Merry Christmas to all my readers. I have to say I’m very happy with the present one of you sent me, even though I haven’t gotten it yet (the Clyde bakfiets from Oak Cliff Cargo Bikes). I have seen drafts of the new blog logo graphic for the box (and eventually for the header of this blog) and I’m happy with the process. My ugly mug will not be on this logo/header file and neither will Miss Gulch, but there will be a generic witch on a bicycle silhouette facing in from each end of the header. This will be much easier to reproduce for things like coffee mugs, mousepads, and water bottles when I get the store up sometime next year. The delay is because I’m having problems finding a coffee mug that I would consider owning from the places that sell promotional items with logos printed on them. I’m looking for a 16 oz. capacity insulated travel mug that will keep the coffee warm for at least an hour after pouring. I’m not so stupid to think I can keep coffee hot in a mug from a promotional items place, but I would like to keep it at least warm…
Up first, a large part of the problem that makes FL the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike is that LEO can’t tell the difference. UPDATE: Pedestrians injured in 2 Sarasota accidents Yep the official police report listed the cyclist as a pedestrian. There wasn’t much in the narrative in the link but the condition of the bike and location of the wreck make me think the mode of wreck was a hit-from-behind instead of intersection with a vehicle moving in opposition or at an angle to the cyclist. Notice the nearly pristine condition of the bike (well except for the dirt and grease). You could put the chain back on and ride the bike away from the wreck with no problems. Infrastructure to prevent including enforcing the FL 3-foot to pass law whenever a cyclist is hit from behind.
Moving up the coast a couple states we get another wreck. Bicyclist injured on Hilton Head Island This is literally a “he-said-she-said” situation with no clear-cut narrative, but if you combine the two and say they are both true, the cyclist had the through lane through the parking lot and the driver ran a stop sign, cut off and hit the texting cyclist. A big part of the problem here is the existence of huge parking lots around stores that require a substantial amount of time to negotiate after leaving the road. I call this an infrastructure issue that is caused by constantly catering to cars and drivers while consistently ignoring all other modes of travel.
Moving west to CA we get another wreck with strange damages to the bike. Breaking news: Bike rider killed in Laguna Hills Christmas Eve collision Notice the bike sitting in the street in this picture . The narrative is the cyclist pulled out in front of the weapon vehicle, which would make sense if someone tampered with the back wheel of the bike while it was parked and it came loose when the cyclist hit the brakes and caused the cyclist to slide sans his bike into the street. The way to avoid this is to do the ABC Quick check every time you leave your bike unattended.
And winding up the horror show is this letter from an entitled driver complaining about cyclists not paying their way on the roads. Cyclists must pay I agree with this, cyclists must pay for their share of the infrastructure, as should drivers. You can put 4 lanes (2 in each direction) of bicycle traffic into a single 12 foot wide lane that barely holds a single motor vehicle, or 3 in the same direction with lots of elbow room to pass, so then that would mean the motor vehicles should pay at least a 3 times higher initial registration cost to build places to drive and ride, and several thousand times higher for motor vehicles to pay to maintain that infrastructure. So basically the cyclist’s infrastructure lasts pretty much forever and the cost of collecting the tax would exceed the cost of maintaining the infrastructure.
And those were all the links I had that had something to do with bicycles.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 
Merry Christmas, and the Feed
Merry Christmas to all my readers. I have to say I’m very happy with the present one of you sent me, even though I haven’t gotten it yet (the Clyde bakfiets from Oak Cliff Cargo Bikes). I have seen drafts of the new blog logo graphic for the box (and eventually for the header of this blog) and I’m happy with the process. My ugly mug will not be on this logo/header file and neither will Miss Gulch, but there will be a generic witch on a bicycle silhouette facing in from each end of the header. This will be much easier to reproduce for things like coffee mugs, mousepads, and water bottles when I get the store up sometime next year. The delay is because I’m having problems finding a coffee mug that I would consider owning from the places that sell promotional items with logos printed on them. I’m looking for a 16 oz. capacity insulated travel mug that will keep the coffee warm for at least an hour after pouring. I’m not so stupid to think I can keep coffee hot in a mug from a promotional items place, but I would like to keep it at least warm…
Up first, a large part of the problem that makes FL the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike is that LEO can’t tell the difference. UPDATE: Pedestrians injured in 2 Sarasota accidents Yep the official police report listed the cyclist as a pedestrian. There wasn’t much in the narrative in the link but the condition of the bike and location of the wreck make me think the mode of wreck was a hit-from-behind instead of intersection with a vehicle moving in opposition or at an angle to the cyclist. Notice the nearly pristine condition of the bike (well except for the dirt and grease). You could put the chain back on and ride the bike away from the wreck with no problems. Infrastructure to prevent including enforcing the FL 3-foot to pass law whenever a cyclist is hit from behind.
Moving up the coast a couple states we get another wreck. Bicyclist injured on Hilton Head Island This is literally a “he-said-she-said” situation with no clear-cut narrative, but if you combine the two and say they are both true, the cyclist had the through lane through the parking lot and the driver ran a stop sign, cut off and hit the texting cyclist. A big part of the problem here is the existence of huge parking lots around stores that require a substantial amount of time to negotiate after leaving the road. I call this an infrastructure issue that is caused by constantly catering to cars and drivers while consistently ignoring all other modes of travel.
Moving west to CA we get another wreck with strange damages to the bike. Breaking news: Bike rider killed in Laguna Hills Christmas Eve collision Notice the bike sitting in the street in this picture . The narrative is the cyclist pulled out in front of the weapon vehicle, which would make sense if someone tampered with the back wheel of the bike while it was parked and it came loose when the cyclist hit the brakes and caused the cyclist to slide sans his bike into the street. The way to avoid this is to do the ABC Quick check every time you leave your bike unattended.
And winding up the horror show is this letter from an entitled driver complaining about cyclists not paying their way on the roads. Cyclists must pay I agree with this, cyclists must pay for their share of the infrastructure, as should drivers. You can put 4 lanes (2 in each direction) of bicycle traffic into a single 12 foot wide lane that barely holds a single motor vehicle, or 3 in the same direction with lots of elbow room to pass, so then that would mean the motor vehicles should pay at least a 3 times higher initial registration cost to build places to drive and ride, and several thousand times higher for motor vehicles to pay to maintain that infrastructure. So basically the cyclist’s infrastructure lasts pretty much forever and the cost of collecting the tax would exceed the cost of maintaining the infrastructure.
And those were all the links I had that had something to do with bicycles.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
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Posted in Daily Feed
Tagged anti-bike blatherings, buzz job, can you top this, cycling life, cyclist injured, cyclist killed, Dead cyclists, Don't read the comments, hit from behind, miscellaneous ramblings, Single Witness Suicidal Swerve/Single Witness Crossing Cyclist, Something smells, stupid drivers, stupid LEO, stupid politicians