Recovering from my Turkey Coma on a Wreck-Free Sunday

Well yesterday we went to my daughter’s house for round 2 of Thanksgiving dinner. This time the turkey was smoked instead of oven-baked. [old joke]Smoking a turkey is really difficult, do you know how hard it is to keep one lit?[/old joke]. We also had Loaded Baked Potato mashed potatoes, country-style green beans, stuffing, and they threw in a quart of gravy from the turkey vendor. So we had a pretty decent dinner.

I have been really enjoying my HD TV since I found the Velocity channel. Near as I can tell from the last three days this is an all-car-build channel. There have been several marathons for different build series like the one currently playing of Overhauling which is a program where they find some pretense to haul away a person’s car and completely restore it or complete an unfinished project. I also watched a Bitchin’ Rides marathon where they make show-quality cars…

Watching these car-build programs gets me fired up to work on the Sprint T. I have been considering possible donor vehicles for the drivetrain. Someone brought up Toyota full-size pickup trucks with the 5.0 and 5.7 DOHC V8 engines and automatic transmissions. The engines are a bit on the wide side and will probably hang out from underneath the sides of the hood, but the focus of a T-bucket is the engine. Most of the other potential donor vehicles are also V8 pickup trucks, or V8 luxury cars. One that also sounds interesting is the Hyundai Genesis sedan with the 5.0 liter V8 and 8-speed automatic and possible 4WD from the factory… And don’t forget Corvette, Camaro, Challenger, Charger, and Mustang late-model performance cars. And in addition to those are the plethora of crate engines and transmissions available. Decisions, decisions. I’m looking for something on the order of 600RWHP/ton with a weight around 1600 pounds wet. Obviously I’ll take lighter if I can get it, and more horsepower, but I don’t want to give up low-end torque for racing. Basically this is going to be a huge go-kart that will never get out of low gear on most autocross/Solo racing courses with instant throttle response, brakes that never give up, and tons of grip into, through and out of the corners.

I haven’t given up on building a computer model to run in GT4, but I have hit a brick wall on the formatting for the car file. Nobody that is willing to tell me knows, and nobody that knows is willing to tell me how. All I need is the file format and the variables, I can do the car performance programming myself, and I have someone who can build the graphic model. I really want to drive the Sprint T at the Nürburgring, but there ain’t no way I will be able to ship the car there to do it IRL, so it will have to be simulated on the PlayStation. And I have several variations of the car I want to program in, the full street version with the soft springs and shocks and the skinny hard compound tires, the Goodguys version with the high performance street tires and tuned springs and shocks, and the SCCA Solo version with the 14″ wide wheels and the soft, wide slicks and the tuned springs and shocks. The SCCA version also runs tires that drop the car by 2″ in ride height without changing the suspension settings, so the CG also drops by 2″ and has to be entered into the performance programming.

Getting back to that new TV, you would not believe the difference in enjoyment going from the dinky SD TV to the 32″ HD TV I bought Wednesday… which I think I might have mentioned a time or two already. I mean it ain’t as cool as a good bike ride, but watching TV without bands of purple and orange going up the screen is pretty cool. I don’t know what was dying in the old TV, but it was worse running through the tuner than it was going through the composite in with the audio jacks. We had a couple of days without AC a few years back that took the stuffings out of the old TV.

We are having our annual post-Thanksgiving potluck at church this evening and I have to shower and get ready, so this looks like a great place to stop, proofread, and edit the post before hitting “publish”.

PSA, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

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I have to waddle to the phone store, and the Feed

As I said in the headline, I need to go to the phone store in the strip mall down the street and buy a phone card to recharge my minutes. I don’t know if I have related this before, but my phone plan has an outrageous amount of minutes for a decent price, enough minutes that I could spend 8 hours a day on the phone every day for 30 days and still have 10 more hours to burn, all for $30 plus tax. This meets my needs perfectly with the phone I have, there is no way I could possibly spend that much time talking on the phone, even with my headset. I spend most of my time on the laptop anyway…

The “waddle” part of the headline is because I ate too much yesterday/last night. I woke up still bloated from all the food yesterday. It is a good thing I don’t eat like that every day, because I would look like a blimp… Throw a grey T-shirt on me with “Goodyear” down the side and …

OK I’m back from all the stores, I went across the street first to pay my Obamacare premium, then over to buy a bus pass and a top up card for my phone at the same store, then I dropped by the nail spa and paid the tip I couldn’t pay when I got my toes done Monday because “someone” had swapped a five for a ten in my toe money…

first up is pics and a rundown from a local ride today. Pics And Recap Of The 6th Annual Black Friday Ride This ride was the organizer for Bike Friendly Richardson 5 years ago. Looks like they had fun, didn’t it?

Our Daily Ted, Pt. 1. Update: 39-year old salmon cyclist killed in Venice Thanksgiving night

Our Daily Ted, Pt.2. Monterey Park cyclist killed in right hook earlier this month

One way to make streets safer for cyclists is to put as many cops on bikes as possible. Police train to patrol Cape Coral streets by bicycle There is a reason why I call FL the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike (or walk), and this is one way (of many that need to be implemented).

A bit of infrastructure from NYC. Husband Of Woman Fatally Struck By Cyclist Calls Safety Measures “Too Little, Too Late” This was the 8th cyclist-caused fatality in NYC since 2000, but for the family of the victim it doesn’t matter if this was the first or the thousandth.

A little CA infrastructure news, laying out part of the problem. Hit-and-runs take a rising toll on cyclists Treat hit-and-run like attempted or actual murder depending on if the victim survives, and you will see a lot more solved hit-and-runs.

Infrastructure news from PDX. In letter to PBOT, BTA says Williams Ave work zone has led to injuries Someone has to hold contractors responsible for problems, especially problems that lead to wrecks and injuries.

Infrastructure from the Great White North. After another fatality, Ottawa cyclists look for built-in safety (with video)

Oz gets in on the infrastructure act also. Melbourne’s 13 worst cycling crash black spots revealed

Getting back to the Big PX. Bon Wilson: What is a bike rider to do? This is not restricted to NC, this is a problem all over the USA.

And last link is a feel-good e-assist story. Lynn’s Spin: My Plush Pedego

And that’s a wrap, I’m starting to see things that can’t be there, like a segregated bike lane on Garland’s Main Street…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Happy Thanksgiving, and the Feed

There was no post yesterday because I was out buying a TV to replace the worn-out SD TV I have been watching the last few years. There was a huge sale going on at a local retailer prior to Black Friday, so I went down to peruse the products. The 20″ TV I was looking at in the ad was sold out (not surprising in that the sale started on Sunday and I went shopping on Wednesday) but there was a 32″ also on sale for the same price (without the rebate) that was a name brand that still had a couple of boxed units in stock. So I got the 32″ HD TV to replace the much smaller SD TV I had been watching for last few years after the other room mate decided to get rid of it and rather than chunk it in the trash. And as the SD TV still works (except for the color bands that go up the screen), I passed the old TV to the room mate that doesn’t have a TV any more. One thing I’m looking forward to is plugging the laptop into the TV so that I can type with the keyboard lower for better ergonomics while holding my head higher that reduces neck strain. All that will take is a few feet of HDMI cable (and maybe an audio adapter).

The inhabitants of Casa de El Poeta sat down to a traditional Thanksgiving feast this afternoon complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Pie will be later after dinner has time to settle. We said a traditional Pagan grace over the meal, “We thank the creatures of the forest and field for the sacrifice of their lives to sustain ours.” We also had a dry white wine to accompany our meal which I didn’t like much. I prefer sweeter wines or dark beers to dry whites or red wines.

One thing we didn’t have was football. Instead we watched Mythbusters minimarathon on the Science Channel. I have always like Adam, Jamie, and company and this extended batch is like being a kid in a huge candy store, so yeah, fun.

Up first has NYPD totally lost their minds? NYPD Will Crack Down On Cyclists Because Of Dubious Math While this crackdown was going one three pedestrians were killed, none by people riding bicycles, and one cyclist was killed by someone running a red light as the cyclist had the green…

And more data on the NYPD’s total disregard of what causes death and dismemberment in NYC. NYC Motorists Have Killed Five Pedestrians and One Cyclist in 10 Days That’s actually even worse than it sounds, because two pedestrians and the cyclist were killed within 24 hours. By cars… And the only driver getting charged was the one that left the scene.

Yesterday’s Daily Ted. Pre-Thanksgiving Morning Links: SaMo begins enhanced enforcement; stop bike thieves with a handlebar bomb

It was a good thing this wasn’t published early in Spring, or someone might mistake it for an April Fools’ Joke. Stealing your bike will hurt. This is either a prank, or someone is terribly mis-informed about bicycle handlebars. Check the size specs, these things will never fit into a normal bicycle’s handlebars at 1.25″ in diameter. Also how are you supposed to recharge the battery via USB when the units are sealed behind a plug cemented in the handlebars? Also it would most assuredly be fatal to the thief and probably anyone within 30 feet as “The M67 grenade has a spherical steel body that contains 6.5 oz (180 g) of composition B explosive.” or roughly the same amount of explosives as the Vengecycle.

Infrastructure! news from NC. More bike lanes planned for Raleigh, which had 98 car-bike crashes in a year I got news for you guys: Paint stripes on a few roads will not prevent cars from running over people on bicycles.

More NC infrastructure news from the same media outlet. After three deaths in two months, cycling advocates call for new bike plan, education, enforcement You want another toothless bike plan, or do you want proven infrastructure that gets a 30% bicycle mode share with fewer wrecks?

Why did it take over an hour to recover a cyclist from a wreck after getting hit by a car? Call for inquiry as ambulance responds after 72 minutes to injured cyclist in East Oxford The chances for a bad outcome go up exponentially after an hour from a wreck, the ambulance in this case was 12 minutes past that.

E-assist news. Electric Bicycle Innovations Helping Propel Global Bike Market

This looks like fun… Friday’s Tour de Tryptophan benefits injured SoCal rider If you have a few bucks that you don’t feel like fighting Black Friday crowds to spend, this would be a good one.

I think I did this story once already, but not this outlet. Big hearted Scots cyclist wins legions of fans after halting world tour to save badly injured stray dog The poor doggy has to live with only 3 paws on the 4 legs…

And those were all the links that didn’t have bicycle wrecks in them (except that ambulance one).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Another visit to the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

I spent most of the day going to and from the LRK office today. Good news is I still have a decent resting heart rate and fairly low BP even after reducing the dosage for my meds and pulling one, so my basic good general health is pulling through. Bad news is I put on another 3 pounds since the last visit and I had to have another blood test to track my hormone levels because my previous one is no longer good. Also since I’m having to change my hormone med to something Obamacare covers the test will be needed to calculate the required dose. The nurse that drew my blood is very good, to the point that I have had mosquito bites that were more irritating than this blood draw.

There weren’t many links after I got done filtering the chaff out that I can’t linger over any more. That means I will get done pretty quick after starting on my composing.

Up first is a dose of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: OC hit-and-run driver gets a slap on the wrist; Detroit’s Shinola opens a new store in Silverlake

Why even have a law that never gets enforced, even when breaking it results in people getting killed? A ‘safe’ distance? Cyclist law unenforced I mean seriously, I would think hitting a cyclist from behind would have to count as not passing safely, wouldn’t it?

And that was all I could find that wasn’t a hazard to my fragile sanity, plus I have to go buy a new compact HD TV tomorrow at a store that will be closed for Thanksgiving which means getting up early again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Got my toes done, and the Feed

I think most of you are aware that between the ravages of age and the damages I suffered in the wreck I can’t cut my toenails on the last two toes of my left foot. That means I have to get someone else to do it for me, and the easiest way to do that is to go to my local nail spa and get a pedicure. They have gotten used to me there and sometimes just for giggles I get the whole enchilada and let them paint my toenails. Today I left part of the figurative enchilada on the figurative plate, and came home without any polish on my toes. To give an idea of how ingrained in my psyche not spending money until there is no alternative is, my shoes fit sorta loose now…

There is a new conspiracy theory out there. Did Bono Really Crash A Bike In Central Park? The crux of the argument is CP on a Sunday is a pretty crowded place, and just about everybody in NYC has a phone with a camera on it, yet there is zilch about the wreck from witnesses on any of the social media, or even “Is this Bono?” pictures on Twitter or FB. Given the number of pictures and video posted of Michael Brown getting killed, someone who wasn’t even on the radar until after he was killed, the fact that a celebrity like Bono can get that kind of damages without any pictures of someone trying to help, or even of the ambulance taking him away seems rather odd. I just did an image search and there is nothing of Bono in Central Park in the last 6 months. The only images I could find were of the free concert U2 did in CP a while back, and the tree that killed Sonny Bono while he was skiing many years ago. To quote Alice, “Curiouser and curiouser.” I left a post in a Facebook group devoted to bicycles and bike commuting asking if anyone had any pictures or knew where any pictures of the scene were posted, so I’ll keep y’all posted if I hear anything.

The war of the lumens continues. Try these bright ideas for biking at night. I still think the best thing for making cyclists visible to drivers would be a law requiring all motor vehicles used in a wreck with a pedestrian or cyclist to be crushed and shredded in front of the driver or on national TV if the victim dies, or in other words, hit a pedestrian or cyclist, lose your car. You still have to pay for it, but it will no longer physically exist to be repossessed. That would mean that you would have to pay off the balance immediately… de facto huge fine for hitting a vulnerable road user, payable to the finance company.

More about a friend of the blog who was killed (and even though I know his name and had several conversations about bicycle safety with him I still don’t want to post his name in a link description. Don’t ask why, I can’t put it into words.) Cedar Mill bicyclist killed in crash was known for his graciousness and bike safety advocacy There would be little that could be done further to increase a cyclist’s visibility that the victim had not already done, including lights and dozens of square feet of HiViz fabric covering the bike and rider. Best comment:k7
According to same logic as posted here, the stripes on the road are too low to be effective so they need to be elevated immediately so they can be seen. More Kirke Johnson’s BikePortland comments are chilling and inspiring

Former Congresscritter and current poster child for the gun control movement Gabriel Giffords rides a recumbent trike in public. Gabby Giffords completes 11-mile bike ride That is about the same distance I rode on my first public ride after my wreck…

A FL cyclist died and fell over or the other way around, but wasn’t hit by any vehicle. Medical event killed bicyclist, not traffic crash Yes, it does happen, rarely.

AZ cyclists are trying to find an infrastructure solution to an infrastructure problem. Cyclists unite after death on Pecos Road

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: San Diego cyclists get blamed for collisions, and accused Eagleson killer enters not guilty plea

That San Diego link showed in my Feed as well. Cyclists faulted most in bike-car crashes

A rider searches for the good Samaritan who helped him after a wreck. Injured rider finally tracks down helper

A bit of common sense from Oz. Time to stop the war on the roads, says injured cyclist In the War on Cars, cars are winning by a huge body count.

A modern take on Frogger with more realistic scenarios. CrossyRoad

A little assist on your way? Electric Bikes, On A Roll In Europe, Start To Climb In U.S.

And those were all the links I could find today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Waiting on the last race of the F1 season, on Wreck-Free Sunday

First of all, today is the 6^th anniversary of moving my blog to WordPress as my blogging service provider. Of the other two places this blog has existed one remains an adult dating site (the original place where I just put down my random thoughts much like I do Sundays here) and the other is pretty much a desert with spam blogs filled with spam comments. What is so funny about it is the reason I left that provider was my posts were getting censored for having excessive links and being a possible phishing post. I was getting more than 300 site views a day on a bad day, up to 1000 views a day on a good day, and then my posts were either not showing, or my links were blocked. That was when I checked to see if WP would work with the computer and OS I was using at the time, because when I tried to post at a different site they were not compatible and trying to open the compose page caused my browser to crash. Obviously that doesn’t happen there any more, but as I have established a following at this URL I am loath to abandon here for a new site. I like you guys 😉

I saw a funny on the comments of another site that I had to share: Now, wait a minute
I’m pretty sure Canada is a U.S. territory. As I recall, Dudley Do-Right seized it from the evil Russkie villain Snidely Whiplash in the Battle of Moose and Squirrel. We needed it because the fabled lost Atlantean capital of New Orleans had sunk so we plunked all of our people who spoke Frenchie-talk down in the middle of Canada someplace, so they could provide us with maple syrup. This comment was in response to another comment that the KXL pipeline would not do anything for domestic oil supplies because Canadian oil is still foreign oil.

Well, the race is over and Lewis Hamilton won the race and the F1 driver’s championship. Of 19 races this year Hamilton won 11, his teammate Nico Rosberg won 5 and the other 11 teams combined won 3. Red Bull, last years’ dominant team, barely registered this year, and Ferrari did not have a single driver in the top ten. I’m sure everyone except Mercedes and their power unit customers are exceedingly happy that the rules are getting a major overhaul next year. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the rules package in F1 any more so I’m not sure what the changes are, but if what I have read from unofficial sources are true the engine spec is remaining the same while the amount of fuel allowed for the race is getting reduced from the current spec, and the number of engine changes allowed has been reduced, as well as aerodynamic changes to the nose for improved driver safety.

I forgot to include the column hanger for the steering in the last order for the Sprint T, so I will remedy that mistake when I order my grandson’s Christmas present Flamed Hot Rod Pedal Car. It will be next to the stride bike I built over the summer from a discarded (literally) sidewalk bike. Anyway, steering column and wheel, still trying to cobble up something that will let me bolt the steering wheel to a piece of tubing the same size as the column I’m going to use so I can figure out what length of steering column to buy. Part of me wants to buy the racing collapsible steering column that prevents the steering column from stabbing me in the chest, and also comes with its own mounting drop. I will be running the switches for the indicators on the steering wheel including the turn signals, horn, and high-low dimmer switch, and maybe a set of paddle shifters for the transmission. Lots of switches to mount, and not many places to put them. This isn’t an F1 car where they have a µC in the steering wheel to control all of the functions and interpret the dozen or so switches and send the results down a cable to the MCU for the engine and transmission. Also I’m not the kind of guy that will build a cockpit mockup, and sit there for hours blindfolded touching controls as directed until I can, for one thing that takes at least two people to do and I’m one short on the roster for that. I have already determined that left thumb for left turn signal, right thumb for right turn signal, left finger to down shift, right finger to up shift, lower center to toggle high/low beams, and dead center to operate the horn (something else I have to make a decision on what to get) is about all that I can handle. The upside of this is I can tell the EMU that unless the connections to the steering wheel are right the engine won’t start making taking the steering wheel out roughly equivalent to pulling a minor ignition part so that even if the thief has a steering wheel on a quick release they still can’t steal the car without doing something to replace the switches on the wheel.

Now we are getting ready to leave for the annual patron auction at my church, where we select the deity whom we will honor and learn about for the coming year. This is one of our biggest fund-raisers of the year and also our biggest contribution to local charities from the food items part of the voting. Briefly we have three rounds of questions for the people representing the deity, and based on their answers we give money in one round, food and toiletries in another round, and votes indicated with rocks (from the Stones of Joys and Concerns basket) for a third round. The food and money rounds are obviously the provenance of the better-off financially members of the congregation, but everyone gets the same number of stones to vote with so that how much money you have doesn’t decide everything. There is a point system that awards 3 points to the winner of a round, 2 for second, and one for third. That means if the same deity wins second in all 3 rounds they still lose, but it your choice can get second twice and then win the votes round you can still win if the other two split winning rounds.

This year the candidates that survived the penny auction were Aphrodite, Athena, and Loki. Each has their plusses and minuses, beyond the obvious. The one who wins will be dependant on how well they are presented by their Earthly Representative.

My ride is here, I have to go now.

PSA, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Someone I know has died, and the Feed

A person I have had conversations with over the Internet has been killed by a right hook while riding in the bike lane in PDX. Kirke Johnson was one of the more if not the most prolific senders of links to this blog, and the body sock on his LWB ‘bent was ANSI Safety Lime in the latest picture I saw of him and his bike. Links: Collision involving FedEx truck kills man riding on Cornell Road in Cedar Mill also Bicyclist killed in crash with semi truck in Cedar Mill and Longtime PCC employee, bike enthusiast killed when hit by FedEx truck and finally Friends remember Kirke Johnson, identified as man killed in Cedar Mill collision

A graphic that shows why large trucks should not be allowed in urban areas (not what the poster was trying to show). What Cyclists Need To Know About Trucks The original purpose of posting the graphic was to show cyclists how to ride safely around large trucks, but the effect is a demonstration of why large trucks should not be allowed in places where there will be large numbers of pedestrians or cyclists.

More on Bono’s wreck. Bono Undergoes Surgery After N.Y.C. Bike Accident Seriously now, what did he hit to cause that kind of damage? How fast was he going? If he ran into something just off the bike path, what kind of diversion or other mitigation was available to reduce the impact of a cyclist getting forced off the road in this location. Notice that I am framing this as an infrastructure problem, not blaming Bono for the wreck, as all the reports are that he went off the path to avoid another cyclist.

Still in NYC, a cop tackles a cyclist off his bike to give him a ticket for “running” a red light. Photo: Cop Tackles Cyclist In Canal Street GOTCHA! Bike Trap and Precinct Where Drivers Killed Seniors in Crosswalks Ramps Up Bike Tickets and the source Ticket Tackling, or How the NYPD Pulls Over Cyclists on Canal Street As one person in the comments section pointed out this would be like doing the PICT maneuver and wrecking someone’s car for running a red light without ever showing lights or using the siren.

Still in NYC, bike lanes will continue to be built at the same rate as before. De Blasio’s DOT Will Build Bike Lanes At Bloomberg-Era Rate As pointed out in the picture at the top of the article, cops need a place to park when they are making donut runs.

Update on the gun-toting VA driver that buzzed 5 cyclists earlier this month. Driver arrested in Richmond for threatening cyclists with gun

A little lesson on riding in a peloton from Oz. Cyclists code of conduct aimed at educating bunch riders

I can’t help it, I just went “D’aaawww” when I read the headline… Cyclist on world tour pedals 200 miles across Turkey with injured stray dog in a specially-made basket to find it a new home

And those were all the links I could find that didn’t make me crazy(er).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Thinking heavy thoughts on Transgender Day of Remembrance, and the Feed

Today is a bit strange for me. I’m not Trans*, I’m not even bi, or gay. But I do have 6 Trans* friends including the couple that is living in my house now. And I read several web comics that are either written and/or drawn by a Trans* person/s, or are about Trans* people, or both. One of them subscribes to this blog (Hi!). So it’s not like this is an invisible world for me, it’s one I interact with several times a month on a personal basis. I’m not Trans*, but I’m part of their world, hopefully one of the better parts. And the statistics on violence against Trans* people, particularly M2F trans people, is just overwhelming. I’m not going to bring up the statistics here in a bike blog, but if you think you have it rough because you ride a bicycle, you don’t know how rough it can get. Sure there are people trying to kill us for existing, just like LGBT people, but they are relatively few in comparison. People are much more likely to kill one of us by “accident” where any hatred is unstated and unknown. People who (that?) kill people for being Trans* will come right out and say so while they try, so you know why you are getting killed, and they will frequently kill in the slowest and most painful method available to them. This is the truth of living in the LGBT world.

Well after that the rest of the post will be just a freaking ray of sunshine up your butts, innit? I hope so, as I go to Filter the Feed now.

Up first a slightly alcohol-impaired person on a bicycle is refused service at a fast-food place not because he was drunk, but because he was riding a bicycle. Bicyclist arrested after trying to order Taco Bell in drive-through The cyclist “resisted arrest” when he refused to allow an officer to grab a tool hung from his belt.

More on Bono’s NYC wreck. Bono’s “High Energy” Bike Accident Caused Severe Injuries Turns out it was a bit more than was first released, the most visible of which was a compound fracture of the arm. Whatever he ran into was hit with a high relative velocity to get those kinds of injuries. Either he was going really fast for a guy his age, or what he ran into was going the opposite direction at a moderate speed. The initial report said Bono was trying to avoid another cyclist at the time of the wreck, is it possible he ran into a salmon?

Another stupid driver ignores the weapon that allows someone to kill with impunity in favor of the one that gets cops to try to kill you if they find you… UPDATE: Arrest made in drive-by shooting of cyclist I’m sure Gigi will love this one for her “Stoopid” fix, because this one is really “Stoopid”.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bono hurt worse than we thought, biking to cancer care, and WeHo kinda talks bike safety

A link that was also in the previous link about the debate over facilities and vehicular cycling envisioned as a rap battle. Epic Rap Battle: Vehicular cycling guru John Forester vs. @Copenhagenize kingpin Colville-Andersen. I drew this.

Speaking of vehicular cycling and street safety, some stats I used to quote have been updated from their 20^th Century status quo to the 21^st Century, in this graphic.

I’m really hoping this was not the result of bias against cyclists in Oz. Injured cyclist’s painful ambo wait The cyclist was hurt bad enough that she was taken with lights and siren to the nearest trauma center after waiting 45 minutes for the ambulance to get there and stabilized as much as possible during the trip. That sounds like broken bones or head trauma to me…

A photo spread of what bad infrastructure means for cyclists. Photo journal: Another cyclist dies

Is “Bad UK bicycle infrastructure” internally redundant? Jane Greaves: Calls for safety improvements after cyclist dies at Trefnant ‘accident blackspot’ I write that because I have yet to see any good UK bicycle infrastructure, all of it has been varying degrees of bad from “ugh!” to “What homicidal maniac designed this piece of crap?” And that includes the badly over-hyped “Cycling Superhighways” painted bike lanes in London, which cover the entire spectrum of the above list.

LAB has not been setting the bar too high on being “Bike Friendly”. National Award for New Britain as ‘Bike-Friendly’

Yet another article on making a bicycle easier to see when drivers “not seeing” bicycles has nothing to do with how visible they are. New products shine light on bicycle safety

Park your car and ride up to 9 miles each way on this scooter. MINI exhibits foldable electric scooter Citysurfer at Los Angeles Auto Show

And an explanation of why the Daily Ted hasn’t been daily as of late. Today’s post, in which I talk pain and what the hell is wrong with me I’m really sorry to find out Ted has joined the Chronic Pain Club, that is a club that should have no members…

And those are all the links for today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

That freaking lawnmower still won’t start, and the Feed

One of the places they saved money on the lawnmower we bought was the carburetor. It has absolutely no controls or adjustments, and basically does not work when ambient temperatures fall much below 60°F and is really iffy below 70. I mean once you get it started it runs fine, the hard part is getting it started the first time because of the lack of controls. There is a choke lever on the side but it isn’t connected to anything…

I got an update on a pedestrian fatality I wanted to share if the URL will work. Breaking News: After 47-Second Hearing, Driver Who Ran Over 3-Year-Old Is Found ‘Not Guilty’ If anything exemplars the “Motors Uber Alles” mentality amongst LEO this one does it. The victim was crossing the street with the crossing signal for several seconds holding her grandmother’s hand when the killer made a left turn across the crosswalk the victims were using, hitting the grandmother and running over the head and torso of the little girl. There is video evidence of this from someone with a dashcam pointed at the crosswalk in question, and still the tickets were dismissed. I have heard rumors that mob hitmen are now waiting for their targets to cross the street so they can be run over and publicly killed without any repercussions. I guess it all depends on do you want the victim dead, or do you want the victim dead and a message sent.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Mealy-mouthed Mobility Plan goes to Planning Comm; pope raffles bikes to feed homeless Anyone in Rome want to take my €10 and buy a ticket?

The depiction is still more convenient for pedestrians than an actual city. Brilliant visual illustration of how much #publicspace we have given to #cars I mean think of it, you can walk across one of those planks any time, crosswalks require waiting for cross vehicle traffic to clear before you can hurry across and hope a turning vehicle doesn’t run you down.

Cyclists in Oz are facing a quandary. Injured cyclist’s $1.6 million payout sends ACT riders scrambling for insurance There is only one vendor for bicycle insurance in Oz because until now there was almost no need for it.

There is a reason why there was a school of art called “the Dutch Masters”. This Dreamy, Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Path Was Inspired by Starry Night I mean if you have a glow-in-the-dark bike path to work with why wouldn’t you make Art from it? Isn’t this cool?

And those are all the links today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Running a bit late because I had outside things to do, and the Feed

First things first, tonight is the last night that I have to sleep by myself as Mrs. the Poet returns from meddling visiting with her family before the Holidays make travel too expensive for our retired selves. She got to hold the new baby while she’s still little and cute and relatively not-noisy. I’m hoping that the relatively good travel weather holds and her flight gets through without a problem.

Today was fun outside day. I made another attempt to get the lawn mower started to do the last cut of the year, with no success. It’s just too cold for the engine we have, the line between not enough prime and flooded is just too narrow to get the thing started. Then I had to get on the bus to mail that check to the artist that won the art contest last year after the first one came back last month after spending the last 8 months floating around Canada someplace (long story) and after I got back I took one of the tenants with me to use a coupon for free hamburgers at a local place (Whataburger). It was about 2000 when I got home the last time and started filtering the Feed.

Up first is a dose of Our Daily Ted. Open wide! Morning Links: 16-year old killer of randonneur Matthew O’Neil gets off with barely a slap on the wrist I know, there aren’t supposed to be any links to wrecks, and there still aren’t. This is only a link to an article that has links to a wreck, so that’s 2 degrees of separation.

And it finally showed in the Feed and not as a link from another article. Bono’s bloody Sunday: U2’s Tonight Show appearance canceled after singer falls off bike in Central Park and needs surgery – days after door falls off his plane in mid-air Dude can’t get a break unless it is a bone. Ouch!

Proof that common sense is not a prerequisite for running for office in NYC. Central Park’s Speed Limit Will Fall To 20 MPH Of the 8 people killed by a bicycle rider this century in NYC 2 died in Central Park, one that stepped into the bike lane in front of a cyclist leaving no time to react, and a second that was hit by a cyclist dodging a group of pedestrians that had just stepped into the bike lane with barely enough time to react to avoid the first group but not enough to react to the pedestrian in his escape path. Neither cyclist was going fast enough to charge under the new speed limit. And this is on top of the proposed ban on bicyclists texting, something else that has not been a problem, and will result in exactly zero change in the death rate caused by cyclists. Ticketing people that drive on the sidewalks would prevent up to 50 pedestrian deaths a year…

I’m including this because he was killed walking back to his motel. LGBT leader killed crossing U.S. 1 The poor guy was pinballed twice into another vehicle for a total of three impacts by three separate vehicles. It is not conclusively known what caused the first impact as the only surviving witness was the driver of the weapon vehicle, but it is believed he was struck in the lane of travel. Then the next lane of travel, then the turn lane…

Infrastructure! news from Scotland. A fine for careless driving or speeding every five minutes Gee, they sure go a long time between tickets there, a whole 5 minutes.

A little battery-powered assist. Sweat-free cycling: A2B e-bikes give an extra kick in hope to aid urban transport Only thing I disagree with is the regen that kicks in at speeds over 20 MPH, that’s way too low for a bike that is limited to 20 MPH under power.

And those are all the links I have today(tonight?).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet