury to people. don't get me wrong...I love a fresh brand new asphalt road on my bike. the smooth feeling of speed.

if I may...brick roads (& excuse my tangent here) last considerable longer than asphalt. cleveland cobbles is riding on roads that are hundred years old. that require minimal repair over their lifespan & at a lesser cost long term. versus asphalt roads that require full repair every 10-15 years (if we're lucky) at greater cost & effort over time. brick roads obviously require repair from time to time. a brick brakes. cracks. becomes 'missing'. replace the brick. replace an area of bricks. much easier & less time consuming. 

i'm even buying into the fact that more roads should be stripped of their asphalt where brick roads are underneath. turning them into brick roads exclusively. this will assist with controlling speed on side streets. because of the nature of brick roads, vehciles are not going at speed or speeding down these roads. they're taking their time. they're slowing down. natural speed bumps if you will. but I digress...

just as you can never step in the same river twice; you never ride the same cobbled road twice. depending on weather conditions. direction. speed. incline. decline. all these are factors at the same time, to provide a different experience of the same road you've been on time and time again.

namaste...