Hephaestus came in second again, and the Feed

Well the deity I represented in the Patron Pageant came in second place again. That means I have to sit out another year, unless Lady Ghisallo can make it, and to be totally honest I have no illusions about Ghisallo’s mass appeal outside the cycling community. For better or worse, she’s ours and we are hers, and there’s not much hope of expanding that. I see the appeal now of niche deities like Heph and Ghisallo, that aren’t exclusive but who aren’t for everyone. The problem is when you have a deity like H or G the number of people you can share your rites and rituals with are limited to people who likewise share you activities that deity endorses or otherwise espouses. People who don’t go on regular journeys have little need for a god who protects travellers, people who seldom make things have no call to request assistance from the gods of creativity. That’s just the way of things and won’t change.

I have also been asked to post a Wish List to my blog some time this week, which will probably be either tomorrow or Wednesday. I will make a separate post from the Feed so that those who care can find it easier and those who don’t care about what I want don’t have to read through it to get to the stuff they do want to read about. I’m trying to make everybody happy here.

Up first is a hit-and-run I got off Twitter. Cyclists want changes after deadly Lombard hit & run and Police ID bicyclist killed in Portland hit & run also Cyclist killed by hit and run driver on Lombard; possible suspect in custody this too Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run on Northeast Lombard not done yet Fatal hit-and-run at NE Lombard and 42nd Ave – Updated still not done Updates and reactions to Saturday’s tragic fatality on Lombard The second BikePortland link comments are especially telling to this wreck. The cyclist was hit from behind when he as forced to merge with traffic going 45+MPH because there was no room to put 2 lanes of motor vehicles and bike lanes in each direction and they were not willing to reduce motor vehicle space nor speed to accommodate bicycles. Sure, the direct cause of death was a drunk driver, but the underlying cause was the total failure of the infrastructure design. And then there was this,”We may never know, but it’s entirely possible the victim knew he was about to be hit and was trapped against the guardrail.” This was the worst possible design for cyclists, suddenly getting forced into fast traffic with no escape route possible. More reaction to the killer infrastructure design. After fatal crash, BTA calls for continuous bike lanes on Lombard

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Still more big hearts for the holiday season, and driverless cars won’t solve LA’s traffic problems

Also off of Twitter. War on cars (Part II) If there was a war on cars then said cars would not be getting the lion’s share of infrastructure spending and acreage, nor would 35K people die from motor vehicle wrecks every year. Everyone remember the name Greg Crosby in case he ever hits a cyclist, this guy is either writing this dreck at orders or is mentally unbalanced.

Still in CA. Car hits and kills cyclist in South San Jose No clues as to what happened in this wreck.

Another NYC hit-and-run. Woman Critically Injured By Queens Hit-And-Run Driver The driver was driving without a license and there was a warrant out on the car for speeding because they didn’t catch it to identify the driver…

A NJ wreck. Cyclist injured in Howell hit-and-run crash BOLO for a brown PU with a missing headlight and passenger side body damage.

A mysterious wreck in MD results in injuries to both the cyclist and the driver of the weapon vehicle. Cyclist seriously injured in collision with car in Rockville I can’t tell from the condition of the bike what happened.

This is an update to the OH wreck from last week. Man killed in bike crash encouraged others in recovery They are still insisting the cyclist was riding salmon in spite of the back of the bike being smashed and the front only slightly damaged.

LEO in FloriDUH blame the victim for getting hit from behind on a straight stretch of highway with no shoulder. Bicyclist identified in fatal crash in Auburndale Gee, maybe if it was dark and foggy the river of the large vehicle should have been driving slower so he could stop in the distance he could see clearly? Like the law in FL requires (316.183 (1)No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. In every event, speed shall be controlled as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle, or other conveyance or object on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care. and (4)(e) Any special hazard exists with respect to pedestrians or other traffic or by reason of weather or highway conditions.)

Another wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Fire Rescue: Cyclist killed in Lake Worth crash By all accounts this was either a hit-and-run or a murder, with the cyclist found lying dead in the road.

Another link to “that idiot” in FL. Hit-and-run suspect Randy ploughed into cyclist as woman ‘was giving him a blow job’ Yes, they said it.

Going way north to MN from that wreck to another train wreck. 2 people hit by Blue Line trains hours apart Monday and Update–Bicyclist Killed By Light Rail Train Identified Three people in a week? WTF?!?

Another link to the “hit and run cyclist” who hung around until the paramedics left and nobody took his contact information. Police searching for bicyclist who hit, seriously injured 85-year-old

Serious wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision with tractor trailer near Brantford Looks like another driver not watching the road and adjusting speed to conditions hit a cyclist he didn’t see in time to stop or swerve.

Three years to sentence a killer driver to two years in jail? WTF Canuckistan?!? Two-year sentence handed down for drunk driver who struck, killed Winnipeg cyclist in 2012: reports They spent more time waiting on the trial than he’s going to spend in jail.

Gee, they agree with the French court that the cyclist was killed by a bad driver. Cyclist who got into the sport at 50 died riding Tour de France mountain stage when he smashed into car driven by British tourist and British cyclist who died on Alpe d’Huez was killed unlawfully, coroner rules also Cyclist from Surrey died riding part of the Tour de France when he was hit by fellow Brit in a car

Drunk driver was at fault in the wreck, really? Drink-driver knocked York cyclist off his bike Quote from the driver, who was deeply and genuinely remorseful. “I believe the cyclist was at fault,” he said. “He signalled as he moved out to the right. I gave him a minor bump.” That “minor bump” came within fractions of an inch of killing the cyclist, dude. Was attempted murder really only worth £355 total fines and 12 months without a license? and the driver’s quote doesn’t jibe with being “deeply and genuinely remorseful”.

Evidence is accumulating against the “justice” system in Malta. Institutionalised bias against bicycles

And what kind of bike was this Aussie cyclist riding when he “fell off”? Cyclist in serious condition after crashing ‘at speed’ in Hornsby

And I have been sitting at this computer for almost 12 hours, so I’m beat. I might not tag this much.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

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Things are weird again, and the Feed

Things are back to what passes for “normal” here at WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. In anyone else’s this would be slightly out of kilter, but for us it’s “just life”. Except for being out of coffee. I haven’t been this low on caffeine since the Great Coffeepot Meltdown of 2013, when we had 2 coffeemakers expire 2 days out of warranty each and I had to go without coffee for almost a week after the second one died. Now that was truly horrible…

Up first on an uncharacteristically light Monday Feed is this hit-and-run outside Houston. Pasadena PD investigating after cyclist found dead in front of bank I’m still trying to grasp what makes a broken bike, dead cyclist, and no driver remaining at the scene an “alleged” hit-and-run.

More on the left cross wreck of a driver turning through a paceline of 8 cyclists hitting 5 and now the death toll has risen to 2. 2nd cyclist dies 7 days after crash in northeastern Ohio I keep reading the cyclists were all well past the intersection and that the driver had crossed over into the oncoming lane of travel, but so far I have only seen one crime scene picture that corroborated that. I linked to that picture last week.

First of a long series of links from CA. Woman identified in crash involving bike, car People keep saying the teen driver in this case was not “distracted” and that he was a “good driver”. If that is in fact the case, this “good driver” deliberately ran into the back of a plainly visible cyclist in bright sunshine.

Cyclist hit during a time trial. Bay Area cyclist struck, killed near Esparto during event Nothing from this article on how the wreck happened.

I don’t know what to say about this wreck. Bicyclist Killed on the Milpitas-San Jose Border Cyclist was riding salmon at night, with no lights or reflectors. What was he thinking?

Our Daily Ted has Ted taking a Mental Health Day. Let’s call it a sick day Since I have done these a time or two (and eventually decided to take Saturday completely off and Sunday as a no-bicycle-links day) I can’t say as I disagree with the sentiment.

And of course you can’t make the dog quit hunting… Sidewalk cyclist killed in Cathedral City

Daily Ted, part 3. San Diego bike rider killed in foggy, early morning Mira Mesa crash after allegedly running red light

And just to show how poorly that Mental Health Day is working, part 4. Unidentified woman killed in Orange collision while riding in crosswalk

They’re still killing cyclists in FL. Ghost bike replaced to mark fatal date How bad are drivers in FL when a bike chained to the side of the road gets hit?

Drivers in KY miss the days when driver’s licenses were found in the bottoms of cereal boxes. Bicyclist Dead In Hit-And-Run Crash I’m sorry, those days are still here…

Another reported wreck where the cyclist was not paying full attention to the roads? Cyclist dies 4 days after being hit by bus That sounds an awful lot like a SWSS. I wonder if anyone reviewed the forward-facing camera footage? Because this sounds an awful lot like that wreck where the bus ran over the cyclists in CA, and the driver said she pulled over to pass and the cyclists “swerved in front of her”.

Serious wrecks outside of NYC. Bicyclist killed in Yonkers; arrest in Garrison crash Apparently Yonkers PD is no more competent than NYPD to their south. But at least in the second part of the story they arrested another driver for hit-and-run on a cyclist.

More from CA of a not-so-bad nature. Bike ride honors EMS personnel, stops in Vallejo

You know what would make this cool for the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell? Having enough bike lanes to make having a closure policy. Trail closure policy for construction and special events We have trails, but all they do is loop around whatever park they are placed.

A CT infrastructure demonstration. New bicycle tour of New Britain attracts 250 According to the guy who sent me this link they managed to hit almost every foot of bike infrastructure in the city with this tour.

A near-tragedy in far West Canuckistan. SUV crumples bike Sidewalk cyclist narrowly avoided getting hit by a driver not looking where the car was going.

Another ghost bike means another dead cyclist. Ghost bike left in memory of Montreal cyclist I hate Ghost Bikes. Not because I hate the sentiment behind them, the sense of loss, the casual waste of human life they represent. I hate the fact that every one that goes up means another cyclist has died by motor vehicle…

And we get another cyclist hit by a train on the same crossing as one was killed earlier this year. Edmonton police investigate collision between bicyclist and LRT train I have posted many, many times about how to not get hit by a train, but the simplest and still the most effective is the “don’t be there” method.

And now I’m out of links, thank [$DEITY].

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Still basking in the post-party afterglow, and the Feed

Yep, things have been very rosy around Casa de El Poeta so far, very rosy indeed. I’m still eating the leftovers from the party, and enjoying my presents. And now I have to ruin it by reading about bike wrecks and crappy infrastructure. 😛 I guess there is only so long you can keep a great feeling going.

Up first I’m going to try to keep the good times feeling going with birthday boy Ted Rogers and our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Anti-bike lane madness grips Coronado, and OC police stop a one man bike-born crime wave

Staying in CA for a while. KTVU Stays Classy With Fearmongering Segment on “Bike Yield Law” Yep, thousands of pedestrians could be killed by stop sign running cyclists, except no they won’t. Two pedestrians have been killed by cyclists in S.F. since the turn of the century. That’s about S.F.’s normal pedestrian tally from motor vehicles in a week.

Still in CA, and another link to the driver who managed to kill a bicyclist and a motorcyclist on opposite sides of the road. Two killed in crash involving car, bike and motorcycle Not saying these guys are slow, but that wreck was 2 weeks ago. Still amazes me how someone could manage to kill 2 people on opposite sides of the road in the same wreck and not be actually trying to hit anyone. Just saying… :whistling:

Moving north and east of that wreck. Child severely injured in bicycle, minivan crash in Boise As the article is posted now they have no idea how the van ran over the kid, just that he was dragged about 40 feet after the initial impact and he was wearing a helmet (which does a bloody hell of a nothing against getting dragged by a motor vehicle).

South of the ID wreck we get a cyclist hit in my old college town. UPDATE: Bicyclist seriously injured in car crash “Vision problems”? As in “blind as a bat”. Yeah, if you “can’t see” a cyclist then you need to not drive. Seriously, of this guy wasn’t trying to hit the cyclist he needs to be taken off the roads permanently for incompetence, otherwise he needs jail and then permanent license revocation.

And moving north and east from the UT wreck we get a MT wreck. Cyclist Injured in Early Morning Crash They don’t even know which end of the bike got hit, but the cyclist only had a minor head injury? Possible buzz job with no bike damage, or possible salmon cyclist bailed in front of the weapon vehicle and not hit but the bike was mangled? Those are the only two scenarios that I can envision where the investigators can’t tell which way the bike was going from the damage it sustained. I’m betting on “buzz job” if only because the likelihood of jumping off the bike without getting hit is extremely low.

OK now we move to KS for another hit-and-run. Police find driver suspected of hitting cyclist, leaving scene and the reaction to the wreck Cyclists seek safer roads after hit-and-run wreck The debris looked like a hit-from-behind wreck.

Someone in NYC has a pair. Bronx DA Johnson Files Manslaughter Charge for Cyclist’s Hit-and-Run Death This was the cyclist killed riding the City Island Bridge earlier this month. That was a fast move by the DA, another thing not known to happen often in NYC when cyclists are killed or injured.

A cyclist is injured in GA. Macon cyclist critical after being struck by vehicle in Bibb County The cyclist was in a group of 3 and was the only one hit. This tells me the driver was not paying full attention to the road. And should probably be shot at dawn, smoking a low-tar cigarette.

Another one hit in IN ( I love that pun ). Bicyclist killed in accident on 500N Ugh! How can the make the claim that speed was not a factor when the driver was driving too fast to see what was in the road in front of him until he hit it?

They still kill cyclists in FL and every so often you have to take a break and remember the ones who died. Benefit ride for cyclist Chris Liddy Except this one didn’t die, was not riding his bike when he got hurt, and by all accounts seems to be a genuinely great guy. WoaB gives moral support (the only kind of support we can afford) to this ride.

And back in TX before rocketing across the globe, Houston wants better bike share. Houston Poised for Massive Bike-Share Expansion As at the moment we only have 1½ bike lanes in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell we are not yet ready for bike share.

Cyclist down in the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision with van Nothing explicit on the mode, but implicit was the cyclist was directly in front of the weapon vehicle when he was hit from the right side. We may be dealing with a stale green wreck on this one.

And still more bad news for the drunk that killed 2 cyclists and his passenger in far West Canuckistan. Whistler cyclist’s wife sues car’s driver, owner, after husband killed in crash Yep, the guy driving was not the owner…

More good news from Jolly Olde. Serious injuries among Britain’s cyclists rising three times faster than distance ridden Given how hard it is to measure miles and minor injuries things may be even worse than they appear.

Last link, what if US law was like UK laws that allow people injured by bad infrastructure (both design and maintenance) to sue the responsible party? What If Traffic Engineers Were Held to Safety Standards Like Carmakers?

And I’m all done for the day.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

PS. Yanno, if everybody who subscribed to this blog would send the equivalent of €0.02 for every post I would be able to buy groceries every week and not worry about always getting the store brands. Or I would have money to spend on building bikes from raw stock instead of using donor bikes for things like forks and rear dropouts.

Hoping I don’t lose this post, and the Feed

I really hope the auto-save function of this composing page doesn’t crap out on me, because my computer has been crashing all day trying to filter the Feed. I have had several links crash fortunately they could be reloaded. If this page crashes, on the other hand, I have to retype anything that doesn’t get saved. Given there are at least 24 links waiting to be collated commented and posted to the blog, losing this page could be a major pain in the grommet, to use an expression popular with my father. So here’s hoping the computer doesn’t trash the composing page.

Up first was a hard decision today as there were lots of stories with multiple links. I think this NYC hit-and-run “wins” the right to go first. 27-Year-Old Woman on Bike Killed in Hit-Run Crash and Officials ID woman killed in hit-and-run also YOUNG WOMAN KILLED BY CAR WHILE RIDING BIKE HOME FROM WORK; POLICE SEARCHING FOR DRIVER this too Cyclist on City Island killed by hit-and-run driver Part of the problem is either there were three different 27 YO victims killed by white cars on the City Island bridge who all worked in the same restaurant, or whoever gave out the reports to media changed the make of the weapon vehicle… But yeah, nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck besides live and work in the same building so she didn’t need to cross that bridge.

Also with lots of links is this wreck from the Great White North. Cyclist seriously injured in Oshawa and Cyclist seriously injured in Oshawa Well there were a lot of links that somehow disappeared from the links window, at least one as I was trying to copy the URL to post here. Funny thing is what wasn’t mentioned, the driver wasn’t charged with hit-and-run in spite of having left the scene, which is heavily implied by the driver “returning”. Can’t return if you never left.

This FL cyclist was killed off of the road waiting, in the median, to get a second break in traffic to complete crossing the street. FHP: 1 dead, 1 charged with DUI manslaughter and Driver charged with DUI manslaughter after cyclist struck, killed in Winter Park LEO are still trying to figure out what caused the driver to veer off the road to hit the cyclist. Well, DUH! he was drunk and probably angry at seeing a cyclist in “his” road.

Still in FL, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicyclist dies after being hit by minivan in Pompano Beach “Authorities said the bicyclist did not have any proper working lights.” Of course not, they were smashed to bits in the wreck, that’s why the didn’t work after the wreck.

Moving one state over from FL we get this fatal wreck in AL. Alabama cyclist killed in collision is sixth such death this year For those of us who have to depend on the media to get accurate reports of wrecks reports like this are a nightmare. “The crash is being investigation.” Really? was this written by the same people as ‘All your base are belong to us’? At this point it looks very possible that this was a right hook by a driver who never saw the cyclist.

Still in AL we get a kid hit head on in a residential area. McCalla 9-year-old hit by car, injured while riding bicycle outside grandfather’s house The remains show a hard, but survivable impact, and also really bad welds in the fork. I’m being serious here, look at that wheel and you tell me if something really hit hard enough to break the steer tube on that fork. This is the bicycle builder coming out in me, which explains why it takes me so long when I build a bike. The steer tube broke between the crown race and the fork crown, which could only happen 2 ways, not enough heat to actually join the steer tube to the fork, or way too much heat welding in the crown race destroying the base metal in the steer tube without actually joining it to the fork… I know, TMI.

Our Daily Ted provides a breath of fresh air today. Morning Links: How the economy and bike lanes affect bike wrecks, and fight the bikelash over Rowena road diet

Still in CA. Long Beach woman killed in bicycle collision on PCH in Huntington Beach identified The wreck is still somehow a hit from behind wreck in an intersection they were both crossing.

Two reports on the same wreck in CA. Emmy winning sound editor one of two killed in Moorpark crash involving car, bicycle and motorcycle and Distracted driving may have been factor in fatal Moorpark crash That might be the only explanation of why a driver went from one shoulder to the other to kill two people on two-wheeled conveyances, absent some evidence the driver hated cyclists.

Maybe crap infrastructure contributes to bike wrecks? A Young Cyclist’s Death Spurs Changes, Lawsuit in Cupertino

NC cyclist killed in pinball wreck. Cyclist killed Sunday morning in east Charlotte collision He cleared the intersection, but not the killing zone when a left-turning vehicle sent another vehicle spinning through the shoulder area.

It just occurred to me today that the same group that was getting injured/killed the most at the beginning of the study period are the ones getting injured/killed at the end of the study. Cycling deaths, injuries rise as pastime grows in popularity The people getting killed the most at the start would be in the same age group as the ones getting killed the most at the end of the study, they just aged into the biggest group of cyclists as they got older.

I’m still trying to figure out how the truck got on the race course to hit the cyclist. Surely they closed the streets to traffic while the state championship race was running? Cyclist injured after hitting truck at Fort Smith race Comments say the course was closed and the driver of the weapon vehicle had been told twice to scram but went on the course anyway.

I strongly suspect this was a kid being a kid. Boy rides bike off embankment, suffers serious head injuries, police say I can’t say for sure, but this sounds like something I would have done at his age.

PA cyclists remember those taken too soon. Cyclists Pay Tribute To Slain Bike Riders, Hope To Raise Awareness

Making cyclists less “other”. Letters: Humanizing ‘cyclists,’ pope and refugees

Making drivers more aware that cyclists have a right to the roads and are going to be there. Signs of Our Times: Sharing the Streets I would prefer a sign that told drivers hitting a cyclist or pedestrian would cost them the car they hit said cyclist or pedestrian with, but hey, can’t have everything.

The cyclist who tried to get LEO to enforce the bike/bus lane restrictions gets hit by a car in the lane he was trying to get enforced. Cyclist who complained about Clifton Boulevard lane violators injured in bike-car clash We all know how loud a car horn can be when you are outside the car, especially a few feet in front of the car when the horn goes off. It can make you jump out of your skin if you are not expecting it. And there were a couple hundred comments when I filtered the links, but none as I posted the link here.

Signs of another kind. You Won’t Soon Forget These Photos of Ghost Bikes. That’s Exactly the Point.

A wreck in Canuckistan. Cyclist critically injured in collision south of Edmonton Ouch, cyclist hit head-on by a salmon driver. Nothing you can do about that. I hope the victim recovers.

Road.cc has the same opinion of a left hook wreck as I did. Accidental death verdict in case of Guernsey cyclist crushed by lorry Seriously, how hard is it to blame a driver for hitting someone on a parallel road when crossing that road?

A cycling hazard that is mostly confined to Oz, thank the lady Ghisallo for small favors. Where magpies swoop in Canberra: Cyclists fall prey to swooping birds I mean it sucks for the Aussies, but there are only a couple million cyclists there, compared to the billion or so in the rest of the world.

Programming note my friends have decided I need to get out of the house more and are taking me to do something not involving computers or cell phones. I think I’m going shopping or something.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Easy day today, and the Feed

I’m almost done filtering today and there are very few links that have made the cut so far. I’m also still pondering the service I have to do on 7/12 about Hephaestus. What I have been able to find other than what drew me to jim initially has been a Harry Potter fanfic from 2011, and the information that specific rituals were handed down as oral tradition from a master smith to his apprentices. So, I’m going to go with what I know, and then in the fine tradition of modern-day Paganism, I’m going to make something up for the actual ritual. Ordinarily I would blame Christians from the Middle Ages for the lack of information but in this case I don’t think I can do that. There is no information because the followers of Hephaestus made sure there was no information except what was written in the myths of the rest of the gods of Olympus. What we know of Hephaestus we know from people who were not specifically his followers, which means what we know is incomplete but not as self-serving for Heph as it would be if Hephaestus’ followers were writing the stories. So perhaps what we have is the most honest presentation we could get for a deity.

In other news Mrs. the Poet reports that “Arthur, Arthur Dent” is “less denty” or less concave and the incision site is looking less like a baseball and more like something you would find on a human being. She says this is “better”. I will take her word on it because she can’t manage to take a picture without blurring it by moving the camera when she trips the shutter so I haven’t seen the back of my neck clearly since the operation.

Up first we have another double dose of Daily Ted. Morning Links: Businesses benefit by trading parking for bike lanes, and new upscale spinning studio in DTLA That’s the good one. Bike rider run over and killed in Stanton hit-and-run after falling in the street That’s the not-so-good one.

And another act of terrorism against UK cyclists. Sussex cyclist breaks collarbone after hitting tripwire in third such incident in a fortnight And I’m not the only one who sees it that way Ian Walker, @ianwalker

Still in not-so-Jolly Olde, more on the cyclist crushed by an HGV making a left turn across the bike lane. Friends of physio killed while cycling in London call for safer roads

Why are they talking about transportational cyclists getting injured or killed, but leading with a picture of the TdF peloton riding under Big Ben? Number of cyclists injured on west London roads rises A similar juxtaposition would be to talk about traffic deaths in Ft. Worth with a picture of the Sprint Cup race at Texas Speedway.

More on that Toronto hit-and-run death. 19-year-old to appear in court after cyclist killed in hit-and-run Comments are still being made that the delay was an attempt to destroy evidence to make prosecution for higher crimes more difficult or impossible, IOW “obstructing justice”.

Still on the other side of the border, a Canuckistani wife says “It’s been a year, what have you done to prevent another death?” A year after cyclist’s death, his widow urges city to make Pembina safe I understand that realistically one year is not enough time to make any significant changes in the infrastructure, but I also understand the frustration of the widow. There should be contracts being let for dirt to fly next summer, since they already have a ready-made template available in the form of the CROW manual that has been available for years for €90 ($101.20 at current exchange rates) plus VAT (no VAT for sales outside of Europe).

Still in Canuckistan and still on the state of their infrastructure, more evidence that reductions in motor vehicle fatalities are the result of making cars more resistant to wrecks than changes in the infrastructure or any improvement in drivers. Edmonton fatal collisions down in 2014 Fatal collisions are down, but cyclist and pedestrian fatalities are up and cyclist injury wrecks are likewise up. Fewer than 1 in 4 wrecks were the fault of the cyclist even judged by car-head LEO, which means that 3 out of 4 wrecks were caused by or the fault of drivers of motor vehicles. That means that 101 out of 144 wrecks were because a driver screwed up so bad that there was no way to deny it.

And I’m all out of links and ready to kick back and have some fun.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (at current exchange rates that’s still pretty much $0.02)

Strating to filter the Feed, and I’m alredy only semi-coherent

I’m recovering from not remembering to carry water with me on what turned out to be a very long trip today, but we have the bus ticket for Mrs. the Poet’s trip to NY, and the storage unit rent is paid. The trips involved for that were Home to Downtown Garland to get the money, Downtown Garland to Downtown Dallas to get the tickets (round trip TX to NY and back involves 11 separate tickets), the Downtown Dallas to North Garland to pay the storage unit rent then walking home from the storage unit because it’s only like a mile and a quarter and there are sidewalks the entire way. Total travel time was about 5 hours. Whee!

Up first because this is a stand-alone link and I need as much space in the Feed window as I can get with 5 days of links in there, Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: KPCC calls LaBonge a bike advocate, CicLAvia rolls, Kerry breaks a leg and Hövding sort of works

More on that CO cyclist shot to death. Colorado police link two shootings and Colorado Hunting for Shooter Who Killed Cyclist, Injured Driver in Two Attacks also Fatal shooting of Windsor cyclist linked to shooting of Milliken woman driving on I-25, police say There seems to be ballistic evidence connecting the two recovered bullets from different shootings. Otherwise there is nothing connecting the two victims.

Another story generating lots of links is the US secretary of State falling off his bike on a planned assault on the Col de la Colombiere. Kerry breaks leg in bicycle crash; returning to US Monday and Kerry hurt in bike accident; rest of Europe visit canceled The col is a frequent climb on the Tour de France most years, but the wreck was in a crowded peloton in the town at the base of the pass and Kerry never even got to the Col de la Colombiere. That’s rough.

Another big story is a drunk driver in far West Canuckistan hitting and killing 2 out of 3 cyclists riding as a group, and killing the passenger in his car. Three killed as alleged impaired driver hits cyclists on scenic road north of Pemberton and Three dead after vehicle hits cyclists also Cyclists killed in Pemberton crash mourned by friends this too Whistler cyclists Kelly Blunden and Ross Chafe killed in collision The third cyclist was initially reported among the injured but later reports state he was not hurt. You know what I think they should do to the drunk murderer, but Canada is much too polite for that.

Bicycles are so dangerous in Japan! Bicycles can be weapons, victim warns and Revised law obliges reckless cyclists to attend safety lectures

Why do you sometimes break road rules? Survey of 17,000 Asks Why Bicyclists Break the Rules of the Road I do because obeying the law 100% of the time will get you killed. I firmly believe in following road rules to be predictable and safe, but there are some things that if you do them as a cyclist you will get hit eventually because they laws were made for cars and bicycles cannot physically do some of those things even though they are required. Merging is one of the big ones for me, since I just can’t get up and go on my bike like someone can in a car. Someone very shortly after I merge is going to have to either slow down behind me or go around me, which is a violation of the merge law. And of course when they follow me I can’t see past them so I can do my next maneuver which is normally another merge to the next lane over so I can make a turn.

More on the UK cyclist killed by a HGV in London. Tributes paid to female cyclist who died after collision with lorry in South London And Health specialist is latest cyclist to be killed by HGV You know if six different kinds of cyclists were all killed by the SAME KIND of vehicle in less than 5 months in just one city I would be looking mighty hard at if maybe one of those vehicles was not suited for use in an urban environment, and I’m not talking about the cyclists.

Since we are discussing the UK anyway. Man arrested over Walton-on-Thames cyclist death and Updated: Arrest made after female cyclist in her 50s killed in tanker pile-up in Surrey The van driver was driving a commercial vehicle without license or insurance.

And still in the UK. Man who killed Horsham cyclist convicted of causing death by careless driving After they let him out of prison they are going to deport him. Harsh, but not as much as he deserved.

I think we have found the poster child for the Asshole Association. Cyclist Hit by Vehicle on One Year Anniversary that Matthew Harker was Struck and Killed Seriously dude, don’t hit-and-run and then get on Facebook and claim the victim was at fault. When you left the scene it became your fault. You might have been able to claim the victim was the author of his own demise had you stayed at the scene, but as soon as you ran you assumed the fault in the wreck because under the law the innocent don’t run. And don’t post about it on Facebook

This is another wreck at a spot that has seen several this year in Portland OR, America’s Copenhagen. Driver cited for crash that injured bicyclist on SE Powell Blvd. This was the same intersection as the cyclist who lost his leg was riding when he got hit just a few weeks ago and not very far from where a cyclist was killed last week. Some people think there may be a problem. Is Biking Getting More Dangerous in Portland? Just for the record I don’t think cycling is getting more dangerous, I think this is what happens when you have something that doesn’t happen very often in the first place and sometimes you get a dry spell and some times you get a few more. What I also think is this area was overdue for a serious bike wreck because of the infrastructure.

Here’s another surprise, a former highway department that still thinks its primary job is to build highways. Coalition Accuses Los Angeles Transportation Authority of Tunnel Vision Gee, build a tunnel under a city in one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, or move more people more safely for $4 BILLION dollars less. What to do, what to do…

Bouncing all over again today because too many open links makes navigating the composing page a nightmare, a cyclist in Canuckistan makes a claim for injury after hitting a pothole in the dark and crashing heavily. Cyclist suing City of Edmonton for $152K; claims pothole-related injuries This is apparently a different cyclist from the one last week that was only suing for 5 figures instead of the 6 that this one is suing for.

Hey, let’s blame the victims in MA. I-Team: Bicycle Citations Up, Accidents Down In Brookline Remember that line from a few paragraphs back: “bike accidents are so seldom that there is a lot of noise in the statistics about them”? Same thing applies here, there is most likely no causality between the tickets and the reduction in wrecks, only correlation. since most of the wrecks reported in the media the cyclist was not at fault, this large a reduction would mean that ticketing cyclists was changing the drivers’ habits. Exactly how that would work is a bit on the shaky side.

Now this is a clickbait headline that works. When Will the U.S. Embrace This Simple Change to Make Cyclists and Pedestrians Safer? I hate to be the ones that tell them but the UK law they are talking about has so many loopholes that all 6 of the HGV that killed cyclists in London this year were not equipped with the devices.

So many ghost bikes it takes a team from the local bike club to keep them maintained so they don’t get stolen or taken away by the city/state. Duke City Wheelmen refurbish bikes Someone once suggested that we chain white cars everywhere someone died in a car wreck, which I think would be a great idea. Just think how many cars that would take off the roads with 35-40K deaths a year. And the reminder that cars can kill inside and out…

How some of those wounded veteran rides are supported. Hundreds of cyclists support Ride 2 Recovery I would ride in one of these rides.

And then there’s this guy. Double Amputee Starts 52-Day Cross-Country Fundraising Journey to Arlington on Bike He’s not riding to Arlington TX from SD CA, he’s riding all the way across the hot part of the country, in summer, with only his arms to power the bike.

Two links from Oz. A simple request from a cyclist’s partner: there’s no contest between a bike and a car and Doctor Henri Sueke, killed in Rose Bay cycling crash, had just arrived from UK

I have been hit more times, but this guy definitely has worse luck on a specific date. Cyclist badly hurt in hit-and-run again, 5 years later to the day

Lifestyle in AZ. University mourns professor killed on bicycle RIP fellow cyclist.

And what I hope is the last new RoS link for this year… Friends, family of bike commuters killed in February joined hundreds in Thursday’s Ride of Silence

And I am beat, fried, toast, a cinder, past my freshness date… TIRED! and I need to get my toes done before I ruin another pair of socks. I’m just lucky that I haven’t ruined any of the bicycle socks I treasure, just the ones that don’t have any particular meaning or memories attached to them.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet