The tax check is deposited, and the Feed

I had to make an early trip to the bank today to deposit the tax return check. The hoops I had to jump through were ridiculous. First, something I expected was I couldn’t deposit the check in two accounts, mine and Mrs. the Poet’s. What I wasn’t expecting was that I couldn’t deposit the check into Mrs. the Poet’s checking account, even though I am a co-signer on the account. Another thing I wasn’t expecting was the check had to clear to be spendable. Apparently there is a lot of counterfeiting of IRS checks going on… And before I can transfer my part of the return into my account, the check has to clear first. So, still p’ at the moment, waiting to be upgraded to po’.

Up first, NJ moms try to come up with reasons for kids to wear helmets besides “I told you to.” Bayonne-based fohawx! makes wearing bicycle helmets cool OK, if this will convince kids that wearing helmets is “cool” enough to keep their little noggins intact until they reach majority then I say “more power to them”. But I think this will be a short-lived fad, that will play out after a year or maybe 2 and we’ll be right back to draconian measures to prevent child brain damage from bicycle wrecks and continue to ignore the larger problem of children dying from motor vehicle wrecks and childhood obesity rates exceeding 30%, setting them up for early deaths from heart disease and diabetes…

Our first wreck link is actually the outcome of a wreck. Victim’s family outraged after guilty plea in hit-and-run case The plea was so watered down that the driver will probably be back out of prison before Christmas, and that’s because so much of the evidence was tainted by the act of the hit-and-run that any conviction other than for the hit-and-run could not be proven. So, again hit-and-run proves to be a good legal strategy from the defense’s point of view. The relatives of the deceased are lobbying for hit-and-run to be made a major felony, with the lesser included offense of destruction of evidence in cases where DUI is suspected but can’t be proven because the driver was not caught in time to test for impairment.

A possibly drunk cyclist hit in CA, again. CYCLIST INJURED IN EL CAJON Don’t ride drunk, don’t even ride a little tipsy, because even if you are not legally drunk you will be blamed for the vehicle that hits you.

That CO wreck initially thought to be a booby trap is now thought to be a fishing accident. Police: Injured cyclist not the victim of a ‘booby trap’ Something is still “fishy” about this story though, like why was the guy fishing across a bike path?

The smelly ball of stinky goo that is NYPD investigations of traffic wrecks just keeps getting bigger and stinkier and just as sticky. Councilman Brad Lander joins bike suit against NYPD When the boss’s boss gets involved in a suit against you on the side against you, you know you are in it big. This will cost NYPD dearly and may cause a serious revamp of the way the NYPD is organized, because it isn’t just cyclists that are getting short shrift from NYPD, it’s anyone hurt that wasn’t riding in a car at the time of the wreck. People are getting tired of major injury wrecks being treated like fenderbenders, when felony charges could and should be brought against drivers for criminal violations in these wrecks. And charges are not being brought because the wrecks are not investigated leaving prosecutors with no solid evidence to prosecute. And it’s not just criminal proceedings that are being affected, compensation for victims is being lost in civil courts because determination of fault is being based on the driver’s statement while the victims are being carted away unconscious or dead and unable to make their side of the story known, while physical evidence is ignored and uncollected even in fatal cases with felony charges possible against drivers. TANJ! More NYPD May Be Forced To Investigate Serious Car-On-Bike Crashes

A cyclist is hit in Canuckistan and there is question about who ran the red light. Vancouver cyclist in critical condition after collision with car The cyclist was at an intersection with a separate signal phase for bicycles and pedestrians, and it is believed possible that either operator could have run the red to cause this wreck.

Not an actual wreck but an assault on a cyclist has lead to felony charges against a pedestrian. Edmonton man admits to deadly 2008 attack on cyclist The man knocked the cyclist off his bike, then proceeded to kick and stomp him until he was unconscious and dying.

Legal Infrastructure! in ID fails as their 3-foot passing law bites the dust in this session of the legislature. No Boost for Bike Safety in Idaho Maybe they can introduce a new bill in the next session.

More infrastructure news from ND via DC. Bicycle group warns riders to steer clear of North Dakota’s oil patch due to dangerous traffic It’s sad that such an historic bike route is being abandoned because of heavy truck traffic, and increasing numbers of rednecks who can’t drive. More Cyclists warned to steer clear of ND’s oil patch

Another infrastructure report from Rapid City SD. Report On Risk To RC Pedestrians, Bicyclists So what I think I’m reading here is that Rapid City has an urban density that attracts cyclists and pedestrians, but most of the drivers come from the wide open spaces outside the city and don’t know how to drive around, you know, people that aren’t in cars.

And LifeStyle from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 6 years running. Wrigley remembered at Inaugural Velo Fest This blog in no way endorses the political views expressed on that linked site.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, now I’m waiting on my $500M lottery ticket to pay off. I figure it has to eventually, in spite of the odds. Hey! I died once and came back, I got luck just oozing out of me.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Back online, with Wreck-Free Sunday

I was off the Internet involuntarily for 3 hours when I got back from church today. With both my son and I working to get first the router back up, and then getting my computer to connect to the router after it got back up. That’s what can happen when you have a piece of equipment that stays on 24/7 for a couple of years now, almost 3 years.

I don’t mention politics that don’t affect bicycles during the week, but that doesn’t mean I ignore politics. You may have heard about a certain overweight political commentator who went deaf from his addiction to prescription pain pills making the statement that a college student that was tired of having to buy her birth control pills at retail because her student health coverage wouldn’t pay for it unlike other medications, was a slut and a prostitute, and should be making sex videos for his amusement. Well he made a mealy-mouthed retraction of that statement that did not go out to the majority of his listeners. Limbaugh apologizes for insulting law student I don’t like the idiocy of national politics, because I think it’s a distraction from the mission of this blog, keeping cyclists alive and in motion, but this is just over the top. No matter what your position is on mandating birth control be provided just like any other medication (if you have a plan that covers most medications, it has to have birth control coverage too), calling a woman a slut and a prostitute because she thinks her BC should be covered too if required for medical reasons, or to prevent a possible abortion if she gets raped, is not acceptable. Several advertisers have bailed on Rush, including one that has been on the show since shortly after they came into existence.

On the BikeMS front, the church had to bail on me because our major spring fundraiser collapsed because of a lack of vendors. The economy is the reason most of the former vendors gave for not coming this year as they just are not making any money. Well that really puts the brakes on my participation in BikeMS, because I don’t have the money to donate on my own and the brain damage makes doing the asking for the money really hard for me. This is really disappointing, because I have been working really hard to get ready for this ride, trying to find extended rides to harden my backside and get some miles into my legs, while getting as many rides as I can.

More news on Blue, I bolted the new version of the Honkin’ Huge Taillight™ on the back of Blue last night. The battery still isn’t ready for prime time as the charger is still not built up as I haven’t finished taking it apart yet from it’s previous incarnation as a trickle charger for a car battery. The way it’s going to go back together is as a CC/CV charger, using a 7805 voltage regulator as a current source running from 23.6V at the output from the bridge. So 14.4V is a full charge on the battery plus the 5V overhead from the regulator, plus a few 1N4001 silicon diodes to add up to the 23.6 V from the wall wart gives me a charger that I can leave on for a full day and not overcharge the battery too much because at some point there can be no more charging because the voltage drop exceeds the voltage available and the current source can’t source any current. No current equals no charge.

I’m going to kick back now and veg a few before evening service, you go have a good evening, day, or whatever diurnal period you are reading this post during.

PSA, Opus

Waiting on the rain in Daytona, Wreck-Free Sunday

Well, it rained this morning in Daytona, which has delayed the running of the 500. And now there are no more drivers left running the Cup series that I know personally, as Michael Waltrip did not make the race this year. Mikey was the last Cup series driver that I had met personally. I used to work for Sterling Marlin at the tire concession at Nashville Fairground Speedway, back when it was just Nashville Speedway before they built the big track over near Lebanon TN. I used to hang out in Darrell Waltrip’s speed shop in Franklin TN before he closed it and sold the building, which is where I met Mikey. And I met several Cup drivers during special events at the Fairgrounds, like Bill Elliot, and Terry Labonte, I think I met Rusty Wallace there, too. But all of those drivers have left the Cup series since then, and I have heard that the Fairgrounds may be closing, too. That would be sad for me, another chunk of my past that was taken away from me…

As for bikey things that are going on, my proposed job is on hold until the transportation bills wind their way through Congress and they decide if the position will be allowed under the new bill. Talk about a terrible situation, my fate lies in the hands of people that are actively working against the existence of my job.

And the race has just been put off until tomorrow, while I was taking care of Blue out back, lubing the chain and tightening a few nuts and bolts to silence some rattles.

Everyone have a good night.

Opus

Not dead yet, the Wreck-Free Sunday post

I had a good night at the RPG group last night where I made a major contribution to the survival of the party with my Warlock character until we encountered “poop demons” that were immune to the effects of Eldritch Blast or edged weapons (my character’s choice of weapon when forced to use something other than magic during battle). About all I could do was seal off the portal from which they came into the dungeon, and I’m not really sure I did that, or if the number of demons we fought was the number originally selected by the DM for this encounter. But up until that part of the campaign last night I was as effective in protecting the party as our Barbarian usually is in open terrain. I should mention that my character in this game is the least evil alignment available to Warlocks, Chaotic Good, and is a bit of a clown at heart having developed a specific spell-like attack that can be used against any PC or NPC that wears pants, something like an equipment failure attack that causes the character’s pants to fall down around their ankles and stay there unless held up with one hand. Besides being funny (Ha, ha, your pants fell down!) this attack restricts the effected character’s movement or ability to fight as they have to lose the ability to use two-handed attacks or lose the ability to move at full speed. The saving throw is based on the character’s Charisma attribute and the DM’s judgement. The working name for this is “Eldritch Lesser Pantsing” and lasts 2 rounds per level of the caster, then the pants (or lower part of the armor) just fall off unless pulled up and fixed back in place by whatever means they are normally held up. BTW my fierce and frightening Warlock is named “Sparrow”…

On the bicycle front, I was not able to get the damaged fender stay straight, but I was able to get the damage symmetrical on both sides so at lest the front of the fender is centered on the wheel and tire. Getting the fender stay completely straight would require having a U shaped dolly and a specialized hammer that is like a pick hammer but has a much thinner point. Or somebody could go to this page 26″ Fender Brace CHROME and send me one. I just gave my last $0.11 from my Christmas money to my church so I’m tapped out until I get my tax return (I’m going to get back $220 this year).

For the Bike MS, our webmistress is still setting up the button for accepting donations through the church, I’m still training for hill climbing (I’m doing a rest day today by spinning in short gears instead of the really tall gears I was mashing last week), and I have worked a way to reduce the wear and tear on my backside for the ride that I discovered during the hill-training-on-flat-ground sessions last week. If I’m in a gear that requires me to pull on the handlebars to not slide off the seat backwards, I can reduce my arm load as well as my butt wear and tear by tilting the seat nose down instead of the level I normally use because I sit on the seat rather than rest against it. This means I’m using the bike more like it was designed to be used, but I will have to do something about my knees and their pain before the big ride. Mashing really tall gears is like doing one-legged squats for my knees, painful over time, but eventually I acclimate to it. The gear I ride in when I’m doing this training is 62″ for starts and mild hills where I normally ride a 47″ gear at a much higher cadence. In contrast when I was riding the Stratus as my “daily driver” the gears were much harder to change because of the shifters being mounted on the “conning tower” instead of the handlebars, and I normally rode in a 50-60″ gear unless climbing a hill, but the Stratus had a much cleaner aero profile than Blue does as it had both a front windshield/sunshield and a tailbox but with open sides and limited front streamlining. I worked a little harder off the line with the Stratus, but not as hard JRA in the same gear. The 47″ gear on Blue was roughly comparable to the 60″ gear on the Stratus for power output used over time.

I have been redesigning my drag trike so that I can put a fairing on it to get higher terminal speeds at the end of the quarter mile. The current front-runner design is FWD with 1 front and 2 rear wheels running 700c wheels as this will give the fairing a slender nose with mostly normal bicycle components, unlike the last drag trike that had mostly whittled from scratch components that had a bad tendency to break chains shifting from low gear to high. At this point of the design I could make either end steer the trike.

And in the spirit of the headline I’m going to close with “I feel Happy” to go with the “I’m not dead yet”, and a side of “I’m being oppressed!” to go with that.

PSA, Opus

Got hit again, still on an adrenaline rush, and the Feed

Um, yeah. I had to go out on the bike today, and some numb-nuts in an older model pickup truck ran into me passing on the right pulling up to a red light. I don’t mean “as we approached the red light”, I mean less than a truck length from the light he hit me from the right (almost) passing in my lane. If I hadn’t been riding bicycles in the street since LBJ was sworn in I would have been seriously injured or killed, because there was no place for me to go if I got knocked down except under some trucks, either the guy passing me or the guy in the left turn lane on my left. This makes twice this year I have been hit and managed to stay upright only because I had mad bike skillz, and twice I have been hit on that street this year. The ironic thing is I was hit on a through residential street, one of the few here in the suburbs of Hell, with a speed limit of only 35 MPH (in TX the minimum speed limit is 30, so a 35 MPH street is considered slow and quiet). The ironic thing is because I have been training for drag racing I was using that particular stretch of road as a speed workout and was pushing 18 MPH into a slight headwind (remember I’m riding a bike with the riding position of a Dutch city bike with 2 40 pound capacity kitty-litter buckets on the back, about as aerodynamic as a parachute). I know I was putting out some serious watts at the time. And any minute now I’m going to have an adrenaline crash that will be monumental in its intensity. [SLUMP]

In spite of my experience today there were very few links to actual bicycle wrecks in the Feed today, but there were lots of motorcycle wrecks mostly by racers on race tracks testing new bikes with new tires or new tire compounds for old bikes, the state of the art never being stagnant. There were also a few people getting hit riding skateboards in the bike lanes.

Up first is a cyclist hit by a stop-sign running driver in San Francisco. Cyclist In Critical Condition Injured After Collision With Postal Service Truck [Updated] The facts are in, the driver rolled the stop and ran right into the cyclist as she passed the intersection. Anyway, intersection protocol might have prevented this one if the cyclist had any time to react to the Postal truck, otherwise at some point you have to be able to depend on drivers following the laws and not running you over as you ride in front of them. More Cyclist hurt in S.F. crash with mail truck Interesting how many people in the comments for that article blamed the cyclist for the wreck because she wasn’t wearing a majik foam hat. Intersection wreck, not avoidable by a human cyclist as you have to be able to assume the driver is going to obey the law, but using intersection protocols might have prevented some of the injuries.

A little east of that (and south, too) a cyclist is hit and killed in mysterious circumstances. Cyclist hit and killed by car at Ft. Apache and Flamingo I think the mystery is that the driver was at fault and they can’t figure out how to blame the cyclist for being there, so until them we get nothing. Anyway, intersection wreck, use intersection protocols to avoid.

A drunk driver gets ready to plea after nearly killing a sailor from about as far west as you can get and still be under a US flag… UPDATE: Suspect accused of striking cyclist in drunken crash is negotiating plea This woman was old enough to be legally consuming alcohol at the time of her wreck but is now too young to drink after a change in the laws in Guam. Anyway, the wreck was a hit-from-behind, use the protocols for that to avoid a similar wreck.

Another motor vehicle on bicycle wreck is under trial in Enn Zed. Driver felt impact but had not seen cyclist To use the local vernacular this is a SMIDSY wreck (Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You) and as such is 100% the fault of the driver of the weapon vehicle. The cyclist had the right of way and was in a clearly marked bike lane.

In the previously mentioned (in another post) trial, the driver was found not guilty of dooring the cyclist killed when a car door opened in her path. Waterfront bike death: the ‘fall guy’ Apparently the road did grab the driver’s hand and force him to open the door into the cyclist’s path causing her to fall in front of a large truck.

And in Infrastructure! news from the UK, everybody is safer except cyclists. Road accident statistics: how safe are our roads?

And that’s all I have for you today. I’m going to put some techno music in my new MP3 player and meditate on my brush with Death today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Home again, home again, jiggity jig, and the Feed

I went out to bring home my Christmas present from Mrs. the Poet today which ate up most of the afternoon and a good chunk of what was left of the morning after my first cup of coffee took effect. The neck roll of this helmet is a bit on the snug side if you are used to a Bellistic, but after a few minutes it is not an issue. I have to build mirrors for it to make it as useful as my Bellistic, but Mrs. the Poet pronounced it as “beautiful”, and I can see several design features that make it more protective than the Bellistic, so I’m happy with it for the most part. Of course I’m a tinkerer so no off-the-shelf product escapes my customizing touch, but aside from the aforementioned mirrors I think a little black paint on the underside of the visor while I’m mounting the mirrors to keep reflected glare from getting in my eyes will be the extent of it for this particular helmet. Note to BellSports: I wear a full-face helmet just about every day including 4 Hotter’n'Hell Hundreds since 2002. If you need a beta tester for all-mountain full-face helmets you really couldn’t do much better than yr fthfl svnt for testing the ability to shed heat and how well the ventilation works. This summer alone I rode more than 50 times where the temperature exceeded 100°F at some point of the ride. I plan on riding the HHH again in 2012, so if you’re interested, I’m available.

Second note to my anon donor to the Kickstand, I know who you are now. Nobody said anything, but I have access to information other than what comes through the 5 senses, plus I am one hell of a deductive reasoner, the brain damage didn’t touch that. I won’t spill the beans, your secret is safe with me. Oh wait, I’m the one that wasn’t supposed to know who you were. Still safe, I won’t tell anyone with Internet access.

Up first, what BikingInLA Calls a murder of a cyclist. Bicyclist Killed in Hit-and-Run in Pomona The reason Ted(?) calls this a murder is the dragging of the cyclist after the impact. I have been inside and outside vehicles that have hit large dogs (not close to adult human mass) and take it from me you know in an instant that you have hit something. To continue on with the cyclist (or the bicycle) under the car indicates a degree of intention on the part of the driver. If there wasn’t intention to kill before the impact (and despite my personal experience with that 99.9999% of drivers are not homicidal maniacs), there is ample evidence of intent to kill after the impact… As I finished filtering the feed another link came in, they now have the murderer in custody… Gabriel Perez Facio, Pomona Cyclist, Killed in Hit-and-Run; Dragged Half-Block by SUV

Another CA story, as a driver that hit a cyclist in 2008 faces trial for her crimes. Updated: Testimony concludes in vehicular manslaughter trial and this head line from a sidebar: Motorist guilty of vehicular manslaughter in cyclist’s death means that she will get at least some jail time for her killing a cyclist. The verdict has determined the driver pulled in front of the cyclist as she was trying to cross an intersection with a 2-way stop at the time. It took over 3 years, but a small measure of justice has been done.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a hit-and-run driver is arrested. Man Arrested in Hit-and-Run that Killed 13-Year-Old Brien Andrew Alvezios The driver was trying to hide pieces of the weapon vehicle in his pockets and under the passenger seat when he was caught, he should be charged with a lot more than hit-and-run…

LifeStyle! from the Carolinas, as a cyclist hit from behind gets bits and pieces of his life back during his rehab. Injured cyclist undergoing rehabilitation I hate how they point out the lack of a helmet on a cyclist that was hit at a speed more than 3 times the design impact speed of a US bicycle helmet.

And that’s all I have today, tomorrow I will do my end of year thoughts, plus whatever is in the Feed, while I take my wife to learn how to use the Nook she got for Christmas, and go participate in a NYE D&D game. I realize that will require me to be in more than one place at the same time, I’ll figure it out somehow.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Read the comments to my last post, and the Feed

If you read my last post you know I announced that Rick Smith had found a way to actually turn a profit from Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery. Well you should read the comments to that post, and thank you whoever you are. That sentence will make sense after you read the comments.

Up first is a story with multiple links about a man killed s few miles from where I used to live in TN. Cyclist Struck By Vehicle, Seriously Injured and Cyclist struck, seriously injured At this point media and LEO are not blaming the cyclist, which in this case is a strong indication that the driver of the motor vehicle ran the red light at this intersection. I haven’t ridden a bike there, but I have been to this intersection and from what I remember it is a nightmare for a cyclist, with either 8 or 10 lanes to cross whichever street you’re riding, plus a wide median on one of the streets, basically an intersection that a cyclist can’t cross unless they are first or second in line when the light changes or they have reached cruise speed shortly after the light changes, crossing under a stale green would be nearly impossible without spending several seconds still in the intersection after the light goes red. More MPD: Cyclist in ‘critical but stable condition’

A Tulsa sidewalk cyclist is blamed for being there to get hit. Cyclist Injured After Being Hit By A Truck Obviously the driver was not expecting a cyclist on the sidewalk entering the road (or apparently anyone else either) and hit the cyclist because of that. To avoid ride where drivers can see you in the road, but if you are a regular reader of my blog I don’t need to tell you that.

Another story that generated a lot of links was this MIT graduate getting hit near Boston. MIT 2010 alum killed in traffic accident and Bicyclist struck, killed by tractor-trailer in Cambridge also Bicyclist Dies In Cambridge Crash more Cyclist Struck, Killed By Truck In Cambridge another one Cyclist struck, killed by truck in Cambridge Yes that last link was from Louisiana Bicyclist dies after being hit by truck in Cambridge More Bicyclist struck and killed by truck Another one Bicyclist killed by truck was MIT graduate Next to last link MIT graduate is identified as victim in bicycle-truck collision Last one Cyclist killed in Cambridge accident ID’d After reading all the reports this appears to be a right hook, and the final position of the bicycle indicates the truck driver was at fault. The Wicked Local link stated the bicycle was under the rear wheels of the tractor portion of the vehicle, which was a tanker semi-trailer and a tractor. Anyway, if this wreck could have been avoided intersection protocols would have been the way to do it.

A cyclist is hit and killed in AZ. Elderly cyclist struck by car and killed in Oro Valley The bike in the picture looks like it was hit from the side, and the place where it was hit looks like a sharp S-curve from the picture. One way that this wreck makes some kind of sense from a physics point of view is the driver was buzzing the cyclist to “teach him a lesson about riding in the street” and swerved into the cyclist from the side, or the driver was cutting the corner while the cyclist held his line and the driver pushed the cyclist to the side. Same wreck, just one is stupid pretending to be smart, and the other is just oblivious.

And another reason why drivers aren’t worried about hitting a cyclist, Kalifornia Edition. CHP recommends manslaughter for motorist suspected of causing Gilroy cyclist’s death The date in the link stated the cyclist died more than 3 years ago in October 2008, leaving less than 9 months to bring the driver to trial before the statute of limitations expires on these charges.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Call to change safety mirror rules If I read this article correctly, a Cabinet-level official has to approve these vital bits of infrastructure, each one individually. This sounds like it was intentionally made to make this as difficult as possible so it wouldn’t get done unless the Secretary was in a magnanimous mood.

I wonder how many Interstate highways were financed with bake sales and golf tournaments? Residents vow to raise private funds for Yorkville bike path

And that’s it for today, I can’t take it any more.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Trying to find a new helmet, and the Feed

Mrs. the Poet is concerned about my head and wants to either fix my old helmet or get me a new one, but she has the same problem as I do, lack of $$ for big-ticket items. So, I’m going to renew my request for a size M reline kit for the Bellistic helmet at a reasonable price, or a full-face bike helmet in the $50-80 range. I know there are a lot of NASCAR teams that got pallet-loads of helmet liners for the Bellistic, I don’t know if they are allowed to sell any of them. As for why I’m insisting on a full-face helmet, hey, I already died once, with a standard bike helmet, and I had to have my face sewn back on after I came back and that itches like all getout. I would rather have something between my face and the pavement if I wreck again. It’s as simple as that.

Up first because it’s weird is a cyclist running into the back of a stopped mail delivery vehicle with the flashers going. Man dies from injuries in bike-postal truck crash It wasn’t like the cyclist couldn’t see the truck he hit from behind, and the article suggests that he was having a medical emergency when he hit the delivery vehicle. Because of the severity of the injuries and the fact that the cyclist did not answer any questions about the wreck before he died we will never know what caused this wreck.

Another report on the cyclist hit-from-behind by a truck in the Harlem area of NYC. Teenage Cyclist Killed by Truck on 125th Street Truck hits cyclist from behind in NYC, NYPD blames the cyclist for being there to get hit. I’m really glad that I don’t live in NYC…Other reports on this wreck have quoted NYPD as there was nothing they could charge the truck driver with, as if cyclists don’t deserve the protections accorded other vehicle operators under the law. Bicycles are vehicles, too and are entitled to all the protections of the law. Pretending that because other cyclists run red lights or ride against traffic all cyclists are not deserving of the protections of the law is as silly as saying that because one cop tackled a cyclist off his bike for no reason that all cops deserve to get U-locked in the head, or because one cop raped a drunk woman that all cops should be castrated.

More on the NYPD’s “handling” of cyclist fatalities. NYPD Criticized for Handling of Investigation in Brooklyn Cyclist’s Death and Family: NYPD doesn’t care about dead cyclist

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for the 5th (6th?) year running (I have lost count) more on a cyclist who was hit-from-behind. COLUMN: Life, death and cell phones in paradise This was, if you forgot, the wreck where they said they couldn’t prosecute because they didn’t know if the cyclist was riding in the shoulder or in the lane.

From Jolly Olde, a driver that stalked a cyclist to run him down with his car is sentenced to 16 years in prison. Man jailed for Leicester cyclist murder What else can I say about this one? This was an impossible wreck to avoid. With any kind of luck this driver will die in prison.

From Oz, two cyclists “won” the door prize. Cyclists hurt in Dromana, Southbank The first cyclist never knew what happened, riding along one minute, then laying in the street with a broken collarbone the next. The other cyclist was apparently able to make some avoidance maneuver but not enough to prevent contact with the door. To avoid don’t ride in the door zone, but if you must by law then be looking for people moving in the windows of the cars before you pass them.

And in Infrastructure! from CA, Davis police are going to be gunning for cyclists to ticket after the New Year. Davis police to begin new year with push for bicycle safety Another “cyclists don’t stop at stop signs” pig-headed enforcement crackdown that goes after the symptoms rather than the cause, which is using stop signs as traffic calming on bike routes. I don’t have the link handy but a study that was actually done in Davis found that excessive stop signs on bike routes reduced a cyclist’s average speed by 30-50%, and decreased their range before exhaustion by 25-33%. IOW you get there slower and more tired with no real improvement in safety.

LifeStyle from CT as Ghost Bikes start to become common there. ‘Ghost Bikes’: Moving Memorials And A Warning To Drivers When a memorial starts to become common, as in more than one on a particular stretch of road, then things need to be fixed ASAP. In this case they have 4 on one road in 2 years.

And that’s all the bicycle stuff I found in the Feed today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

A desire to help, and a request, Wreck-free Sunday

Sometimes I ask for little things here in this blog, lights, maybe a helmet liner, nothing really expensive but I ask because I don’t have the money to get things on my own.

Now I’m asking for something really big, so that whatever else I need I can get it on my own from my own resources. And if I get this thing lots of other people will benefit from it. I’m asking for a job.

I’m not asking for just any old job making metric buttloads of money. I’m asking for a particular job, a job that doesn’t exist yet that can help save lives and save money. Someone mentioned that NCTCOG is considering adding an actual cyclist to their review process to go over transportation projects as they are created and make sure they are safe to ride a bicycle on or designed in such a way that people on bicycles can get to where they need to go without using them directly. This can save lives, time, and money because making sure a project will work for everybody before it gets built means that other projects to fix the problems caused by the first project aren’t needed and that money can go to solving other problems.

Now the problem for me is at this point the job is not even a written proposal. It is a detailed suggestion, written around my qualifications, of something that is needed. I need for that suggestion to go all the way to fully-funded position, with me doing that job. How can this happen? The idea is for me to have meaningful work that saves lives and saves money, lives of people that use the projects, lives of people that don’t use the projects but start cycling because the projects help create a safe environment for riding a bicycle, and everybody’s tax dollars.

You want safe places to ride a bicycle in North Texas? You want the most good with the least expenditure of tax money when these projects are built? Help me figure out how to get this job.

PSA, Opus

Serious begging alert, helmet liner needed

OK I was looking at the certification sticker inside my helmet and made a horrifying discovery. The helmet liner which has a 4 year useful life was manufactured 6 years ago! No wonder I keep finding tiny bits of liner material in my hair after a ride.

So, keeping it short I need a helmet liner for a size M Bellistic helmet, or a new helmet of the same size and similar style. And I need one or the other as soon as possible because I went way too deep into my safety margin.

Impoverishedly yours, Opus