After yesterday’s marathon, a trip around the block

I had so many links open yesterday that by the time I finished filtering the Feed my computer was almost stopped from all the ads and just plain number of open windows. I posted how it took almost 2 hours just to open the page that let me compose a post, what I didn’t put up was that sentence took almost 10 minutes to go up and spell check. I mean we had some serious issues with (lack of) speed yesterday. I just hope it was worth it, that someone learned something from it that would help then in the future.

Up first is not a big choice today, we have wreck, wreck, and LifeStyle to choose from, so I think I’ll go with one of the wrecks. In Pittsburgh, 3 doctors were on a ride when 2 were hit by a hit-and-run driver in a Gold SUV. Children’s Hospital Doctors On Bikes Injured In Hit-And-Run This is the classic right hook, cyclists riding as required by law on the right side of the lane when the SUV passed other vehicles and then turned right, hitting one and getting hit by the other, with the 3rd doctor far enough back to avoid the wreck. Because this driver made an illegal turn from the inside lane there wasn’t any warning for the cyclists to be able to use any of the protocols to avoid this wreck. IOW this was another Kreskin wreck. A Kreskin wreck is a wreck that you would have to be a psychic to avoid.

The other wreck is a cyclist getting run over by a bus in the Great White North. Cyclist seriously injured after being dragged under city bus Not much to go on from the report, but given the mid-block wreck site and the fact the lane had been narrowed because of construction I would say that this was probably a hit-from-behind. Because of the construction none of the normal hit-from-behind protocols could be used except for making yourself visible to drivers via lane position, and if the driver doesn’t care about not hitting you because of a sense of entitlement, you get squished like this cyclist.

Last link is to a wounded warrior group riding in the UK. Injured soldiers to take up 50-mile cycle challenge You have to admire the courage to press on when your life is basically re-routed to the slow lane with potholes…

And that’s all the bicycle stuff I have today, the rest of the Feed was motorcycles and motorcycle wrecks.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

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Running at a snail’s pace, the Feed

Well, I clicked to pull this page up at 1748, and it’s now 1943, and I just got the headline up. To say that my computer has been a bit sluggish would be an understatement. I’m greatly looking forward to getting that replacement computer soon.

Up first is an update on the man that rolled a stop sign into a pickup truck doing the 55 MPH speed limit. ID released of cyclist killed in Corning I still don’t understand how or why this happened, but to avoid, stop at stop signs leading to major arterials. It really is as simple as that.

A man from NY state is killed on a Memorial Day weekend ride to honor veterans. Cyclist killed in Plumstead hit and run This was a hit-from-behind wreck, so use the hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, or since this happened at a pay ride that was supported by LEO perhaps roaming snipers…

A wreck in NJ that is being kept under wraps as far as LEO releasing any information is concerned. Bicyclist struck, critically injured in Burlington City I seldom see a wreck where there is this much secrecy unless there is some kind of criminal activity on the part of the driver at fault. Actually I seldom see a wreck with this much secrecy in the US, period.

Moving down the coast from there, a cyclist is also mysteriously hit in SC. Bicyclist hospitalized after being hit by deputy cruiser Not much I can say about this one except, why was a 76 YO working as a LEO?

There were 2 wrecks in this link from Oz, the cyclist was the one clipped from behind, not hit head-on like in the headline. Man dies in head-on crash Since this was a hit-from-behind wreck (which seems to be the theme for the day) use the hit-from-behind protocols link at the top of the page to avoid a similar wreck.

Infrastructure! of a legal variety in FL, the most deadliest place in the US to walk or ride a bicycle, Little awareness of Florida’s 3-foot law for cyclists From the comments it seems rather obvious that many do not agree with the law, or having bicycles on the roads at all.

Cyclists in OH demonstrate how to drive around cyclists in this video and article. Bicycles, motorists sharing the road (with video) Again, bad commenters, no cookie for you. If you keep it up, no driver’s license either… Do you know that some of those statements could be considered terroristic threats?

Infrastructure in the Great White North. Bad weather doesn’t slow Laurier bike-lane work Plus there’s some good advice on how to ride legally in Canada.

LifeStyle and advocacy in OH. Cleveland: Cyclists raise awareness by riding in ‘Critical Mass’ When you have idiots running the show in your local transportation department, sometimes you need to do idiotic things to get their attention. Or you could just stage a mass ride that obeys every rule and law and ignores the imaginary ones which will bollux up the traffic flow something awful… 🙂 And in reply to the only comment to this link, there is no “right” to pass a cyclist, unless and until there is room to do so safely.

More LifeStyle from AZ. Friends create fundraiser CD for injured cyclist For those not connecting the dots, this is for the cyclist that was hit from behind in the bike lane last month by a hit-and-run driver more busy texting than driving. Even if it’s a crappy CD you should buy one to help the cyclist, because it doesn’t look like the cyclist will be getting anything from the driver, who had no license and no insurance. Maybe he can get some money by auctioning off some of her organs, I bet her brain is hardly used 😛 😉

Final link a radio program in the great White North promotes violence against cyclists. Radio show gives bike riders the gears more hate and stupidity in the comments again…

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Potential new T-shirt idea

Well I think I mentioned my wife telling me she was going to get me a T-shirt that said “Eating Machine”. Well this has a precedent in the bicycling world, so I was thinking I needed to make that T-shirt:

Bicyclist, n

… 3. Eating machine on 2 wheels.

So, comments?

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Lots of stories with multiple links, the Feed

Today was a Feed with lots of multiple link stories, some with additional information, some just multiple regurgitations of the original police report. There were a couple of stories that just infuriated me, some that puzzled me, and one that, well I’ll post my reaction when I get to that particular story. I’m taking the weekend off from riding the bike, except for any trips to the grocery store that might be needed, one because there are too many really stupid people out there who have “had a bit”, and the other because this is a really busy weekend for racing, I will be watching Indy on Sunday morning, the World 600 Sunday evening, and sports cars from Lime Rock CT (a really pretty track to watch a race at) on Monday. I might catch the Nationwide Series from Charlotte today if I get done in time. People are genuinely puzzled that I’m such a big fan of racing cars while being such an advocate for active transportation, but I tell them that cars belong on a track, away from people that might get hurt. Also racing is an engineering problem that fascinates me: Under constraints of X.Y, and Z go as fast as possible, or at least faster than the anybody else. It’s the same mentality I bring to Human Powered Vehicles: define the constraints, then go as fast as possible within those constraints.

Up first is almost always a hard decision, when there’s nothing close to local and more than one story with multiple links it becomes even harder to choose. I think that the story of the elderly man rolling through a stop sign in front of a pickup truck qualifies today. Crash Involving Bicycle and Pickup Kills One and Cyclist killed in Corning collision also Crash kills Corning bicyclist and even Bicyclist killed on South Avenue near Corning This was a wreck with multiple witnesses who saw the cyclist roll the stop sign directly into a vehicle moving at a moderately high rate of speed. Nobody understands this wreck, including me. The cyclist was a mature individual, and not racing or otherwise engaging in an exercise in speed, and there was no visible gap in traffic when he went through the stop sign. According to one witness report he just slowed a bit and went right in front of the pickup truck, no panic or anything out of the ordinary until he got hit. To avoid, stop at stop signs until traffic clears.

One of the stories that infuriated me is this hit-from-behind on the shoulder still in CA. Visalia man killed when pick-up hits him on McAuliff Road The other links have gone 404 on me, but the gist of the story is the guy that got hit had a regular route that he would ride recovering recyclable materials from the side of the road riding his adult tricycle and towing a trailer made from an old shopping cart, total vehicle length about 12 feet and about 4 feet high with a back panel of about 3 feet tall and almost 3 feet wide. So a vehicle with a very large visual profile, riding on the shoulder of the road not actually in the road, gets hit from behind by a driver that claimed to never have seen the cyclist before he hit the other vehicle. There is no way for any cyclist to avoid a wreck like this, because the drivers is an egregious asshole that shouldn’t be on the road, or in this case driving off the road.

A bike ninja in NC is killed Top Stories – Charges Not Likely in Fatal Teen Bike Accident No lights, no reflectors, wearing hipster black clothing, at night. Can we say bad choices?

Another story that infuriates me Charge in cyclist’s death expected to be dropped I sincerely hope that since they can’t try him on the charges because of his continued mental problems that he is permanently housed in state custody for the protection of the community and himself. IOW he may have beaten the rap, but not the sentence, he will spend more time as a patient than he would have ever gotten as an inmate. BTW the comments section is a hoot on this one as racism apparently outweighs cyclist hate…

Lots of links about the girl run over by a semi hauling hogs in Canuckistan, but they all say pretty much the same thing. Young woman cyclist killed after hit by hog truck near Steinbach, Manitoba and Steinbach teen dies in traffic accident I had like 9 links to this, all word-for-word identical except the headlines. Nothing in any of the articles about direction of travel of either vehicle aside from the hog truck turning west on 52 from the other highway, so I can’t tell you how to not get hit in a similar wreck.

Final report from the UK is a guy that knows when a helmet saved his life because that’s what his day job involves. Nottingham crash test professor ‘saved’ by helmet Since this guy does stuff like this for a living, I’m inclined to believe him when he says the helmet reduced the impact energy enough to prevent catastrophic injury.

And that’s all I have today, tomorrow will be a wreck free rant on a subject to be determined.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

A quiet day hopefully leading into a quiet weekend, and the Feed

Today is planned to be somewhat peaceful, but we all know what happens to plans. I’m going to do some church business tonight, followed by dancing at the drum circle (very good for core strength and endurance) Then I’m going to spend as much of the Memorial Day weekend off the roads as I can manage, which is going to include not going to services this Sunday. I’m not staying home because of the increased danger posed by drivers with varying degrees of inebriation prowling the streets and byways, Sunday has the Indianapolis 500 in the morning followed by the Coca-Cola World 600 in the evening. These are events I have been watching on TV ever since I was a little child, literally. One of my earliest memories was watching roadsters (front engine racers) running at Indy, I think it was the year Jim Rathman won or finished second, I just remember the announcer saying Rathman’s name over and over during the show, and I definitely remember when Jim Clark won in the Lotus, the one with the suspension biased to make the car turn left. And as for NASCAR, well my affiliation with NASCAR has been well documented in this blog. I’ll be staying off the roads, partially because of the drunks, but not primarily.

There are a lot of Infrastructure! stories in the Feed today, mostly from the UK, and there are some whacko things from the US, plus a lot of dead and injured cyclists.

Up first is one of the reasons why the roads are so dangerous today, not just for cyclists but for any road user. Norfolk man to serve 5 years for 8th DUI conviction Seven DUI convictions, and he was still allowed to have a car, even though he could not legally drive it. Seriously, there needs to be some way of regulating who can buy WMD transportational devices to keep guys like this from ever getting behind the wheel. Something like a license, or registration, that was required before being able to purchase one, with mandatory forfeiture when that license was no longer in effect… something like… a driver’s license? I don’t know how this man was able to drive drunk for so long without killing another road user, because you know that statistically for every time a drunk driver is caught there were 4 to 5 times he wasn’t caught.

A cyclist is injured in OH. Avon Lake Police Blotters: Wayward Toilet Found, Bicyclist Struck by Car Aside from an approximate location and a summation of the rider’s condition when ambulance crews arrived, I couldn’t find anything useful about this wreck, but based on the mid-block location of the wreck and the Google Satellite View, I’d say this was a hit-from-behind wreck, so use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid a similar situation.

The huge disconnect between actions and consequnces hits home again in MD. Driver Fined in Collision With Hopkins Cyclist For those that have forgotten this wreck, it was a right-hook of a cyclist in the bike lane, and the driver left her vehicle sitting on top of the cyclist with the motor running, causing 3rd degree burns from the exhaust and brain damage from the weight of the vehicle keeping the cyclist from breathing. The driver didn’t even complete her pass of the cyclist before starting the turn and drove right over him in the bike lane. At last report it wasn’t known if the cyclist would ever regain consciousness. The driver was fined less than $250 for her actions.

Another report on the hit-and-run assault in AZ. Arrest in hit and run of Tucson cyclist Apparently this person was “too busy” to actually get a license and hang up to drive. It looks now like the cyclist she hit will survive, but be pretty much a basket case the rest of his life. With a great deal of rehabilitation he might be able to feed and clothe himself, but as for finding work to pay for that food and clothing, not much hope of that.

A cyclist is killed by a turning semi in Canuckistan. Cyclist killed in crash At this point direction of travel for both vehicles is not known, but intersection protocols apply in either case.

Another intersection wreck in Canada. Cyclist injured in accident Typical left cross collision, “The driver of the vehicle was issued a ticket for failing to yield.” That’s not typical, LEO are starting to get the message that “yield to oncoming traffic when turning left” applies to all traffic, including bicycles. Anyway, intersection protocols, with emphasis on turning right to reduce angle of impact.

Crazy Infrastructure! from NYC, home of the rabid anti-bicycle crazies in government. Councilman: Get License Plates On Delivery Bikes Delivery cyclists are already required to have some kind of identifying uniform with the name and phone number of the company they work for, so I don’t see any benefit from this aside from making delivery cycling more expensive.

Moving to the UK this wreck was as much an infrastructure issue as a driver issue. A week before speed reduction comes into force, second cyclist killed on Surrey road This was a known problem area before the wreck, and was already slated for revamp to begin after the wreck, not much consolation for the relatives of the deceased.

Heavy Goods Vehicles kill cyclists and pedestrians because drivers don’t know they’re there to be avoided, so a technological solution must be imposed. Proposed Bill set to reduce road fatalities Is enough is being done to protect cyclists on Northamptonshire’s roads? The Chron investigates Because of the blind spots that could hide an entire peloton of bicycles, and because many of the deceased arrived at the intersections they were killed at before the semi that killed them, UK and EU legislators are asking that the vehicles be retrofitted with a variety of mirrors and sensors that will let the driver know that there is(are) a squishy(s) in his blind spot(s). Basically what they want is to improve the SA of the person in control of the multi-ton killing machine since so many of the wrecks involved running over stationary cyclists and pedestrians who could not get out of the way of the truck.

Infrastructure in Oz. What is it going to take to stop someone getting killed? A street that people ignore the speed limit putting cyclists and pedestrians at risk, how could you possibly fix that…? The cheap way proposed is to install speed cameras to take pictures of speeding vehicles and fine the owners big $$. It’s quick, cheap, and eventually pays for itself with fines. The expensive way is to install things like road humps and chicanes that physically slow down motor vehicle traffic while allowing bicycles and pedestrians unimpeded flow.

Finally, an article that reminds drivers in the Great White North that not every legal road user has a motor and 4 wheels. Remember to share the road “Share the road” does not mean “Bicycles get the hell off the road”, it means drivers have to wait until it is safe to pass before passing a cyclist or pedestrian, and not just safe for them to drive but safe for the cyclist or pedestrian.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I’m eating my 5th meal of the day, and my wife wants to get me a t-shirt

This is the down side of being a cyclist: eating. Food is our fuel, and tasty fuel it is, too. But I can only eat so much at a single meal, so I have to spread them out a bit. Usually my wife only sees me eat 2 or 3 times a day, and she sees me eat what seems to her to be a lot of food. For a “normal human” what I eat would be excessive, but as I am losing weight (and body fat) at a slow rate, the amount of food I eat is not excessive. One of the demi-gods of cycling, either Sheldon Brown or Ken Keiffer, stated that a definition of a cyclist could be “eating machine on wheels”. My wife wants to put that on a T-shirt and make me wear it.

So, should I open a Cafe Press store, and sell that on a shirt?

PSA, Opus

“Mule Day” again, and the Feed

It’s beginning to look like I will never get a day home again, as I have to go haul groceries again today. For those who don’t read the other pages on this blog, getting groceries was the origin of Gigi’s name: Grocery Getter> G.G.> Gigi. Food is a Big Thing here at WoaB, because if the motor on my bike runs out of fuel things get real bad real quick for everything else. Bonking (running out of energy) is just the first stage in that disaster… Anyway, after today’s blog post, food will be purchased and I will get to haul it home. Good thing, too. I’m almost out of peanut butter, one of the major sources of both calories and protein here at WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell.

Up first is an update on a hit-and-run story in AZ. Unlicensed woman arrested in hit-and-run case As was suspected in the comments sections of previous articles on this story, the driver had neither license nor insurance when she hit the cyclist. As I pointed out if they just kept up surveillance of the windshield repair shops they would eventually catch the driver, because that is exactly what happened. Because the driver had the windshield replaced she is also facing additional charges of concealing/destroying evidence. That is a charge I wish would be placed against every hit-and-run driver. I mean think about it, what can you say about the BAC% of a driver that you don’t find until 24 hours or more after the wreck? Even given evidence that the driver had been drinking heavily for hours prior to the wreck, the way most DUI laws are written now without lab results showing a BAC% over the legal limit you can’t convict.

Moving to another case of hit-and-run, this time in VA. Reward doubled in hit-and-run of Virginia Beach bicyclist This was another one of those wrecks that a mere mortal cyclist had no way of avoiding.

Another reason not to hit the pedestrians, it hurts! as this UK cyclist can attest. Injured cyclist still in hospital Nothing about “Lycra louts” or anything else derogatory in this article so even given UK media laws it is apparent that the pedestrian caused the wreck. That is one of the beauties of cycling, in a wreck with a pedestrian the chances of injury are slightly biased in the favor of the pedestrian so cyclists will avoid such wrecks. Many times in wrecks with pedestrians the operators of motor vehicles are unaware they even hit anybody.

Infrastructure! from the UK. Investment is needed, say Bradford cyclists If what is stated in the article is correct, that cyclists suffer 5% of the fatalities but only account for 0.5% of the mode share, then the local governments are guilty of gross negligence at the very least, if not outright acts of terrorism. I mean a 2 foot wide cycle lane that is frequently covered by parked vehicles as an example of bicycle infrastructure?

Final link is another RoS story, a personal look at one of the victims of road violence. Doug Ray’s Story a lesson for cyclists I don’t know how this is more a lesson for cyclists than it is for drivers. Doug was the victim of a crime, hit-and-run, and probably an assault if the driver did it on purpose, while riding legally on the road.

And that’s all I have for you today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Plumbing supplies! (?) and the Feed

Yes, running late again today because I needed to get plumbing supplies. That’s just part of life as a Witch, someone has to fix the toilets when they get hard water deposits in the valves. I guess I could use a spell to fix it, but a trip to the hardware store and a little elbow grease are really a better solution. Do you know just how involved the incantation to fix a toilet is? About 3 pages (30 KB in my Disc of Shadows, with the pictures) just for the incantation and dance movements (not a dance really, but that’s the only vocabulary I have to describe it). If you think the Fusion Technique from DBZ was complicated, just wait until you read the Slow-filling Toilet Spell. 😉 Actually I’m running even later than I planned because I had to install the toilet parts before the fairer members of the household return from their labors and complain about the toilet not working up to their expectations. I’d like to give one of them a kick in the expectations.

Up first is always a struggle for me to decide. Who’s wreck is most deserving? I think these two links updating the hit-and-run of a cyclist in the bike lane last week fills the bill. Father of injured Tucson cyclist wants help, justice and Hit-and-run victim recovering from surgery, breathing on his own I like the part that TPD is staking out windshield shops. Like I posted before, it doesn’t matter how talented a DIY bodyman is, there is nothing that can repair a busted windshield except to replace it, and damned few places that can do that. Lean on them a bit and eventually you’ll catch every hit-and-run driver that bounces a victim off the windshield. Also the updates included more information about the mechanics of the wreck, including the fact that the driver had to swerve about a lane and a half to get close enough to the cyclist to hit him, and was talking on her cell phone at the time of the wreck. If I was a violent person I would say duct-tape the phone to her face with the ringer connected to the detonator of about a pound of C-4 so that the next call she got would be the last thing she knew on this world. At least the end would be painless for her as that much C-4 would aerosolize her down to about the ankles in a few hundredths of a second, less than the time required for her brain to process pain.

Up next is a bike ninja hit by a red-light-running cop in CO. Bicyclist seriously injured after being hit by Fort Collins police car and Cyclist injured after being hit by police car There is just so much going wrong here I don’t know where to start. First, we have a bike ninja, no lights or reflectors, dark clothing and no helmet at night. Second we have a cop, driving above the speed limit with no lights or siren, and running a red light. If the description of the directions of travel are correct then the cyclist was at a minimum crossed more than a lane and a half before the cop hit him, so if the cop was using headlights (admittedly not a given) then the cop should have been able to see the cyclist for several seconds before the cyclist was hit. If that was enough time to react to the cyclist’s presence or not given the speed of the cop car is really moot, because CO law requires lights at a minimum when doing things that would be against the law for a civilian, like running a red light while speeding. So, ninja cyclist: wrong. Cop car speeding and running red lights without emergency lights and siren: wrong. Who was more wrong? I would say the person in control of more than a ton of WMD that could kill multiple people in a fraction of a second would probably be more wrong, but I’m a bit biased.

Another link to the cyclist that rode on the hood of the car that hit-and-run him in Canada. Cyclist carried about 30 metres on hood of a car during hit and run crash – updated The cyclist has a small amount of brain damage but will probably recover since it was discovered early and treated.

A legal Infrastructure! article from NYC as cyclists fight back in the courts. Cyclist Class Action Lawsuit Looms As NYPD Ticket Blitz Booms It’s becoming increasingly obvious to even a casual observer that NYPD has been using legally dubious charges against cyclists, and writing tickets far out of proportion to either the numbers of cyclists or their dangers to the general population.

Another link on the cyclist whose bike got stuck in a pothole at speed getting $200K compensation from the people responsible for fixing potholes. Montreal cyclist awarded $200K for pothole crash For the metric challenged, 25 cm is danged close to 10″, or almost half the size of the tire that got caught and caused the rider to get launched into the pavement.

Last up is a link to a remembrance for LEO killed in the line of duty. Candlelight vigil follows bike ride to honor fallen officers As a relative of an active LEO the writing staff of WoaB supports this cause. The rider whose calorie counter went past its limit on one day’s ride was so awesome. That was an epic day.

And that’s all I have for today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

After a trip to the Lab Rat Keeper, and running all over Garland, the Feed

The post is going up late tonight, because I went to the Lab Rat Keeper, then took care of some errands that basically took the entire day to do. I didn’t get home until almost 1700 CDT, and I still had stuff I didn’t get to. So, I get to go out and play again tomorrow, and you get another late post, sorry. BTW if I ever get the chance to leave TX permanently I just might be out of here. If I had the $$ I would move to Portland OR, or Amsterdam, someplace I could ride a bike to where I need to go without someone trying to kill me because I was riding a bike.

Up first, while this kind of wreck is out of the normal purview of my blog, circumstances demand that I make note of the second rider to die in the Pro peloton this year. After going for years without a death we now have 2 in-competition fatalities. As is normal for my blog unless criminal charges are filed I don’t name the victim, because in traffic wrecks the Victim is Us, all of Us. My thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family.

A SC cyclist is killed in a hit-and-run, and when LEO catch up to the weapon vehicle the driver is obviously intoxicated. Cyclist killed in West Ashley accident identified, driver charged with DUI I have a suggestion, charge the driver with murder instead of DUI. The dangers of drinking and driving have been publicized for at lest 30 years now in the US, probably longer, but at any rate longer than the driver has been alive. If they can’t figure it out after being told repeatedly for their entire lives that drinking and driving are a deadly combination then they need to be removed from society for our protection. At the very least all motor vehicles need to be confiscated from the killer and sold to pay off the victim’s family for loss of income and medical expenses. Hit-from-behind but from the description of the wreck and the weapon vehicle this was not a wreck that could be avoided with the hit-from-behind protocols. Well, I was going to do a copy-and-paste of the description of the wreck and that part and all of the comments are gone from the link. Possibly something that will place the prosecution of the charges at risk was in one or the other.

Another hit-and-run of a cyclist in the Great White North. Cyclist injured after Hit and Run in St. Catharines It shouldn’t be too hard to find the weapon vehicle, remember that busted windshields can’t be fixed by DIY, it takes a specialist with special tools and most importantly, a new windshield. Just do a search request for all the windshield dealers in the area for all busted windshield replacements fitting the description of the weapon vehicle.

From Jolly Olde a semi runs over a cyclist, semi driver is unhurt. Cyclist fighting for life after collision in Ellesmere Port The cyclist on the other hand is clinging to life by a thread… That’s the thing about “HGV” they not only have kinetic energy from speed to kill you they also have the ability to crush you even at low speeds because of their mass. In a perfect world semis and cyclists would never have to cross or share paths, there would be “Semi Land” where big trucks are forced to stay and “Cycle-topia” where non-motorized vehicles have the right of way and heavy killing machines are severely restricted in their actions. As for how to avoid in the here-and-now, remember that most likely the driver of a big rig can’t see you. Truck drivers are facing a nightmare of bad outward visibility, so you need to cycle like you’re invisible unless you can see the driver’s eyes.

Brief break for a tornado.

Now that that’s over, still in the UK a first aid cadet saves a cyclist’s life and mobility. Birtley girl Rebecca aided cyclist hurt in crash By applying her training and using her skills in observation she prevented a spinal injury from permanently affecting the injured cyclist. As the saying goes “Good on ya!”

In Enn Zed an inquest into whether infrastructure contributed to cyclist deaths. Inquests look for ways to reduce cycle road toll I don’t know how infrastructure can prevent a driver from sliding sideways over 100 feet before hitting someone on the other side of the road, but I can imagine that perhaps a change in pavement at the point the driver lost control was involved.

Back in the US, I don’t know if this is a rant against cyclists or what, exactly. Will McGinn’s bike czar have this woman killed? Since I can’t watch the video I can’t comment on it, but it seems obvious that H8ers are going to hate and see what they want in the video, some are seeing “fake”, some are seeing a typical right hook.

How do you use bike infrastructure if you are not riding a bicycle? Carlisle bike lanes get mixed reviews We give drivers weeks of training and education on how to use the roads, but expect cyclists to understand something brand-new as soon as it opens, and drivers also?

A Ghost Bike article from SoCal. Ghost bikes aim to honor fallen cyclists, raise awareness

And another RoS link from WY. Evanston cyclists participate in Ride of Silence

And that’s all I have tonight.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

It’s Monday, time for weird in the Feed

Yes, the stuff that comes in in the Feed over Sunday and Monday has fewer wrecks and more LifeStyle and Infrastructure! articles than the rest of the week, but it seemed a little more weird than usual this week. That might just be me being less oblivious to weird than usual, or it might be not the quantity of weird but the quality of weird that’s setting me off this morning. Or it might be something about the wrecks, I don’t know.

One wreck I have been hearing about over the weekend was this hit-and-run that was caught on camera in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Video: Hollywood police seek fatal hit and run driver caught on camera Because of my computer being on its last legs I wasn’t able to see the whole video, so I can’t comment on the cyclist’s rear lights, but I can see that the cyclist was wearing a reflective vest that stood out quite prominently in the video that I could see. Anyway, hit-from-behind with a high curb blocking the cyclist’s escape to the right with the excessive speed of the driver combined to leave the cyclist with no escape route, no way to avoid this wreck. A combination of bad infrastructure and an oblivious, or impatient driver killed this cyclist.

Moving out to the West coast, we have a cyclist hit in one of Bugs Bunny’s favorite towns. Female bicyclist dies in Walla Walla crash Aside from the existence of the wreck there wasn’t any information released at the time the link was posted for me to tell you how to avoid a similar wreck.

Another report on the salmon cyclist hit by a truck in OR. Cyclist Killed on Oregon Highway The only reason I’m using the cyclist’s direction of travel was to identify this particular wreck, as the cyclist was not actually in the road until the crumbling pavement made him fall in front of the truck. Now for this particular wreck the cyclist’s direction of travel made a difference because it placed him on the same side of the road as the truck that hit him, but the crumbling pavement on the shoulder was what really killed him.

Moving to AZ, we have another hit-and-run. Public help sought to find hit-run driver It is small consolation that the cyclist survived (so far) this wreck, apparently a hit-from-behind. With a damaged windshield this car will be easy to find, just put a warrant out on places that sell replacement windshields. Most body work is within the realm of a DIY repair, but you can’t fix a busted windshield with a hammer, dolly, and a can of spray paint like I did the body panels after bouncing my Civic off a bumper during an ice storm 30 years ago. All you can do with a busted windshield is replace it with a new or used one that isn’t busted, so placing shops that sell them under court order to tell LEO if a car matching the description of the weapon vehicle shows up for a new one will eventually turn up the culprit unless the vehicle is driven or towed someplace outside the jurisdiction of the LEO in charge of this case.

A cyclist saw the vehicle that hit-and-ran, leading LEO to find the driver. Hit-run injuries jeopardize man’s firefighting career; police seek felony charges against woman Yeah, her “boyfriend” really threw this woman under the bus, or pickup truck in this case, by claiming she “stole” the truck when she hit the cyclist. At any rate the insurance (assuming there was any) would not cover this wreck with the vehicle being “stolen” which places then entire financial liability on the driver. Good luck on getting any compensation out of this wreck. And as far as avoiding the wreck, the cyclist was already in a bike lane when he was hit, not leaving him much of an escape route, but on the other hand there shouldn’t have been any motor vehicles in the bike lane, either.

A Canadian cyclist is compensated for injuries suffered as a result of bad infrastructure. Cyclist gets $200,000 for pothole mishap Had the government paid up promptly instead of delaying endlessly they would have had much less to pay out, as witnessed by the increase of 76% between the award by the court and the payment by the defendant, from just over $114K to just under $200K, Canadian. The wreck was basically an endo, caused by the front wheel getting stuck in the pothole while the rider was travelling at a relatively high speed, turning the bicycle into a catapult or trebuchet.

A cop gets killed riding a bike in the UK. Cyclist killed in Llanover named as police sergeant I wouldn’t want to be in the driver’s shoes now.

A cyclist in Oz isn’t going to take a wreck lying down, even if he has to lie down frequently during the day. Cyclist sues driver for $1 million Basically the guy survived almost being a basket case caused by the driver’s actions, and now he wants enough money to pay the bills caused by what the driver did. I think that’s perfectly reasonable. Plus a bit just because the driver was a twit, say?

A writer in CA gets all existential and angst-y over cycling infrastructure and road behavior. Cycling Safety Seriously, dude, switch to de-caf. Having to back-track against traffic because your route has been blocked does not make you a cold-blooded killer. It doesn’t even make the cyclist that killed the guy you referred to in your first link a cold-blooded killer, who was just trying to deliver some food to an address on that block when he hit the guy that died, because the guy that died hit his head when he fell.

More infrastructure news from VT. Vermont lags in making roads safe for all As someone in the comments section noted, the roads they have now are falling apart from lack of maintenance, with no money to repair them, but now they have to include bicycle and pedestrian facilities when the roads are repaired? Well, yes. If the roads had included accommodation for non-motorized modes of transportation they would have lasted a bit longer, both because putting bike-ped accommodations at the edge of a road prevents deterioration from starting at the edge and progressing to the main travel lanes, and because bikes are anywhere from 1/1100 to 1/8000 as damaging to roads as passenger vehicles, and about 1/160,000,000 as damaging as a legal-limit semi. From a roads standpoint if the cargo could be transported by bicycle in smaller chunks of ~300 pounds it would be much better to transport it by bicycles. as a comparison, an 80000 pound GVW semi is carrying about 65,000 pounds of actual payload. Divide that by the 500 pound payload capacity of a cargo bike and you’re looking at 130 bikes to move the cargo at essentially zero damage to the roads or environment, aside from the food that 130 cyclists moving 500 pound payloads would have to eat. Now for cargo that can’t be sent out in tiny chunks, the roads will still need to be maintained and rebuilt, but the more we move with non-motorized transportation the less maintenance and rebuilding we will have to do.

Interesting article from Canada about bicycle politics there. Bay Street bikers: Not every cyclist is a lefty pinko I’m slightly liberal in my politics, as in “Free to make your own choices that don’t prevent others from making their choices” liberal, but I don’t consider transportation policy to be a left or right wing situation. Transportation policy should be moving people and goods safely from point A to point B-Z” inclusive, by whatever mode is most suitable to the user. If that means moving 3 tons of furniture by bicycles and trailers down the street, or moving butts across the country in a jet, or getting in a car to go to work, the end user should be the one making the decision at the time, not some political hack in an office thousands of miles away years earlier deciding what modes of transport they are going to allow to be accommodated, and everything and everybody else can bugger off.

Another Wounded Warrior ride in NC. Injured vets on a roll in Soldier Ride As always WoaB asks you support this effort.

And final link is to a dilemma I have mentioned in this very blog. Taking the racing line – revvy or not? I have mentioned my long personal involvement with NASCAR, having made friends with many of the drivers, and worked in the behind-the-scenes jobs that keep the sport running. Also I have built cars for SCCA competition, and actively participated in those activities many years ago. I also built custom cars before I moved to building custom bicycles many years later. I like cars, I just don’t like driving in normal traffic any more. Even the last car I owned, a 1988 Hyundai Excel, was way more car than I needed to drive on the street. I was no way even close to the performance capabilities of even that modest vehicle. Can you imagine the unused potential of a 2011 Corvette on the street? The only way you can get close to the edge of the envelope with a modern car is to take it to a track, and just how often does that happen? I remain convinced that requiring regular track day attendance by drivers to retain their licenses would be a good thing both in teaching where the limits are for emergency maneuvers and for allowing a bit of release for drivers that never get to actually have fun driving. Just have a half day of review of emergency techniques in the morning followed by n afternoon of hot-lapping, then more hot laps in the dark to let them know the limits of their lighting systems. This would let them find out just how bad a driver they really are, and keep them from proving how bad a driver they are around me on my bicycle…

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus