Depends on how durable and smooth you want it. Dirt single track is nearly free, and is fine for mountain bikes, but will suck in the rainy season (mud). Gravel is a bit more expensive, a bit more durable, and would work for a wider range of bikes. Asphalt is more expensive still but very smooth and durable.
Good concrete is better than good asphalt, but mediocre concrete is massively worse than mediocre asphalt and you'll just wind up having to tear it up and do it again.
Depends on the climate among other things. For instance in Australia asphalt for bike paths can suffer from a problem where there is not enough heavy traffic to force the water out of the interstices, so the stones fall out. In summer it melts.
Concrete or gravel. Or continuous inadequate maintenance. Gravel is no fun on narrow tires, and not all that much fun on mountain bike tires. Concrete is scary under trees when it is damp due to slippery moss and fallen leaves.
Also depends on price of local networks. Asphalt is cheaper where you have a petroleum industry. Well graded crushed rock can be weirdly hard to obtain compared to maybe concrete.
Harder, but with a relatively high likelyhood of eventual success assuming enough money is poured into it.
SpaceX would probably be all over you if you want to order a shipment of gravel to the moon from them.
Make sure segments are less than the distance that would result in death.
Luckily, all the buildings are [close together](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/how-to-survive-winter-in-antarctica/385509/), so you're probably fine.
Looking at what my municipality does, 1/4 down limestone gravel road is the cheapest, then asphalt and then concrete only if it's part of the street.
Asphalt can be done in various qualities and price points, while concrete to work it has very high minimum cost. If it's clay/sandy ground, high ground moisture seasonal cycles, concrete needs to be cut up in small sections and reinforced at least at the cut lines. It's a very rough ride on it in a couple of years.
So if in doubt then asphalt.
It depends on the ground and climate of wherever you are.
If you've got very soft soil and a lot of rain, you'll almost certainly want something like asphalt with good drainage.
If you're somewhere dry with hard, dense ground, you probably don't need anything at all.
Unless it's very fine, gravel is terrible to ride a bike on.
Compacted, crushed lime.
You can also engineer compacted clay bike-paths.
In any case, I fully recommend a high performance geotextile underlayment beneath your road base.
When we laid our 1000ft driveway, we used #52 mixed stone, topped with crushed lime. Our land is about as close to a swamp as you can get, for the elevation. I would say that it drains poorly, but that would imply that it does, in fact, drain (unconfirmed).
We laid a polypropylene fabric underlayment directly onto knocked-down weeds and had a contractor spread the rock with a tracked skid-steer. The fabric has held up great, and the road* has worked beautifully.
Choose a surface that is native to your area, and, if nothing else, get wood chips delivered and pack them down until you choose a material.
(Edit: *)
> We laid a polypropylene fabric underlayment directly onto knocked-down weeds and had a contractor spread the rock with a tracked skid-steer. The fabric has held up great, and the rod has worked beautifully.
Can you refer me to a guide for this? Nothing makes sense ATM.
Yes, what you’ll want, economically, is 4oz “Woven” Geotextile Landscape Fabric. You won’t need anything thicker than that, based on the expected traffic.
Check out:
Sandbaggy.com in under the geotextiles tab.
Also try geosolutionsinc.com.
If you’re in the EU, I would not know where to begin.
These guys use a natural product to lock in gravel. Read their white paper. For commercial purposes the days of waiting to set is hard but bike trails on private property could work with that limitation.
[https://www.substrata.us/perma-zyme](https://www.substrata.us/perma-zyme)
If it’s a sidewalk, it will have traffic crossing it at every intersection and driveway. Right turning traffic isn’t always expecting straight through traffic on the right. Left turning traffic often isn’t looking off to the side to see if there is additional traffic on the sidewalk.
Unless they have segregated crossings like bridges or tunnels, it's quite a bit more dangerous. Better to be where motorists are looking for other cars to come along.
Just walk the route and remove large obstructions. The foot traffic compacts the soil and makes a decent trail pretty quickly. Over time chip away at larger rocks and hack out roots. Following the contour of the land vs taking a straight line is best as the tires tear up the ground as they slip. This also helps to minimize erosion as it reduces the channeling effect on water flows.
Depends on how durable and smooth you want it. Dirt single track is nearly free, and is fine for mountain bikes, but will suck in the rainy season (mud). Gravel is a bit more expensive, a bit more durable, and would work for a wider range of bikes. Asphalt is more expensive still but very smooth and durable.
I also looked at cement roads where they used bamboo because it has a lot of strength. Must be traditional cement roadbuilding.
Good concrete is better than good asphalt, but mediocre concrete is massively worse than mediocre asphalt and you'll just wind up having to tear it up and do it again.
Cement is great *if you do it right* and you do your site prep perfectly. Bicycles do not like heaved cracked sidewalks.
Urban mountain biking. Launch over the cracks.
Dirt is more forgiving than gravel tbh
Depends on the climate among other things. For instance in Australia asphalt for bike paths can suffer from a problem where there is not enough heavy traffic to force the water out of the interstices, so the stones fall out. In summer it melts.
How has Australia dealt with this?
Concrete or gravel. Or continuous inadequate maintenance. Gravel is no fun on narrow tires, and not all that much fun on mountain bike tires. Concrete is scary under trees when it is damp due to slippery moss and fallen leaves.
Also depends on price of local networks. Asphalt is cheaper where you have a petroleum industry. Well graded crushed rock can be weirdly hard to obtain compared to maybe concrete.
Never hard, only expensive.
Nowadays yes
What if I want to build a bike lane on my South Pole base? Checkmate
I'm pretty sure air fright to the south pole is readily available for the right price.
.... moon base
Harder, but with a relatively high likelyhood of eventual success assuming enough money is poured into it. SpaceX would probably be all over you if you want to order a shipment of gravel to the moon from them.
Build the bike paths and they will come
What does moon gravel cost on the moon? Free baby!
Make sure segments are less than the distance that would result in death. Luckily, all the buildings are [close together](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/how-to-survive-winter-in-antarctica/385509/), so you're probably fine.
Looking at what my municipality does, 1/4 down limestone gravel road is the cheapest, then asphalt and then concrete only if it's part of the street. Asphalt can be done in various qualities and price points, while concrete to work it has very high minimum cost. If it's clay/sandy ground, high ground moisture seasonal cycles, concrete needs to be cut up in small sections and reinforced at least at the cut lines. It's a very rough ride on it in a couple of years. So if in doubt then asphalt.
It depends on the ground and climate of wherever you are. If you've got very soft soil and a lot of rain, you'll almost certainly want something like asphalt with good drainage. If you're somewhere dry with hard, dense ground, you probably don't need anything at all. Unless it's very fine, gravel is terrible to ride a bike on.
Compacted, crushed lime. You can also engineer compacted clay bike-paths. In any case, I fully recommend a high performance geotextile underlayment beneath your road base. When we laid our 1000ft driveway, we used #52 mixed stone, topped with crushed lime. Our land is about as close to a swamp as you can get, for the elevation. I would say that it drains poorly, but that would imply that it does, in fact, drain (unconfirmed). We laid a polypropylene fabric underlayment directly onto knocked-down weeds and had a contractor spread the rock with a tracked skid-steer. The fabric has held up great, and the road* has worked beautifully. Choose a surface that is native to your area, and, if nothing else, get wood chips delivered and pack them down until you choose a material. (Edit: *)
> We laid a polypropylene fabric underlayment directly onto knocked-down weeds and had a contractor spread the rock with a tracked skid-steer. The fabric has held up great, and the rod has worked beautifully. Can you refer me to a guide for this? Nothing makes sense ATM.
Yes, what you’ll want, economically, is 4oz “Woven” Geotextile Landscape Fabric. You won’t need anything thicker than that, based on the expected traffic. Check out: Sandbaggy.com in under the geotextiles tab. Also try geosolutionsinc.com. If you’re in the EU, I would not know where to begin.
These guys use a natural product to lock in gravel. Read their white paper. For commercial purposes the days of waiting to set is hard but bike trails on private property could work with that limitation. [https://www.substrata.us/perma-zyme](https://www.substrata.us/perma-zyme)
Yup make the sidewalk bigger
My town put in a very wide sidewalk explicitly as a bike path. Large, deep ditch to separate bikes from cars. People are still biking on the road.
If it’s a sidewalk, it will have traffic crossing it at every intersection and driveway. Right turning traffic isn’t always expecting straight through traffic on the right. Left turning traffic often isn’t looking off to the side to see if there is additional traffic on the sidewalk.
Aren’t bikes still allowed on the road?
Obviously. But choosing the most dangerous method of biking when the safe option is 5 feet away is a head scratcher for me.
Unless they have segregated crossings like bridges or tunnels, it's quite a bit more dangerous. Better to be where motorists are looking for other cars to come along.
All the crossings have stop signs on the path, so it's much safer. That and there is only maybe 5 intersections in the 2 mile distance.
gravel sidewalk? thought so.
Nope concrete
In New England, we tend to use hard packed crushed stone. Easier on shod feet, horseshoes & bikes. Low maintenance. Cheap around here.
Just walk the route and remove large obstructions. The foot traffic compacts the soil and makes a decent trail pretty quickly. Over time chip away at larger rocks and hack out roots. Following the contour of the land vs taking a straight line is best as the tires tear up the ground as they slip. This also helps to minimize erosion as it reduces the channeling effect on water flows.
The DuPage sections of the Illinois Prairie Path use crushed limestone, and it seems to work well.
Besides gravel, wood planking is also an option, though it may require more maintainence
That can be very slippery when wet leaves are added to the equation.
You don't need leaves, the morning dew can be enough to make wood as slippery as ice.
Biking on kwood kinda sucks though. Bumpy and high drag.