Real life interferes with my blogging, and the Feed

I had to go make a house payment in person at the bank again today because of a check that took until yesterday afternoon to clear and a cash deposit that didn’t show up until last night. All told I had to ride 9 miles to make sure I had a place to park my bike at night. I’m still on track to record 2400 miles this year, which is a good mileage to let me ride the Bike MS (though I had forgotten about that, didn’t you?) without having leg issues. I have decided to clean up the kitty-litter buckets and ride with them on the Bike MS. I figure watching someone ride with two of those on the back of a bike with big chrome fenders catching the breeze with a sit-up-and-beg riding position for 150 miles would be demoralizing in extremis.

The cute news today is this link from Cycle Twin Cities about happy hour at a bike shop .

A cyclist moving on the bicycle phase of a traffic signal is hit by a truck making an illegal right turn on DC. Bicyclist Hit By Truck In DC The reports I’m getting now are that the truck made a right turn during a bike and pedestrian phase of the traffic control signal when right turns are illegal. The big thing on the initial reports was that the cyclist was not wearing a helmet on his rented bike. BLASPHEMY! Don’t they know a foam hat will prevent cars from hitting cyclists?[/sarcasm] More Bicyclist injured after collision on U Street NW

A killer driver pleads guilty and is sentenced for killing a cyclist while driving drunk and texting. Newport Coast woman pleads guilty in fatal crash and Newport Coast Woman Heads to Prison in Crash That Killed Cyclist Personally I would prefer to read a headline that reads “Drunk driver that was texting when she killed a cyclist in the bike lane sent to Death Row”, but that ain’t going to happen any time soon. What I am disappointed by is she could have gotten 10 years in prison and a permanent ban on driving, but will only face a 3 year ban after she gets out.

The teens that assaulted a cyclist on a bike trail resulting in the cyclist shooting 2 of them and killing one, are formally charged with the assault (except for the dead guy, he’s already in a box). Charges for 2 Teens in Pa. Bicyclist Attack Apparently the cyclist just missed a second head shot, the surviving attacker had a neck wound. Good shooting for a combat situation. he took out 2 of 3 assailants with no collateral damages or serious injuries on his part, except for the punch in the face from the initial attack.

An OR driver that ran a cyclist over in the left turn lane while she waited for oncoming traffic to clear faces homicide charges and is being held without bail. Motorist charged in wreck that killed bicyclist Fortunately there were cyclists who witnessed the wreck and saw the victim signalling her turn before she was hit from behind.

A child cyclist is hit in a crosswalk in the Great White North. Boy injured in crosswalk The cyclist activated the crosswalk warnings that gave him right of way in the crosswalk and then used his bike to clear the crosswalk as quickly as possible and was hit with a truck for his troubles, But the media outlet that carried the story still somehow managed to blame the kid for getting hit.

A bad spot to cycle in Enn Zed takes down another cyclist. Cyclist hit by car at site of earlier accident Something that is infuriating me about wreck reports from NZ is the constant “HiViz and helmets” barrage as if these would prevent wrecks even when it’s proven to not be effective (as in this wreck).

Still in Kiwi land, a couple riding a tandem get a bad case of the speed wobbles and crash heavily. Tourists riding tandem bicycle injured in crash If the cyclists were riding a rented bike hopefully the bike shop will not be renting that bike to other people now that it’s crashed and caused injury. If they were riding their own bike they don’t have to worry about shipping it home now…

The big Infrastructure! news has been that bridge in the Twin Cities that had a structural failure (fortunately an easily repairable failure). As I guessed from the early reports there had been several motor vehicles over that bridge just before the failure was discovered. Ambulance Drove on Sabo Bridge Days Before Failure The blog that broke the story Two-cents on the Sabo bridge deal. Apparently the bridge is designed to carry one or 2 motor vehicles at a time, but something wasn’t up to spec in the construction and caused the 2 cables to fail. And the bike link that told me about it Twin Cities Cycling News From Around the Web

Infrastructure news from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, after yet another fatal wreck involving a cyclist in the bike lane. New bicycle advisory committee hopes to make biking safer in Manatee and Cyclists, Politicos Convene Bike Safety Summit

More infrastructure from the land of the cheese heads. Tougher Penalties Loom for Injuring Bicyclists, Other ‘Vulnerable Road Users’ The best illustration of why this law is needed is by reading the comments on the article.

And that’s all the links that give me fits.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Running ridonkulously late after visits to the Lab Rat Keeper and a potential source of income, and the Feed

Yep, I had another visit to the LRK for more meds to control my BP (which is V good, average under 116/75) and record my weight (holding just under 206). I also visited the local plasma center to find out how much I could get selling my blood plasma ($50/month) until my job reviewing road and highway projects for not killing bicyclists comes through. Another reason I was late today was because the Daytona 500 ran into Tuesday morning after Juan Pablo Montoya’s car broke at the exact wrong time while passing one of the jet dryers and ran into the trailer with the jet engine and 200 gallons of jet fuel and then hit the truck towing it breaking the 50 gallon tank of diesel fuel, causing a fire that burned for quite a while until trackside firefighters could get it under control and then out. I have been watching NASCAR racing since I was tiny (OK tiny-er much smaller than I am now) and this is the first time I can remember seeing or hearing about a race car hitting a safety vehicle during a caution. I recall there were a couple of incidents in F1 back about 20 or 30 years ago that led to changes in yellow flag rules to prevent such things from happening again, and a tow truck was hit during an SCCA race back in the late pleistocene when someone was passing the car being towed and didn’t see the truck actually towing it.

I open the day’s link-fest with this bit of non-yogurt bicycle culture. Tiny Bike Shop Concert Returns Thursday If you are in the area drop in for a listen and/or watch. And a pretty picture, too

First up, a sentence that seemed to come from Bizarro World. Colorado Springs man sentenced to 8 years in prison in crash that killed cyclist Yes, you read that right, a halfway reasonable sentence for killing a cyclist, even when they couldn’t prove the driver was drunk. More Eight years in prison for driver in cyclist hit-and-run and Man gets prison time for crash that killed cyclist

Arrest in a fatal hit-and-run in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Tampa police arrest man in deadly hit-and-run In the comments we find the victim had not exactly led a spotless life as a driver or as a cyclist, but that still doesn’t mean that he deserved to die at the hands of a drunk driver.

Another guilty driver gets a hefty sentence in SC. Man sentenced to 15 years in fatal hit-and-run I have to say that just a short couple of years since an off-duty firefighter shot a cyclist in the helmet and got away with it the fact that a driver in a fatal wreck with a bicycle was given such a harsh sentence surprizes me some. More Clover driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Rock Hill bicyclist So many of the comments were about the drunk driver being in the wrong in this case after the last link.

Another report on a NJ bike wreck. Bicyclist killed in Egg Harbor Township identified as Mays Landing teen, 2010 Mainland graduate AFAIK this was a hit-from-behind wreck which most likely would be the fault of the driver, but since the driver is LEO what will be decided is questionable.

A kid in IL gets trapped under a car that hit him while he was legally crossing a street in a crosswalk. UPDATED: Bicycling Teen Trapped Under Car, Seriously Injured in Darien From the report it appears the driver was seriously distracted by an impending court appearance. As for the cyclist he had no chance to avoid this wreck as he had committed to the crosswalk and was not going fast enough to be able to avoid a motor vehicle crossing his path.

A terrible situation in CT. Cops: Teens Beat Girl, Rob Bicycle A group of older children/young adults assaulted the girl in the road in broad daylight and beat her up after stealing her bicycle. Not something you can avoid except by looking “badder” than the punks, which is hard for a 14YO girl to do.

Cyclists in Oz share a common complaint with cyclists everywhere, LEO go after cyclists out of proportion to their numbers and their offenses because cyclists are easier to catch than any other vehicle. Bikes ‘the focus’ in cop road sting In spite of cyclists only being 2% of the traffic, and cyclists not breaking the law more than any other group on the road, the cyclists managed to rack up 10% of the tickets…

Infrastructure news from NYC. Bike, walk or run in Prospect Park? Big changes coming down the road Changes are made to reduce the exposure to the most dangerous thing in the park, the motor vehicles, Car time is reduced to a couple hours a day during the week and none at all during the park’s heaviest use during the weekend.

More infrastructure news from the Big Apple. Making Cities Safer for Cyclists and Pedestrians The trick is if you get enough people out of cars you automatically make life safer for everybody else, because the deadliest thing in a city is the motor vehicle. In NYC motor vehicles kill more people on the sidewalks in a week than bicycles kill anywhere in the city in a year. In Dallas we had a fatality in 2010 that was the first pedestrian killed by a cyclist in the entire state in this century, so the fewer cars you have on the roads and the more people you have riding bicycles and walking, the fewer people are going to get killed by any means or method of mobility.

Infrastructure news from the Great White North. Trail’s dangerous rail crossing to be fixed If they had bothered to build it right in the first place they wouldn’t have to be spending more money now to tear out the mistake and build it right.

And that’s all the news I can stand today (tonight?).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still waiting on the 500, and the Feed

Well I’m still waiting on the rain to quit and NASCAR to get the Daytona 500 started. The current news is that they hope to have the track dried out and the race started shortly after 1900 EST, when I have a ritual planning session I have to leave for an hour later, so I will probably miss the finish.

Up first because the Feed is a dog’s breakfast of unsortable links, is a wreck in IN (I think). Bicycle rider dies after being struck in Jeffersonville The wreck appears to be a SWCC at this point, but is still under investigation. The cyclist appeared to be legally crossing the road at the time of the wreck. Until I know the mode of the wreck I can’t say how to avoid it with the current built environment, SBR would definitely prevent it in the future. More Cyclist dies of injuries from accident in Jeffersonville Well at least I know the direction of travel now…

Some kind of a turning movement into a cyclist in NJ. Irvington man killed after SUV hits his bicycle in Newark Aside from the turn to the street I can’t find a direction of travel for either of the vehicles in this wreck. Another link with nothing more to add Traffic Accidents Claim Two This Weekend From what I can get from these reports is that the cyclist was JRA and the SUV turned into his lane and hit him. What I can’t find out is if the SUV hit the cyclist from the front because the driver cut the corner, or if the SUV hit the cyclist from behind because the driver did not pay attention to what was in the road in front of him before and after making the turn. Either way there was no way for the cyclist to make an avoiding maneuver in the amount of time he had to assess the situation, he went from JRA with no other vehicle on his street to BAM! lying on the road, dead. The only thing that would prevent a wreck like this would be SBR…

A cyclist is hit-and-run in NC. Bicyclist injured in hit and run in Orange County I was able to see a few frames of that video and the road did not look good, but if the driver had been actually driving instead of just sitting behind the wheel of the car and keeping it between the ditches it would have not been a problem. Of course there is the possibility that the driver did it on purpose, but unless that is proven I’m going to say hit-from-behind protocols would work with the built environment, but SBR would prevent it entirely.

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, not even members of the local gov’t are immune from idiots behind the wheels of cars. Bike collisions with vehicles on rise on Marco; three bicycle committee members hit Note that of the three wrecks none were the fault of the rider, all involved a motor vehicle violating the right of way of the person riding the bicycle, including one driver that ran a stop sign (something only cyclists do, right?)

A really strange wreck in GA as a cyclist is hit by a stolen… firetruck? Makeshift Memorial Marks Site Where Pedestrian was Killed by Man Driving Stolen Firetruck Apparently the cyclist was pushing a bike when he was hit…

A serious wreck in Enn Zed as a cyclist is hit so hard he ended up inside the weapon vehicle. Cyclist in hospital after windscreen collision Not much there on the mode of the wreck, but SBR would have prevented it…

Infrastructure! from Seattle. 104 pedestrians killed in 8 years; more Seattle streets should be on a diet, advocates say

Infrastructure from the afore-mentioned deadliest state. Make streets safer for bicyclists and everyone else Notice the number of comments screaming “roads are made for cars” and that everyone else should just stay home…

A person that has been trying to get decent infrastructure to the rest of the world has taken his fabulous blog off line because he can’t make any money off it and people that should be paying to use his content are stealing it without attribution and passing it off as their own. David Hembrow, A View from the Cycle-Path As sad as I am to lose this resource (that I have sent my elected officials to on numerous occasions) I see his point. He has done a ton of work on this and has made less than $15/year in compensation for it…

LifeStyle from MD as they remember a cyclist that died from a right hook by a driver that was half-blind from the effects of age. Family, friends and cyclists remember Krasnopoler – and pledge to fight for him and Hopkins student Nathan Krasnopoler remembered at candlelight vigil one year after bike accident And Hopkins Student Killed In Collision Remembered At Vigil The calls for better infrastructure, better laws, and better law enforcement against drivers that kill are the same thing I call for every day in this blog, sometime explicitly, sometimes implicitly.

And as a reward for reading this far, a nice picture

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Waiting on the rain in Daytona, Wreck-Free Sunday

Well, it rained this morning in Daytona, which has delayed the running of the 500. And now there are no more drivers left running the Cup series that I know personally, as Michael Waltrip did not make the race this year. Mikey was the last Cup series driver that I had met personally. I used to work for Sterling Marlin at the tire concession at Nashville Fairground Speedway, back when it was just Nashville Speedway before they built the big track over near Lebanon TN. I used to hang out in Darrell Waltrip’s speed shop in Franklin TN before he closed it and sold the building, which is where I met Mikey. And I met several Cup drivers during special events at the Fairgrounds, like Bill Elliot, and Terry Labonte, I think I met Rusty Wallace there, too. But all of those drivers have left the Cup series since then, and I have heard that the Fairgrounds may be closing, too. That would be sad for me, another chunk of my past that was taken away from me…

As for bikey things that are going on, my proposed job is on hold until the transportation bills wind their way through Congress and they decide if the position will be allowed under the new bill. Talk about a terrible situation, my fate lies in the hands of people that are actively working against the existence of my job.

And the race has just been put off until tomorrow, while I was taking care of Blue out back, lubing the chain and tightening a few nuts and bolts to silence some rattles.

Everyone have a good night.

Opus

Hoping my computer holds together, and the Feed

Well, the LAN adapter on my computer is working most of the time, but not all the time and quits with no warning and comes back the same way. So I have no idea when I’m going to get this post published or even if I will be able to get this post published.

Up first because I like to start with something nice when I can, here’s a picture of a fat-tire bike with fenders in the snow. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 2.24.12 Aren’t those fenders nice?

Another cyclist was shot to death, this time in Chicago. Man killed in North Lawndale neighborhood Apparently someone just shot the cyclist because he was riding a bicycle.

They think they have found the perp in a hit-and-run fatality of a recumbent trike rider in AL. Person of Interest named in Cyclist Hit and Run I hope they find out why the driver hit the cyclist in this wreck, because the trike was covered in reflective material and lighted like a Mardi Gras float. If the driver didn’t see it he had to be blind drunk, and if he did see it he had to have hit the trike on purpose because he had almost the entire road to use to pass with.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a driver is excused for running over a cyclist from behind. Because the cyclist was in the road to get hit. Milton man fatally injured on bike after being struck by vehicle

More from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running. UF student in fair condition after bicycle crash This is an update on that cyclist cut off by an SUV pulling into her lane while the cyclist had right of way and was doing 30 MPH. Just one word for this wreck: “Ouch!”

A Canadian cyclist is also blamed for being in the road to get hit. No charges in collision that killed Regina cyclist Again the only surviving witness gets to explain what happened to his advantage and gets believed.

A cyclist in Oz gets car-smacked. Cyclist seriously injured on Beach Rd Aside from the wreck itself there wasn’t much meat in this story.

Infrastructure! news from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Across Miami-Dade, passions run high when cars and bikes share the road Yeah, the cyclists in all 3 wrecks were riding in bike lanes and drivers are getting all bent out of shape because other, different, cyclists sometimes roll stop signs or red lights. And some of those comments…!

Infrastructure news from the UK. 77 MPs discuss bike safety and the “joy of cycling” in 3-hour debate and Devon MP wants speed limit lowered on rural roads to protect cyclists

Obit for the cyclist killed in Miami. Remembering Aaron Cohen, 36, victim of a hit-and-run while biking on Rickenbacker Causeway

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another one of those days where you feel like chucking it, and the Feed

I’m trying to calm my nerves with my favorite meditation music (Blue Man Group’s first CD, yes I meditate to polyrhythmic drum music) after the first run-through of the Feed, but I’m not having as much success as I normally do. I guess trying to get in the meditative state and writing are not a good mix?

I’m going to open up with a link to the world as drivers see it versus the word as cyclists see it. Seeing Things I draw your attention to the upper right corner of the picture of the world as cyclists see it, something I missed on first inspection. And yes I sometimes am that dense, but they again if my skull wasn’t that dense I might not be here to write this blog.

Our first wrecks come from the state that has killed more cyclists and pedestrians than any other state in the US for 6 years running. 74-year-old bicyclist killed in wreck and Milton man killed in accident The cyclist was hit-from-behind in the inside lane, possibly while preparing to make a left turn. Looking at the Street View for the area I think it’s possible he was trying to get to a legal place to turn around through the median. Anyway, lights reflectors, and SA to avoid under current conditions, or SBR to make the wreck impossible.

Still in FL. Sarasota man dies after being hit while riding bike across U.S 41 and Bicyclist Killed By Oncoming Car Again looking at the street View of the site, this is a huge street, with 8 lanes to cross. The cyclist could have been caught by a stale green or even a light that would not detect his presence and change for his safe passage. Given the cyclist’s age I would be more inclined to the stale green, especially if he was balked by a turning driver and had to slow or stop after entering the intersection, us old guys sometimes don’t have a whole lot of acceleration unless we are training specifically for that.

Not clear of FL yet as an SUV cuts off a group of cyclists, intersection the path of 2 of them. 2 UF students hurt in cycling accident near I-75 Note that the cyclists were in the bike lane/shoulder when the SUV pulled across their direction of travel too close for the cyclists to stop after leaving the stop sign. Whether the driver actually stopped at the stop sign is a matter of conjecture.

Moving just a little bit to AL, another link to the cyclist hit on a recumbent trike. Retired Milwaukee Firefighter killed in crash in Alabama There’s no reason to hit a vehicle from behind that had as much neon-colored reflective material and lights on the back as this guy had. More Police search for driver in hit-and-run death of cyclist in Gulf Shores also Cyclist Death Investigation In Gulf Shores and Roadblock used to get info on accident

A rider in Seattle is injured in a mystery crash. Bicyclist very seriously injured in North Seattle crash and Bicyclist suffers life-threatening injuries in Seattle crash That link was especially frustrating to try to read as it would vanish about 3 seconds after it loaded Police seek leads in bicycle crash near North Seattle C.C. The cyclist has severe injuries but LEO can’t find a hint that a car was involved? How about “the cyclist has life-threatening injuries”?

Moving down the coast a bit to CA, a cyclist attempts to cross an off-ramp while riding on a freeway (legal because so many freeways have been built they destroyed all the other through route in some areas) and gets hit. Bicyclist Injured In Freeway Collision With Car – February 23, 2012 Lesson to learn from this one is to time your crossing so that your exposure is reduced to a minimum by crossing perpendicular to the lane from one shoulder on the ramp to the shoulder on the freeway. A better solution would be bike infrastructure that provides through routes where freeways have removed them, SBR.

Moving to Jolly Olde, we get a combination wreck and Infrastructure! story as a 2-way bike lane/path next to a road is blamed for a cyclist’s fatal wreck. Jo Walters death: Fatal cycle crash path ‘below standard’ Not wide enough for 2 cyclists to pass each other without one or both going off the path and having a major highway moving high speed traffic off one side, oh yeah that’s real safe. Just because you have SBR doesn’t mean you’re safe, it has to be good SBR or it just kills people in a different way than riding in the road.

A resolution to a bike wreck from Oz. Truckie fatigue cited in cyclist’s death Tired driver sick to his stomach, smoking pot for nausea blacks out and runs over 4 cyclists in the bike lane alongside the highway. The only good thing is the driver admitted total blame for the wreck. Still to come sentencing and the trial for the driver’s employer, who sent him out knowing he was sick and tired.

And the big Infrastructure! story from the UK is a debate in Parliament over bike safety and how much should be spent to ensure it with bike share approaching 40% on some roads in spite of having the worst bike infrastructure in the EU. Parliamentary debate: Cross-party consensus among MPs present shows government the way forward and MPs #cyclesafe cycle debate: the speeches for perspective, the US equivalent would be a packed House debate on the same subject with real money being committed to the projects with £100M being roughly equal to $500M in the US in terms of GDP or $1B in terms of land area.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Doing two of my favorite things, and the Feed

Right now I am doing two of my favorite things side by side. On the idiot box I have the Gatorade Duels at Daytona going, and on the computer I’m filtering the Feed and trying to find some good news to share with you, I think I might have actually found something good to share. I will be blogging during quiet times and commercials in the broadcast of the race.

Up first is a good news story about a guy that re-invented the LWB recumbent bike as a slow comfort bike that was easy to ride. A need for comfort fueled Hutson’s bike design career Seriously, this bike was invented about 100 years ago but didn’t become popular for some reason until now…

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, the kind of fatality that is really stupid. Boy, 13, shot while riding bicycle near Palm Tran headquarters in West Palm Beach See? really stupid driver and shooter fired 3 shots from the weapon that they could use without fear of reprisal from LEO, just time it so you turn into a parking lot as the target crosses the driveway and claim you never saw him. Now they are facing charges of attempted murder instead of a minor traffic ticket (if that). Aren’t you glad that gang-bangers don’t read my blog?

More from FL on why they kill so many people on bikes. Why Miami Is a Dangerous Deathtrap for Cyclists Lots of stuff that I have been saying for a while…

From CA an apparently red-light-running cyclist is hit in an intersection> Bicyclist injured in Vacaville crash From the report the cyclist entered the intersection after the light changed, not trapped by a stale green. Don’t do that.

Update on a hit-and-run in CT that critically injured a cyclist. Cyclist Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident Involving Manchester Man Still Critical The cyclist was still in the hospital, the driver was out on bond…

A wreck in AL injures a cyclist. Cyclist critically injured by hit-and-run in Gulf Shores I hate hit-and-run drivers, and I hope they come down on this one with the full weight of the law. This was a hit-from-behind wreck of a cyclist that was wearing a glow-in-the-dark clown suit and also riding a recumbent trike that had acres or reflective material and neon color on the back end of it.

More on the driver that killed a cyclist only being found guilty of driving without a license in NYC. Driver Found Guilty in Fatal Accident With Bicyclist, But Only For Suspended License and After Cyclist’s Death, Driver With Suspended License Faces 30 Days From what I understand about this case, the reason the driver was not charged was because her car was parked when the door hit the cyclist, and in order to be charged in a wreck the car must be moving. Apparently the moving car door in violation of the law was not enough.

A DUI cop convicted of killing a cyclist has a pre-sentencing hearing. Sister of boy killed in hit-run: ‘I lost my best friend’ I’m hoping for the maximum in prison for the driver, but I will be happy with anything over a year.

Cyclists talk to HS students in an effort to change attitudes that lead to drivers running over cyclists. Cyclists promote safety during trip through Augusta Some of those students looked very interested, not!

From the UK a final word on a wreck that killed a cyclist. Former aide to the Queen was hit by van driver so hard while cycling that he was flung to the other side of the road and Van driver who killed cyclist on A40 told he may face jail after being found guilty It is now known that the cyclist was hit while riding in the marked bike lane on the side of the road, not actually in the road… and then knocked to the bike lane on the other side of a divided highway.

Last links from the Great White North, a cyclist hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Woman severely injured, cyclist arrested in accident First, DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIAN! Second, why was the cyclist arrested for a minor bump in a crosswalk when drivers almost never are? Also the pedestrian was thrown in the air by being hit by a bicycle and the cyclist was not injured? I call BS on that… but still DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS!

And that’s all the news that gives me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus