And the Feed goes on

Apologies to Sonny Bono and Cher for the headline for today’s post. For those of you who are too young to know who Sonny Bono was, before he was a US rep for the state of CA he was a singer with his wife at the time, Cher. They had a song called “And the Beat Goes On” back in the ’60s, that was the theme song for their television show in the ’70s. I suspect that most of my readers were born after the TV show went off. Anyway it was a good thing I did that late night post last night (this morning?) because I would have had a completely unmanageable Feed this morning after I got back to the computer. I was on the computer by 10:45, and I didn’t get started on this post until 11:42, so add the more than an hour it took to get through last night’s late Feed to the nearly an hour it took to get through this morning’s Feed… well I think you understand. Nobody could stay sane doing all that reading about dead and injured bicyclists, motorcyclists, and horseback riders, or the insanity of people that only drive cars arguing against bike lanes that will reduce car traffic and give drivers more room on the roads… But I digress. Now, the Feed.

First up is an article from Velonews about bike fit. I know why would I include such a fluff piece as an article about bike fit for a blog that has as its primary focus bicycle safety? Because if your bike fits you will be more comfortable, and better able to react to hazards around you. Finding the fit: Saxo Bank embraces BG FIT Too many commuters are riding bikes that the just don’t fit. Bikes aren’t like cars where you get “close enough” and everything is hunky-dory. Bikes are like shoes or pants where if it doesn’t fit you can cause serious issues like leg or knee pain or even worse. Take it from me, the blisters you get from badly fitted shoes are nothing compared to the hurt you get from a bike that is too big or too small.

And another cyclist gets hit on US19 near Tampa. Countryside Blvd. reopened at U.S. 19 Not enough information in the article to actually say what happened other than we might have another SWSS or SWCC.

And a discussion on infrastructure turns ugly in State College PA. Bicycling polarizes meeting attendees Some of the attendees seem to think that cars are the only reason for the existence of roads, ignoring the fact that modern paved roads exist because a Scotsman got tired of his bicycle tires getting caught in the ruts and mud of 19th Century Britain. Also conveniently forgotten is that bicycles are legal road vehicles in all 50 states and DC, and have a right to be accommodated in road design when changes are being made.

Haven mentioned horseback riders earlier, there’s one in this report from Jolly Olde, in addition to the cyclist that fell off his MTB. Air ambulance aids fallen riders on Chase I wonder if the horseback rider was wearing a helmet?

And the debate on cycle infrastructure in London rages on. London mayor outlines cycling vision In the picture that was up when I linked this article Boris looked just like Donald Trump. As for the debate, I’m no longer informed enough about what is going on in London to make an educated comment. I know enough to know how much I don’t know.

And in another UK story a rider in the Isle of Manx (those funny looking cats had to come from someplace) is hit by a car in front of the high school. Cyclist injured in road accident And now you know as much as I do.

And finally our last article is also from the UK, where they have decided to go after cyclists that break traffic laws, because they are easier to catch and because traffic cameras can’t catch them. Crackdown on rogue cyclists in Brighton and Hove I’m a firm believer in following the law and observing traffic controls, not riding on sidewalks (pavements), and signaling intentions. However I am also torn by going after cyclists whose infractions only harm themselves while letting drivers whose infractions can kill get away scot free. Ahh, c’est la vie. BTW that is almost the extent of my French after the wreck, although I wasn’t all that great before the wreck. I can still understand written French, but if you were to speak it in front of me I wouldn’t understand more than one word in twelve.

Aaaand that is the Feed for this morning (afternoon?).

Billed @$.02, Opus

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Late night insanity

Yes I’m up late posting to my blog again. I know the blog clock says after 6 in the morning, but it’s on GMT and I’m living in CST right now. But I had to parse that feed and get these links to you as soon as possible.

First up is really sad, a little girl riding her new bike on a residential street is killed by a semi truck and trailer making a delivery. 6-year-old on bike struck, killed by semi Hell of a way to kick off a blog post, but the semi was in the wrong for being there, the kid was in the wrong for running the stop sign. And the older brother will just have to live with that for the rest of his life. As for not winding up dead in a similar situation, hey it was a kid and kids have no judgment. Judgment requires experience and experience requires time. I’m still wondering why the truck driver was driving through a residential area to get to the store, when I know there was a truck route designated to that store (the street the truck was on was a no through-trucks zone).

A media outlet (I’m not sure if it’s TV or radio but because of the call letters I know it is a broadcast outlet of some kind) has a discussion of he “door prize” Getting “Doored”: More on the perils of bicycle commuting They seem to have a resident troll in their comments section. I have to say that I have never gotten a door prize on my bike, mostly because I’m very careful around parked cars and partially because there isn’t a lot of on-street parking allowed here in my part of Dallas County. I also give a great deal of credit to dumb luck.

And finally from the UK is a report on a left-hook wreck that I reported on from when this blog was located on a different provider. In the UK madia are not allowed to give any details of a wreck until after it is adjudicated. In most cases where there were no crfiminal charges filed that requires waiting until the coroner’s inquest is finished. Cyclist’s death was an accident, concludes coroner That’s funny I don’t draw the same conclusion from the data presented in the article. I draw the conclusion that the drivcer of the truck neglected to clear his right-of-way prior to making the left turn (like a US driver making a right turn) across the bicycle path. The cyclists were standing at the light for 27 seconds as shown by a security camera from a nearby store, when they left at the green light. One of the cyclists was subsequently caught in the rear wheels of the trailer.

And that’s enough for tonight.

Billed @$.02, Opus