A marathon trip to get a new coffeemaker, and the Feed

Well maybe not a marathon, but more than a half-marathon. Because the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell are designed to an automobile-centric transportation mode things are not very close together. I had to make a trip downtown to the bank to get the money, and then ride to the store on the fringes of town to get a coffeemaker, and then back to Casa de El Poeta. That’s about 16.5 miles, plus or minus. Throw in winds that were over 15 MPH steady with gusts of 25 and you have an exhausting trip on a bike that is aero-limited to about 15 MPH in still air on a level road. With the tailwind it was another story as I held a steady cruise of 18-19 MPH on the bike route that kinda sorta went in the direction of the store on the outskirts of town. I kept that up for miles.

The other thing that I found out while I was out is that the local shoe repair place can put the lift on my short-side shoe for $36 plus the cost of the shoe that I have to buy (my shoes are disintegrating as I walk they are so old). So a trip to the shoe store Saturday, then a trip to the shoe repair guy on Monday and I’ll be walking better by Friday.

A deadly crash in Upstate NY. 13-year-old killed on bike in Sylvan Beach, man arrested for hit-and-run DWI Hit-from-behind wreck, I don’t know that the protocols would have been effective against a drunk driver. Infrastructure might have prevented the wreck by physically separating homicidal drunks with WMDs away from fragile human bodies. The thing I really liked about the article was that someone of authority made the statement that if the kid was wearing a helmet was moot when he got hit by 6000 pounds of speeding motor vehicle.

An update on the cyclist killed by the garbage truck in S.F. CA. Garbage Truck Accident Causes San Francisco Bicycle Death Note that this narrative has the cyclist getting right-hooked rather than running into the truck.

A cyclist is hit from behind in WA. Cyclist seriously injured in crash with car LEO are still trying to figure out how a driver could hit another vehicle in the lane in front of him… Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. As part of that infrastructure make hitting a vulnerable user from behind an automatic loss of vehicle if the victim survives, and a permanent loss of license on top of any other penalty if the victim dies.

A cyclist is injured after hitting a pothole in the Great White North. CYCLIST INJURED Umm, yeah, having both hands on the handlebars when you hit a pothole is not just a good idea, it could save your life.

The laughable sentence given a serial cyclist killer in the UK is being actively appealed. Driver who killed cyclist Audrey Fyfe to have sentence reviewed and Cyclist killer Gary McCourt: Crown to appeal against ‘lenient’ sentence also Driver who killed Edinburgh cyclist faces appeal last link Crown to appeal ‘unduly lenient’ sentence of driver who killed cyclist The original sentence is 2 1/2 months of community service and a 5 year driving ban.

Infrastructure! from NV. Bicycle riders, safety advocates trumpet awareness of new ‘3-foot law’ And I’m sorry, but a law passed in 2011 is not “new” in 2013.

And I’m just at a loss for words about this article. Cop Talk: Bike safety starts with helmet Well, no, it doesn’t. It begins with keeping motor vehicles from hitting people on bicycles.

Last link, DIY active transportation infrastructure in CA. Calif. man suspected of painting crosswalk Sure, arrest the guy that does your job for you and makes you look bad.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket? and the Feed

I have been looking for repair parts for my coffeemaker, and coming up short. The weak link in coffeemakers appears to be the heating unit or the controls for the heating unit, but none of that stuff appears to be available online. I see listings for the part for commercial units where that one part alone is several times the cost of a home coffeemaker, but when there is a listing for the heating unit for a home coffeemaker the part is not available any longer. How are we supposed to fix them if we can’t get parts? At this point I wouldn’t even complain about repair parts that were a significant percentage of the retail cost of the coffeemaker if it would keep the damn things out of landfills. But at this point unless you have the skills and the data to manufacture a replacement unit on your own that coffeemaker is destined to become landfill. And that annoys me.

A GA cyclist is hit by a stop sign-running driver. Teen cyclist hit by car on Athens street Driver ignoring anything smaller than a Mini again, no cars, so no need to stop. Intersection protocols to avoid or at least avoid injury, and infrastructure to prevent. I’m not 100% certain on the infrastructure as the driver did ignore the as-built infrastructure that told her to wait for other vehicles to proceed before proceeding herself.

Infrastructure article from NM. Bike rider sues Santa Fe after railroad accident Ruts and grooves that parallel direction of travel or intersect at very low angles are dangerous to single-track vehicle travel, becoming more dangerous as the tire width decreases or rut/groove width increases. I have crashed from hitting a rut at the wrong angle and having the front wheel unable to change direction.

And that’s it, all the Feed that I didn’t put up yesterday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Narrowly avoiding being drenched, and the Feed

I’m running late today because I’m back to the gig visiting the widow woman and letting her cry on my shoulder and fix me breakfast. I was out of that gig for a while because they were adjusting her anti-anxiety meds to control side effects and they went too low and she got all “I hate the world and everybody in it!” for a month and stopped seeing me. Now her meds have been adjusted back up and she’s back to liking the world again and needing to talk to someone about how she feels and all, so I’m back to getting a weird breakfast once a week. Anyway, the avoiding being drenched part of the headline alludes to the bands of thunderstorms we had pass through the area just as I got home. When I got the mail it was just spitting rain, but by the time I got in the house it was pouring buckets. No tornadoes, just some hurricane level gusts and elsewhere they had some hail but no chunky style precipitation here. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees when the storm blew through because of the cold upper altitude air pulled down by the rain and the sudden rise in the humidity chilling things down also. And I just got a news item that says Senators from the east coast are getting ready to vote against disaster aid to OK because both of OK Senators voting against disaster aid for the people ruined by Sandy. I think OK just got run over by a Karma Ghia.

A NM cyclist’s death appears to have been in vain. Woman who killed cyclist in court again She drove off the road and killed a cyclist on an adjacent bike path and got the maximum sentence of… 90 days. Now she’s caught driving drunk again. Lifetime ban from driving (and I don’t understand why this didn’t happen for the fatal wreck) added to her sentence for repeat DUI. More Woman who killed cyclist now in court for DWI

More on the cyclist killed in MA over the weekend. Cyclist Killed Sunday Was MIT Scientist Nothing about the wreck. Lots about the victim. RIP. Another link Visiting MIT scientist killed while riding bike

Still in MA a child riding a bicycle is run over by a dump truck. Police: Child riding bicycle with mother dies in Westfield accident This link had nothing on the mode. 7-year-old boy killed in Mass. road accident also Memorial grows for boy killed on bike and Westfield child killed in accident with dump truck identified as Michael Ryan, 7 even Westfield boy killed in traffic accident identified OK a day later and LEO are still not reporting how this kid got hit beyond “hit by the front of the truck” and ending up under the rear wheels.

A WI cyclist is killed with LEO also sitting on the report. Girl struck, killed on bicycle in New Berlin is identified Nothing about the mode or anything beyond identifying the victim and the age of the driver. You would think this was a UK media outlet…

A young CA cyclist is killed riding to school. Teenage bike rider killed in San Jose traffic accident I hate it when media uses the term “accident” instead of “wreck”. More San Jose: Silver Creek High sophomore killed in bicycle crash remembered as classroom leader At this point LEO are not saying anything, but the driver says he “thinks” he had the green when he hit the cyclist in a crosswalk.

A fatal wreck in DC. Cyclist Killed in U Street Collision With Car Last Thursday The report said the cyclist was making a turn and that the light was green for the driver at the time of the wreck, what the phase was when the cyclist entered the intersection is unknown. Intersection wreck implies that intersection protocols might have helped avoid the wreck. Infrastructure would have prevented the wreck had the bicycle been separated from the motor vehicle traffic in both time and space.

From the UK a stupid driver gets caught after bragging about her wreck. Woman Brags About Hitting Cyclist, Discovers Police Also Use Twitter The mode of wreck is highly unusual in that the driver was on the wrong side of the road. Not much that a human cyclist can do about drivers being on the wrong side of the road, but getting the infrastructure right would keep the driver away from the cyclists. More Driver ‘admits’ knocking down cyclist on Twitter and Twitter hit-and-run boast shows dangers of ‘road tax’ entitlement

Last link is a “Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot?” moment. Cyclist Killed Duckling

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Loaded with swag after doing the bike to work station, and the Feed

I got up early to visit the Bike to Work Commuter Energizer Station for a bite and a bit of conversation. Because it was a trifle foggy out I decided to run with my headlights on, and I was glad I did because they both died from discharged batteries during the ride. Since I have to go somewhere tonight I have three battery chargers going at the moment, one for the 4 AA NiMH batteries in the primary headlight, one for the 2 AAA NiMH batteries in my secondary headlight that is aimed to spot street signs, and a third to keep the Chromebook running. And I mentioned swag in the headline, let me recount the swag: 3 water bottles and it would have been 4 if I hadn’t shooed the nice lady away from my bike when she started loading the buckets, a clip-on blinky light, a T-shirt, and tons of literature from DART on taking my bike on the bus including a map to bike racks, coffee, Clif bars, and a banana. And Bike Friendly Garland sticker which was what I actually came for.

Up first an update on a fatal hit-and-run in GA in a town I used to live in (in case you haven’t noticed I have lived in lots of towns). Police say hit-and-run suspect tried to repaint truck I think additional charges of obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence should be tacked on to the hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter charges. If you are new to my blog you probably don’t know what is about to be posted next, for those of you who have read more than 2 weeks this will be old hat: Chain the guy to the steering wheel and recycle his truck into bicycle parts, the process of melting the truck down will allow the contaminants to be skimmed off the top.

A MO wreck that appears to be a sidewalk cyclist getting cut off at a stop sign. Bike rider hurt in collision with pickup From the picture of the damage on the bike and the position of the debris, assuming medical responders didn’t move anything, the truck and the cyclist were both moving at a fair clip, given the damages to the bike and the place where the cyclist’s shoes ended up. Since the bike had flat pedals with toe clips and not clipless pedals I don’t see any reason for medical personnel to remove the cyclist’s shoes and then leave them at the scene so they must have come off in the wreck. Also the physical evidence shows the cyclist was riding salmon which meant the driver was looking away from him when he pulled out into the street. Lots of blame to go around in this wreck between the salmon cyclist and a driver not looking where he was going. Intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

More on the IL cyclist killed at an intersection scheduled for a bike overpass in just under a month. Husband mourns Busse Woods bicyclist killed crossing Higgins Road Everything I read about this wreck blames the intersection and drivers that don’t look for cyclists when they turn their vehicles across bike lanes. I don’t know what a cyclist could do in the face of that kind of failure in both drivers and infrastructure. Intersection protocols seem so inadequate when confronted with drivers that face so little in the way of consequences compared to cyclists and who can blame the infrastructure when they can’t blame the cyclists.

More on the bicycle-hating drunk that killed a cyclist driving the wrong direction in a bike lane. Driver in crash that killed cyclist in Lyons expressed growing frustration with bicyclists The driver is still in jail over the wreck. I would hide in jail if I were him, too. More Patrick Ward made anti-bicycling statements before crash that killed cyclist

Another report on the cyclist killed by a man fleeing a shooting that he is alleged to have also committed. Bicyclist Killed By Suspect Fleeing From Shooting I’m getting backchannel reports the weapon vehicle was airborne when it hit the cyclist. As I posted yesterday the cyclist had no chance of avoiding this wreck as he was already in the intersection when the driver ran the stop sign at a high rate of speed.

A RI cyclist is killed. North Providence student killed in bike-car crash At this point all I know is it was an intersection wreck so maybe intersection protocols would have reduced the amount of damage to non-fatal levels. I’m not sure infrastructure would have helped either as the Street View of the site shows a dense residential neighborhood, that would be a shared space with limited motor vehicle access and an 18 MPH speed limit under the Dutch model.

More Ride of Silence links. Locals honor fallen cyclists in silent ride and Memorial Ride Honors Bike Victims also Silent Ride: Remembering Victims of Bicycle Accidents and this Ride of Silence honors cyclist hit and killed on Route 434 don’t forget this link Fort Collins cyclists remember riders hurt or killed with silent ride or this one ‘Ride of Silence’ honors cyclist killed in Davidson County not done yet Cyclists Raise Awareness for Safety on the Roads

Emerging Artist Killed in 2011 Bicycle Crash Gets Posthumous New York Solo Show

Last link 3000 cyclists are expected to descend on the Scottish Parliament to protest lax sentencing for drivers that kill cyclists. Family of Audrey Fyfe to lead 3,000-strong ‘Pedal on Parliament’ I think we might get 30 or 40 cyclists to “descend” on the TX legislature if they had to ride in on bikes.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Weather is here wish you were beautiful, and the Feed

First off let me apologize for not posting the pictures from the RoS I went to last night. The ride concluded just as a rain shower came through and the traditional post-ride socializing instead was a mad scramble to get to shelter and I had only a chance to share a few words of greeting and goodbye with the guy that started it all, Chris Phelan. That shower was an outer band shower of a severe weather system that brought at least 10 tornadoes to the area, one of which went south of here without causing much if any damage. We got very lucky this year as this was the first severe storm we have had so far and we are 2 weeks past the end of our usual storm season. With any additional luck that was it for this year. Well the reason why no pictures is we stayed glued to the tube watching the weather radar and later reports from the stricken areas, which kinda precluded downloading pictures to the desktop computer, and manipulating them to fit this blog. There was some loss of life to the south of WoaB World HQ, but nothing worse than some flash flooding in the immediate area.

Up first a report that came from the WP “just posted” folder on the dashboard, a driver shoots at his girlfriend in another car, then runs over a bicyclist as he runs a stop sign escaping the scene of the shooting. Bicyclist killed by driver fleeing shooting in Florence, police say The driver was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting, nothing so far in the cyclist’s death. The wreck was an intersection wreck but so far outside the normal bounds of intersection protocols as to make any attempt to use them ludicrous, I place this wreck in the category of unavoidable by human cyclists without precognition, and equally unable to prevent by infrastructure. The link to the LA Times story came from BikingInLA in this post: More bad news for Bike to Work Day: Bike rider killed by driver fleeing a shooting

I’m going to bite my (metaphorical) tongue on this report. Man riding bicycle hit by firetruck in Canton Again I’m going to point out that many lights do not register the presence of a cyclist and don’t change, effectively training cyclists to run red lights regularly. Also pointing out the cyclist was wearing “regular” clothes, not “dark” clothing. And that I appear to have metaphorically chewed my metaphoric tongue to metaphoric ribbons. Anyway, when a traffic signal doesn’t register your presence and change for your direction there is a procedure to follow: Wait 2 minutes to make sure it isn’t just a delay in changing built into the logic of the controller, the treat the malfunctioning control as a stop sign and waiting until cross traffic is clear before proceeding. Then call Streets for that area to report a malfunctioning signal.

Update on a Chicago-area cyclist that was killed earlier this week. Cyclist Killed Tuesday Identified As Elk Grove Village Woman Nothing on the wreck itself, but the article seems to indicate that it was an intersection wreck and highly infrastructure related, in that they are already completing plans to build grade separated crossings for pedestrians and cyclists there. You can’t get much more explicit that bad infrastructure was involved than to have a shovel-ready project to upgrade the infrastructure, and a project that will be underway in less than a month pretty much defines “shovel-ready”.

Another IL cyclist is killed in a hit-from-behind wreck near or in Chicago. 83-year-old bicyclist hit by car, killed on Northwest Side Another case of using the wrong preposition in the headline he was hit “with” a car not “by” a car. Comments and article point to excessive speed on the part of the driver, leaving mere human cyclists little chance of avoiding by employing the hit-from-behind protocols. I would say that some kind of traffic calming would improve matters immensely for that street judging from the comments viewable at the time this was posted.

More on the wreck in CO where a drunk driver in the bike lane going the wrong way hit a cyclist head on. Boulder cyclist killed in SUV crash remembered as positive, patient and Driver arrested in cyclist’s death had complained bicyclists ‘don’t belong’ in Lyons Those public comments are going to come back to haunt him, possibly getting the homicide charge bumped to a murder charge. Driving the wrong way in a bike lane, well anytime you drive in a bike lane you’re driving “the wrong way” as in a way that is inappropriate for motor vehicles to operate, but in this case the driver was driving against the flow of traffic. That makes it look like he saw the cyclist and took deadly action because his judgment had been impaired as a result of his being drunk. Any guesses as to who gets the “Waste of Human Skin” tag for today’s post?

And another hit-and-run from yet another town I used to live in. Bicyclist struck and killed by vehicle in hit-and-run accident in Augusta Hit-from-behind, from the area they mentioned I don’t think that the protocols would have been any help for mere human cyclists, and the infrastructure from when I was there was terrible. Get the infrastructure right and make hit-and-run a major felony like DUI homicide to prevent.

Don’t drink and ride. Man trying to help drunk cyclist ends up getting him arrested I think this is a re-hash from an earlier story (the swinging of the broken bike seat is familiar), but still, don’t drink and ride.

Good results from the UK as a cyclist uses evidence from the criminal trial against the driver that hit her to prove a total lack of negligence on her part for the civil trial. Cyclist who lost her leg in crash with lorry scores legal win against insurer The only problem I see in this case is that many injury cases never get to criminal charges, much less trials with publicly available records.

RoS coverage from places that didn’t go under a tornado warning. Ride of Silence bicycle event in Flint encourages awareness for cyclist safety also Cyclists ride in silence to remember those injured, killed From just down the road from where I used to live Murfreesboro remembrance bike ride is one of many globally and from the founder of the Mother Ride QUIET FOR 10 YEARS: The Ride Of Silence

Other lifestyle events. Cousin plans bike ride in man’s memory

And to close out this video of a FWD rear-steer delta trike: Monsterbike

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Well at least it’s nice out, and the Feed

This time of year is one of the most frustrating for me while I’m here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. The pollen makes me want to stay inside where the air is at least partially filtered free of pollen, but the temperatures make me want to be out JRA because it’s neither gaspingly hot nor heavy coat cold and for a few days you can actually ride considerable distances without becoming drenched in sweat and still be able to wear open finger gloves. For me that is the perfect riding temperature, and I have to miss it because plants are having sex… It makes me want to scream when I think about it so I try not to think about it. Take away the pollen and this is what it’s like to live in San Diego all year long, practically.

The End of Times must be coming, as another Texan is arrested for hitting a cyclist. Man arrested in hit-and-run that injured cyclist The wreck was a hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent. I must say, this is a pleasant change to have LEO at all levels suddenly decide that cyclists are equally worthy of the protections of the law as they are the punishments. Now if they could just convince NYPD of this.

One state over a cyclist is hit by a blind driver. Arkansas State Police: Bicyclist dies after collision with pickup in Yell County Once again the driver of the weapon vehicle used the Universal “Get Out of Jail Free” card to escape liability and punishment. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. One bit of legal infrastructure that would help immediately would be changing the law so that any hit-from-behind wreck is automatically the fault of the driver unless proven otherwise, with “I didn’t see him” as an admission of guilt instead of an excuse.

A completely unavoidable wreck turns fatal. Somers Cyclist Hit By Deer Dies Of Injuries Local wildlife is the joker in the road safety deck. The best that you can hope for is to not be there when they are in the roads. I haven’t been able to find out if this was mutually fatal or if the deer was unhurt.

Update on the child cyclist killed in AL. Funeral held for child killed in bike accident in Cullman They are staying with the story that the kid pulled out in front of the driver and not that the driver was going too fast in a residential area.

More on the cyclist killed by a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road in CO. Boulder cyclist killed in crash with car identified Take one intersection with 5 different streets and highways converging in one spot, add bike lanes to one of those streets and a drunk driver that has lived in that town all his life and knows those roads like the back of his hand, and you get someone driving in the wrong lane and hitting a cyclist head on. Intersection protocols don’t apply in this chaos, getting the infrastructure right is the only thing that can prevent wrecks like this one. That and draconian speed limit enforcement. More links Driver facing vehicular homicide charge after cyclist killed in Lyons crash also Bicyclist Hit, Killed By Vehicle In Lyons

From the UK the first step in appealing the incredibly lax sentence for killing a cyclist has been taken. Family of dead cyclist lodge complaint against driver’s sentence Seriously, 300 hours of community service and only a 5 year driving ban for his second criminal fatality is ludicrous.

From Oz comes a story of a coverup of a cyclist’s death. Man jailed for assisting in hit-run It should have been obstructing justice and conspiracy, and the sentence should have been much longer (years instead of months) and as the victim’s father said he should have lost his driver’s license for life. But still for Oz getting 20 months for killing a cyclist still counts as a good result.

Another Ride of Silence link as we all get ready for the Ride tomorrow (Northern hemisphere) or Saturday (Southern hemisphere and rain date for the rest of us). ‘Ride of Silence’ to remember Endicott cyclist killed in October

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, Be sure to go to rideofsilence.org to find where your local RoS will be held and plot your route so you can get there in time. I will be attending the Mother Ride again this year.

Billed $€0.02, Opus

I hade Sprig, and the Feed

Yes, it’s that time of year again, the peak of allergy season when I get to either suffer a completely stopped up head, watery eyes, constant sneezing, and occasional disgusting digestive issues, or be unconscious from the allergy meds that don’t interfere with my BP meds. Hell of a choice innit?

Up first the driver that killed a cyclist in Austin has been released from jail. Elderly man indicted in cyclist’s death released It’s a pity that this will probably be all the time this killer spends in custody for illegally driving on the shoulder to pass a traffic jam and killing another human being. I’m just totally impressed the DA was able to convince a grand jury to indict the lowlife. BTW this link gets the “Signs of the Apocalypse” tag because the end must be near if a DA can convince a grand jury in Texas to indict a driver for killing a cyclist.

Update on the wreck in CO as the driver has been charged with vehicular homicide after hitting a cyclist head on while driving on the wrong side of the street. Man arrested for vehicular homicide after bike rider killed in Lyons The speed in which these charges were filed stuns me. Usually when a drunk driver kills someone there is a wait for the toxicology screens to come back from the lab, in this case they went with a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer to file serious felony charges in less than 24 hours. Earlier links Driver arrested after bicyclist killed by SUV in Lyons and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office: Cyclist killed in Lyons car versus bike crash

A VA hit-and-run wreck as a semi driver tried to pass when there wasn’t room to pass. Police search for tractor trailer driver that hit two cyclists The semi driver moved to pass a group of cyclists then cut over before completing the pass, hitting two of the cyclists. This is not the kind of wreck a human cyclist can avoid, but getting the infrastructure right would go a long way towards preventing another one. I am trying to think of what could be done with the built environment to prevent this but since the semi driver ran the oncoming vehicle off the road as well as hitting the cyclists the only thing I can think of is removing the incentives for truck drivers to act this way by removing the per-mile pay schedules. Almost all a driver’s expenses are per time except fuel and some preventative maintenance, and driving at a slower speed reduces the per-mile costs for those.

Update on the NE wreck that looks like will cost the rider her foot. Woman injured in car-bike crash improving All the reports on this one place the blame on the cyclist for violating the right of way of the faster car, and none mentions the passing lane to the left of the wreck. I’m going to go with the cyclist not allowing enough time for the driver to move over, or that there may have been other traffic in the inside lane that prevented the driver of the weapon vehicle from moving over.

More on the death of a NY cyclist. Troopers: Teen cyclist killed by drunken driver in Cohocton Mode of wreck is still not given but since an intersection has not been described as being next to or very near the wreck I’m going to have to assume hit-from-behind, so use those protocols to avoid if possible, and get the infrastructure right so that drunk drivers can’t get near cyclists and cyclists can still get where they need to go and from town to town.

A wreck in Oz with almost no information. Cyclist, teenager die in separate crashes No mode given, just that the other vehicle was an Australian pickup truck (ute).

Another RoS link as the date approaches. Ride of Silence to remember those killed in bicycle accidents

Lifestyle in CA as a cyclist is remembered. Hundreds take part in memorial ride to remember local cyclist killed in crash

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, minus a few that expired over the weekend.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another Mule Day, and another Feed

Mule day duties look to be light again today as we are still coasting along from that massive buy a few weeks ago and just replacing perishables now; milk, bread, eggs, produce, and yogurt. The weather is looking a bit “iffy” so I have my waterproof ALICE pack and one of the kitty litter buckets has the lid back on it. Stuff that won’t be affected by rain will go in the other bucket. So rain or not we’re cool on the weather.

On the pollen front the allergy meds I took last night eventually did their job and I was able to sleep comfortably sometime around 2 AM, which was a great improvement over the previous 4 AM. I also awoke with considerably less gunk in my eyes and as I could breathe through my nose I also didn’t wake up feeling like the 101^st Airborne had marched through my mouth with bare feet. That alone was a great improvement over the previous two nights.

A far West Canuckistan cyclist is right crossed and then blamed for the wreck. Cyclist hits truck on Gordon Drive, winds up in Kelowna General Hospital The cyclist was hit almost head on when the motor vehicle operator made a wide right turn while driving blind, but somehow it was the cyclist’s fault for running into the motor vehicle. This is a difficult wreck to avoid as standard intersection protocols are not designed for vehicles that are not in the correct lane for their direction of travel. Infrastructure might have prevented this if the infrastructure was barrier protected.

News from the UK that motor vehicle operators are most at fault in bike-vs-motor vehicle wrecks. Two thirds of cyclist injuries following collisions with motor vehicle due to driver, says City of Westminster I also liked the part where they point out the behavior that annoys pedestrians the most is one of the least likely reasons why pedestrians are hit, cyclists proceeding through a pedestrian crossing against the signal. What people don’t realize and that most cyclists have internalized is that when cyclists run into or are run into by motor vehicles, the cyclist will get hurt no matter who is at fault, when cyclists run into or are run into by pedestrians the cyclist will get hurt. Cyclists are for the most part actively looking to not get hurt in spite of what it appears to non-cyclists.

A possible hit-and-run in Oz. Cyclist found injured on Haydon Drive While the cyclist’s injuries could have come from either a bad get-off or a hit-and-run, there is the old saying that when one hears hoofbeats in the western US one should not immediately assume zebras. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in Oz, a cyclist is seriously injured by an RV. Cyclist hit by car near Huskisson At the time I posted this the mode of the wreck had not been released, so other than making the remark that a bicycle helmet is not much protection against having your chest crushed by an RV, I have nothing I can say.

LifeStyle in Seattle as a memorial ride makes the news. Riders honor cyclist killed in semi-truck accident

New legal infrastructure from Houston. New ordinance aims to protect bicyclists, pedestrians This ordinance (what I can read of it) seems to be a direct copy of the law that Gov. Goodhair vetoed in 2009, so it’s a good ordinance if somewhat lacking in teeth by being local rather than statewide and unable to place violators in confinement for longer that 1 year.

And if you think I’m having a bad day, take a look at this link. N.Y. tow company waits word on disposing 30 dead horses from Shippensburg You can imagine what that is starting to smell like.

Last link, a Summer project you can enjoy all winter. Build A Massive Snowmobile Tank Bike Massive is right, there are at least 3 bikes worth of steel in the machine plus trying to turn a single track when it has any kind of grip is going to be “fun”, but overall I see this as an interesting project if somewhat difficult to ride around on.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Brr!, and the Feed

If I’m reading the weather crawl on the cable box right, we had a record low this morning in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, 39°F. This is a record for 2 reasons, only one is because it was the lowest temperature recorded on this day of the month, the other being it was the latest date that had a recorded temperature lower than 40° before Summer. This is following the warmest Summer in history, which was even warmer than the year we had more 100° days than we had official days of summer if you can imagine that. We had fewer days that were incredibly hot, but we also did not have any days that could be called “cool” either. We have already hit the forecast high for today but it hasn’t reached noon yet as I type this. I would say “typical Texas weather” except that records are by definition not “typical”.

From just down the road a bit from the WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell a cyclist recovers from a stupid driver trick. Injured cyclist urges drivers to put away the phones People need to know they are guiding a projectile as deadly as a howitzer shell with the destructive force of a 200 pound bomb, which is not something to be taken lightly. If a weapon was as dangerous and deadly as a motor vehicle it would be classified as a WMD not fit for use against civilians or soldiers not in armored vehicles. Interestingly enough driving a motor vehicle deliberately into either of those groups is treated the same as attacking with a WMD… Because it is.

The mode of wreck has been released in that Seattle wreck, and surprise surprise the truck driver violated the right of way of the cyclist. Followup: Bicyclist identified as Lance David; crash brings safety concerns back into spotlight I quote the wreck report:”Preliminary investigation indicates that a 53-year-old man driving a flatbed semi-truck was attempting a right turn from westbound South Hanford Street to northbound East Marginal Way South. At the same time a 54-year-old male bicyclist was northbound on East Marginal Way South approaching South Hanford Street. For reasons that have yet to be determined, the bicyclist collided with the truck-trailer’s left side wheels in or near the intersection and went down. Fire department medics responded and after administering CPR treatment, pronounced the bicyclist dead at the scene.” The truck driver was turning right into the through street of the T intersection, which means the cyclist had the right of way. Between the documented pavement issues and the truck that pulled out in front of him the cyclist had no way of evading impact.

Another child cyclist is killed in CA. Boy, 14, Killed By School Bus While Riding Bike in Glendale From other reports I can’t link to I know the child was riding on the sidewalk against the direction of traffic for the side of the road he was on, making him essentially invisible to the bus driver. This is the result of not having SRTS instituted for every school, the cyclist was more or less forced to ride the sidewalks by adults with the mistaken beliefs that it would be safer than the road when riding in the roads is safer by a large factor (which I know is counter-intuitive). The way to prevent this wreck is infrastructure,INFRASTRUCTURE, and MORE INFRASTRUCTURE! Until there is a bicycle-friendly route to this school the school should be closed. And I’m NOT KIDDING! If there were gang wars being fought on the only ways to get to this school something would be done about it, well there are already random projectiles being fired down the street, they just have people in them.

And yet another fatal wreck in CA, this one courtesy of Ted Rogers of BikingInLA. Bicyclist struck, killed in Santee No mode of wreck given, just the vague note that the cyclist was found in the intersection by first responders. So, intersection protocols to (maybe) avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

What I didn’t know until recently was code for a “Door Prize” in the UK. Cyclist injured after hitting parked car in Shrewsbury The car is parked, and then the driver or passenger opens the door in front of the cyclist, but instead of correctly labeling the wreck as a dooring incident the cyclist is blamed for running into a parked car.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, less the motorcycle wrecks of course. I’m getting way too many motorcycle wrecks in the Feed again as some news outlets don’t differentiate between bikes with motors and those without and frequently it isn’t until I click the links to other reports that I find the wreck was a motorcycle one and not a bicycle one.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

The cold weather has arrived, and the Feed

Well as forecast the weather has changed drastically again. The winds are howling outside the door (not mentioned in the forecast BTW), and while not freezing (yet) there is a definite chill in the air that was not there yesterday, in fact it’s approaching noon as I type this and the current temperature is lower than yesterday’s low. So chilly and windy, and we have to go shopping today. Yay! This should be entertaining. Well I guess if it was on TV and I was the buttmonkey character it would be entertaining, but from my standpoint it’s just another Thursday.

Up first today is the Big Story from Seattle with lots of links about a cyclist killed with a semi. Update: Bicyclist killed in crash east of West Seattle low bridge The link with the nicest comments first Bicyclist dies after collision with semi in Seattle and Cyclist killed in collision with truck along East Marginal Way South also Site of fatal Sodo collision a tricky route for cyclists another link Seattle bike rider killed in crash with truck and last link Bicyclist killed in collision with semi truck All those links to say that they don’t know yet how the cyclist ended up under the left side of the truck. at this point they don’t even know which of 5 possible intersections he was hit at, so until them I’m just going to say intersection protocols apply to all intersections between one street or road and any other place where a motor vehicle can come, and use intersection protocols to survive all of them. It was pointed out in some of the links that this area is being considered for segregated bicycle infrastructure because of all the heavy truck traffic, so they already know how to fix the problem and are in the process of fixing it, but you know how fast government works with infrastructure.

An IL man is killed in a hit-from-behind wreck. Bicyclist killed on rural Saline County, Ill., road Charges are pending he completion of the investigation. Hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent, although I have no idea what could be done in this rural area to get bikes away from motor vehicles. More Cyclist killed by truck in Southern Illinois and Police investigating cyclist death in southern Illinois

Another senseless SUV killing in Oz. Cyclist killed in four-wheel drive accident There is possibility that the cyclist was in the wrong place at the wrong time as the initial report was a rollover wreck, so the cyclist may have been hit by an out-of-control SUV. But the mode of wreck is still being kept under wraps by LEO. More Cyclist killed in Humpty Doo crash

Proof that anti-bike crazies are not limited to the roads. Psychiatrist jailed for booby-trapping Oregon mountain bike trails When I first saw this I thought that Mikey from the old USENET bike groups had taken a jaunt north, but this is a different nut case psychiatrist.

LifeStyle as a cyclist makes a comeback from serious injuries. Santa Clarita cyclist injured in crash now to compete in 620-mile bike race I wish this person lots of luck, but surviving the wreck has shown he already has luck (but a bit more wouldn’t hurt any).

And those were all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus