Riding hazards series: Sunken manhole covers

You see them everywhere - manhole covers in the middle of the street, usually on the avenues. The problem comes on those avenues that have had multiple layers of paving, without the full prerequisite stripping of the original road layers. Examples of this are midtown Lexington and 7th avenue. For some reason, there are tons of covers that are at least 3 or 4 inches deep, which are as bad as the worst potholes you'll find anywhere.

The trick to avoiding these is to ride on the sides of the avenues - never right up the middle. This is a good idea anyway, since you'll avoid being fodder for riders cutting you off from both sides.