Really weak Feed this morning

Yes, there wasn’t much in the Feed first thing in the morning. I suppose that’s a good thing if every bike wreck gets reported, but if it’s just because nobody feels like reporting bike wrecks then that’s a bad thing.

First up is a report from NYC about people with cars complaining because they are being treated like they are the problem (which they are). Downtowners debate D.O.T.’s grand bike plans The problem is traffic planning for the previous 5 decades has been exclusively car traffic planning, with bike and pedestrian facilities tacked on as an afterthought. Now there is no more room for cars because there has to be something to do once you get there by car otherwise why go? to increase the amount of people getting places they are going to have to decrease the number of cars moving through the area, because people are what spend money in stores and buy things, not cars. In fact people without cars can buy more things other than cars because they aren’t spending up to 25% of their takehome income paying for a car and the things that accompany car ownership, like registration, taxes, insurance and interest on the car loan. It has been found that people that ride bicycles as transportation do spend more at restaurants than people that just drive, but not as much for gas to get there, so the total night out is still less for the bicyclists.

Also in the news is the report that cars are paying even less of their costs because of the recession. Motorists’ habits spur call for tax increases You know I had to comment on this one in the comments section. I have been saying in my blog for years (before it was moved to this provider) that cars do not pay their way on the roads, that everybody pays for the roads, even people without cars. Well now that sad fact is coming home to haunt drivers. Boo hoo! I’m sobbing for the poor (or soon to be poor) car owners.

And that’s it for this morning.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Advertisement

Well, it looks like the reports are coming fast

I got another Feed report in just minutes after posting the last one. There were a bunch of stories in the report that happened to have the word bicycle in them like the story of Polar Bear Club members that use bicycles to prevent sense from preventing them from swimming in freezing water. That’s a story you won’t get linked to from here…

One that did make it was a year in review that had a mention of a Lompoc girl killed on her bicycle. Top news stories of 2008 Unfortunately there wasn’t enough detail included in the article to tell you how to avoid a similar wreck.

And from the bike capital of the US (Portland OR) comes a report on the 50th annual New Year’s ride. Hardy bikers kick off new year with downtown ride Yeah, it’s fun, even in the rain. Riding a bike is fun, period.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Happy New Year, the Feed

Well, things are looking up around here. People are starting to notice the place, and my MySpace readers are starting to come here. I’m getting linked to from Google News which is ironic because that’s where I get most of my links from. And I couldn’t do it without you, my readers. 2009 is going to be a bumpy ride, so strap your helmet on tight, and hang loose and roll with the bumps.

An Orlando area mom mourns after a year without charges being filed against the man that killed her son. A year of grief: Mother waits for driver to be charged in death of son, 15 The facts in the case are plain and raw: the driver was more than 20 MPH over the speed limit and drove over a curb and onto the sidewalk where the kid was riding to basketball practice. A year later still no charges filed, and until the criminal case is finished the civil wrongful death suit can’t go on, meanwhile the statute of limitations clock is ticking.

And a man “falls off his bike” and gets hit by a car. Bicyclist killed in St. Pete There sure was a lot of damage to that bike for the rider to have fallen off into the traffic lane and then gotten hit. Maybe there was some debris in the road that caused the cyclist to crash, or maybe the rider had too much to drink, or maybe the driver was lieing through his teeth and just ran into the cyclist because he didn’t feel like passing safely. Whatever happened, the cyclist is dead. Looking at the picture of the broken bicycle I’m thinking the bike took a hell of a hit, as the relationships of the bits and pieces are way off for an adult hybrid or road bike. The fork looks like it was completely removed from the bike, but the damage to the front wheel isn’t that severe (the wheel is totally unusable but it looks like the hub could be salvaged and the rim isn’t too badly tacoed). Now assuming the report was accurate and the rider fell off the bike in the middle of the street, what can you do to avoid finding yourself in the same situation? Well the best solution is to not fall in the middle of the street. And the best way to do that is to watch for debris in the road, and modify your line early so that you are not suddenly swerving in front of motor vehicle traffic. You don’t want to be one of those “swerving cyclists” that keep getting killed.

And that’s the first Feed of the new year.

Billed @$.02, Opus