Another mild Feed

Yes we had another mild Feed today, with only 6 bicycle-related links, and one of those was not related to a wreck or infrastructure, with one other infrastructure article, so 4 wrecks or related to wrecks. That’s a Good Thing in my book.

Getting to the one that wasn’t a wreck or about infrastructure first, there was a bike-jacking in Daphne AL. Man shoots Eastern Shore teen in the arm, steals his bicycle, police say A bike thief with a gun, joy. Well if you’re too stupid to cut a chain or pick a lock then you have to steal them when they aren’t locked. I hope when they catch this guy they throw a couple of tons of books at him, but since he’s already 24 and still robbing kids on bicycles (with a gun) I don’t hold much hope that trying to educate the perp is going to help much, you can’t cure stupid. To avoid a similar situation, shoot back and aim center mass.

A situation that a little more experience and judgment on the part of the cyclist might have helped prevent. High school student on bike injured after hitting firetruck in Santa Rosa The cyclist was riding the wrong way in the bike lane and the firetruck had the flashers going and the backup alarm sounding and still the kid hit the firetruck. I am hopeful he learned something from this experience. I am also hopeful he continues to ride his bike with a greater appreciation of the safe way of doing so.

From Jolly Olde a bad wreck. Cyclist fighting for life after accident The driver was uninjured, joy.

They laid a cycling advocate to rest in Greenburgh, NY. Riders pay tribute to Greenburgh bicycle advocate killed in bus collision The best thing I can say about this wreck is it illustrates exactly what the guy was trying to tell people, that frequently the only option to get someplace by bicycle is to ride in traffic on high speed feeders and arterials because there are no other connecting routes. This is the same problem we have in Garland, the planning done in the 1970s and ’80s created superblocks that were only connected by arterials with 40-45MPH speed limits, and all the commercial development (grocery stores and other retail) was on those arterials. This is great as long as everyone has a car, not so great if people want to walk or ride a bicycle.

A NYC weekly complains about infrastructure that is supposed to protect cyclists from cars still being overrun by motor vehicles. Make bike lanes safe The wreck in question was on a protected bike lane that was commandeered by a garbage truck. An analogy would be herded animals on a freeway, they don’t belong there and create a hazard for those for whom the infrastructure was intended.

And finally if your bike is equipped with an Easton EA30 stem, stop riding it immediately (well, you might want to ride home very carefully and then park the bike) and contact your LBS about a replacement. Bicycles Recalled by Easton Sports; Stem Failure Poses Fall Hazard The stem was OEM and also available as an aftermarket replacement part, so be sure to check which stem came on your mountain or hybrid bike. I built the stem on Gigi myself, so I don’t have to worry about this recall, just the quality of my workmanship.

And that’s all I have for this morning.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Still sick but not much to report on

Yes, I’m still “feeling poorly” to use local vernacular, but there wasn’t much in the Feed this morning to report on, just an update on the Seattle cyclist hit by a van, and another article on that Mavic wheel recall. For those of you with R-SYS front wheels get thee hence to a LBS to swap out before you break your face. Seriously, there is no warning before the spokes give up and then you face plant.

The only other bicycle related article is one that was out of date when I got it, about a memorial ride for the cyclist killed in Seattle. Memorial ride for cyclist Thursday Turns out it was a candlelight vigil not a ride, the ride will be held at a later date. Just goes along with all the other mis-information that has dogged this wreck. Last I read the van driver was making a u-turn from the bike lane and did not see the bike passing in the main traffic lane, by her own words, but the police report still has the cyclist passing her on the left when she was in the left turn lane. That scenario doesn’t make sense, if she was in the left turn lane then the bike lane and the main traffic lane were available to pass the van. Somebody in LEO is fudging the facts…

And that’s all for today. I’ll drag myself out of bed again to post another report tomorrow, but not any sooner.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Ain’t this just ducky?

The morning Feed was thick and heavy, but had a very poor signal to noise ratio. Seriously, I’m so tired of wading through huge articles here the only search word that brings it into my inbox was that somewhere along the line someone in the article had an injury, or got killed.

I don’t know how recall notices made it into my Feed, but as peanut butter items are mainstays of cyclist nutrition I thought you should get a full list, or as full a list as possible. Recalls: cookie dough products, oil-fired furnaces If you bake your cookies from commercial dough instead of making from scratch then you need to read this recall.

Speaking of recalls they have one in the Great White North for suspension forks. Consumer Product Recalls This is an extension of the recall on Rock Shox forks in the US, and can prevent you from doing your George Hincappie 2004 Paris Roubaix wreck impersonation. You remember that one, where the fork broke and poor George was left holding handlebars not actually connected to his bike?

Another update on that story about the British MTB rider that ran into a truck. Injured professional cyclist: Helmet broke before ride started Yes I know this was almost identical to the update from yesterday, the Murky does a lot of cut-and-paste “journalism” only with more typos in the second and third generation copies. I don’t know how they manage to do that. Time for my (near) daily rant on helmets. Helmets do not prevent wrecks, never have, never will, don’t protect much where they cover and don’t protect at all where they don’t cover, and are the only PPE we have. Wear your helmet, because it is the best we have.

And a wreck that I don’t understand why it hasn’t resulted in arrest and assault charges. Young cyclist hit by SUV still in critical condition If I’m reading the article right the kid was on the opposite side of the street from the SUV, which crossed the street and hit him and then dragged him over 100 feet. From what I understand the kid wasn’t even rolling on the bike and was stopped at the stop sign. Arrest the driver, put him in jail for a long time, take his SUV and crush it, and never let him drive again. This was nothing less than assault with a deadly weapon on a minor.

And that’s the morning Feed. I’ll keep an eye on the Feed and update this blog as soon as I see them, because I have a drum jam to attend tonight.

Billed @$.02, Opus