A long time ago, I knew a motorcycle guy who had a different way of measuring distance.  He was one of those hairy faced, three hundred pounders that go by the name of Tiny.  He lived in Montana, didn’t have either of his eyeteeth, and when you asked him how far it was to West Yellowstone, he would pause reflectively for a moment, and say, in the way that people without their front teeth say things, “West Yellowstone’s a three samwich ride from here.”

    He measured all distances by how many sandwiches he thought you should take with you, and, even though he was a tightwad, if you asked about a trip that was really long, he might admit that you’re going to have to stop for dinner somewhere.  Then he would tell you the best place to stop, what to order, and how much it was going to cost.

    Bicycle riders measure distance differently, too.  Miles and kilometers are a consideration, but we also think in terms of hills -- big long ones called mountains and short steep ones that come one after another and are called rollers.  We think of headwinds, tailwinds, and heat.  And we think of the texture of the road.

    If you mention that on a certain ride we’ll be spending some time on dirt roads, some people get all drooly.  Then they start asking questions:  What kind of dirt road is it?  Gravel?  Pea size or crushed rock?  Hard pack or soft?  Wash board or smooth?  Dusty, sandy?  Is it one of those roads like Robert Frost talks about, the road less traveled?  You know, the kind that’s just two parallel tracks through the woods?  Oh tell me it’s that kind of dirt road.  Please.

    It’s not just dirt roads that have texture, either.  And texture is not equally experienced by all bicycles and their riders.  Chip ‘n Seal is a dread description for those who ride tires less than 25 mm wide while it just gets a shrug from the big tire group.  On 23 mm wide tires, pumped up to 115 psi, chip ‘n seal is a bone shaker, but to the wide tire crowd, who think that 32 or 28 mm wide tires pumped up to a lowly 75 or 85 psi is the way to go, chip ‘n seal is just a little bit slower.

    The picture at the top of the page shows a road broken by freeze/thaw cycles; I think.  Sometimes there is another layer of road under the broken pavement or, around here, good hard North Carolina red clay.  As you roll over it, if the wind is behind you, you hear an unnerving sound as the little polygons of asphalt rock to and fro on the substrate beneath them.

    But the best texture, a texture common to Randolph County, is smooth asphalt.  When the conditions are right and the wind is behind you and blowing about as fast as you are riding, your tires just sing on that kind of asphalt.  It is a wonderful sound that makes me happy and content that sometimes I’m doing just exactly what in the world I should be doing.  That’s the kind of road texture that adds texture to life.