My contribution to the lawn mowing today was walking the mile and a quarter to buy the gas, and mowing the fence line and up beside the house where you need more upper-body strength than Mrs. the Poet can muster even on a good day. I still have problems with my back when I walk too much, and between getting the gas, mowing the fence lines and going to the bank to get grocery money without having to pay an ATM fee at the store I came real close to maxing out my available miles. I had a little lay-down after I got home from the bank and meditated for a bit, then pulled the steri-strips that had come off my back off of where they had gotten stuck to my shirt. There aren’t many of them left over the incision site, but I haven’t noticed any pain or leakage from the incision so I guess we are still good on that. Speaking of pain while the little sharp pains from the edge of the dent are still there they were less noticeable than even yesterday, so that is also good.
I managed to get Blue moved to a cleared space in the garage where I could get some tools on him which also cleared access to Francis/es to allow it to be used if needed. So far the only work I managed to get done was changing the seat cover on Blue, but as I wrote earlier I had things to do away from the house that kinda drained my energy, so maybe I’ll get more done tomorrow.
Up first, I have a link to the PDF version of the FHWA guide on segregated bike lanes. Federal Highway Administration SEPARATED BIKE LANE PLANNING AND DESIGN GUIDE WARNING, this is a gov’t document written by engineers who were paid by the word and it comes in just over 99MB.
Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: 3 important bike meetings, 1 last endorsement in WeHo, and what to do at CicLAvia Pasadena
Another example of why FL kills more cyclists than any other state in the US. UPDATE: Cyclist hit in Sanibel crosswalk listed in fair condition Note the response of the LEO representative: “Sanibel police chief William Tomlinson said bicyclists in Sanibel’s 25 miles of mixed-use pathways have the option of riding crosswalks, but suggested that walking a bike is safer.” The cyclist was hit crossing with the signal after one vehicle had stopped to let him pass but the weapon vehicle failed to stop. The driver that hit the cyclist did not obey a traffic control, but the cyclist should have walked his bike because… damned if I know.
Over in Jolly Olde while the infrastructure is sometimes truly awful, it is marginally safe if the drivers of large vehicles look out for and don’t run over the people on bicycles. Two lorry drivers face court over deaths of cyclists killed in separate crashes at City blackspot
And idiots with a badge are not limited to the state of Florida or even the US. CTC critical of police response to death of Merseyside cyclist Cyclist had a measurable amount of alcohol in his blood post-mortem so the other drunk that drove nearly 200 feet on the wrong side of the road to hit him was initially let off the hook.
And this guy walked away from what was initially believed to be a minor collision with a cyclist, then died a few days later. Peter Craig: Super fit newlywed killed after freak collision with cyclist while in marathon training DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! Seriously, do everything you can to not hit pedestrians, then exchange information after if you do hit one. Not saying that was what happened here, just general advice.
The cyclist video recorded “jumping” a red light and hitting a bus had equipment failure. Bus driver defends cyclist filmed crashing into his double-decker after jumping red light Broke the front brake and locked the rear on slick pavement and WHAM, there’s the bus.
There are still good people in the world, they are just sometimes hard to find. Members of public tried to lift vehicle off trapped cyclist Unfortunately there were either not enough people or too much SUV to get the car off the cyclist without heavy specialized lifting equipment. Fortunately the fire crew that showed up for the call was so equipped and the cyclist was extricated and sent to hospital.
More on that ride in the Great White North to protest cuts in Workman’s Comp. Injured Workers Stop in Kingston During 600 km Bike Ride to Draw Attention to a Compensation System Being Dismantled by the Liberal Government Are the Koch brothers active in Canada too?
And another wounded/injured veteran ride, this time in Jolly Olde. 100 wounded heroes lead cycle races Note to reporter/headline writer, these are social rides, not races. There are no winners except the people served by the money raised. There are no losers except the people who could but don’t choose to participate.
And I’m out of links again.
Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet
Witch on a Bicycle 