Yeah, basically what that headline means is I got hot and sweaty and drank my home-made sports drink and felt better. I had pretty much the same feeling I got when I drink commercially available sports drinks, except without the stomach problems I get when I consume too much HFCS. I wish I could make some kind of magnificent claim about the home-made drink being “better”, but unless you have issues with HFCS as a sweetener like I do you probably won’t notice any difference between what you buy and what you make. The only difference in the real world is the home-made only stays cold for a short time on the bike, and you can buy the other stuff cold at just about any C-store. But if you don’t mind toting a little extra weight you can load up the kitty litter buckets with ice and put your bottles of home-made on ice until you need to drink it. Me? I’ll drink the home-made when I’m close to home and the other stuff when I’m miles away on a long ride. And Fat-free chocolate milk is still a pretty awesome recovery drink after a long hard ride.
Up first, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the first UK story I have gotten in a long time that actually gives out information as to the mode of the wreck, because it took place in front of the international press that are not bound by UK media laws. They saw the wreck and are just reporting what they saw to their home countries… Police name cyclist killed in traffic and Cyclist killed after collision with Olympic shuttle bus also Cyclist killed in collision with Olympics shuttle bus more Cyclist killed by Olympic bus named another one Bradley Wiggins speaks out about road safety as cyclist killed in accident with Olympic bus is named not done yet Cyclist killed by double-decker bus carrying journalists near London’s Olympic Park still more Olympic bus driver bailed after cyclist killed more links to come Cyclist Killed In Olympic Bus Incident Named for those not aware, Sky is part of the same media group as Fox News. Cyclist dies in bus accident near Olympic Park; man arrested still not done yet Cyclist killed after collision with London 2012 Olympic Games media bus So, this was the UK equivalent of a right hook. The cyclist was riding up the left side of the bus in the bike lane when the light changed and the bus turned left, running over the cyclist. The only reason I know this is because the international journalists are not bound by UK media laws. But back to the wreck, the bus driver apparently was not signalling for the left turn or the turn signal light was not working because at least one witness outside the bus reported not seeing a turn signal before the wreck. Intersection wreck, so intersection protocols to avoid and always be ready for a vehicle to turn on you like a wild animal, and get the infrastructure right so that turning vehicles are not forced to cross bike lanes with bike continuing straight to prevent a similar wreck. And ^whew!^
More on that MN wreck I linked to yesterday. Tuesday’s bike fatality was fourth in state this year This was the cyclist killed at the 150 foot wide intersection that had already crossed more than 75 feet of it when he was hit, AFAIK this intersection had demand sensors to trigger the crossroad signal for the bicyclist’s direction of travel, unknown if the sensor could detect a cyclist or if the green phase was long enough for a cyclist to clear the intersection if he could trigger the light. Also this intersection was about 1/4 mile from a limited access highway with traffic exiting at high speed onto the highway the cyclist was attempting to cross. I don’t know if the weapon vehicle in this case was coming down the highway or had just exited the high-speed limited access highway when he hit the cyclist.
An IN rider is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Bicycle rider dies after hit and run AFAIK this was another hit-from-behind wreck. hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. The driver has been charged with a homicide in this wreck after LEO found his wrecked vehicle about 4 hours after the wreck.
A bad wreck in CA. LAKELAND VILLAGE: Bicyclist killed in crash with pickup identified The cyclist was “crossing”, but was killed on the shoulder of the road? Methinks that CHP were looking for every possible way to blame the cyclist in this one. Until I can get either pictures of the bike or a narrative that makes sense in the physical plane instead of the metaphysical plane I can’t say how to avoid this wreck, but getting the infrastructure right might have prevented it.
A strange wreck in OH. Bicycle rider hit by vehicle in Xenia Another apparently driverless vehicle hits a bicycle rider. Looking at the scene pictures, the bike route was given lower priority than the road it was crossing (“cross traffic does not stop”) and there was somewhat limited sight lines because of the curve, meaning this intersection really needed to have a lower speed limit so that crossing cyclist could get across in the amount of time they could see clearly. That’s the criteria they need to use when doing this, what is the amount of time that a cyclist has to clear the intersection from the time a vehicle comes into sight from an obstruction until it would hit the cyclist, then slow the speed limit or place advisory signs that show a lower speed for the intersection so that a cyclist could clear the intersection before a vehicle travelling at the speed limit or advisory speed would hit him. That is my long-winded way of saying “get the infrastructure right!” to prevent.
A driver buzzes a cyclist and blames the cyclist when she gets hit. Bicylist hurt in Framingham accident The driver tried to claim a SWSS, but outside witnesses said the cyclist was riding straight down the center of the lane when the driver hit her. So, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent, which mainly means that in this area drivers need to be aware that cyclists aren’t going to disappear just because they want to go faster.
And this one just makes me fume. In enforcing cyclists’ safety, officer injured on Penn Avenue The driver failed to yield to the cop on a motorcycle (big freaking motorcycle with flashing lights), so how can the driver be trusted to be able to see the lines on the roads?
A wreck in West Canuckistan. Cyclist injured in Coquitlam accident Wow, the RCMP are being very tight-lipped about this one.
Another wreck in West Canickistan. Cyclist injured on Lane Rd. airlifted to Victoria General Another case of RCMP obstructing the public’s right to know, almost a total news blackout on this wreck with no information being released at all and onlookers kept too far away to be able to tell anything to reporters.
And those are all the links that gave me fits today.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 
Turns out the fatality in Lakeland Village CA was a hit-from-behind collision, with the driver of a Toyota pickup striking the rider at 40 mph while “momentarily inattentive,” according to the CHP: http://bit.ly/PpdhsT
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This was a link that had previously contained the same copy as the link I put up. Now it says something completely different. That happens, actually it happens pretty frequently.
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