I had been planning on taking a bike ride today to get free lunch and post this this afternoon, but the predicted scattered thunderstorms did not materialize and instead we got a steady rain for at least 4 hours with occasional thunder. I don’t have fenders made for this bike yet, and I prefer not to ride when there is lightning in the area, so my butt is parked at home in front of the computer, reading about bike wrecks and coming up with a post about same. Then I’m going to cook some beans with a ham bone. Had the weather cooperated I would be doing this post as the beans were cooking.
Up first is a memorial ride for the former Navy SEAL who was killed in VA. Beach cyclists rally to mourn loss, push for safer roads Yes, the comments section is a waste of bandwidth, with far too many people substituting opinion for facts, and the few times facts are included in the argument they are discarded because they don’t agree with a subsequent commenter’s opinion. There was also a Ghost Bike installed near the site of the wreck.
A cyclist is killed in LA by a large truck. Larose cyclist killed in hit-and-run Unless the truck driver was able to see the cyclist, he may not have known he even hit anything. I have friends who are or used to be long haul truckers and they say that they can run over small cars with their trailers and not know unless someone tells them. I’m sure hitting a cyclist with anything other than the front bumper would have similar non-consequences for a big rig. I used to drive local delivery and when fully loaded even the smaller trucks used for local delivery you can hit something quite large and no know it, not that I ever did. I actually lost that job because I was too careful to avoid hitting things. They kinda wanted me to drive faster and get there sooner… Anyway, as a cyclist you need to give big rigs a wide berth and never ride to the right of one in the same lane when approaching an intersection lest you be right hooked. Truck drivers don’t want to hit you as it can cost them their jobs even if they are not at fault, but most of the time they can’t see what’s right in front of them or especially what is to their right until it gets a certain distance behind the cab. Remember if you can’t see the driver in the mirrors, the driver can’t see you, and will probably proceed as if you were not there.
A newspaper columnist tries to tell cyclists how to be safe on the roads. Nine tips for safe bicycling Mostly a good article except for putting helmets first on the list. Helmets are your last line of defense after everything else has failed.
Voices of dissent are raised when Tucson bans bicycle from another park for extreme sports. Bikers at odds with Tucson skate park I can see where this is a problem, when riders are killed or injured doing stunts on the street or in other public spaces, but get arrested when they try to use the parks, where it is saf(er). Makes no sense to me unless they just want to see kids getting killed.
In the UK another memorial ride for fallen cyclist Derek Witt on the occasion of what would have been his 51st birthday. Hampshire riders remember cyclist Derek Witt on his birthday The wreck this ride commemorates was before the time this blog was transferred to WordPress, but it was a bad one with several cyclists hit and injured, some permanently crippled, and Derek Witt was killed. As of this report there still hasn’t been any final report issued.
Also from Jolly Olde is a shunt with minor injury between a bike and car. Cyclist injured in road traffic collision (Fishponds) From the few details released it appears that this was a left hook wreck, the UK equivalent of the US right hook. Not much you can do except leave yourself an escape route and be ready to use it. Also keep your head on a swivel as you approach and enter intersections. Intersections are the major location and cause for fatal bike wrecks.
A more typical UK report has nothing besides there was a cyclist killed on a road. Two boys die in Leeds crash; cyclist killed in Keighley accident This is the more typical UK report, nothing on the wreck except location and some of the participants and a description of their vehicles.
And that’s all for today. Maybe more later if I get it.
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 