Well, this is just wonnderfullll, and the Feed

One of the nice things about owning a laptop computer is the ability to work anyplace you can create a lap. So I’m starting this post off-line while sitting on the DART bus to go to the Lab Rat Keeper for a medication adjustment. Today will be a long one as I need to refill one of my meds they can’t keep at the LRK office, so I have to go to the pharmacy that is a 3 hour bus ride each way. I’m hoping I can find a massage therapist out in that neck of the woods because my neck and shoulders are killing me because of the lipoma on my neck. I had a pain riding Francis/es to the RPG Saturday that has abated but never quite left ever since. the lump on the back of my neck has gotten so big that it interferes with holding my head back while riding in a normal bike-riding posture even without a helmet. And as Mrs. the Poet was saying the other day, for me to ride without my helmet there has to be something seriously wrong.

On another front, I am about to have to replace my beloved tie-dye army sun hat, that I wear as a celebration of not getting permanently killed by the hit-and-run. You can see what that hat looks like if you go back earlier in the year to my post about the St, Patty’s Day parade on Greenville Avenue and look at the “selfie” I took. I have been searching for a replacement for several months now and have been unable to locate anything that would be suitable. None of my local stores that sells tie-dye carry hats of any description, much less the style I’m looking for. I still have several versions of military sun hat (boonie hat) in various kinds of camo that are in good shape, so I may have to abandon my beloved tie-dye for more conventional sun protection. I would really hate to have to do that, but sun protection is more important than metaphoric thumbing my nose at a dead guy (now that I know he’s dead).

And now that I have completed the trip to the Lab Rat Keeper I have such good news [/sarcasm]. That lump on my neck has been re-diagnosed as a sebaceous cyst instead of the lipoma we thought it was for the last 9 years. Turns out they can do this, pop up someplace and just hang out for a few years, then start growing quickly and becoming a nuisance like what has happened with mine. The sore spot on the bottom of my foot is a minor infection that healed over and built up a callus. I must have gotten it when I was walking to the mailbox barefoot. And yes, there was that much nerve damage that such a thing could happen and I not notice it until it turned into something like what I have now.

Up first is a bunch of different links from the southern part of TX. Cyclist struck, killed in NE Houston and Local man, 79, killed in northeast Harris County truck-bicycle accident Cyclist was killed when a turning vehicle went through his lane and into the ditch, hitting the cyclist from behind. The cyclist was following TX VC 551.103 and riding in the middle of the lane that was too narrow for a cyclist and a motor vehicle to safely share, other reports have the cyclist being hit from behind as the weapon vehicle completed its turn, meaning the cyclist was plainly visible crossing in front of the driver of the weapon vehicle before making the turn. I don’t know where the cyclist could have gone to not get hit in this wreck as the weapon vehicle went completely off the road and into the ditch after using the entire lane to make its turn. I’m not even all that sure that getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would have helped either as the weapon vehicle went off the road after hitting the cyclist, making it entirely possible that the cyclist would have been hit riding in the segregated bike lane that Dutch infrastructure would install here.

A very short distance (Texas “short”) from that wreck is another wreck. Woman, 68, charged in cyclist’s death According to this report the driver was pulled off the road looking for an address while moving and not watching in front of her vehicle when she hit the cyclist directly from behind. Again if the cyclist was hit hard enough to get killed then the driver was driving too fast for conditions, making this charge appropriate for the crime. I read the comments because I’m already crazy and can’t get any worse. I advise against any of you doing it.

More on the cyclist killed while riding in a bike lane in Harlingen. Friends remember Harlingen cyclist killed along roadway and Car versus cyclist: Drivers need to share the road And that second link sums it up nicely, cars are deadly weapons that need control constantly, and cyclists have no protection against getting hit by cars. Also there is a possibility that the driver may have been either sleep-deprived or DUI when he hit the cyclist IN THE BIKE LANE…

Getting out of TX, or at least reporting from someplace else, a cyclist is hit-and-run in CA. MAN ON BIKE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN HIT AND RUN The narrative is the cyclist was hit just past the intersection in hit-from-behind wreck, but intersection protocols would still apply here because of the proximity to that intersection, to avoid or reduce damages, and most likely infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent a similar wreck in the future.

Still in CA. Bicyclist killed in collision with car in El Camino Village This is another link to the cyclist killed walking his bike in the crosswalk with the light. This is a wreck that no amount of infrastructure will prevent so long as idiots are allowed to drive weapons of mass destruction around as transportation.

Another reason why FL leads the US in dead and maimed cyclists and pedestrians. Trial likely in death of Lakewood Ranch cyclist killed in April car accidentDamery was cleared of criminal wrongdoing following a three-month traffic homicide investigation by Florida Highway Patrol, which stated she suffered from attention deficit disorder and lack of sleep the day the accident occurred. The report indicated Damery told troopers she had not slept the previous night nor taken her prescribed medication.” OK am I the only person that does not see “Impaired driver” in that statement? No sleep and NOT on her meds. Even with infrastructure “up to Dutch” there is the very real possibility that this wreck would have happened anyway as the driver ran a red light when she hit the cyclist.

This multi-bike pileup during a race leaves one dead and one maimed. RF man injured in biking accident; Eau Claire woman’s injuries fatal This is why I dislike riding in pelotons. I don’t mind drafting when I’m in my car because I have lots of protection around me, but on a bike one touch of the wheels can be fatal to someone riding 3 bikes back.

A WY wreck turns tragic as the cyclist dies in hospital. Cyclist dies following Friday truck accident The current narrative reads like the semi was too close to the cyclist and something caused the cyclist to bobble and wind up under the trailer tires. Since there was no mention of any turning movements on the part of the semi I will discount the rear tires tracking inside of the tractor being a factor in the wreck, which makes the initial close pass even more puzzling. This is one I have no idea how to avoid in the built environment, but I know that in Dutch infrastructure there are many meters of separation between those two vehicle types to prevent anything like this wreck.

Far West Canuckistan has a cyclist “running” a red light. Victoria-area cyclist, pedestrian hit in morning commute OK I’m not going to say I don’t think a cyclist would run a red light, I have done it by accident myself looking for cross traffic and missing the light changing. Because of this I’m going to place this wreck in the category of “not preventable by physical infrastructure changes” even though I would bet money I don’t have that given infrastructure that works for cyclists would prevent most red light jumpers and runners.

Another cyclist tries to beat a train with predictable results. Cyclist struck, killed by AMT train in St-Jérôme I’m not even going to explain this one, it has become too repetitious even for my OCD.

A UK report of a cyclist “meeting” a pedestrian. Pedestrian hurt in collision with cyclist in Barnsley Since they never mentioned hitting the pedestrian on the “pavement” as they refer to sidewalks in the UK, this has to be a wreck in the road, one the cyclist was able to tumble away from and the pedestrian was not. I think that means a distracted pedestrian but because of UK media laws this will probably be the first and last time we read about it.

Still in Jolly Olde a cyclist runs into the chain between two bollards blocking the bike path from motor vehicles. Caernarfon cyclist dies after crashing into bollard chain I suppose that if drivers can get a pass for “not seeing” cyclists, a cyclist could get a pass for “not seeing” a thin chain stretched across his path except he died from the wreck where drivers who “don’t see” cyclists are uninjured as a rule.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: CHP motorcycle cop demonstrates his ignorance of the law; meet LADOT’s Seleta Reynolds I have to say I got pretty steamed at that video. I loathe LEO who are ignorant of the law they are supposed to be enforcing.

Infrastructure! news. When adding bike lanes actually reduces traffic delays

I know these things make people feel better, but do they think this would have prevented a driver both drunk and high on meth from driving the wrong way? New Road Signs, Arrows Coming to Fiesta Island

“Infra” from PA. Q&A with Bike Pittsburgh This is one of the 5 “e”s of infrastructure, Education.

Not to be outdone from the Great White North. Drivers, cyclists both need to show respect on the roads, cycling officials say Drivers need to show respect because they are controlling light armored vehicles that can kill with the mis-timed flick of a finger, cyclists need to show respect because it is polite. [sarcasm]Yeah this is a totally balanced equation here… [/sarcasm]

Lifestyle from the East Coast by way of the UK. Nephew vows to finish uncle’s romantic journey after he was killed by a homeless man while cycling to propose to his girlfriend

And those were all the links that I normally would have found had I not started at 1700 after the trip to the LRK today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

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