This is going to be a long night, and the Feed

I normally stay up late Friday night to get the 2400 post to the Feed folder filtered and on the blog so it isn’t so old come Monday, and so I have one fewer report to filter then. Well I just finished going through the 1800 post, and if that is any indication, tonight is going to be a very long night indeed. But first, I’m having difficulty getting the brain shaped jello mold for my Death Day party. For new readers, I celebrate the day I almost died, because I did die, but [Monty Python] I got better[/Monty Python]. I know I mention it way too much for my regular readers, but 08/31/2001 at 0119 I died. I was dead until approximately 0121 when I spontaneously “rebooted” and came back complaining that the upper end of my femur was broken. I was completely oblivious to the fact that from the knee down my left leg was a bloody gaping wound and I was bleeding to death. You see that’s the upside to being dead for about 2 minutes at the beginning of this mess, I had an extra 2 minutes where I wasn’t spurting blood everywhere instead of keeping it inside my body. I have mentioned my experiences with being dead elsewhere (archive crawl!) so I’ll spare those who don’t wish to know (spoiler, it was boring). Since I don’t have the mold tonight, I can’t do the blue jello and yogurt “brains” for the Saturday party, but I might have the time to get a batch set up in time for the Sunday party. That’s right, I get 2 parties to celebrate not being dead, one with the people in the RPG group, and another on the actual date of the wreck with the people at my church. I don’t know if there will be alcohol at either party, but I would very much like there to be a good dark beer…

Up first today is a bunch of links to a wreck that was mainly caused by incomplete infrastructure in Seattle, WA. Cyclist Killed on 2nd Avenue and Cyclist killed on Seattle’s notorious 2nd Avenue bike lane also Cyclist killed in downtown Seattle and even August 29, 2014 at 9:26 AM The breaking-news account of the 2nd Avenue bike fatality This wreck was caused by a non-standard bike lane to the left of traffic and the delay for political reasons of installing the remainder of the equipment and signage needed to make that installation safe. Certain members of the City Council took it upon themselves to delay installation of signals that would give cyclists a different signal phase from traffic turning left across the bike lane, and as a result the driver of the large weapon vehicle (and because the type of vehicle is not the issue here, this is an infrastructure wreck, I’m not mentioning what kind of vehicle here) was making a left turn as the cyclist was riding straight and the cyclist hit the vehicle a glancing blow just behind the front wheels and then fell under the rear wheels. But as I said the real issue is that the signals that would have prevented this wreck were delayed a year by a single person on the Seattle City Council. From my point of view, that council member murdered this cyclist. And yes, I’m Pissed Off about it.

From just east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist hit by an SUV. Friend of cyclist hit by SUV: ‘She’s not going to quit’ This seems to be entirely the fault of the driver for just driving over the cyclist in the road in front of him as he was using his cell phone while driving. This makes using the hit-from-behind protocols iffy at best because of reaction time, leaving only getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. But as this is East Texas the best we will ever get is a stripe of paint and dirty pavement covered in debris, unless an outside agency forces otherwise. And watching the video was just so … UGH!

Moving out west to L.A. CA and something else I am none too happy about. LASD to internally investigate fatal cyclist crash involving distracted deputy As sad as it may sound this is the last chance for any punishment at all for driving distracted and killing someone who wasn’t even technically in the road. The next judicial step is the civil trial where the legal fees and any payout assessed against the deputy will be picked up by the taxpayers of L.A. County with no chance of subrogating the money back out of the deputy. If the Olins are smart they will state up front they want the damages to be assessed against the deputy, not borne by the taxpayers, because that is the only way to protect the taxpayers. More No charges for LASD deputy who fatally struck cyclist while typing on computer

A WI cyclist is hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in hit and run crash in rural Dodge County AFAIK this was a buzz job gone bad as the cyclist’s injuries were not severe and there was no intersecting road listed in the narrative, and the description of the debris and damages inflicted on the weapon vehicle are consistent with a buzz job. So that would be hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. Also all you Madison-area Cheeseheads keep that proverbial eyeball peeled for that weapon vehicle. As of this posting they hadn’t found it yet.

Another WI wreck that is a little better. Bike crash leaves cyclist with minor injuries No mention of mode of wreck, but as there was no intersection mentioned (or a description of the other vehicle) I’m going to go with hit from behind so protocols to avoid (and maybe the victim was one of my readers, there seemed to be light injuries), and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

This CO wreck brought back unpleasant memories. Hit-and-run driver seriously injures cyclist Mid-block wreck in a bike lane? Sounds like attempted murder to me Mr. DA. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages. Get the infrastructure right to prevent. And shred the cars used to commit hit-and-run. They melt down guns used to commit crimes, same thing should happen to motor vehicles.

Not a wreck, but not very good either. Police identify bicyclist struck in head by lightning in Maryland Heights If you’re not already out in it just stay home, for those storms that blow in unexpectedly find shelter away from stands of trees, and if you’re on the road when the lightning starts lay the bike down at the edge of the road and lay alongside. It’s better to be dirty than dead.

An OR cyclist is hit while trying to buy groceries. 91-year-old Eugene cyclist hit by car plans to keep riding OK, to avoid use the hit-from-behind protocols, to prevent goes back to Dutch quality infrastructure with bidirectional bike lanes on both sides of the streets to prevent mid-block crossing.

Update on a wreck in the Great White North. Police: Teen cyclist killed by street racers High speeds on the part of the weapon vehicle makes all of the protocols moot for reaction time, and as the drivers of the weapon vehicles were idiots I’m not sure infrastructure would have done anything either.

Also from the GWN, with a slightly better outcome. Cyclist gets away with minor injuries after being hit by truck The time would have been right about sunset local time, the driver may have been blinded by the setting sun, or maybe not as they haven’t released any information about the mode of the wreck.

Another GWN wreck, it’s a bad day for Bob and Doug. Cyclist injured on Culloden Road, OPP investigating ‘fail to remain’ collision Hit from behind, protocols and infrastructure, can you tell this is the last link I filtered?

Another Montreal right hook. Cyclist injured after colliding with truck in Plateau-Mont-Royal Obviously intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

More on a UK driver who killed a cyclist while distracted by pictures on his cell phone. Minibus driver jailed for five years for cyclist’s death

An “ugh!” wreck from Oz. Cyclist injured by car at South Brighton, pedestrian hit by trailer at Glynde Strictly a hit-from-behind of the Lanterne Rouge for a group ride, which means he was quite visible at the back of the group. Protocols would not have helped much so that only leaves infrastructure to prevent.

Moving back to the states, someone stole bicycles from a place that has no bicycles to sell. Police: Man wanted in bicycle theft from Silver Spring Township store Sure they sell things that look like bicycles, but they are not really bicycles.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: More on misguided Olin decision; protected bikeways and hit-and-run bills pass legislature

I’m not sure how to classify this except as Karma, maybe? Why General Motors wants to put 19,000 tech employees on bicycles

A SoCal letter writer has the right numbers, but still gets the wrong answers. Letters, Aug. 28, 2014: The real statistics behind cycling-related injuries

And still in SoCal, a police chief only gets it half right. From the Chief- Kids, bikes and school People in cars are driving potential murder weapons around with the destructive power of anything from a 20mm to a 155mm cannon shell. A 20mm is barely bigger than a machine gun (there are 20mm rifles, but they are heavy as hell to carry, more than a mortar tube and aiming platform but they fire an effective AP round so they used to be used against armor at medium ranges… TMI) but a 155 or the naval equivalent are capable of taking out large buildings with a single shot.

I guess this is Infrastructure! SF Weekly Tests New State Law Requiring Cars to Give Cyclists More Room on the Roads Using a reflector to show how far 3 feet away from a cyclist really is has the deleterious side effect of making said bicycle almost as wide as a car.

And I finally ran out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus “Unkillable Badass” (I love getting called that)

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What My Bike Has Taught Me About White Privilege

What I was trying to say last week, but better than what I wrote.

A Little More Sauce

The phrase “white privilege” is one that rubs a lot of white people the wrong way. It can trigger something in them that shuts down conversation or at least makes them very defensive. (Especially those who grew up relatively less privileged than other folks around them). And I’ve seen more than once where this happens and the next move in the conversation is for the person who brought up white privilege to say, “The reason you’re getting defensive is because you’re feeling the discomfort of having your privilege exposed.”

I’m sure that’s true sometimes. And I’m sure there are a lot of people, white and otherwise, who can attest to a kind of a-ha moment or paradigm shift where they “got” what privilege means and they did realize they had been getting defensive because they were uncomfortable at having their privilege exposed. But I would guess that more often than…

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Things are approaching “normal” for values of “normal” that are right angles to reality, and the Feed

I’m actually feeling pretty chipper today. It’s grocery day, which means I get out of the house for a bit. Also I got the most awesomest reply to a comment I put on a web comic about dealing with depression (I know some of you think I never get depressed dealing with this “stuff” but really I came into this gig dealing with depression, this is how I deal) and related how I got depressed in the first place. The artist left me a reply that I shall quote in its entirety here:

“David M Willis
August 28, 2014 at 2:08 am | Reply
confidentially i’m not in this webcomics thing to tell stories, i’m actually just assembling an army of unkillable badasses one by one, who i will eventually march across the face of the earth and install a new world order”

I think I will add that to my resume. “Unkillable badass” has a nice ring to it wouldn’t you say? I hope I get placed high enough in the new DoT to fix some of the mistakes made with all these damned highways running through residential neighborhoods.

Up first is something that came through after I put yesterday’s post to bed. Deputy Who Hit Biking Napster Exec While Driving Distracted Won’t Face Charges and Update: DA refuses to file charges in Milt Olin case I’m totally unsurprised at this turn of events, merely disappointed. There will be a civil trial in the case, but even if the Olins “win” the taxpayers will be the real losers as they are picking up the tab for defending the deputy and also covering the eventual payout. I have long advocated that when LEO are sued the payout comes from the pension fund of the accused, and when there’s no money left there it comes from the payroll of the organization. So long as LEO misconduct is left unpunished it will continue to flourish.

An unknown person shot and killed a drunk driver in TX. Texas dad acquitted of fatally shooting suspected drunken driver who struck, killed sons The prosecution was unable to place the murder weapon in the hands of the father of the victims of the drunk driver. Personally I prefer just to chain the driver to the steering wheel of the car while it gets crushed and shredded, or if I’m in a really bad mood just leave the car in impound with the driver chained to the steering wheel until the trial, how ever many months that takes. Feeding would be optional, bathroom breaks not so much, and no AC. And if that sounds like I do not like drunk drivers very much, you’re right.

A driver hits a cyclist in OR then leaves the scene when first responders arrive. Police: Man hit cyclist, drove away when he heard sirens Right hook as the cyclist rode across the front of the gas station that the driver of the weapon vehicle was trying to enter, so intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. And the article seems to have updated while I was creating the link, because the driver is no longer being described as “drunk”, his sobriety or lack of has no mention in the updated link. His attempt to hide the evidence and deceive LEO has not been changed…

A GA cyclist is killed because a driver should not have been driving proved he should not have been driving. Cyclist Killed In Athens Crash OK I can’t tell if this is a SWSS or what, the narrative just says the driver “couldn’t avoid” hitting the cyclist… However they did arrest the driver for not having a valid license, so there is at least that. Assuming the wreck was not at an intersection that wasn’t named, use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. Include in that some means of preventing driving without a valid license…

Horrors, a cyclist not wearing proper cycling gear… Waterville cyclist seriously injured after being struck by van This wreck was in ME BTW. The driver claimed the cyclist was riding salmon when the weapon vehicle turned left and hit the cyclist. Assuming the cyclist was riding salmon that only allows for 2 possible locations and directions of travel for the cyclist. One is parallel to the original direction of travel and crossing the intersection to the left of the turning vehicle, the other is riding in the lane the weapon vehicle was turning towards. The third alternative is the cyclist was left-crossed in the traditional sense and the driver failed to see him until contact with the front of the weapon vehicle. The description of the cyclist’s garb indicates he was riding for transportation somewhere, not on a recreational or training ride. So, either don’t ride salmon, or intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Just south of the ME wreck a NYC driver manages to hit 3 people walking in the crosswalk. Driver Seriously Injures Three Elderly Pedestrians In LES Crosswalk I’m still trying to figure out how you manage to hit 3 adults using the crosswalk… I think the fact that it was a woman driving a Volvo might have had something to do with it. I mention this wreck because for all intents and purposes it was a right hook, the victims just were not riding bicycles at the time of the wreck, but they were using the built infrastructure as intended and as safely as possible.

A MA cyclist causes a left cross by jumping the light. Arlington police log: Spitting workers, injured cyclist and more What more can I say about this one? Even the famous Idaho stop law requires yielding to traffic after the stop at a red light, which requires actually looking for traffic before leaving the safety of the stop bar.

Final say on a UK wreck leaves me feeling nauseous. Suspended sentence for lorry driver who hit and killed Darlington cyclist That’s right, run over a plainly visible cyclist on the side of the road and get a suspended sentence and 160 hours of community service. TANJ!

Update on a wreck in Oz. Teenager hit by truck in Oakford on Tuesday dies in hospital At this time LEO have been unable to determine which vehicle had the right of way at the intersection where the wreck happened. So, intersection wreck implies that the protocols might have been of some use in avoiding damages, and that infrastructure “up to Dutch” could have prevented the wreck.

It looks like there was a wreck in Enn Zed that was extremely similar to the wreck on I 84 in OR last week. Cyclist injured on SH2 at Petone, long delays for northbound traffic The report as I read it while composing the post is the cyclist was hit where the bike lane crossed the exit ramp, making the geometry a left hook (they drive on the wrong side of the road in Enn Zed). There is very little a cyclist can do in this circumstance…

Speaking of the OR wreck on I 84, there is a FB page devoted to fixing the situation. Ellen Memorial Connector – Complete the Historic Columbia Gorge HWY My first Infrastructure! article of the day.

Our Daily Ted article. BOLO Alert: Custom Davidson bike stolen in South Pasadena

LifeStyle in NJ. Greater Morristown mourns cyclist, killed in accident The cyclist crashed when he hit or tried to avoid an uncovered access hole for some kind of infrastructure, either water or gas. The report doesn’t know if he hit the hole, or lost traction off the front wheel trying to avoid it, but it all amounts to the same thing.

Just what we need, a folding e-assist bike that can lock itself to trees and posts and becomes unridable if you break the lock. ncycle e-bike features integrated locking, folding and pocket systems Oh did I forget to mention the integrated carrier hidden in the frame? I think I forgot.

And either I have finished losing my mind, or I have run out of links. Some days it’s hard to tell.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet, Unkillable Badass (I like that…)

A post from the Great Beyond off line, that should have been put up on Wreck-Free Sunday

This upcoming Sunday the 31^st will be the thirteenth anniversary of my death. And if that isn’t the strangest sentence I have ever written in this blog I don’t know what was, or will be stranger than that.

I’m going to take a little break next Sunday to celebrate, not that I died, but that I didn’t stay dead. Or as someone once said that I am so stubborn and ornery that even Death backed down. I don’t think of it like that, more like I have a job to do and it wasn’t done yet so I can’t leave until it is. I have no idea of what that job is (although all the dreams about building things might have something to do with it) but until I find out what that job is I will do this blog about using the built infrastructure and agitating for improving the infrastructure for riding bicycles safely.

So, moving to more pleasant things we celebrated my grandson’s second birthday yesterday by going to a movie. We saw “How to Train Your Dragon 2”, which I found to be much more adult than the first one, with dragons and people dying, and not just “red shirts” either, but main characters, like the father of the lead character. There was considerable character development since the first movie. And I liked it, which I think is about the biggest thing I can say about the movie. I admit I did not enter the theater with high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised at the story I saw portrayed on the big screen.

Then we went to a nearby chain “Italian” restaurant for late lunch/early dinner, which is where we discovered the grandson’s limitations on good behavior in public. I mean he was very good during the nearly 2 hours we spent in the theater (15 minutes of ads and previews, 90 minutes more or less of movie) but by the time we got to the restaurant he needed some play time to burn off energy built up from sitting quietly and watching the movie. Outside the restaurant were stairs and high curbs that just demanded to be climbed on from a 2YO perspective, and after dinner he spent at least a half hour going up and down the stairs and curbed planters in front of the restaurant. He was in a much better mood after that, but it was time for him to go home with his mommy, my youngest daughter.

While we were outside the theater in the mall I think I found where I want to have my B-day party. Not too far from the mall where we saw the movie is an indoor go-kart track called Pole Position, that uses electric go-karts that are capable of reaching 45 MPH but usually can’t because of the track configuration. They race on a ¼ mile road course set up on a polished concrete surface so it has lots of grip but slides predictably at the limit. I think that would be the perfect place to celebrate being alive 56 years after dying 13 years ago.

I mentioned earlier in this post about having dreams about building things, well what I was dreaming about was race cars. Not just your garden variety stock car, sprint car, or even radical offset Supermodified, but a radical offset front wheel drive dirttrack racer. I mean seriously I have no idea how to even classify this monstrosity. Nobody has ever made a front wheel drive dirt track car that wasn’t based on an economy car to my knowledge. I know that theoretically such a design would be freaky fast around an oval track and very stable, as long as you only turned one direction, left. The theory goes that a FWD car with 67% front and 67% left weight would have perfect balance at the limit with 50% right front and 34% right rear weight and the driving wheels pointed in the desired direction of travel. The left rear tire would be just floating over the track and the remaining 16% of the car weight would be on the left front. There would be just a trace of understeer. In the dream I built the proof of concept car from a wrecked 4WD pickup truck that had been hit in the back end and pretty much destroyed from the back of the cab on back. The front differential was moved as far over to the left as it would go and the transfer case came off the right side of the transmission leaving the engine sitting just behind and to the right of the left front wheel with the driver sitting behind and just far enough to the right so that the steering shaft could clear the engine. The rear axle was from a trailer kit with a set of small disc brakes kludged on the spindles with the balance of the car adjusted by moving bolt-on ballast weights around the frame. I think there was something like 300 pounds of lead bolted to the front part of the left frame rail. And I think in the dream we never did put a body on the P.O.C. car, just a few pieces of heavy plastic sheeting to keep the dirt mostly off the driver and the air moving through the radiator instead of around it. I remember that in the dream the driver never had to lift and could drive into the corner pretty much at top speed and just turn the wheel like a video game. Of course that was just a dream, what would happen IRL is strictly a matter of speculation.

Another thing that I have been thinking about but not dreaming about has been that 20/20 crank forward bike. As I keep saying the only thing keeping me from building it right now is getting the raw stock for making the seat tube and post. I know what I need to get I just can’t find it locally or come up with a way to pay for it online. Such things are very frustrating. Everything else I can kludge out of salvaged bicycles except the seat tube which has to be done custom to keep it from rotating left or right as the rider pedals.

And the Saturday night race from Bristol was last night, and it was a barn-burner of a race. One of the characteristics of Bristol is you pretty much never wreck alone, someone will be along to join you very shortly, that is just one of the consequences fo running 43 cars on a track that has a 17 second (or less) lap time, and that was true again last night as Junior was caught up in somebody else’s wreck and taken out of the race. Joey Logano won the race in convincing fashion. Not to say he ran away with it, he didn’t. But he was able to drive the car just about anywhere he wanted to put it on the track and made it stick. That’s a combination of a good car and a great driver, and Joey is one of the best. He was brought into the Cup level of competition way too early, just 21 days after his 18th birthday. He was a development driver for the Joe Gibbs team, and was promoted to fill Tony Stewart’s seat in the 20 car when Tony left to form his own team. They called him “Sliced Bread” back then (as in the best thing since…) but to be honest he needed some more time rising before placing him in the oven of the Cup series. Well now that he has moved on from JGR he seems to have matured into the top driver he was meant to be. Yesterday’s win puts him in the group of 3-time winners this year at the top of the standings.

I was thinking about the Sprint-T and the virtual version on GT4 and about the cockpit for the simulator. What I was thinking about was using the actual body for the car as the cockpit of the simulator and mounting a display to the front of the body, using the simulator to work out the ergonomics so that if I ever get a chance to build the real thing the cockpit will be completely sorted out. One of the things I was thinking about was using PVC pipe to simulate the roll cage and work out how I’m going to get in and out of the car without assistance. After all if I can’t get in and out of the car then I can’t build it. And another good thing is I can sort out the steering wheel and pedals so that I have some place to put my left foot when I’m not using the brake pedal and just cruising down the Interstate by using the real pedals I’m going to use connected to the pedals of the controller. That means running the pushrod from the brake pedal to the brake pedal on the controller, and the throttle cable from the pedal around a pulley to the back of the pedal on the controller to pull the pedal back. And I’m thinking of also connecting the real steering column to the controller also to really get the steering ergonomics sorted.

And on the tube right now is the last stage of the US Pro Cycling Challege tour and the last race stage for Jens Voight, he of the famous “Shut up, legs!” Every time they get a pause in the action or lose signal from out on the course they go back to another interview with Jens, or talking about him, or the other racers talking about him…

And now the show shifts to the Indy Car race at Sonoma on one channel, and the Tudor USCS from VIR on the other. Two road course races of two completely different kinds of race cars, open wheel Indy cars at Sonoma, and production based GT cars of two different classes at Virginia International Raceway. The two classes of GT have very different suspension and brake regulations that mainly affect corner speed but the engine regulations result in very similar straight line speeds, meaning setting up a pass between the two different classes is “fun”. As the race continues there are many incidents on corner entry between the two classes. And the race from Sonoma is a bit slam-bang as well. I haven’t been keeping up with that one as well as I was the VIR race but I have already seen people changing out broken front wings and broken rear bumpers at the Indy Car race. And Scott Dixon won the race in Sonoma with a bunch of people running out of Sunoco E-85 on the last lap.

Annnd it’s almost time to leave for evening services so I’m going to wrap it up here.

PSA, Opus

Back on the air, and the Feed

It has been terrible here at Casa de El Poeta this weekend as our Internet, land line, and TV has been completely shut down (well except the TV was mostly off but did come on for a few minutes at a time) leaving me with no ability to make blog posts or read my “mind wipe” web comics. I did an off-line Sunday post that I will load up from the local drive after this gets posted.

Up first because of lots of links is an OR cyclist riding the bike lane on I 84 is hit and killed by a drowsy driver. Woman on bike killed in I-84 crash identified as Mosier firefighter and Police investigate crash that killed bicyclist on I-84 early Sunday also Police say driver fatigue contributed to collision that left Mosier cyclist dead As for why the cyclist was on the Interstate and why there are bike lanes there, when they built the Interstate they built it over the old US route through the same area leaving no alternative for parts of the ride but to use the Interstate. There are protected cycle tracks with concrete barriers separating bicycles and motor vehicles in other segments of the highway, but there was not enough room to install those where the wreck happened without taking out a large hunk of mountain. That only leaves using the hit-from-behind protocols as an avoidance maneuver. ODOT needs to decide how many cyclists need to get killed on this stretch before they can spend the money to fix it, and if there is a maximum time between deaths that resets the count, because the design will get more cyclists killed by 70+ MPH traffic drifting off the road and over the painted stripe marking the bike lane. More on that bike lane. Fatal collision spurs new calls to complete the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail

An unknown mode of wreck after a hit-and-run in LA. Cyclist seriously injured by hit-and-run crash No pictures of the bicycle or anything else to let me know what happened, just pictures of crime scene tape hanging from a stop sign. So, Infrastructure is the answer, but we don’t know the question.

A speeding motorcycle ends one life and permanently alters another in OH. Motorcycle rider dies, teen loses leg in collision The teen cyclist was riding within the strictures of the law when the motorcyclist came speeding through a residential area and killed himself and nearly killed the kid. I don’t see anything that infrastructure could do to prevent this as the area is described as what would be partially shared space in the Dutch model where there should not be any motorcycles flying through at highway speeds.

A GA cyclist has his arm broken as he was buzzed while signalling for a left turn. Columbus cyclist injured in hit and run asking for public’s help to find suspect The motorcycle rider was lane splitting at speed and ran the stop sign where the bicyclist was preparing to turn. Again we get a motorcycle going too fast and running in to the cyclist. I really don’t know how a human cyclist could avoid a wreck like this because of the stop sign removing all maneuverability from the cyclist, and once again the motorcycle rider was not even using the existing infrastructure properly so changing it won’t have much effect either.

A serious bike wreck in CA with no witnesses and no evidence except the victim. CHP investigates bicycle crash that injured Hidden Valley Lake man OK how do they know the cyclist wrecked at 0145 when the call came in at 1045? That is a long time to lay in the road convulsing, and if the wreck was at 1045 the lack of a light had no bearing on the wreck. I think the report has serious holes in it. Anywho, depending on which time is accurate, the 0145 or the 1045 the light is either extremely important or a non-factor and I think the intersection had something to do with the wreck too. I hypothesize that a car making a right turn cut the cyclist off, causing him to fall and injure his head.

Also in CA is this wreck report via Ted Rogers of BikingInLA. Update: Experienced cyclist dies in Eagle Rock solo fall; 9th LA bicycling fatality this year The wreck is being blamed on bad pavement that caught the cyclist’s front tire and pulled the bike out from under him at speed, making his helmet not much good except for preventing some of the cosmetic damage.

Another cyclist rides around the crossing gates in CA, with predictable results. Police: Cyclist Ignored Crossing Arms Before Trolley Injury Seriously, folks, this is not rocket science. It barely rises to the intellectual challenge of 2+2=4. Don’t ride around the crossing guards and when crossing an unprotected grade crossing look both ways and listen for the train…

A NYC cyclist is accused of riding salmon and endangering her puppy (not kidding). Firefighters Save Adorable Puppy, Cyclist Struck By Truck Driver And it turns out the agency investigating the wreck is also responsible for the vehicle, which I’m sure had no bearing on them immediately blaming the injured cyclist instead of thir driver. If the report is accurate then don’t ride salmon, or it isn’t then use the hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

I strongly recommend against using this MI law firm if you get hit riding a bike. Cyclist Killed by Alleged Drunk Driver. DUI Law Firm The lawyers show more concern for the drunk driver than they do for the victim of the wreck/murder. Anyway, it was a hit-from-behind wreck so perhaps the protocols would have made the wreck survivable, and it’s possible that getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent a future wreck with a drunk driver.

This DE hit-from-behind wreck is also a hit-and-run. Bicyclist struck and killed by motorist The narrative reads that the driver “didn’t see” the cyclist and “didn’t know” he had hit anything. Protocols might help avoid injury and damages, but getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would get bicycles away from deadly motor vehicles and prevent another wreck.

And up in the Great White North a cyclist killed by a motor vehicle and finally identified after many days. Dead cyclist identified by friends I think this might have been a right hook (there is a tire track across a curb and the bicycle looks like it was hit from the side). If so then intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another low-information report on a bike wreck hotspot in Montreal. Cyclist dies after accident in St-Hubert That’s 3 this summer from one small neighborhood… That screams “bad infrastructure” to me.

Speaking of “bad infrastructure”, who puts stairs on a MUP without lots of warning signs for cyclists? Cyclist killed after fall in Rundle Park There is a picture of the stairs that killed the cyclist in the link and the “warning” signs that never mention stairs, just a steep hill. I wish I could say that was “Only in Canuckistan” but not really.

An intersection wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision While I love that LEO in Canada assume that when you hit-and-run the wreck is automatically your fault, It would be nice to know who was where when to determine how to avoid a similar wreck or change the infrastructure to prevent a future wreck.

Final word on a UK wreck where the driver was paying more attention to his phone than to the cyclist on the road in front of him. No jail sentence for driver who caused death of cyclist near Kincardine Bridge The constable that did the preliminary crowd and traffic control said he could see the victim’s bike more than 200 yards before he reached the scene when the light was not in the best position to be seen on the back of the wrecked bike. I wonder how the driver missed seeing it then? And the sentence… There are no words for how pitiful that sentence was for running over a cyclist like that. And how many people think the driver is going to honor that driving ban if they let him keep his car? More Driver accused of killing a cyclist tells court he is ashamed of using his mobile phone moments before the crash

And another UK driver admits to killing a cyclist. Hit-and-run driver faces jail over Chard cyclist’s death As I said when this went to trial the driver would probably get more time for the pot charge than for killing the cyclist…

An apparent intersection wreck in Enn Zed. Christchurch cyclist injured in hit and run Protocols to avoid, assuming the driver allowed enough reaction time to employ protocols, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Our Daily Ted, Pt.1. Morning Links: Biking to the Emmy awards, BOLO Alert for purloined Roubaix, Jens calls it a 17-year career

And Pt.2. Morning Links: New ROAD magazine from Chris K, more on biking to the Emmys, SaMoHi kids bike to school

An Infrastructure! question that is being improperly framed in CA. The Conversation feedback: On a mission to get bikes off sidewalks The issue is the only bicycle infrastructure they have are painted bike lanes in the street. The problem is most people think painted stripes “protect” cyclists about as well as a Hi-Viz vest protects against getting shot when someone is aiming for you.

An infrastructure problem is causing cyclists grief in the Great White North. Several cyclists hurt near dangerous part of road on Lakeshore Yep, when several cyclists wreck in the same location from the same cause then you have broken infrastructure.

A little “portable infrastructure” from the UK. Laserlight, the bright idea of a student behind a lifesaver for cyclists It projects a bicycle symbol on the road 5 meters (about 16′ 5″) in front of the bike using a bright green laser. I’m going to be brutally honest on this one, it might prevent a jaywalker from stepping into you, but 16 feet is not going to be far enough in front of a car for most drivers to be able to see it unless the cyclist was already almost in front of the vehicle, or in the case of a conventional cab semi you would have to be about 5-10 feet in front of the driver to get the bike symbol out of the passenger side front blind spot.

And those were all the links that accumulated while I was unable to access the Internet, whew! I spent 2 days going through the links and pasting them to this post. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go scream at something… I’m really glad I spent the extra time on Friday night to clean out all the links before posting, or I would have had even more links. BTW what happened was something blew out the inside of the box that converts the fiber optic signal to a phone and internet signal (my land line uses VOIP directly instead of converting at a remote location), and everything inside the box except the wiring had to be replaced.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I mowed the lawn this morning, and the Feed

I know for most people mowing the lawn is no big deal, but with my allergies it can be dangerous. Someone has to do it, and as the choices are me, Mrs. the Poet who can’t pull the start rope because she’s left handed and you have to use your right arm to pull the start rope, or paying money we don’t have to someone else to do it and from the way that clause was constructed you should see the problems with that. I started to do it earlier in the week but had to quit because of back pains (standing bent over the mower to fill the gas tank and clean the dirt off the air filter caused it to go into spasm and it never quit spasming). Then it rained, then I had more back pains, and today I had no back pains and good weather to mow. So the rest of the lawn got mowed.

On another front, my Death Day celebration is coming up on the 31st. You know what is a good thing to give a guy that died and came back from a motor vehicle wreck? Amazon gift cards, or a Logitech steering wheel for the PS2 that is compatible with GT4, or a USB steering wheel and a copy of GT3 since you can grab a good new USB PS2 steering wheel and pedals that will work with GT3 and a copy of GT3 for less than the price of a used Logitech wheel and pedals. I just want to have a controller that works so I can build a virtual Sprint T and drive it, since it is looking less and less likely that I will ever get the chance to build the real thing. I’m trying to find out the file format for cars in the GT games, because I have read that GT3 cars can be imported into the GT4 game by putting them in your garage, and that you can connect a PC via the LAN connection on the PS2 and convince it that you are downloading your GT3 garage to the GT4 game garage… Can you tell I’m trying anything that would let me drive this car I have been thinking about for over a year now?

Up first from the Great White North, why use an entire car to hit a cyclist when just a wheel works just as good? Runaway car wheel strikes cyclist, sends him to hospital Um, OOOOhhhh Kaaaayyyy then. Moving along…

Moving closer to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist hits a car head on. Cyclist killed in collision in northeast Arkansas OK there are only 2 ways for a bike and a car to hit head on in the road, somebody was on the wrong side of the road. Problem is the narrative leaves that information out, but does mention the driver of the SUV the cyclist ran into (or that ran into the cyclist) was uninjured. So… Don’t ride salmon?

Update on a CA wreck. Wife of paralyzed cyclist thanks community The cyclist is now officially paralyzed from the chest down, and there is still some question about the condition of his lungs. WoaB wants to remind everybody to send this victim some positive energy to use as he needs.

A SWCC left cross in GA (too many acronyms/abbreviations). Cyclist injured in bike vs. car accident Cyclist allegedly hit while running a red light, but did the driver not see a car and assumed the road was clear to make the turn? Because I don’t see any mention of any other witnesses except the driver of the weapon vehicle as the cyclist was transported by ambulance from the scene. Anywho, this is an intersection wreck so protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A LEO-involved bike wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Sheriff’s deputy car collides with Cape teen cyclist Nothing about the geometry of the wreck, but the intersection appears to be a 2-way stop. Since the directions of travel were not given, and they aren’t blaming the kid for running a stop sign or riding without lights before sunrise, I would say there is a very high chance the Deputy did a “Not See” on the bicycle and ran the stop or stopped and went when there was no car in the intersection. And failed to miss the cyclist he didn’t see.

Moving to the north a KS cyclist wipes out on a steep trail because she was too short to see the warning signs. 9-year old injured in bike trail accident OK unless this was a technical off-road MTB trail I call this really bad infrastructure, if it was an off-road MTB trail and the signs were too high for this rider to see them it’s still not-very-good infrastructure. OK the video finally played so I could see the facility in question and whoever built the thing should be in jail. Imagine a street with a sign “Next 700 feet undrivable, get out and push”.

Update on the unlicensed cab driver that killed a cyclist in NYC. Police: Driver Who Allegedly Struck, Killed Cyclist Was Not Licensed For Livery Cab The initial report was no license, not just no commercial license.

A pair of red light runners collide in Paradise. Cyclist injured in early morning crash with sedan the weapon vehicle was making an illegal right turn on red (no stop) and hit the cyclist crossing in the crosswalk against the DONT WALK sign. If the DONT WALK sign was still flashing then the cyclist was technically running a yellow (or not even that, as most pedestrian signals only flash during the latter part of the green phase). I am not entirely certain about HI traffic codes on cyclists crossing in the crosswalk and which set of signals they need to obey. The one thing I do know is that even with infrastructure “up to Dutch” that would not prevent the driver from running a red light at 0246.

An apparent BUI in AK. Bicyclist critically hurt in collision with SUV in Midtown Anchorage Cyclist was weaving through traffic and apparently disoriented when he cut off an SUV and got clobbered. Not much I can say except don’t ride impaired, and that even drunk cyclists are safe from wrecks with cars with the infrastructure “up to Dutch”.

A cyclist is dragged through an intersection in the Great White North, and blamed for not wearing a helmet. Bradford teen cyclist airlifted in critical condition following collision In one picture you can see the cyclist being extracted from under the driver’s side of the weapon vehicle. The narrative seemed more concerned about the cyclist’s helmet or lack thereof than the geometry of the wreck. That only leaves me with the advice to get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent a similar wreck.

A buzz job kills in Jamaica. Police seek truck driver in death of cyclist Hit from behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another infrastructure wreck, this time on camera in Scotland near where my daughter lives. Cyclist helmet cam video of tram track crash You can see from the video what looks like zero warning before the wreck, one second riding along normally the next sliding on the street…

Another Aussie cyclist gets buzzed. Witnesses sought to Caulfield South cyclist crash Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Sad Fiesta Island news, for and against the 3-foot law, and a new reflector could stop cars sooner

Lifestyle from CA. Family of Slain Rider Wants Drivers to Change Lanes to Pass a Cyclist

Lifestyle from the East Coast. Danvers woman conquers Washington in honor of friends killed by motorist For those who are not familiar Mt. Washington is the Pikes Peak Hillclimb for the east. And there is an event for e-assist cycles in the early fall, late summer called the Alternative Energy Regatta or something like that. They have never had more than 2 e-assist bikes make the attempt in the same year because of how tough the climb is. Just completing the climb is a serious test of battery capacity and motor cooling.

Lifestyle from the Great White North. Cyclist killed in collision commemorated with ride fundraiser

A new approach to making bikes theft resistant. Coming Soon To A Pole Near You: A Bike That Locks Itself If this becomes widespread this will be the first major change in bicycle design in almost a century. I don’t count all that crabon bushwah, that is just a materials thing

Battery breakthrough for a low-cost high rate cell. Energy Breakthrough, A Supercapacitor Battery Made From Hemp Supercapacitors are not really “batteries” but they have enough energy capacity now to be considered as a competitor for chemical storage. Where supercaps have it all over chemical storage is charge/discharge rates, making them really useful on systems that have lots of regen and energy recovery. And naturally lower-cost energy storage for large passenger and truck EV means lower cost energy storage for e-assist bicycles.

And going the other way for capacity and low weight over low cost. Tesla Developing 500-mile Graphene Battery? And this is also good for e-assist, lighter cells of the same capacity means better performance without assist, or the same weight means longer assist.

And because I haven’t linked a cat picture lately… Here’s what happens when you get an inbred cat

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Now we wait, and the Feed

The check has been deposited into a special account I had set up just for such things back in the ’90s, some place to park “hot” assets until they had cooled off and could be used. At the time I was building prototypes for toys and sometimes had to handle checks for thousands of $ and needed a place where I could put stuff and not have to worry about losing everything if the deposit turned out to be tainted in some way, so I created a second savings account just for that eventuality. None of our investors or contract jobs turned out to be “shady”, but even after the toy shop closed for lack of business (we lost our shirts making a “working” ST:TOS tricorder with magnetometer and weather station) I left the account active by moving a dollar or two in and out of it every couple of years or so “just in case” and 20 years later, I’m needing it again.

On another front, I may have to get surgery done on the lump on the back of my neck. It was tested a few years ago and determined to be a benign lipoma or fatty tumor. The problem is it has been getting bigger lately for whatever reason and has gone from interfering with my bike helmet when I ride bent over on a normal MTB, to hitting the back of my head when I’m finishing a bottled drink or travel mug. I have to take the lid off my coffee cup to get that last swallow. And this week it got to the point where it just plain interferes when I move my head. It ain’t deadly, but it might aggravate me to death so it has to go. I’m going back to my doctor early next month on an unrelated subject, but I will definitely bring this up with him then. Seriously this thing hurts almost every time I move my head now.

Up first because of proximity to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist is right hooked in NOLA. Cyclist struck by driver on Magazine Street, police say I have one thing to say about NOPD, they certainly seem to “get it” about the hazards of the right hook. Now if they could “get it” about the “punishment pass”…Anyway, right hook means intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Not sure of the state on this right cross wreck of a salmon cyclist. Cyclist injured after colliding with vehicle This is the primary reason not to ride salmon, drivers are not looking in your direction when executing turning movements and will hit you and it will be your fault. Not that I have to say anything to my readers, you guys already know this, right?

A NE man is seriously injured by a serial traffic violator. Police: Omaha man arrested after hitting cyclist and Bicyclist, 45, critically injured by car that police said was being driven erratically One report had the driver of the weapon vehicle swerving all the way across the street before hitting the cyclist from behind. This moves this wreck from “normal” to “unavoidable by human cyclists” category, and also the “not likely affected by Dutch bicycle infrastructure” category. The driver failed to keep the vehicle on the street even when using both sides of it, bicycle infrastructure would just be “more street” for him like the sidewalk was.

Update on a NY wreck. Wayland man sentenced to 2-6 years in cyclist’s 2013 death Kill someone while under the influence by any other means and you will get serious prison time, much more than “2-6”. But cars are “different”.

A cyclist in far West Canuckistan gets compensated for a wreck with a loose dog. Cyclist felled by unleashed Chilliwack Doberman awarded $39,000 For those unaware Dobies were originally bred to haul children in small carts as both a draft and as a guard animal, and they are very aggressive around anyone they see as threatening “their kids”. The article shows the device intended to restrain the animal failed to function, probably because of a dead battery.

Even the trees are out to get cyclists in Oz. Cyclist seriously injured in crash – Blue Mountains The tree limb fell into the shoulder and partially in the road and the cyclist suffered serious injury trying to avoid it, but the severity of the injuries makes me think the tree or another vehicle hit the victim. But seriously, this falls into the “not avoidable” category.

More on that UK wreck that is currently in the trial stage. I posted links yesterday as being from two separate wrecks when they were in fact this wreck. Driver looking at photos on phone hits cyclist – then snaps fatally injured victim, court told I sent this link to someone who knows about these things, and he indicated the driver could have “narcissistic personality disorder” whatever that is… More Minibus driver accused of fatally colliding with a cyclist told police ‘I’ve killed a man’, court told

After bad infrastructure gets a cyclist killed all road users are advised to exercise caution until the infrastructure in question can be fixed. Drivers urged to use caution after bicyclist killed AFAIK cyclists in NH are required to use a bike lane if one is provided, even if doing so will get them killed, so it’s up to drivers to “not kill” cyclists.

More infrastructure news from SD. No sidewalks by new Sioux Falls middle school So, they expect everybody to ride the bus to school, even those that live less than a mile away? No sidewalks or bike lanes (and probably no bike racks to park at even if they decided to ride a bike to school).

Lifestyle from CA via Facebook. Remember Matthew: Change Lanes to Pass a Cyclist This is a FB Community Page to remind people that cyclists are human beings and fragile.

Lifestyle from NM. Amazing cyclist, 94, outlives his competition The anchor person wanted to know what he does to live so long but didn’t want to do the one thing she knew he did, ride the bike… >sigh< 😦

And a potential game changer for e-assist bikes and EV. Secretive Company Claims Battery Breakthrough The claim is a completely solid-state battery with no liquid electrolyte, built the same way as my laptop screen and at about the same cost.

And I seem to have run out of links again. Fortunately before I ran out of mind. 😉

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Relief arrived in the mail, and the Feed

The trust fund has come through for Casa de El Poeta in the form of a large $$ check that we will use to pay off the mortgage, getting that particular monkey off our backs for good. I think I mentioned my BP going down because of a reduction in stress? Part of that reduction was the negotiations involved doing this. Now we have to deposit the check, wait for the DHS and DEA to clear it as a legitimate transaction, and then cut the certified check to the mortgage company to pay off the mortgage and get our home free and clear. Then we can start using what had been the mortgage payment to cover deferred maintenance, the house needs paint on the outside, and the bath to the master bedroom needs to be remodeled and the holes in the walls repaired ASAP. I really don’t like listening to frogs and crickets while I’m taking a shower inside my house! And I have never seen such a large check in my life, all those zeroes 😮 !

Update on a disgusting story is even more disgusting. Affluenza’ teen’s father busted for impersonating a police officer Remember this one? Sixteen YO kid was drunk on stolen beer and ran over a group of people helping a stranded motorist, killing I think 2(?), and crippling at least one more, and the judge said he was too rich to understand what he did? This shows just how far from the tree the apple fell. Not very far.

Another cyclist/train “incident”. Cyclist killed by train in Detroit and Cyclist hit by train on Detroit’s west side OK there is something going on here, this makes more bicycle/train wrecks in less than 8 months than I normally see in a year. I don’t know if this is a statistical glitch, or if there are people using trains as suicide weapons, or a combination of the two, or someone has developed a mind control ray and is testing it out on cyclists first. OK that last one was going into tin foil hat territory, but seriously, given how easy it is to not get hit by a train having almost twice the normal annual average in less than 8 months is flaky in the extreme. In the meantime the easiest way to not get hit by a train is to not be on the tracks when one is coming, paying attention to crossing guards and signals and looking and listening for one of the large and noisy things so you’re “not there” with the train.

Moving a bit west from that wreck we get a right hook in CO. Boulder police: Cyclist hit by car on Arapahoe Avenue seriously injured Straight-forward right hook wreck caused by improper intersection design with a separated bike path several feet to the right of the street, this can only be solved with separate signal phases for the bike path and the rest of the intersection. Or in other words get the infrastructure “up to Dutch”, because this situation can’t be solved by cyclists and drivers “being careful”. Because of the geometry of this intersection the protocols are of little help.

Kill a cyclist, get a ticket? Lincoln man charged with misdemeanors in death of bicyclist Oh, sorry, ticket and a small fine. Misdemeanors for killing a human being. If it wasn’t for the sidebar article proclaiming that selling drugs got a man 15 years without actually killing anyone I might be more philosophical about this, but putting one man getting 15 years for making and selling something people want while another gets misdemeanor charges for killing someone because “OOhh, drugs are BAD!” and hitting someone not even on the road is an “accident”.

Update on that NYC left hook by an unlicensed cab driver. Livery Driver Charged in Cyclist’s Death Still way undercharged for the seriousness of the outcome. Should not have been driving because unable to prove competency for driving and kills someone proving how incompetent he is, and they can’t charge him with anything that corresponds to the seriousness of the effect.

I think NYPD is more concerned that a bullet “almost” hit one of theirs than the fact that a cyclist was the one being targeted. NYPD: This Gunman Aimed At Bicyclist And Nearly Shot A Cop gasp! a bullet came within several feet of an officer! This miscreant must be brought to justice!

And while we are in NYC, they are trying to add an illegal $88 surcharge to the bicycle tickets they are handing out. DMV Charging Cyclists An Extra $88 For “Operation Safe Cycle” Tickets Any disparaging remark I could make now would just be redundant.

Someone wins the door prize. Bicyclist dies after crashing into car door As they showed in the video the bike lane was more than halfway into the door zone, and I believe NH is a mandatory sidepath state (I know someone will correct me if I’m wrong, they always do). That means that the cyclist was forced to ride in the door zone by law… making this wreck unavoidable by a human cyclist and only preventable by changing the infrastructure that caused it.

A hit and run from the Great White North. Teen cyclist tossed a ‘considerable distance’ in hit-and-run near Marineland Since the cyclist was with a group and there is no mention of lights or reflectors it has to be assumed the cyclist was visible, or something would have been mentioned. Hit from behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

“Good” to know that the Blue Wall extends all the way to Canada. Teen cyclist struck dead by cop’s wife, family’s questions ‘not answered’ The woman had been drinking but was never tested for her BAC%, she was allowed to drive the weapon vehicle away from the wreck… TANJ!

This UK report goes way beyond the pale, even for an Anglophone country. Blackwood driver took photo of fatally injured cyclist after crash, court hears

This trial report from the UK is? Trialish? Bath man pleads guilty to hit-and-run incident which killed cyclist Jake Gilmore and Man pleads guilty to causing the death of Chard teenage cyclist Jake Gilmore The ironic thing is the driver will probably get more time for the pot than for killing and leaving a young man on the side of the road.

Infrastructure causes a bike wreck, and what are the media concerned about? Queues after cyclist injured in street fall Man falls off his bike because the street is crap and gets badly injured, but more importantly, traffic got backed up and Important People in Cars had to wait.

Get in a wreck that destroys your clothes so they give you a hospital gown to stay covered up, and wind up getting chased by police as an escaped patient! Police helicopter pursues injured cyclist mistaken for escaped hospital patient

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Details come out in death of randonneur Matthew O’Neill; new Chinese bike doesn’t need you

Lifestyle in San Diego CA. Hundreds to ride in support of severely injured cyclist and a picture from FB.

And not directly related to bikes but uber-cool. Magical algae turns sewage into biofuel and Dasani Not sure if the “Dasani” bit is product placement or a dig at the product, but this is a variation of the sewage lagoons method of treating sewage, with the same sterilized high-quality fertilizer as an end product but with the added bonus of diesel fuel as a byproduct.

And those were all the links I have for today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

A post about minority relations, and the Feed

I will freely admit I am old. Not as old as some people think, but still “up there” in years. I’m 55 about to be 56 in a few weeks, and I have Seen Things. I saw That Other Armstrong walk on the moon with Buzz Aldrin. I saw Robert Kennedy shot on the TV news by Sirhan Sirhan. I saw JFK laid to rest in Arlington. And I saw protests against racial discrimination and institutional poverty in the Deep South disrupted by goons wearing cop badges. It has frequently been said that for a middle-class white dude to understand what it feels like to be a minority all you need to do is throw him on a bicycle and give him a destination across town, which I understand viscerally (hey, in just a couple of weeks I’m going to celebrate surviving someone trying to kill me for my mode of transport, so I deeply understand). But I have never seen cyclists get the kind of treatment the people in Ferguson are getting on a daily basis from people they pay to “protect” them. Seriously if I was living in Ferguson MO right now I would be suing for return of taxes on the grounds of not getting what I paid for. The “riots” I have seen on the videos coming out of there seem to be mostly the PD or people dressed like the PD except in camo and wearing masks running amok in residential areas, shooting up property and setting fires with burning tear gas grenades. What little PD violence I have seen against group rides like Critical Mass pales in comparison. I mean people are getting shot in Ferguson.

This is what normally happens when cyclists protest, from a half-day ride to the east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Riders Up: 200-plus cyclists show support for riders injured on roadways and Hundreds gather for Vigilance ride to remember injured, killed cyclists I wonder how they got the precise number of riders for the first link (213).

A cyclist was killed in SC and the criminal case drags on. 2 years later, family still waiting for trial to begin in cyclist’s death It seems quite cut-and-dried to me, but then I have been hit several times on my bike and have not been at fault yet. I wonder what could be “more important” than putting someone on trial for killing another human being? Bounced checks?

More on the cyclist left-hooked in NYC. Livery Cab Driver Arrested After Bicyclist Killed In East Harlem and Bicycle rider killed in East Harlem by cab whose driver allegedly had suspended license: police sources Driver still unlicensed, still uninsured, still breathing, all of which are no longer applicable in the case of the victim. This report has made it plain that there was nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck as the driver pulled alongside and turned (left) right over him.

Still in NYC here’s an update with a little more information about a deadly wreck last week. Cyclist struck and killed by ambulette in Flushing Wednesday He either left-crossed himself, or the car passed him right after the turn and did not leave enough room. I’m still not getting good information about the geometry of this wreck.

More about the SF cyclist killed by a driver running from police who weren’t chasing him. Zachary Watson: Cyclist Hit by Driver Fleeing Cops Dies and Cyclist And Exploratorium Employee Zach Watson, Struck By Driver Of Stolen Minivan, Has Died The victim was not riding his bike when hit but was in the process of locking it up. So a completely unavoidable wreck for the cyclist and one that no kind of infrastructure upgrade could reasonably prevent.

Another CA bike wreck that as I compose this is low-information. Cyclist seriously injured in collision in Chula Vista As I read the report at the moment all I really know is the cyclist was seriously injured in an intersection wreck. So intersection protocols apply at the moment, and infrastructure would probably (95% confidence factor) prevent this wreck.

A young (6YO) cyclist is killed in MN. UPDATE: Authorities Continue to Investigate Fatal Van Versus Bike Crash The driver is invoking the Drivers Get Out Of Jail Free card (I didn’t see him) but it is unknown what factor that will play in this wreck. The location is in a residential area of single-family houses so the driver should have been looking for kids coming from driveways as there is no other place to ride a bike except driveways and the street. Notice the complete lack of accommodation for anything other than motor vehicles in what should be a street for kids to run wild, with no through traffic.

Another link to that wreck in Enn Zed, but no more information (yet). A cyclist was seriously injured when her bicycle was hit by a truck near Napier The narrative now reads as a hit-from-behind wreck so I’m assuming applying the protocols could at least minimize the damages. Getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent the conflict that resulted in the wreck from ever happening.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: What DTLA can learn from NYC, guilty plea in Fallbrook hit-and-run, new distracted driving app

Infrastructure! news from Bicycling Magazine. Roundabouts Versus Stop Signs

How to get bike parking at your local store. The Story of the ShurSave Bike Racks This assumes that management actually has fucks to give about customers who arrive by bike, unlike my local store who still haven’t installed a bike rack in spite of another customer’s bike besides mine getting stolen because there is literally nothing solid that bikes are allowed to lock up to. We have trees and the handicapped parking signs that are physically available, with one off-limits because it is bad form in TX to lock to a tree and invite someone to cut down the tree to steal the bike, and the other off-limits because locking to the handicapped parking sign blocks access to the handicapped spaces.

Lifestyle from the NYT. My Life in Bicycles

More e-assist bike news. E-bikes face uphill climb As one wag pointed out in the comments, climbing is the play to strength for an assist bike.

And those were all the links I could find pertaining to the subject matter of this blog, today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Leftover Bean Day, and the Feed

Thanks to getting the power feed fixed earlier this summer the fridge is now quite good at keeping leftovers from going bad, meaning that since we didn’t have any of the beans during the week there is enough to have for dinner tonight and i don’t need to cook today. Not that this is any great problem other than keeping track of the time and adding ingredients at the proper time in the cooking process, but it does mean I have less to distract me while I’m SQUIRRELL! trying to write the blog. I think I might have mentioned a time or two that having brain damage has done nothing to improve my ADHD… and that pulling back my focus to something I was doing before distraction is sometimes physically painful. So, anything I can do that will allow me to not lose focus on writing is a Good Thing.

And I really wish I had the tools to let you follow where my mind goes, as in yesterday’s post where I put up the pictures of a specific kind of T-bucket and some sprint car frames but I didn’t have any way of showing what my mind synthesised those two things into. Add in the lack of fine muscle control that destroyed my art career back in my teens (I could see what I wanted to draw, but I could not make my hands draw what I saw in my mind) and well that is another thing that makes me frustrated. If someone ever makes a mentally-controlled CAD program I want to be in the beta test…

Up first, what kind of company goes around stealing bikes parked just off their property? Private real estate company steals bikes from public property in front of their buildings and Toronto property company stops cutting locks and seizing bikes after cyclist complains Seriously, who does this? Since this has happened many times (4 or 5 times a day according to one link) this has to be policy from on high, not just some random bike-hater…

Moving on with lots of updates today, first is one on one of the cyclists hit by the driver that was drunk and high on meth driving the wrong way on a one way street on Fiesta Island in SD. Fiesta Island Cycling Crash Victim Paralyzed, in Critical Condition The laundry list of injuries … And there is a link that I’m not going to share about where the driver hid her stash of meth…

Still updating wrecks from CA, they pulled life support from a cyclist injured by a driver in a stolen vehicle while he was locking up his bike at the end of that leg of his trip. S.F. man, hit by stolen minivan, dies Yep, in TX that driver would be facing a Capital Murder charge right about now as both stealing the vehicle and running from police are felonies here and any death in conjunction with a felony can be charged as Capital Murder.

Still updating, and also still in CA. Cyclist Killed Remembered as Randonneur This was the guy who was killed in a buzz job by a 16 YO driver pulling a livestock trailer.

Still in CA a young cyclist is killed. Teenage cyclist killed in Selma identified The narrative in this wreck makes no sense. If the cyclist and the weapon vehicle were both travelling in the same direction, and the driver of the weapon vehicle moved to the next lane to pass, how did the weapon vehicle hit the cyclist? Anyway, treat it as a hit-from-behind, protocols to avoid or reduce damages and infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent future wrecks.

Another wreck where the only witness was the driver of the weapon vehicle. Bicycle rider struck and killed by box truck About all I know from this report is the box van struck the cyclist at night, but since cyclist lighting is not mentioned then assume it was up to legal minimums and since it was not mentioned that the cyclist as riding against traffic it has to be assumed he was riding with traffic. Basically since there was no mention of anything the cyclist did to contribute to his death assume he didn’t and they are just handwaving the death away.

And another updated report, this time from CT. Fatal accident, bike safety discussed in West Hartford This wreck seems as much bad infrastructure as it is bad cycling or driving. The wreck location as described in the comments is a left exit from a high-speed highway that is a freeway in everything but name, with the requirement that cyclists move from the right shoulder across all lanes of travel to get off the highway at that point, and that this is the only non-restricted against cyclists route through the area. If so then this would be considered a case of corporate manslaughter in the UK because anyone with a modicum of sense could see that as the only cycling route there would be cyclists using the road, and that forcing cyclists to cross the main lanes of travel would result in conflict… there is nothing a cyclist could do about this wreck except to be really quick, or wind up really dead. Get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent, a rather tall order for this location.

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike takes another life. Bicyclist killed on SR 78 in Glades County Near as I can tell this is the intersection described in the report, which means the cyclist was likely leaving the C-store in the background going to one of the houses off County 721 to the north, or the right in the picture. Using the scanning function of Street View I was able to find a 50 MPH speed limit sign just before the small community at the intersection, so assume 50-60 MPH for the first weapon vehicle as it was coming over the slight rise from the canal bridge about a quarter-mile away, or about 15-20 seconds clear view. Yep the cyclist should have been able to get across the road unless there was something blocking his view. So intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another update on a KS cyclist hit head on by a driver passing another car. Bicyclist killed Wednesday in Douglas County was 66-year-old man Nobody has any patience today and people are dying because of it. I wonder how many seconds the driver thought he was going to save with that pass, when he ended up losing an entire day over the police reports and questions.

I’m going to chalk this one up to another blind driver. Cyclist dead after pickup strikes bicycle Cyclist hit from behind around sunset, most likely the driver was driving too fast for conditions. Most likely outcome will be a consoling pat on the arm from grief counseling… Be extra aware of cars coming from behind as you ride into the sun around sunset. That would be the hit-from-behind protocols on steroids to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another OMG moment in NYC. Park Avenue In East Harlem Is A Cyclist Corridor Of Death Cyclist was riding on the left side bike lane when the unlicensed driver of the cab made a left turn, smashing the cyclist against a stone wall. More Bicyclist Killed By Livery Cab Driver In East Harlem

An OH bike-on-bike wreck (they happen!). Men injured in bike path accident I tried to find the location on Google Maps, but I could not see which particular set of s-curves they were alluding to in the article. The accounting of the injuries was also interesting, chest pains and a head injury. Also missing was any other traffic on the MUP at the time. This one I’m going to blame on the cyclist. Which one? does it matter?

What appears to be a hit-from-behind wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist injured Nothing on the mode of the wreck, but there is a bike lane next to the bike, and the description of the weapon vehicle is consistent with mirrors hanging way off the side of the truck and a bed that extends way off the side of the truck also.

A wreck in Enn Zed. Woman killed, cyclist injured in crashes Nothing on the mode, but a heck of an impact as the cyclist has severe pelvic injuries.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: New e-book from bike writer Rick Risemberg, conviction in Phillip Richards hit-and-run case Mrs. the Poet is upset at Mario Cippolini’s wreck, he was her favorite cyclist when he was riding as a pro.

This infrastructure report comes a few miles from where the Poets spent part of their vacation this summer. Signs point to trouble if drivers and bicyclists ignore rules while sharing the road

And the last link is this missive from a cyclist who was buzzed, gently. Dear Driver of the Silver SUV who ran into me on my bicycle this Saturday… I say “gently” but even when there’s no big impact from behind getting hit with a car is never “gentle”. Voice of experience speaking.

And those were all the links that gave me fits today/night, and they took a long time to filter and collect. I hope that they provide you with the knowledge to prevent you from making the news some day.

Billed @€0.02 Opus