Slippers are built but problems are found, and the Feed

Gluing socks to flip flops to make slippers works without further modifications, but making the resulting combination lifted to accommodate my short leg requires additions. To wit while the right side flexes as I walk and stays comfortably in place the left side tries to pull my foot out of the sock because it does not flex much when I walk. So I have to cobble up (shoe making pun!) a strap from the heel to the front of the ankle to keep the slipper from wandering away from my foot. Can I tell you that this is the part of making things that I love? Because it is, I love facing problems and finding solutions to those problems. To be totally honest I was slightly disappointed that the right slipper worked so well right out of the box. I mean what fun is that having the initial design working with no modifications needed? So anyway I think I will need to find some Velcro straps to glue to the left slipper to keep the heel in place, the arch and toe areas are not having any problems with the lift or the lack of flexibility in the lifted sole. And I just went to the mailbox to check if the mail had run and I need to place one strap around the back to keep the slipper from sliding off the front, and a second strap over the front of the ankle to keep from pulling away from the back of the slipper when I flex my foot and lift my heel as I stride. I will have to research where I can get these locally, I might just salvage them from the sandals I was using before their soles crumbled…

Up first is more on the cyclist killed on I35 in OK. Bicyclist struck and killed on Interstate 35 Looking at the Street View of the scene reveals a rest area between mile markers 46 and 45 which could explain where the cyclist started from, with a possible disabled vehicle as the reason why someone would be riding a bicycle on an Interstate highway. Anywho, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, if you ever find yourself having to ride on an Interstate highway. From the street view it does not look like there is a rideable shoulder there either.

Moving to CA a cyclist is hurt in a SWCC wreck. Cyclist seriously injured in collision If the report is accurate then intersection protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, or hit-from-behind protocols if the cyclist wasn’t really “crossing”, but either way get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in CA but a little south is another link to the kid that got hit in Long Beach. Teen cyclist critically injured by hit-and-run driver in Long Beach Same thing as it was yesterday, limited sight lines create a condition that only by severely restricting the speed limit (20 km/hr or 10 MPH for the US) could this be made safe for people not encased in light armored vehicles.

Another cyclist is killed in the most deadliest (grammatical error on purpose to emphasize how deadly it is) state in the US to walk or ride a bike since before I started writing this blog. Deputies looking for suspect involved in fatal hit and run on 21st Avenue Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Keep the crazies away from the cyclists and this won’t happen.

Still in that most deadliest state, another notch in the steering wheel… Bicyclist killed in crash on US Hwy 301 near Florida State Fairgrounds OK slightly confusing here, the cyclist was in the right turn lane when hit while crossing the road? That sounds like there may have been some deliberate action on the part of the driver of the weapon vehicle to “not avoid” the cyclist. Anyway, intersection protocols to avoid and get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent.

Another cyclist is shot, this time outside NYC. Man Killed While Riding Bike Home… I honestly can’t say how to avoid something like this, I can’t even say for sure the cyclist was shot because he was riding a bicycle, it might have been something else entirely.

An update on a cyclist killed in OH. Lost in a tragedy, Route 101 needs a bicycle lane

Mass protest in the UK for better infrastructure. More than 1,000 cyclists stage a mass ‘die-in’ safety protest after six riders are killed in London in the space of just a month

Lifestyle in NM. Park now honors girl killed in 2012

And those were all the links about bicycles that gave me fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Only getting what I have to on Black Friday, and the Feed

Well I had to go out shopping today, but I didn’t go consumer-crazy like you may have seen on TV. I bought a tube of glue and groceries, that’s all. I didn’t hit any of the big box stores, but I did go by a few on the way to and from getting what I needed and the ones in my neck of the woods looked a trifle empty for Black Friday, I mean there were actual parking spaces to be found all over the place.

Up first is a cyclist killed on an Interstate outside OKC. Cyclist killed on I-35 As for why the cyclist was riding on the Interstate, the highway sliced a lot of formerly connecting routes in two with dead ends at the highway so getting from A to B sometimes requires going through G,H, and I. Hit from behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A CA wreck leaves a teen cyclist in bad shape. Long Beach Teen Critically Injured In Bicycle Hit-And-Run From looking at the Street View of the scene, there wasn’t a whole lost of time to see either party in this wreck. Intersection protocols to avoid, and as this was in the middle of what passes for a dense residential area in CA this would be almost exactly the kind of infrastructure already in existence as bicycle infrastructure in the Netherlands, except with a much lower speed limit and more liability for motor vehicle drivers.

Update on a cyclist’s murder with a motor vehicle in the Great White North. Still no answers in disabled cyclist slaying They have the weapon vehicle (literally in this case, not just the designation of the vehicle that struck a vulnerable road user) but because the vehicle had been sold at least twice in “off the books” transfers who actually owned the vehicle is unknown.

A cogent analysis of the current state of bicycling in London. Wheels but no way

Should bicycle detection systems like the one in this link be required for all heavy vehicles with large blind spots (semi trucks, gravel haulers, large delivery vehicles)? Should every truck should have this cyclist/ pedestrian detection system?/a> As the article points out authorities can’t even make side guards that pay for themselves in reduced fuel usage within a year mandatory, making a $1300 detection system mandatory is going to be pushing it hard.

Infrastructure news from MD. Bel Air Cyclist Hit by Car: ‘You Have to Have Stricter Laws’ This came real close to being the “DOY!” article of the month, but they saved all the real obvious article premises for the end of the month and this one was beaten out.

Infrastructure news from Oz. Mind the gap Queensland cyclists could be dobbing in drivers Looking up the term “dobbing” in an online Ozzy slang dictionary reveals it to mean similar to “snitching” in the US, i.e. informing on wrongdoing to authorities. They will be looking to cyclists wearing helmet cameras to provide evidence of violations of their new passing clearance law.

Lawyer blatherings about bicycle safety from the Great White North. <a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1613479 " target="_blank"<Rotondo Law Firm, a Leading Toronto Personal Injury Law Firm, Warns Cyclists to Be Careful After Fatalities Hit Four-Year High Really, after one cyclist was outright murdered, and other cyclists were hit by red-light-runners, it’s the cyclists that need to be careful? (and I made 3 tries to get the link posted correctly, if it looks funny to you I’m SOORRyy)

The “DOY!” article of the month. Distracted-Driving Deaths of Pedestrians, Cyclists Up in U.S., Study Finds I’m sure that they could radically alter that number upwards if they could find out what was happening inside all the hit-and-run weapon vehicles that kill cyclists and pedestrians.

Last link is a TV ad for a tilting cargo trike, made like a car ad. MK1 – Tilt-action cargobike from Butchers & Bicycles, Copenhagen

And those were all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Thankful for what I have, and the Feed

While I wait for our ride to my daughter’s house to get off work I’m very thankful for a lot of things. First among those is I have a family that cares for me and sometimes feeds me, I’m very grateful for that. Second my readers are the greatest, especially whoever sent the check to buy the new cargo bike. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all of you, because you’re the reason I do this blog. If nobody read this blog then I wouldn’t have any reason to write it, would I? Third I’m grateful that there are places that place cycling for transportation on an equal basis with driving and walking because I have those good examples to use when I speak to those in power. I have been doing this blog since October of 2006 as a bicycle safety blog, before that it was just a place to write down random thoughts and musings (since March of 2003) and as my blog changed where I had to host the blog changed as well. Minor things I’m grateful for are electrolyte replacement drinks, energy and protein bars in handy single serving packaging, bike gloves with Kevlar palms (haven’t fallen once since I started wearing them 😉 ), my church and the people in it, and peanut butter. Yes peanut butter, I like a good PB&J or PB&H sandwich when I’m in the middle of a long ride.

Not many links today, with most of them being about the same wreck in GA as a 15 YO cyclist is killed crossing a busy street. LaGrange teen struck and killed while riding bike and LHS student struck by vehicle, killed also 15-year-old struck, killed riding bike This was not an intersection wreck and also not a SWCC wreck, the cyclist was trying to get to the right side of the road for his return journey and did not judge the speed of oncoming traffic properly. Infrastructure might make getting home without having to cross a busy street possible, I know it does in the Netherlands, with bi-directional bike paths on both sides of busy streets so that people can get to or from either side without having to cross at other than an intersection, or single direction lanes with frequent crossings that do not require cyclists to actually set wheel on the busy street or road.

From NYC they had a really bad stretch yesterday. Three Pedestrians, One Cyclist Killed In 30 Minute Span The cyclist was right hooked by a hit-and-run driver, but fortunately there were witnesses and LEO have a pretty good idea of the weapon vehicle. Unfortunately that LEO is NYPD, so I don’t hold out much hope in the killer being caught, let alone prosecuted.

The only other link I have is for a mountain biker that crashed off the road before he even got to the trails. Fire crews help rescue injured mountain biker in Oak Park I don’t know if he “veered” off the road or was “helped” off the road by a passing vehicle. So if he was “helped” off the road then hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, but don’t go quite so far off the road that you have a wreck trying to avoid getting hit. And infrastructure to prevent.

And those are all the links that gave me fits (or not) today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Actively building new slippers, and the Feed

As I type this I am between steps of building my new slippers. If it wasn’t for the added lift on the left foot I would be describing this as “making” new slippers, but with the added lift “building” is a more accurate description of the process. I purchased two pair of lime green flip flops because the craft store was sold out of the white ones, and I wanted to be able to find my slippers easily… 😉

There weren’t many wreck reports today, which I see as good for what few shreds of sanity I still cling to. Seriously I think it’s amazing I haven’t gone down to the cop shop with an axe handle to beat some sense into some car-head cops…

Up first is a “comedy” post… HOW TO DRIVE HOME DRUNK! I suggest riding a bicycle instead. First you present much less of a hazard to others when guiding a 35 pound BSO than a 3500 pound Crossover or a 4000 pound SUV. Second it has been proven that the physical exertion of propelling a bicycle will burn of the alcohol at an accelerated rate making you less drunk by the mile. Also if you force yourself to wait until you are sober enough to keep a bicycle upright you aren’t that drunk when you leave. So if you must travel drunk leave the car at home and ride a bicycle to and from your drinking.

I don’t know how to classify this report. Tennessee Town Cites Grandmother for Letting Grandkids Bike in the Street The street in question is the one in front of said Grandma’s house. Grandma was watching the kids she was supposedly allowing to play “unsupervised” in the street. And as Mrs. the Poet expressed so elegantly, “Where are kids supposed to ride bikes when there’s no sidewalk?”

More on the El Tour de Tucson fatality. Possibility of medical condition investigated in collision that killed Tucson bike racer

A wreck report on a hit-and-run in Oz. Cyclist severely injured in hit-and-run crash on Nepean Highway, Brighton East Hit-from-behind so protocols to avoid and get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent.

Infrastructure! news from OR. City of Bend wants input to improve road user safety My suggestion is to take a hard look at what is causing deaths and crippling people on the roads, then figure out how to stop it, so control the cars.

More infrastructure news from OR as ODOT hits a social networks clinker. After another fatality on Barbur Blvd, ODOT tweet hits a nerve and the raw Twitter feed at @oregondot

And suggestions for changes to the legal infrastructure in UT. Letter: Drivers who hit cyclists should be punished

Infrastructure from the Great White North. Op-Ed: Cars don’t own Main Street Damn Straight they don’t!

Infratructure from the UK. Mother of Northumberland cyclist killed by HGV horrified at new bike deaths and London cyclist deaths: Officers at dangerous junctions also London cyclist deaths: 150 fined in road safety scheme

A bike wreck saved a guy in UT. Cancer survivor counts getting hit by car as blessing

Last link, something that’s near and dear to my heart. COOL NEW CARGO BIKES

And those are all the bicycle links that gave me fits, or not as the case may be, today. BTW those slippers are about 2/3 done right now, if I can keep from gluing my feet inside them.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Thinking about making slippers, and the Feed

The headline needs explaining, which is the point of this opening paragraph. I have a sandal that was given to me years ago by a woman who died in 2007 (this was the woman who I used to ride my bicycle for 120 miles in a day so I could have lunch with her (and make all the other residents of the nursing home angry at their children)). So I have had this sandal for a very long time that I was using as a lifted slipper so I didn’t get back pains on the days I stayed at home. Well the sole of that sandal has crumbled and now the toe is hanging by a scrap of leather that used to be the insole. This makes the sandal painful to walk in and eventually it will fall completely apart.

So, I will need to replace this sandal with “something else”. The problem is “something else” has to be 17mm thicker on the bottom of the left one than the right one, and I have never seen a slipper that had that as an option. That leaves me with two choices, pay someone else to make me a pair of slippers with the left sole 17mm thicker than the right sole, or make my own pair of slippers. Now the thing is for a pair of shoes I don’t walk very much in the thickness difference doesn’t need to be exactly 17mm, anything from 12 to 20 would work just fine.

Something I have been wearing on the right foot has been a pair of slipper socks (well, half a pair) that was very comfortable at all the normal temperatures for my house. So the idea is to build some slipper socks with the left one having the extra thickness I need to get my pelvis level. The local craft store to the rescue! Slipper socks like the one I was using are nothing more than a thin rubber sole bonded to a knit sock so that the sole is held more or less in place under the foot. I have lots of socks, and also glue that will bond the socks to a rubber sole, but until I saw this one item in the local craft store I didn’t have a sole that I could use and also have significant differences in thickness between the two. The item in question is the decorate a shower shoe refill kit, which consisted of two pairs of white flip flops at a reasonable price and is sold year-round as a gift suggestion. The idea I had is to use both pairs of flip flops without the toe thong-thingy that makes flip flops flip flop when you walk in them, take one pair and glue them together with the wear face out and then glue that to the bottom of the left flip flop and then glue the whole mess to a pair of socks sitting in my sock drawer. Add some straps and velcro strips to the left foot (OK the right one too to make it symmetrical) so I don’t roll the sole over and end up turning an ankle and call it done.

Up first is a wreck that shows nobody is “safe” in the bike lane no matter what non-car mode of transport they are using. 1 injured as car hits wheelchair in Shoreline bike lane The problem is not the cyclists if anyone gets hit in the bike lane, it’s the crappy drivers who seem unable to keep their killing machines away from fragile skin and bones.

More on that El Tour de Tucson wreck. Driver in deadly El Tour crash says it’s all a blur OK as I read it the driver’s blood sugar crashed after the game, and then he did the same. Also Driver ID’d in El Tour de Tucson collision that killed a cyclist.

A CA driver talking on a cell phone could be facing charges in the death of a cyclist. PD: Woman may face charges after hitting, killing bicyclist As this wreck took place in September and this is late November I hope you’ll forgive me for not remembering exactly how this wreck happened…

Update on a more recent wreck in CA. Santa Barbara Woman Jailed in Cyclist Hit-and-Run This was a hit-from-behind wreck that could have been much worse. The weapon vehicle just grazed the cyclist at highway speed rather than the full impact that a few more inches would have brought. Kudos on the LEO for tracking and arresting the driver. Protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Moving to the Emerald Isle of Ireland we find a totally clueless driver behind 3 cyclists. Three cyclists struck by car in Co Clare Not one, not two, but all 3 cyclists hit by the same car in the same wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the stupid blind driver off the roads to prevent… I mean infrastructure, get the infrastructure right to prevent (after they get rid of the stupid, blind, driver).

News from the cycling scientist that brought us the news that drivers pass closer to cyclists when they wear helmets comes another study with a bit more depth to it. University of Bath research shows that cyclists’ outfits do not stop dangerous overtaking Notice that two of the outfits are patterned off of local constabulary bike cops uniforms and that had no effect on the passing distances of drivers.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. RE-Tech launches cyclist detection system for vehicles Additional “eyes” for drivers who can’t see out of their trucks.

More infrastructure news. Britain failing to protect cyclist but should they share the blame for accidents? Well the UK statistics show that even with a police force that has demonstrated a strong anti-cyclist bias their own reporting system determined that motor vehicle operators are at least partly to blame in 93% of all bike wrecks. That says that the cyclists are not the problem, they are already mostly doing whatever it takes to not get hit. The real culprits are bad infrastructure and bad drivers.

A Ghost Bike for a MO cyclist. ‘Ghost bike’ memoralizes killed cyclist Now we know the driver of the weapon vehicle was being chased by her ex, and both are in jail on unrelated charges but not charged in the cyclist’s death because it’s OK to kill a cyclist…

And those were all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Running late with a huge Feed

I’m a little 🙂 behind schedule today/tonight because I had another doctor appointment, getting my back fixed. It’s a little late, by about 12 years, but this was one of those things that I could only get fixed when I had my own money to spend on it. Back when I got hit the Victims of Violent Crime fund did not cover chiropractic and as that was my “insurance” for the wreck I got what they paid for.

Up first is a picture of the model bike I’m getting thanks to the Anonymous Donor. This isn’t my bike but the front of my bike will look like this bike.

My bike will have a step-through frame to make getting on a bit easier with the bad hip.

The Big Story today is a man hit from behind and killed on a closed stretch of road for one of the biggest annual bike races in the US. Car strikes, kills El Tour bicyclist from behind in bike lane, DPS says and El Tour de Tucson rider struck from behind in bike lane, killed also EL TOUR DE TUCSON CYCLIST KILLED IN CRASH and this Cyclist in El Tour de Tucson dies after being hit by car and last link El Tour cyclist killed in crash wanted to finish race despite cold, rain As of this posting this is what I know: the cyclist was riding in a closed off lane that was coned and marked as closed specifically for this event, and he was hit from behind by the driver of a Nissan Leaf, a fully electric vehicle. As of now it is not known how the driver got into the closed lane with the cyclist. I hate this story, the cyclist was doing everything right on a closed course, and STILL got run over by a clueless driver in a silent car. I don’t know what else could be done, the infrastructure was right, the cyclist was right, and we STILL have a [“colorful” language deleted] dead cyclist on our hands.

A CA cyclist is killed by blind driver. Salinas Elderly Man Struck, Killed By SUV While Riding Bike The cyclist was very nearly missed, the impact was to the back of the back wheel from the left front of the weapon vehicle. Intersection protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damage, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Suggestions include pulling the licenses of people that drive blindly into spaces they can’t see if they are clear or not, when they’re not.

A low-information article from Enn Zed. Injured cyclist airlifted Nothing in the report that I can use to help it not happen to you, because the roads are full of stones, that’s how most of them are made.

Infrastructure! news from NYC. Guerilla Street Signs In Park Slope Lower Speed Limit To 20 Now if only the NYPD would enforce that speed limit then maybe we would see a few less pedestrian and cyclist fatalities…

Infrastructure news from the UK. Police To Target ‘Death’ Junctions For Cyclists In Bid To Improve Safety

A clueless commentator from the UK. Cyclists vs motorists: A phoney war between two tribes who should be on the same side Really?

Bikeyface gets it right, again. UTILITY VS. SPORT I used to drive race cars back in the day and I had friends who walked away from hitting a concrete wall at over 100 MPH without any airbags…

And those were all the links that gave me fits about bicycles today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

My Warlock is starting over on a Wreck-Free Sunday

After a disastrous game session last time, it was decided that we had too many new players who did not know how to play their characters and we needed to start over with a new quest and level 1 characters. Since I had the only remaining character that had survived the entire 3 years the previous campaign had been going on I was allowed to reset my character to zero and raise my worst stat to maximum. Since my low Wisdom stat (9) had nearly gotten my character killed in several encounters because I was constantly blowing spot, listen, and search checks I took the opportunity to buff out my character a bit. I also rebalanced my skills points to enhance my spellcraft and use magic device rolls with the idea of eventually getting really good at making magical items when I hit a high enough level to do so. My character class can make magical items that cast spells if I get a high enough score on a “use magical item” roll even if I can’t do the spell myself (as an invocation), which means I will be able to heal party members as well as blow shit up.

Anywho, the story on my new character is he’s the son of my old character after he got really high-level and set up a Warlock’s Keep and married better than himself. After discovering that his only son (out of a number of daughters) was also afflicted with the Mark of DisNee and a warlock of humor Sparrow trains him somewhat and sends him to an outlying village to protect it from monsters. By using the range effect of the Eldritch Blast he manages to not get killed while keeping monsters at bay or outright killing some. This gets him noticed, and the local monarch decides to recruit him to a quest… Unlike his father who could summon noisy items when it was funny this Minion of DisNee can summon oversized mallets to hit people over the head when they are stupid and it’s funny to do so. This causes no more injury than an open-handed slap and is just a way of pointing out that a fellow party member is acting stupid. It can also be used to startle enemies when the party has initiative, or to deliver the final blow as an enemy is dispatched.

On another front I mentioned yesterday I was going to have to get a new cell phone. Unfortunately I was unable to get my contacts transferred from the old phone to the new one, and couldn’t remember the PIN to keep my old number when I bought the new phone, so now I have a new phone and a new number and none of my old contacts. Bummer, dudes! 😉

And I’m getting tired of looking at this computer now.

PSA, Opus

I think I need to buy a new cell phone and the Feed

My cell has been acting wonky lately, taking forever to charge and putting up stupid error messages (“No battery”) while doing so, and the battery life has plummeted from over a week to maybe 2 days if I don’t use it except as a pocket watch, or a day if I actually make calls or texts.

Also I got a nice message from Automatic Inc. congratulating me on 5 years as a blogger with their service (WordPress.com). That’s right, 5 years ago today yesterday I made my first post on this blogging service after moving it once before when I had to change providers because they wouldn’t allow outside links and then to WP when my previous service started shutting down my blog as a spam site because I had so many external links, which as you can see is the nature of this blog, I do almost nothing but external links. So I was forced here by a blog service that didn’t understand the nature of my blog and lost the nearly 2K clicks per day I used to get on that service (which is one of the reasons that blog service no longer exists). They lost a lot of advertising income when they shut my blog down. And they did the same thing to hundreds of other blogs so I don’t feel like the Lone Ranger…

Up first is a look at a potential killer driver from inside the car. #523: Life with a no-good, very bad terrible driver This is the kind of driver who will claim a cyclist “appeared out of nowhere” when they run one down in a bike lane…

Just down the road from WoaB World HQ a SWCC is hit. Police identify cyclist killed after being struck by car Thursday night A major cause of this wreck was crappy infrastructure, which is a big problem around these parts. Intersection protocols to avoid, and get that crappy infrastructure fixed to prevent.

Update on the formerly secret machinations about an OH hit-and-run. Trial Set For Woman Charged In Teacher’s Hit-And-Run Death This is a very odd case.

Outrage on the case of the woman hit from behind in MD. Grand jury: traffic tickets suffice in case of dead cyclist Trish Cunningham and Md. driver won’t face criminal charges in crash that killed track coach on bicycle So apparently it is OK to kill cyclists in MD.

A cyclist get squished in GA. Bicyclist struck, killed in Marietta New trend, “falling off the sidewalk” is the new “suddenly swerved from the shoulder”. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Bicyclist Killed in Franklin Road Accident

A CA cyclist is hit in an intersection. Petaluma boy on bike hit by car, hospitalized Nothing on the mode but it was in an intersection, so intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another update on a CA cyclist killing. Deadly Camp Pendleton Bus Crash Investigation Revealed The cyclists were basically hit from behind by the bus with a guardrail to the right blocking their escape route so the hit-from-behind protocols are moot, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another link to the elite athlete killed bicycle commuting in the Great White North. Adrian Dudzicki, elite squash player, named as cyclist killed by car Nothing new to add about the wreck. Lots new about the charges against the driver.

Another reason from Oz why sidewalks are terrible bicycle infrastructure. Cyclist jailed for killing elderly woman Don’t hit the pedestrians!

A cyclist is wiped out in Enn Zed, by a dog? Dogs ended cyclist’s plans Yep, you have to be really careful around dogs.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Boris Johnson fails to see the light on cyclist death toll in London It has been definitely established the infrastructure in London is rubbish, blue paint called a “superhighway”.

And those were all the links that gave me fits yesterday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

[Banging head against wall] and the Feed

There are days when writing this blog feels like banging my head against a wall in solitary confinement, it hurts and almost nobody notices it. I’m seriously looking forward to riding my new bakfiets down the street with my blog logo painted on the side thanks to the anonymous benefactor that sent the money to build it, which is physical proof that at least one person reading my blog thinks I’m doing a good job. But I read the Feed and keep seeing the SOS day after day with SSDD and nothing changing but the names of the victims and the places. And it causes me anguish.

And I’m not the only one, either. Thirteen fallen cyclists in the City of Angels, and no one even seems to notice — or care Sorry Ted.

A left cross in CA and the driver claims blindness as a defense. Bicyclist injured in Santa Cruz crash Once again a blind driver proceeds into a space he can’t confirm as clear at unabated speed and a cyclist pays the price for a driver’s stupidity.

Still in CA a cyclist runs into a car in S.F. Cyclist Injured In SoMa Wednesday Night I used the link posted in the article and there are two right turn lanes with through bicycle traffic in the left-hand right turn lane. This looks like the perfect place to do a swoop and squat (AKA Dr. Thompson maneuver) on a cyclist. Until I learn more about the wreck I’m placing equal blame on all 3 parties (driver, cyclist, and infrastructure).

Moving a bit east to PA. Bicyclist injured after being hit by car in Upper Allen SWSS wreck, so that would be a hit-from-behind protocol to avoid and infrastructure to prevent.

From the Great White North a world-class athlete in an unfortunately named sport is killed. Elite squash player killed riding bicycle and Cyclist killed in North York crash a top squash player also Elite Canadian squash player killed cycling to training facility As of this posting the narrative is the weapon vehicle ran the red light and broadsided the cyclist, for which I have no protocols. Infrastructure changes would have been of little import here as the driver ignored the built infrastructure that prohibited his being in the intersection so why would changing the traffic signals and putting some paint on the pavement make any difference to that?

Update on another wreck in the Great White North. Man charged in cyclist’s death to appear in court Thursday LEO in Canada take their jobs seriously… Unless a former member of the DA’s office is involved.

The scourge of hit-and-run almost kills a cyclist in Oz. Cyclist lucky to avoid serious injury after collision with hit-run driver I couldn’t decipher the mode of the wreck from the narrative, so … Infrastructure!

From the Department of DUUHH! Pt. 1. Distracted Drivers Killing More Pedestrians, Bicyclists

Department of DUUHH! Pt. 2. Biking continues to have bipartisan appeal, baffling D.C. media Outside of the Tea Party who see “takeover by the One World Government” cycling is seen as “progressive” by liberals, and “exercising choice” by libertarians, and “morally conservative” by real conservatives, or basically in line with the core values of every major party (and quite a few of the minor and “fringe” parties).

And those were all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another mule day that I don’t need to haul groceries, and the Feed

Well it’s grocery shopping day again, or what used to be known around Casa de El Poeta as Mule Day as I packed the week’s comestibles home from the store on my back or bike. Sadly, that is a thing of the past as I don’t have the bike or safety gear to do that any more. Instead we depend on our son to take us to and from the store in his hybrid. And it’s not even a plug-in hybrid, just one that uses a tiny ICE for cruising supplemented with an electric motor and KERS for short bursts of acceleration. But it meets Mrs. the Poet’s criteria for a “good car” i.e. a windshield, roof, and doors with roll up windows and climate control.

Up first is a “breaking” NJ report that never got updated. Accident with car and cyclist leaves one injured in Hackettstown Other than a rather broad location there wasn’t anything about the mode or geometry of this wreck.

Update on a hit-and-run in NYC. Report: Cyclist Killed In Williamsburg Hit-And-Run Was Popular Record Store Staffer LEO are now positively calling this a hit and run.

Update on a NY cyclist death that caused me great anger. Family of Cyclist Killed on Sound Avenue Reacts After Driver Arrested Again That’s right they couldn’t prove impairment so he got off scot-free to kill again, only this time he did something else illegal. For those whose google-fu is weak, this was the guy that crossed a major highway in a van full of children and hit the cyclist head-on on the cyclist’s side of the road. And in spite of two drugs in his system the DA could not press any charges because NY has an impossibly high hurdle to prove impairment by drugs other than alcohol.

A cyclist in MA is hit-from-behind. Cyclist injured when hit by car in East Falmouth Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

The last word on a VA bike wreck. Lawyer: $100,000 settlement following bicycle death ‘woefully inadequate’ At fault wreck with criminal charges conviction and the most they can get is the limit on his insurance policy. TANJ!

A drunk cyclist is lucky to be alive in MT. Bicyclist cited for crash with pickup truck in Great Falls Intersection wreck that likely would not have happened if the cyclist was sober, but protocols anyway, and infrastructure that protects drunk and sober cyclists alike from interactions with killing machines to prevent.

CO is still looking for the goombah that left a kid at an insurance office and stole his bike after a wreck. Search continues for hit-run suspect If you see the guy, slash his tires so he can’t get away and call the cops.

Update on a MO hit-and-run. Cyclist killed in hit and run ID’d They found the weapon vehicle as well, driver soon to be in jail. Still an intersection wreck in a residential area that needs traffic calming (not stop signs).

Hit-and-run “door prize” in WA. Seattle cyclist injured in crash asking driver to come forward I’m still trying to work out the geometry of this wreck, as this is the only “door prize” wreck I have heard of that the cyclist hit the same car twice.

A cyclist is killed JRA in the Great White North. Cyclist killed in northwest Toronto Intersection “near” the wreck but they still don’t know anything about the mode. Until I get more information I can’t say what would avoid this wreck with the built environment, or what changes in infrastructure need to be installed to prevent it. More Cyclist struck, killed near Sheppard and Allen

Another cyclist hit in Oz. Man charged after hitting Pinjarra cyclist Nothing on the mode, just that the cyclist was hit and severely injured and the driver left but was caught later.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Boris Johnson considers rush-hour lorry ban to save London cyclists and Outcry over 6 cyclists killed in London also Police promise ‘zero tolerance’ for dangerous drivers as 6th cyclist dies in 14 days

Good infrastructure news from Austin. IN AUSTIN, A BUS-BIKE ALLIANCE PAYS OFF

Ghost bikes. ‘Ghost Bike’ memorial erected in remembrance of cyclist Cyclist killed in Austin, TX. And Ghost bike memorial emphasizes bicycle safety for riders, drivers Cyclist killed in CO.

And those were all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus