I’m back from my peregrinations, and the Feed

The headline is just a fancy way of saying “trip over”, but the trip did feel like a 1 day marathon travel session. My business took about 0:40 to 0:45 total today, but I left home at 11:12 and did not return until 17:22. The time not spent conducting business was either walking to a bus stop, standing waiting at a bus stop, sitting waiting at a train station, or riding a bus or a train. And except for the one train I missed by a few minutes in Downtown Dallas which required waiting 20 minutes for the next train in that direction I did not spend a whole lot of time waiting to make transfers. All other transfers took 10 minutes or less. And I still have to go back to both places to get the stuff they did not have in stock at some later date. And beyond all that now my feet hurt, and so do my back and neck. When I build my car I’m going to make doggone sure the damn seat FITS me so I don’t get the shoulder support hitting about 6-8″ below my shoulders and no support above that as I’m trying to keep everything balanced… That’s a big reason why I have neck and shoulder pain on these trips.

Ted Rogers got it right this morning. Morning links: More ghost bikes needed, watch out for drowsy drivers and a call for historical women on bikes If you see a driver who looks like he or she might be nodding off this week the recent switch to daylight savings time might have something to do with it. And the concept that there are so many cyclists getting killed that the raw materials for ghost bikes are getting scarce from too many needing to be built at the same time is about as horrifying as it gets.

Still in CA a cyclist apparently either did not see the red light, or they had some kind of massive brain fade that made them disregard it. Cyclist Killed After Running Red Light and Update: Red-light running cyclist killed in Glendale collision Sunday morning All I can say about this one is to have that first cup of coffee before you leave the house, and don’t start your ride until you feel it kick in, so you can PAY ATTENTION to what the infrastructure is telling you and you don’t run reds.

In CO it has been revealed that doing cocaine for 2 days solid and then driving to the sentencing hearing on your DUI conviction might not be a particularly wise thing to do. More charges after cyclist killed in W. Colorado I think the problem may have been more related to the lack of sleep causing brain fog and fuzz than the actual cocaine intoxication as stimulants are supposedly good for staying alert, but after a while there’s “awake” and then there’s “functioning” when it comes to using stimulants instead of sleeping. In my experience the cutoff point is 36 hours without sleep, and that was when I was 19. As I got older that cutoff point has creeped shorter.

A hit-from-behind wreck in RI. Warwick bicyclist seriously injured after being hit by car I’m still boggled that of all the vehicles that you can hit from behind a bicycle is the only one that is as much at fault as the motor vehicle that hits him or her. Protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And it’s a small state, why such a big hurry? I mean even the MS 150 does a longest axis ride and still winds up in MA after less than 75 miles, and Wikipedia says doing the longest axis ride and back isn’t even a century ride (close, at 96 miles total round trip).

Last wreck link is from the UK where a cyclist with no brakes almost got hit once and then did get hit by the next car. Driver Malcolm Moaby not to blame for crash which killed Chatham man Leon Edwards in Gravesend Road, Shorne The bike was missing a brake block but nothing on if the holder was on the bike or if it was one of the cheapy kind that puts a bolt inside the mold when the block is molded and the block and everything gets tossed when it wears out, they sometimes fall off the bike when not tightened properly Better quality blocks have a separate holder that the brake block slides into, and installing them backwards or upside down can cause the block to slide out in a few days to weeks if the locking pin gets left out. Don’t ask me how I found that out.

We’re going to stay in Jolly Olde for our first Infrastructure! link. Council sued over cyclist death They had five weeks at least to fix this hole after being notified by police that the hole presented a danger, and a week after the cyclist died the hole was still not fixed. I think barring criminal prosecution the best that can be done is to sue those responsible personally for most of what they have.

Moving all the way from Jolly Olde to 3 day’s ride from WoaB. Ellis, Payne: Roads need room for cyclists and pedestrians and Cyclists are being killed with disturbing regularity If our streets and roads were as dangerous for the people using cars as they make it for those of us that don’t, only the criminally insane would buy cars.

A faint glimmer of hope for the former most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle. In legislative session, make the cross-Florida bike trail a reality Oh pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease pretty please… Don’t veto this tiny scrap of real bicycle infrastructure.

And a nationwide bodyblow to the rails-to-trails movement. Supreme Court ruling delivers a major blow to bike paths

Not the kind of wreck that anyone can avoid, I’m just glad this trained person was first on scene when it happened. Manatee deputy honored for helping save bicyclist hit by golf ball The cyclist had a brain injury and a broken hip from the incident.

Last link, finally a e-assist bike priced on costs to manufacture, not on “what the market will bear”. B’Twin launch £420 e-bike Start with a sturdy but cheap-to-build regular bike then install a small hub motor and ancillaries to power it but not over-power it and voila cheap e-assist bike.

And those were all the links about bicycles I could find after I got home.

Billed @$0.02 (you get a discount today). Opus