$@*& Texas’ weather, and the Feed

OK there is a measurable accumulation of snow on the ground and slush filling the streets that will freeze into an unrideable mess come sundown, possibly an undrivable mess for going to RPG in the morning. You can see from this picture of the place our lunch guest was eating his squirrel yesterday that we do have what Mrs. the Poet refers to as “snew”.

Our guest from yesterday would have a hard time finding where his squirrel went in this mess.

Up first an example of why the Dutch have the best bicycle infrastructure. Dutch provinces to examine ‘rapid’ cycle paths What is being proposed here are real “cycle superhighways” that are grade separated even from other bicycle infrastructure, for riders and pedal-powered vehicles that cruise significantly faster than the 15-20 km/hr that cyclists average around town. This route runs over by David Hembrook but I don’t see anything there about the route…

A little closer to home the widow of a dead FL cyclist is suing over the 3rd nearly identical fatality in 4 years in nearly the same place (and by “nearly” I mean within a few feet). Widow of Key Biscayne cyclist files lawsuit and Wrongful death suit filed by widow of bicyclist killed on Rickenbacker Causeway The only thing that kept this from having 3 hit-and-runs was one of the weapon vehicles being rendered hors du combat by one of the bicycles in the wreck.

Our Daily Ted. Weekend Links: Own your own bicycle coffee café, slower driving works in Scotland, and WeHo candidate surveys

I really need to stop calling these “lifestyle” links, but my broken brain won’t let that word go. So what would be a better word to describe these? Family say cyclist killed in HGV collision was not ‘a risk taker on the roads’ Really, there has to be a better word for it than “lifestyle” because it isn’t lifestyle.

And over on this side of the pond a woman is killed riding home from work, but people remember more about how she lived than what killed her. Bicyclist killed in Plainfield Avenue crash remembered as ‘happy go lucky’

A UK driver facing actual consequences for killing a cyclist? Man to face trial over death of cyclist Terry Brown in Warrington

Update on the consequences of a wreck from years back (that we covered some here) in Oz. Truck driver jailed over cyclist’s Dutton Park railway bridge crushing death I remember this wreck as one of those I assigned to the “unavoidable by human cyclists” category. And the 8 month prison sentence is just beyond words for me. The cyclist involved didn’t even have time for an “Oh, shit!” before he died under a mountain or broken glass bottles.

We may never know what happened to Bono that day… BONO WORKING HARD TO RECOVER FROM BIKE WRECK, PREP FOR U-2 VANCOUVER CONCERT START When someone claims memory loss from a head injury (and Bono without a doubt had a severe head injury) there just is no point in asking what happened. Most of what I “remember” from my wreck is from people who were there telling me afterwards. My personal memory of the wreck ends with being yelled at just before impact.

WA decides to make a federal guideline law. Olympia Update: SSB 5438 – Faulty Traffic Signals Bill – Moves Forward This bill makes law the “Wait 2 minutes or 2 cycles” federal guideline.

IA decides to make sharing a lane with a bicycle illegal unless the bicycle rider chooses to do it. <a href="[Action Alert] Safe Passing Bill in Iowa House That’s right, a “change lanes to pass” bicycle law.

Not to be outdone SD also has a passing law wending its way through the process. Safety zone to pass bicyclists gains tailwind # feet to pass when the speed limit is under 35, 6 feet everywhere else.

More on the proposed CA helmet law. The Best Reasons Not to Support the Helmet Bill #SB192

Also in CA is this little slice of heavenly infrastructure. Why BART Bike Stations Are Actually Very Cool

And in the same city. SFPD Cops Shoot and Kill Suspected Bike Thief and SF OFFICERS SHOOT ARMED SUSPECT TRYING TO ROB CYCLIST IN MISSION DISTRICT As a victim of bike theft myself I say “If that’s the way he tried to do it, then that’s the way he made it go.”

An indictment of what passes for bicycle “infrastructure” in London UK. More than 20,000 cyclist accidents in London over five years That is 4600 people hit and injured severely enough to require a report to the police a year on average, or more than 12 injured cyclists a day, every day.

And a real lifestyle story, one that means something to the disabled vet writing the blog. Wounded Warriors ride together to heal

And I have run out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Advertisement

We had a guest for lunch this afternoon, and the Feed

We had a very polite guest come for lunch here at Casa de El Poeta this afternoon, who just dropped in for a brief chat and even was polite enough that he brought his own food to match his dietary restrictions. Those dietary restrictions made Mrs. the Poet a bit squeamish but it was really awesome to have such a distinctive and reclusive guest for lunch.

As you can imagine we don’t usually serve squirrel tartare here at the World HQ of WoaB, and as this is not the season for squirrel we didn’t have any laying around. Hence our relief at Mr. Band-tail bringing his own lunch. Well everyone except Mrs. the Poet, who found his menu and table manners atrocious.

There are so few bike lanes yet out in CA that police using them to grab a cup of java and a doughnut hasn’t become as widespread as is common back east. Morning Links: Bike helmets alone don’t prevent injuries, scofflaw cops in bike lanes, and upcoming bike events Ted, there are entire blogs devoted to pictures of NYPD blocking bike lanes with parked cruisers and personal vehicles, you guys are late to the party.

One CA city is simultaneously the most dangerous and the least deadly. How de do dat? San Francisco Is Very Dangerous But Not Deadly for Cyclists, Report Says How they did that is there are a large number of bikes in a small area, and cars tend not to go very fast in streets originally designed in the mid-19^th Century. So while drivers blunder about in a target-rich environment, they generally have to really work at achieving deadly effects.

In the WTF were they thinking dept. School Bus Driver Arrested Months After Running Over Elderly Woman They did not arrest the driver until the victim died, which is not part of the statute.

IA discusses upgrading their bike laws. Bicycle light issue hits Iowa Senate Gee, you would think that there was no law requiring drivers to only drive as fast as they could stop in the distance they could see clearly.

This bit of news from the Emerald Isle on the behavior of a hit-and-run driver. Accused ‘went to UK on day cyclist killed’ It gets better than that, he also tried to move to Australia within the week before he was caught.

This little UK video shows that even cyclists can be stupid. Shocking moment cyclist in Cambridge is trapped on level crossing – VIDEO Not that there was all that much to worry about, there had to have been at least 4 feet of clearance after the cyclist got the bike over the barrier that dropped after he already crossed the tracks. I view this much like a stale green that turns into a red before the cyclist gets clear.

Also from Jolly Olde comes the demonstrator of a new generation of trucks designed to not run over “invisible” cyclists and pedestrians. ‘Cyclist friendly’ trucks unveiled to cut deaths on capital’s roads Is it just me or does that look like a bus door with full length windows on the passenger side of the cab?

Speaking of truck passenger side windows, another link to that shocking report that a trucking company deliberately obstructed driver’s view to the left by covering the passenger’s side window with advertising in Enn Zed. Coroner issues finding into cyclist death I just have no words.

Thai cyclists start making noise after another international cyclist is killed weeks before completing a round-the-world trip. Activists call on govt to safeguard cyclists and For safe roads, get tough on errant drivers

And I REALLY ran out of links this time.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Snow in the morning and high 40s in the afternoon, and the Feed

Never has the expression “Don’t like the weather in Texas? Wait a few minutes” been more apropos than today. We had about an inch of snowfall this morning, and nearly 50°F this afternoon. I mean, really?! Snow followed by 20°F above freezing temperatures? Whose idea was this anyway? (I know, nobody had the “idea” for this weather, it just happened as a result of natural forces at work)

Up first is a “What were they thinking?!” report from Enn Zed. Ad covering truck window could have caused cyclist death and Advertising blocked truckie’s view in cyclist death Really? The damn trucks are nearly blind to the passenger side anyway, so you make it worse by covering the passenger side window? Did your parents have any children that lived? Because that is about the stupidest thing I have ever read. This is on a par with removing safety railings from a catwalk or finger guards from dangerous equipment.

Back to the US for another pair of links on the guilty plea of a hit-and-run cyclist killer. Motorist Pleads Guilty in Death of Bicyclist, Leaving Scene and Motorist pleads guilty in death of bicyclist, leaving scene I had some other links to this yesterday. I’m still of the opinion that the driver was treated much too leniently for the attempted coverup of the crime.

Another bad day for Ted Rogers in Our Daily Ted. 89-year old bike rider killed in San Diego; police blame the victim

Maybe if a few “captains of industry” are nearly killed cycling something will get done about bicycle infrastructure? Millionaire entrepreneur explains why cycling — and not golf — is the new sport of choice for young professionals I see what the guy is saying, but I can’t relate to it. One of the comments helped in understandistuping the difference, golf requires a mostly-fixed long length of time to participate, including getting there which may take two hours of driving each way, then 4-5 hours on the course, with very little actual exercise during the whole exercise.

And I’m hoping the sudden change in direction doesn’t cause emotional whiplash, but for some reason in spite of 10-20 cyclists a year dying mostly because of crappy infrastructure the people in charge can’t manage to spend more than half of their budget. Revealed: London’s most dangerous junctions for cyclists – as transport chiefs under-spend £50m road safety budget The fact that they only spent £29 million of £82 million in their budget with a number of known hotspots that desperately needed fixing with several that had killed cyclists repeatedly over the last few years, well there are words that I can’t use and keep the “SFW” rating on this blog.

Still in Jolly Olde relatives of victims ask their government for punishments that are more in line with the seriousness of events when drivers kill. Family of Ross and Clare Simons – killed riding tandem bicycle in Hanham – to meet PM David Cameron The killer in question for this article killed two people while driving illegally and will only spend less than 10 years total on prison.

Still in the UK, the peril of using bad statistics when talking about bicycle safety. Insurance giant’s cycling ‘study’ shows the perils of poor statistics Somehow they got from an official government statistic of 2% of bicycle wrecks involving “no lights” to the 1 of 3 wrecks caused by a lack of lights, so what other bad information did they use?

And over in Ireland, someone won’t let the tragedy of a cyclist getting killed go away. Flowers and stars for tragic cyclist killed in Limerick

And in “late to the party” news, Forbes discovers the “safety in numbers” theory of bicycle safety. The More Cyclists In A Country, The Fewer Fatal Crashes – Report [Infographic]

My short little legs are not the target audience for this article, but I found it fascinating never the less. Building the Next Dirty Sixer This is a buildup article on a bicycle with 36″ diameter tires. The standover height for this bike is roughly 6″ greater than my inseam.

Last link, if you’re getting a custom bike built like the one in the previous paragraph, it pays to have a good working relationship with your mechanic. Here’s how. AngryAsian: Things you should never say to your bike shop mechanic

And those were all the links I could wade through today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Who ordered this weather, and the Feed

The weather has gotten on Mrs. the Poet’s last nerve. Actually the weather itself is not so much the problem as the fact that it kept both of the tenants/housemates in the house since everybody’s jobs were shut down by the weather (except mine since I work from home anyway). Since nobody here is of a compatible personality type with anyone else, being in such close confines for 2 days straight has resulted in some conflict. I think I might have to dig up the flowerbeds. 😉

Up first is Our Daily Ted, Pt. 1. Morning Links: Unfortunate irony on the Milt Olin Ride, and still more on the proposed helmet law

And unfortunately there is a Part 2. Teenage bike rider killed on Aviation Blvd in El Segundo

A little Ghost Bike lifestyle in NC. Ghost bikes honor those killed Just between you and me and the fencepost, I don’t want to see any more ghost bikes. Not a ban on the memorials, just no more dead cyclists.

I’m not seeing what the problem is on making repeat DUI a felony in CO. Felony DUI bill, a Hickenlooper priority, faces obstacles I’m sure my regular readers know my antipathy towards drunk drivers, especially given my history with them. I don’t think this bill goes far enough, they still allow the drunk driver to keep the car.

I’m not big on celebrity worship, but you have to admit this was pretty awesome. @edbegleyjr arriving by bike to the #Oscars You can see the tux peeping ut from under the rain gear.

Trucking interests are trying to change transportation priorities in Portland OR. Advocates mount effort to keep transportation hierarchy in city policy “The transportation hierarchy is seen as a powerful enough idea that some freight advocates have urged for the “commercial vehicles” category, currently ranked below “public transit” and above “taxis”, to be removed from the priority list.” Yep, that is a real good idea, go from the middle of the list to nowhere on the list.

Infrastructure news from the northern part of CA. Alameda’s Second Parking-Protected Bikeway Takes Shape on Shoreline Drive That looks like a nice bit of infrastructure (by US weak standards). Still not up to CROW standards, but right at the top of the heap for the US.

One of the consequences of failing to enforce pedestrian right-of-way. Police Search For Suspect In Marble Hill Hit-And-Run Notice the blood-stained crosswalk where the pedestrian was hit. RIP Daniel Cabrera.

They are changing the story about how this pedestrian was killed after video evidence contradicting the story was revealed. Cop Admits Flashing Lights Were Off When He Fatally Struck Japanese Student

A breakthrough that could lead to smaller, lighter cells for all EV. Kevlar Barrier Could Lead to Safer Lithium-ion Batteries Well yes safer, too. Safer is good, but smaller and lighter are right up there too. and “safer” here is a byproduct of trying to make the cells smaller and less likely to fail as they age.

And when those cells become available here is a place they could shine. FIA Selects Eight Formula E Manufacturers The series is evolving from a complete spec series to a spec chassis and battery with different motor/controller manufacturers, to spec chassis with different motor/controller/battery systems. They are trying to get to a system that only requires one car to get to the end of a race since they can’t charge the batteries fast enough during the race on temporary street circuits. This should trickle down to street EV and e-assist bikes. The organizer’s aim is to restrict the development budgets to things that can make a difference in real world applications and away from aerodynamics and suspension geometry that are already well understood and which racing developments are not well suited for street use.

And I’m all out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Moving Bean Day to Tuesday, and the Feed

After the pain from yesterday I did not particularly feel like doing the beans and rice today. I mean I woke up with sore feet and a bit of a headache this morning, then had to deal with coffee that had been watered down because the tenant that does that woke up to her workplace being shut down because of the weather. Oh I forgot to mention the weather. Basically we woke up to find everything encased in sheets of glare ice, including the roads. Buses were not running and neither were the trains as the “scraper trolleys” that were decided upon as the cure for the paralysis caused by the ice last year have not yet been installed. Basically only emergency services and grocery stores are up and running “normally”. And everybody but me has been bundled up like they are about to assault the North Pole or something. I put a T-shirt on to fight the chill as just shorts and slippers was too chilly… Current thermostat setting is keeping my office at 62°F, which is nice for me but a little chilly for the other members of the house. Our outside temperature has been no higher than 27°F today. For the end of February in TX, that is on the chilly side. The good news is the spring bug hatching had already begun due to a couple of weeks of freakishly warm weather, if this cold snap holds for another 2 days we will have a very small amount of biting bugs all summer. So it isn’t like there is no up side to this weather.

Up first the DIYDoT the next town over takes bicycle infrastructure maintenance into their own hands, with the blessing of the city. Our First Trail Cleanup Day Was A Success Ho many times have people been forced to take street maintenance into their own hands because the city didn’t or wouldn’t do it? Why is it the DIYDoT is almost always deployed to make or maintain bicycle infrastructure? Congrats to the people that did this.

Another entry from the DIYDoT created a 40 foot long tunnel in the snow covering a major bicycle path so that bike commuting would not be disrupted. Boston cyclists built a 40-foot-long snow tunnel for commuting Admit it, given the chance you would have done the same thing, right? Because how cool (literally and figuratively) is it to ride through a huge tunnel in the snow?

NYC’s campaign to reduce pedestrian deaths from turning vehicles running into people crossing with the light in crosswalks hits a snag. Woman Killed In Queens Hit And Run Witnesses reporting in the comments section said the victim had barely stepped from the curb before getting hit.

A CT man takes a plea in the killing of a cyclist two years ago. New Milford man pleads guilty in Weston cyclist death This “person” tried to hide the damages to his car after the wreck but was not successful at the deception.

Continuing the theme of scum and ne’er do wells appearing in court over killing cyclists is this report from FL. 21-Year-Old Driver in Fatal Key Biscayne Bike Crash Appears in Court Another driver that tried to hide his crime after leaving the scene.

At the head of a long line of links from CA is our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Biking the Oscars, challenging helmet stats and a big jump in Santa Monica bike commuting That Boston bike tunnel link is in Ted’s report also, and one of the helmet follies links as well. Just saying because I recognized the links after I filtered my links.

Next up is one of those helmet folly links complete with the offensive cartoon Ted mentioned in his link. Should California cyclists be required to wear helmets? Studies from places that have mandatory adult helmet laws do not show enough of a decline in deaths from head injury to offset the increase in deaths from sedentary life styles caused by the decrease in cycling from the helmet law. On an individual basis there is a slight reduction on mortality caused by helmet wearing in wrecks under the 12.5 MPH design impact speed of bicycle helmets, figure out how many wrecks involved 12.5 MPH and below motor vehicles and you’ll have the exact number. So for the population as a whole helmet laws are a net loss, for individuals they are a wash. And people want them because…?

A little legal infrastructure from CA. Cyclists Rally To Raise Awareness About The Dangers Of Distracted Driving This is in reaction to the Milt Olin death nearly two years ago.

A little lifestyle news from CA. Tour de Ed rides through almond orchards from Chico to Durham That sounds like a beautiful ride, I wish I could be there for it.

Moving to Jolly Olde, the company that owned the truck that killed a woman last week in London was in the process of training their drivers to not kill cyclists. Unfortunately the driver involved in the fatal wreck had not yet gotten the training. Cyclist death plant firm had gone through training programme

On other legal infrastructure questions in the UK. The discrepancy between results of law-breaking and consequences for it are still being debated. Prime Minister to meet Purley cyclists’ fiancées and Prime Minister to meet fiancées of two cyclists killed in drink drive collision The “person” in question killed two people while driving at nearly 3 times the legal limit for BAC% and more than twice the speed limit with other drugs in his system, and only got 10 years in prison for it. Inciting people to kill will get more prison time in the UK than killing with motor vehicle.

A bit of lifestyle in the UK. Craig Armitage: Riders unite in farewell to Otley cyclist pal and beloved dad

And another bit of infrastructure bashing, there is a reason why I make the statement that stating UK infrastructure is crap infrastructure is redundant. Bradford roads branded “death trap” for cyclists I have seen third world roads in better shape than these, hell I have seen Roman roads thousands of years old in better shape than these.

Another ghost bike tribute in Jolly Olde. ‘Ghost bike’ roadside tribute on anniversary of cyclist’s death I long for the day when there will no longer be a need for ghost bikes because drivers won’t or can’t kill us any more.

Infrastructure in Oz. Cyclists call for Annerley Road safety upgrades after student death The cyclist was killed while stationary at a traffic light. That puts this in the category of “unavoidable by human cyclists”.

More Oz lifestyle. Cycling champion Anna Meares leads Amy’s Big Canberra Bike Ride this weekend

And a major dose of wishful thinking in South Africa. ‘EDUCATION WILL BOOST CYCLIST SAFETY’ Yep, it sure will, education and confiscating and recycling the vehicles used to commit road murders…

And thank [$DEITY], I have run out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

No RPG but some HRC, on Wreck-Free Sunday

Just got home and re-caloried from a day doing Good Things indirectly for my church. I went to a lesbian bar and handled the door for an HRC fund-raiser called HE said SHE said. I was familiar with the bar by reputation, because one of my tenants goes there when she’s had a bad week or two, but not having the required equipment to be a lesbian I didn’t go there (combined with the fact that I just don’t drink that often, I just finished my Christmas 6-pack of Shiner last week).

I can’t say too much about the event. That is not because of any NDA or privacy thing, but because I had a job to do at the door and doing that job pretty much prevented me from doing anything else. My job was to get people to sign up for the HRC as members. I’m a member, too, BTW. If you click on my home page link you will see a page called The Gay Marriage Challenge . If you check the posting date on that you can see it has been up there for a few years now, in response to a comment in the Virginia Pilot about how gay marriage was going to destroy “traditional” marriage. My response was “prove it, and give examples”. I expanded on that in The Gay Marriage Challenge to make it a contest that if anyone could prove two men or two women getting married would have any negative effect on any man-woman marriage I would personally speak against same-sex marriage and cite their arguments and sources as a reason. Since then several thousand people have read the post, and several hundred have posted comments. Most of those “comments” were links to gay porn, which got them deleted, and most of the non-porn “arguments” were variations on the “marriage is for children” fallacy (if marriage was strictly to produce children, then there would be an automatic annulment when the women entered menopause, or the youngest child reached 18 or 21).

Anyway, the people there seemed to have a good time that I could tell when I wasn’t actively working to get people signed up for the event. And there is a group of lesbians out there who “squee!” very loudly with harmonics that verge on the ultrasonic and that feel like icepicks in my ears. The date auction had one offering that came with a U-Haul gift certificate and I thought my ears never would stop ringing in addition to the permanent noise I got from trying to crush a truck roof with my skull and break a street with my face. The scores on that are truck roof zero, skull won, and street one, face zero. And I have a permanent noise in my head that varies between a high-pitched whistle and a wind in the pines, mostly the really annoying whistle. Anyway, all that noise just made the noise in my head all the worse…

PSA, Opus

Working off two screens today, and the Feed

Hey! As I type this I’m looking at my TV with the links displayed on my laptop screen. Meaning I can read what I’m posting about as I post it so I can paraphrase more accurately and type while looking at a screen closer to my eye height so I have less neck strain. Yay! less neck strain.

First link is a little music to improve your mood a bit. Walk Cycle : animated music video : MrWeebl Trust me on this one, your mood will need improving. As a matter of fact I suggest you come back to the top of the post after you finish reading and click this link again…

More links about that [$DEITY]-awful bill proposed in CA to make every cyclist wear a helmet. California Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Law Would Make Riding Less Safe, Advocates Say and Cycling experts split on proposed helmet law

Our Daily Ted, round one. 47-year old bike rider killed in Escondido collision

And Daily Ted round two. Morning Links: The Tour of California comes back to LA; Calbike petition opposes mandatory bike helmet law I have signed on to that Calbike petition.

Still in CA, they arrested a hit-and-run driver. Man arrested on suspicion of killing bike rider in crash I think I have mentioned before what I feel about hit-and-run drivers, but for new readers it involves a car crusher and two pair of handcuffs, combined with the weapon vehicle from the incident. Use your imaginations.

OK I don’t know what to say about this except Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Interrogative. Trial set for Utah man accused of hitting cyclist with SUV Not once but twice, having circled back around to take another swipe at him after knocking him off the bike. And he might have gotten away with calling it an “accident” if he had stopped at one hit, idiot. Gigi will love this link, it has her two favorite human failings, H8 and Stoopid.

Speaking of Stoopid. Prosecutors: Driver in Key Biscayne cyclist’s death legally drunk What I said about hit-and-run drivers also applies to DUI killers. Except the car should also be on fire before the crusher starts.

It is possible to convict a driver of homicide in New York, he just has to kill people inside another car. Driver Who Killed Williamsburg Family Convicted Of Manslaughter & Homicide This driver was doing about twice the posted limit of 35 MPH at the time of the wreck.

And NYC is trying to do something about traffic homicide. Here’s NYC’s Ambitious Plan To Protect Pedestrians In Brooklyn Now the problem is getting NYPD to enforce the laws against cars hitting pedestrians.

And in London in Jolly Olde, cyclists are getting tired of their friends getting killed by crappy infrastructure that makes them ride next to blind semis. ‘Enough!’ Cycling activists demand action as rush-hour collision with lorry claims woman’s life Four cyclists have been killed by HGV (semis, mostly) since Jan 1. At that rate they will eclipse the previous annual record of 14 some time in late July.

And I’m finally out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

We has munnie now on Grocery Day, and the Feed

We got paid this week here at Casa de El Poeta, so we re-stocked the pantry, to the tune of about $140. We rebuilt our stores of breakfast cereal, and Pop Tarts, but that was mainly because we had the combination of an outrageous deal on 12-packs with a coupon that took a dollar off three boxes of any count that combined to net a cost of $0.148/pastry. The breakfast cereal restock was also a combination of a sale and a coupon. We also had to buy a bunch of meat to replace consumed supply. we missed the french fry deal because of lack of space in the cart and the back of the car, but they will be on sale even bigger tomorrow and I have a backpack. I will also be picking up supplies for the sole employee of WoaB, security cat Bryan. Just because he’s a trusted and valuable employee does not mean that I won’t pinch a penny to get his preferred payment (besides, what is a cat going to do with money?).

And more good news the property hearing has been set so I can get back Blue. The bad news is it will be 0900 on 03/04. I’m not up that time of day, normally. I will be for Blue, though.

Up first it turns out that there is solid data on not running your tires as high a pressure as it says on the sidewall. Tire Pressure: Data and Details This is a summary of a much longer print article. It may pay to do a coastdown test with different air pressures on your bike.

Hub or crank assist on your e-assist bike? Hub Motor Hills Testing, February, 2015 It looks like when you have significant hills the crank drive has the advantage. I’m not entirely sure there will be any significant difference when it’s just flat riding, but most people don’t have e-assist for flat rides.

A CA rider gets a little extra because fighting the lawsuit was judged to be a lost cause. City settles lawsuit from injured cyclist The defendant in the case would have spent almost as much if the case went to trial and still would have to make the rest of the payment, so the settlement was the more sound fiduciary decision.

On other legal fronts, I wonder if this driver’s 8 year driving ban starts before or after his 2 year prison sentence? Vernonia man sentenced to 2 years in prison for cyclist’s Highway 30 death At least he might spend most of a year in prison for running over a cyclist.

Can I like this? Judge puts the brakes on scientific defense of school-zone camera ticket In this case the owner of the car used the known length of the vehicle and the stated time between exposures to determine his wife was not exceeding the speed limit by any appreciable amount. The problem is, was the stated amount of time between exposures the actual time? That is literally a state secret…

Another memorial ride for Milt Olin, killed while riding in a bike lane by a texting deputy sheriff. Cyclists to rally in Calabasas

More on the bill proposing mandatory adult helmet wearing in CA. Lawmakers consider making bike helmets mandatory for adults I strongly question the validity of their 91% “helmetless” fatality rate as there is no corresponding helmet rate for people just riding and not getting hit. If there was a large difference either way then that figure might be significant. Otherwise it is just a meaningless number.

Another example of using data-driven corrections to infrastructure, data collection phase. Maps Show Where Thousands of S.F. Cyclists, Pedestrians Hurt or Killed The data is shocking when you remember that every one of those dots and circles represents an injured cyclist or pedestrian, the “x”s represent a severely injured person, and the skulls and crossbones represent a fatality.

Round one of Our Daily Ted. Afternoon Links: Kicking cars off H’wood Blvd, silly season for bike laws, and MyFig now a year behind schedule

And here’s round 2. Update: 17-year old bike rider killed by DWP truck in Granada Hills

Moving from CA to GA. Pedal Medal Award Celebration honors those who make Savannah better for bicycling Let’s celebrate people making a difference for cycling wherever they are.

Cyclists and the civil rights movement have a lot of parallels. Selma-to-Montgomery bike ride a way to #seizethedays Not sayin’ bike riders have it anywhere near as bad as African-Americans just that there are parallels between the middle of the previous century and the beginning of this one, one was a fight for the right to vote, the other is a fight for the right to travel without getting killed indiscriminately.

They are starting to get “riled” about the money being spent to make crap infrastructure in the UK when it doesn’t cost much if any more to do it by the book (CROW Manual). EXCLUSIVE: ‘Cyclists are an afterthought’ Campaigners outrage at road safety standards

Similar sentiments across the straights in Eire. Record level of cycling injuries and How cycling injuries are spiralling – a medic’s view

Still in Ireland, they are having some problems setting up their latest bike share. Cork bike-share scheme starts with a rattle I see some of the problem as they are putting in the infrastructure required to support mass cycling while trying to maintain motor vehicle dominance and that ain’t going to work when there is barely room for a single car on most of the streets, where they could be bi-directional if they were bicycle-only.

Back to the UK, more pointless twaddle about cyclists hitting pedestrians. Legal Eagle: If a cyclist injures a pedestrian, do they face the same penalties as a driver?

More on the debate on a 1 meter passing law in the “down under” WA. Cyclist safety: renewed calls for safe passing law in WA

Last link, what if your e-scooter had 4 wheels and 4WD and tilted? EV4 four-wheel-drive electric scooter leans into turns It has similar problems about crashing sideways if it loses traction as a 2 wheel scooter, but less likely for that to happen with twice the contact patch.

And it’s time for me to hit the hay, it has been a busy day for me.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (and still an unkillable badass)

This is all the post you get today

I have a trip to the lab rat keeper that will burn up most of my morning, and today is my 37^th wedding anniversary so Mrs. the Poet and I will be going out this evening to a sit-down restaurant for dinner, which takes a while to do when you have to ride the public transit system we have in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. That will pretty much sap any creative energies I have as well as most of the time I have. Sorry about that, but I will be back tomorrow with a full report on both trips as well as today’s and tomorrow’s links.

PSA, Opus

Lots of beans, and the Feed

I made as big a pot of beans as would fit, because I can make a pot for about $2 (more or less, I would have to calculate weights and costs a bit more exactly to know for sure) and that makes between 6 and 8 dinner-sized servings. That makes serving costs of $0.33 to $0.25 per meal. Talk about stretching your grocery budget! I did this a few years back when I had obligations that prevented me from going on vacation with Mrs. the Poet. I fixed pots of beans and rice that lasted an entire week of dinners or lunches and managed to only spend about $20/week on food for the time she was gone. Most of that was for coffee and milk. I think that was the year I also experimented with a brown rice porridge that was a week of breakfasts for like $0.50 (so about $0.07/day before coffee). And yes, you might say I have more than a passing relationship with pinching a penny until Abe screams for mercy. I guess if push came to shove I could always change this blog to “How to live on pennies a day” by just putting up my daily diet and costs, but I don’t know how many people would read that.

Up first is a bit of DIY infrastructure from the next town over. Trail Cleanup Day – Saturday, February 21, 2015 That this is necessary is absurd, rights of way are supposed to be maintained by the relevent government body that owns them.

A little FL legal infrastructure. On Flagler Roads, Cyclists Share Some Blame For Wrecks; Legislator Files Protective Bill The “protective bill” is a pretty standard vulnerable road users law.

Your next bike probably won’t be made on a 3D printer. 3D-printed bike test doesn’t go exactly to plan (video)

Two links of the legal infrastructure at work in the Great White North. Man charged in death of cyclist struck by car in September and South Glengarry man charged in fatal crash with cyclist To be honest I’m slightly shocked that there were any charges at all.

I keep telling people about how UK bicycle infrastructure is practically synonymous with “crap infrastructure”, this is why. Sister of London cyclist killed by HGV: ‘Riders cannot share roads with 32-tonne lorries’ The cyclist was waiting at the light when the truck pulled up and instantly lost sight of the cyclist, meaning that drivers have to be scanning the left and right side of the intersection to prevent a similar wreck. I agree that mixing bicycles with 64000 pound, or heavier, vehicles is insane.

Second verse not the same but very similar to the first. Manchester’s roads not fit for purpose says cyclist injured after hitting pothole Looking at that street I would say “Yeah, that’s crap.”

And their civil engineering society says the same thing, the UK has crap cycling infrastructure. Letters: Cyclists’ safety is now critical

A little UK lifestyle. Alba Rosa reliability ride to pay tribute to Otley crash victim

This is just so wrong. Cyclist’s widow shocked at court ruling The case is not ruined, just made more difficult.

And the next-to-last last link is from the UAE. Death that should not have happened Even one of the countries floating on a lake of oil recognizes that people need to ride bicycles as transportation.

Last link is another driver who should be in jail, not driving. Video: Elderly Wisconsin Man Hits Nine Cars In Parking Lot Yep, this guy scares the poop outta me.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet