This post should be done by dinner time, and the Feed

Not much in the Feed folder today, and the grocery run was completed by 1300. So I have most of the afternoon unencumbered for filtering and writing the blog post.

I got some more parts for the Sprint T yesterday via Speedway Motors. These are the rear lower control arms that locate the rear axle fore and aft and also work with the upper arm to control rotation. The actual upper arm will depend on what rear axle I end up with but the lower ones are the same no matter what rear axle I use. There are two places to mount the rear springs on this arm to adjust clearance between the spring and the rear axle housing and also the effective spring rate at the wheel.

This is one of the front spindles. It connects the front wheel to the front axle.
By choosing this I will have a choice of three different brake calipers, 4 different brake hubs and 3 diameters of rotors, and 5 different bolt circles to mount the wheels. Three of the hubs mount directly to the spindle, but one requires machining an adaptor to fit over the existing spindle. Since I recently got access to a CNC lathe machining the adaptor became almost as simple as plugging in the dimensions of the adaptor and flipping a switch.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Public Works says don’t ask us on Glendale-Hyperion; Ventura Grand Jury says cars are dangerous On that second part of the headline, can I get a “Doi!”?

There is no lower limit on IQ for getting a driver’s license in NY. Driver Crashes Mercedes Into UWS Restaurant While Fleeing Police And we can see what it takes to get arrested for a wreck in NYC, drugs and property damage.

And the victim of the wreck that led to “Cooper’s Law” is remembered by his classmates. “I Will Miss Cooper Every Day Of My Life”: Classmates Of Boy Killed By Cabbie Rally For Safer Streets This was the wreck that made hitting a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk a crime all by itself in order to get reluctant DAs to file stiffer charges against killer drivers. It didn’t work of course, because the NY Supreme Court required a mens rea almost identical to first degree murder to convict of vehicular manslaughter…

What is the law about riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in CA? Dolan: Application of vehicle law to cyclists Depends on what town you are in and where in the town the bike is on the sidewalk…

More on the Marine handcycling from San Diego to Arlington VA. Town cheers injured Marine’s Ride Across America Did you see the shoulders on that guy? Wow!

Another link to the despicable woman who lied about being on her phone when she hit and killed a cyclist. Motorist was using mobile when she killed cyclist There is a circle of Hell just for people like this, a cacophony of strident ringtones, people talking at full volume, and the frequent but irregular shot to the head with a large clublike object being swung around by a blindfolded person on a noise-canceling headset so they can’t hear when they hit you while they talk to some distant person. I hope this woman goes there soon.

The UK has crap bicycle infrastructure. Protect cyclists from obstacle course So, this is news?

Just Yikes! Eskom liable for cyclist’s burns Electrocuted through the forehead? And still able to function? Yikes!

Lights would be good, but you saw the cyclist, right? No helmet, no lights, decked out in black: Cyclist tempts fate on major Sydney road during 3am ride And once again the “invisible ninja cyclist” myth is busted by the very people trying to perpetuate it. They saw the cyclist well enough to take a series of pictures of her and even get gender and an age range estimate, so what’s the problem?

Last link is just for fun as a sometimes-troublesome immigrant is granted Japanese citizenship after more than 50 years of residency. Resident evil: Godzilla made official Japanese citizen

And I seem to be out of links today, but there will be more tomorrow. There is always more tomorrow. I need a “more depressed” font for that one.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

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Did some maintenance on the blogger, and the Feed

I went out and had my toes done this afternoon because I ruined 2 pair of socks in 3 days this week and I can’t keep doing that. One of the things that happened as a result of my wreck was a lot of nerve damage in the wrecked leg and when I try to cut my toenails the last two toes on the wrecked leg tuck under and out of reach. As a result I have to either try to con Mrs. the Poet into cutting those two toenails or pay for a pedicure. I almost always end up getting a pedicure and since they don’t reduce the fee for not doing things I get some stuff that for a guy might seem a bit strange, like putting color on my toenails. I got a lovely blue metalflake this time 😉 Then this evening I went to a chant workshop put on once a month by my church which also ate up a large chunk of time.

Up first because they attacked a secondary cause rather than the primary cause of the wreck. Distracted driver who caused deadly crash banned from using phone The driver was depositing a check via his cell phone banking app while driving between jobs, but instead of taking the vehicle away they took the phone away. Now the cyclist did not die because he got hit with a phone, he died because he got hit with a truck, that was being driven by a guy using a phone. So they are not restricting him from the deadly thing that was not properly used and killed the cyclist, but merely a contributing factor.

And continuing in the same concept, here is another convicted distracted driver. National guardsman who killed Minnesota cyclist warns others of distracted driving and Man who killed cyclist warns of distracted driving Again, distracted driving was only the trigger, the gun is the motor vehicle, which our former soldier still has unfettered access to after he completes his initial sentence.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: San Bernardino police unfairly blame victim; bike commuter dares Sepulveda Pass sans spandex The exchange with the cop sounds like he was being deliberately obtuse, ignoring statute that was permissive for the deceased cyclist and ignoring statute that was prohibitive for the killer driver.

Local (almost) to WoaB is this protest ride. DENTON TOUR DE FRACK – SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 7:00 AM, MCKENNA PARK And no, that is not a BSG reference, this ride is to protest the TX state law that just overturned the Denton TX law prohibiting fracking within city limits.

Remember those two cyclists hit in the same intersection in Portland? Crosswalk enforcement action uncovers rampant law-breaking on SE Powell Turns out they were writing tickets as fast as they could get the motorcycle cops back to the intersection after writing the tickets. Suggestion: don’t let the motorcycle cops write the tickets just stop the cars until another LEO can get there to do the ticket and then get back at the intersection to pull someone else over. Station the ticket writers about 100-200 feet down from the crosswalk and let them know by radio what violations the initial stop was for and let them take care of secondary tickets like no license or insurance. Put a sniper there with a car-stopper of a gun like the Barrett 0.50 caliber to get the ones that don’t stop immediately.

How do make change with something as entrenched in society as automobilism? My opinion: Protests, politics, and progress? Two cyclists left hooked in the same intersection in a single month and massive protests resulted in left turn signals that will be installed in less than 6 months, because those signals had already been approved and budgeted years ago but placed way down on the priority list until the two wrecks in quick succession. And the problem here is that this is the wrong way to roll out projects where it is an entire street that is the problem, not just one or two intersections that happened to roll craps.

And then you get $&(% like this. Six days after man dies crossing SE Chavez, his ghost bike memorial is mangled too (UPDATED) And a late comment seems to show it was a semi cutting the corner. Which is even worse when you think about it, because there could have been someone waiting to cross the street there instead of a Ghost Bike.

And our last link from BP, a comprehensive look at changing bad infrastructure to somewhat-less-crappy. Fixing Southeast: Three achievable proposals from a fast-rising advocate

A BOLO for a total douchebag driver in the Windy City. Police release photo of car in hit-and-run that injured bicyclist

Hey, let’s make cyclists as distracted as other road users with GPS. This High-Tech Helmet Shows Cyclists the Best Bike Route in a City Not saying this wouldn’t be useful, just that it would be a distraction, just like having GPS on your handlebars would be a distraction. Putting the information directly in your line of sight with the HUD would make it potentially more distracting, but also make it possible to read the information and redirect attention back to the outside environment much faster than the same information on a handlebar display. Still a distraction though.

While we are back to that subject here’s another distracted driver in the UK. Julie Watson killed cyclist after using phone while driving What is shocking here is the judge remanded the driver over to jail to await an inevitable prison sentence. Two years ago this would have been maybe a year in gaol or a few hundred hours of community service on weekends, this time it was go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 (Monopoly game reference).

Infrastructure news from the IL town where a woman riding USBR 36 was killed by a car driving in the bike lane. Bicycle, roadway safety in wake of cyclist death

Infrastructure news from far West Canuckistan. Editorial — Cyclists, take care Gee, one would think cyclists did not know that getting hit by/with a motor vehicle is painful and potentially deadly every time it happens. And that more times than not there was nothing the cyclist could have done to prevent it.

Final link about that Workmen’s Comp protest ride in the Great White North. Riders seeking financial justice for injured workers

Lifestyle in Wales as cyclists raise money for an injured rugby player with paralysis. Father of injured Blues player Owen Williams among those heading off on Cardiff to Paris bike ride

Another “greatest thing” battery chemistry for e-assist bikes and EV. Next Generation Battery Technology

And I’m outta links and patience, fortunately links ran out first.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Tired