I’ve been letting my mind wander, but it always comes back

Of late lacking the ability to do anything constructive on the Sprint-T I have been setting my mind loose to create other things, like a recumbent cargo bike, for doing what cargo bikes do, but faster and more comfortably, and a special for the A Mod class in SCCA Solo racing using a lawnmower engine , or a motor out of an electric forklift. I like A Mod because the rules are so open, minimum wheel diameter 10″, minimum wheelbase 72″, minimum wheel track 42″, and minimum weight 900 pounds with driver and no fuel, no maximum engine size, no restriction on undercar aerodynamics, no restriction on overcar aerodynamics aside from a maximum of 20 ft² total for all wings.

And I have been following the reports from Nashville, Toronto, and Grand Prairie with equal amounts of revulsion. Props to Canadian LEO for not shooting the driver in the sidewalk terror attack, likewise to MetroPD for managing to take a known armed crazy without further bloodshed. Unfortunately the one semi-local to me at this point appears to be suicide by cop. At least that’s the first report, which is wrong about half the time. But missing from all these reports is motive, why did they do what they did? The Canadian perp was described as “angry middle eastern man”, but what he’s angry about, nobody is saying. And I just read on Twitter the Nashville shooter belonged to a right-wing hate group, big surprise.

And Clint and Clyde have been acting like crazy cats because, well they’re cats and… Clint in particular has been howling at the windows and then changing his mind about going out about 3 times so far before finally walking out the door. That’s 3 times walking the length of the house and back plus standing waiting for Clint to make up his mind while looking out the door.

I have another trip to the Lab Rat Keeper tomorrow, so no post Tuesday.

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I’m not hairy on a Wreck-Free Sunday

I just finished doing the annual Spring head-shaving in the back yard partially in preparation for a trip to my PCP tomorrow to have that lump on the back of my neck taken care of. The other part is I leave the hair removed so the local birds can use it as nesting material. This was one of the years I take the porn-stache off to make sure there is nothing growing on my upper lip that shouldn’t be there.

The trip to the PCP is because the lump is between tennis ball and baseball size, and severely restricting my range of movement moving my head back and left to right. Also, I can’t even get my helmet all the way over my head because it hits that lump. So, the lump has to go, and the first step in that is tomorrow’s doctor visit. This is one of the downsides of my insurance, having to go through the PCP before getting anything that he (they) can’t do. And I’m pretty sure this is going to take a surgeon to deal with because it was originally a lipoma about the size of a walnut and now well just go back and read that first sentence in the paragraph again.

My cheap gene has been kicking in on the powertrain for the Sprint-T. I got a link to a $7500 conversion from ICE to EV and as this conversion is less than the cost of the engine and transmission… And this does not violate Mrs. the Poet’s decree against donor vehicles. The down side is there will be a major performance and range hit unless I drop the SLA and go LiFePO4. But then we are looking at thousands of dollars more, or roughly the same cost as the ICE installation and still not anywhere near the daily range of the ICE. Actually I just finished checking on the cost to get the same range as a 10 gallon gas tank and I am looking at $32K just for the batteries, so green is not as fast as brown or grey. The batteries for the same range as the SLA are about 3 times as much money and less than ¹/₃ the weight, so a slightly greater range on the same amount of electrical power. And I would need a truck to trailer the car for transport to races, so there is nothing to gain there. So, unless I want to totally abandon the major reason I’m building a T bucket rather than buying something like a Kia Rio, I will stick to the ICE. But the intellectual exercise of packaging the EV components in a T bucket was a brief entertainment for me.

I’m currently watching the Sprint Cup race out in Fontana CA, and it has been all JGR and SHR up front. I would call this one a good race anyway, because those are both 4 car teams, and they both seem to have 2 or 3 cars that can run up front at some point in the race. The last segment seems to have degenerated into a fuel economy contest at 190 MPH, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a nail-biter. To the contrary, now it’s a question of who will still be running at the end. This has been a fairly wreck-free race with most of the cautions being for debris. And just now they had a debris caution with 15 laps to go, so that means back to charging for all they’re worth to the end of the race. Unfortunately Matt Kenseth broke an axle leaving his pit box, taking his car out of contention if not out of the race. 😦 And they just had another caution with two to go, which put Kenseth back on the lead lap. Kevin Harvick decided to only take two right side tires… It’s a Green, White, Checker finish. And now we have another caution for a second GWC attempt to finish (they get three tries) but at least Kenseth got the Lucky Dog to be on the lead lap. And Brad Keslowski won after starting back in the pack from getting 4 tires on the caution that brought out the first GWC. Harvick keeps his string of top-2 finishes alive at eight.

And I’m out of things to say, so I’ll stop writing now.

PSA, Opus

The Greenville Ave St.Patrick’s Day Parade was not a Fun Time, and other stuff on Wreck-Free Sunday

Yesterday was a painful experience for me going to the local Big Parade. Getting there was not that bad except that the new shoes have not been modified to compensate for the hunk I lost out of my left leg back in ’01, so I was working on MOABackaches by the time I walked to the bus stop, but that eased off when I got on the bus and transferred to the train and the other train. Sitting with my pelvis level really takes the strain off my back. So the pain is just because I have to keep the muscles contracted on the side of my back opposite that leg which after a while restricts blood flow and causes all kinds of other problems that combine to result in a quiet stream of mutter expletives until I can sit or lie down and take the strain off. When I take anti-inflammatory drugs the pain is lessened, having the lift in the shoe for the short leg does a heck of a lot more to reduce the pain, both together is the best thing I have found so far.

Anyway, I got to the parade site about 90 minutes early because you really need to get there early to have a place to stand where you can see the parade. Remember the twinges I was getting on the way there? By the time the parade made it to our spot those “twinges” had progressed to feeling that the short leg was on fire and someone was pounding on my foot with a sledgehammer (that was on fire). I’m not looking for sympathy here, just telling it like it is. But I was not the only person having a bad parade.

Yes, that cooler just fell completely apart apparently from a structural defect combined with a heavy load of drinks and ice. Talk about a bummer.

And speaking of pictures, the pictures I took Friday night of the people picketing my church finally showed in my in box this morning, what took you?

Seriously, you guys didn’t have anything better to do on a Friday night?

I was watching the Sprint Cup race from Phoenix while I was doing this post, and Happy Harvick won again, putting him way out in front of the standings for the Chase for the Cup. There were a lot of cars that crashed out because they cooked the right rear tire tread right off the tire which causes the car to spin and then crash into the wall, including Dale Jr. and Jimmy Johnson. There was a lot of close racing except for the lead, because Harvick basically ran off and hid from the rest of the field except for green flag pit stops…

Now I’m watching the recording I made earlier of the FIA Formula E race in Miami, an all-electric racing series in its first year. Basically everybody is learning how to race EV with spec cars so they can really go at it over the next 5 years when they will be on spec chassis and tires with free within limits powertrains and batteries. Then we will see some tactical racing because the ridiculous car change “pit stop” will be eliminated supposedly in the fifth season and drivers will be required to complete the race on a single charge without recharge/replacing the battery. So basically at this point the winner of the race counts, but not really because this is all a series to learn how to race EV as a team, which I think they could learn from talking to electric RC racers, but hey, NIH (Not Invented Here) exists as an acronym for a reason.

I joined a new RP Group that will stick to D&D 3.5. This group will lean a lot more heavily on RP than on combat so when I built my character (on a 32 point buy system) I maxed out Charisma and dumped my Strength. I will start playing on the 28th because two members of the group have a church obligation next Saturday the 21st. Incidentally the “nice” people who were at the church in that group picture above promised to come back for the Sumerian ritual this Saturday. Considering the people doing the ritual are not the most tolerant people in the world when ritual is interrupted, I do not see good things in the future for the picketers. 😛

This is going to be interesting. Tune in for the report next Sunday, and stay here for regular posting Monday through Friday.

PSA, Opus the Poet

I feel like that guy in the Dunkin’ Donuts ad meeting himself leaving work as he’s going to work, and the Feed

It was a late night again last night as related in the previous post. And I stumbled out of bed this morning and fired up the computer to boot while I got coffee and morning meds and had a serious case of deja vu because how many years have I been doing this? I know that I started my first bike blog back in 2006 just randomly talking about rides I had done and building bikes, back in Spring of 2006 sometime, got on the reporting and later analysis of bike wrecks near the end of that year, went daily in 2007, got dumped by my blogging host in 2008 so I had to move to WP in November of 2008. So regular posting since 2006 and as close as I could manage to daily since early 2007, that is eight years of nearly every day sitting at a computer and pounding on the keyboard producing words. Speaking of “pounding” on keyboards, I managed to kill about 7 or so in those eight years counting the ones that were attached to computers that died. I’m particularly worried about the one in the laptop because I keep getting random letters from the opposite side of the keyboard showing up while I’m typing, usually vowel swaps, “e” for “o”, “a” for “u” and every so often a random “q”, or “e” thrown in for good measure at the end of a word. Y’all don’t see that because I proofread using both machine and human proofing. But having to go through a post and find all that stuff is just really aggravating.

Up first is a death about a half day’s ride east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Benefit account established for bicyclist killed on Old Jacksonville Highway Another driver using the “Get Out Of Jail Free” card for drivers “I couldn’t see him”.

And death is a common thread along with protest in these links from the UK. Vigil and Die In That’s my FB invitation to yet another UK protest, you UK readers might want to be there. Also Vivienne Westwood leads tributes to fashion buyer killed when bike hit lorry That was about the same wreck as the protest I was invited to. Another one Vigil to be held for cyclist killed in city centre collision month after his death also Cyclists stage ‘die in’ protest in memory of bike rider killed in collision with truck and Vigil for Manchester cyclist killed in car crash

After all the mess over the weekend this is a good respite for Ted in Our Daily Ted. Bike share unexpectedly opens in DTLA

Someone is starting to get the message in MD about how deadly motor vehicles are. Deadly Crashes Between Cars And Md. Cyclists Happening At Alarming Rate The comments were “interesting” to say the least. More Bishop’s charges in cyclist’s death prompt lawmakers to consider fining drunk-drivers Fines? How about vehicle forfeiture? Don’t we take the weapon away from someone who gets drunk and shoots up a town? Driving drunk is exactly the same thing as shooting up a town while drunk if you don’t hit anything. If you hit something then it’s different…

Budget cuts are fine, but you have to leave some things alone. 2014 in Clark County saw dramatic jump in fatal crashes After the traffic enforcement took the brunt of budget cutting the year previous whodathunkit that suddenly they see a huge jump in wrecks and especially fatal wrecks.

A little infrastructure news from the Windy City. Are Divvy Riders Safer Than Other Cyclists? Data Says Yes I say there are many things involved here. Bike share bikes are built to a different style than most road or mountain bikes which are designed for racing or styled after bikes designed for racing. Bike share are based on Dutch city bikes so the rider is more upright which makes for a slower bike, and also for a rider with a better view of the road. Also there is the as-yet unexamined demographics of bike-share vs. “just bikes”.

Another jurisdiction discovers that reducing traffic policing has serious negative effects. Safety fear as figures show a rise in number of cycling injuries

A little admonition on infrastructure from Enn Zed. Editorial: Cyclists must be safe too Typical driver’s comments in the comments section.

I’m not so sure how much of this satire article is actual satire. Self-righteous road use causes accidents The opening paragraph about the attempted murder of a cyclist…

And just because I like the link. Electric Motorcycle Gangs: You’ll Never Hear Them Coming

And now I’m out of links and things to say that are bike-related.

Bille @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I mowed the lawn this morning, and the Feed

I know for most people mowing the lawn is no big deal, but with my allergies it can be dangerous. Someone has to do it, and as the choices are me, Mrs. the Poet who can’t pull the start rope because she’s left handed and you have to use your right arm to pull the start rope, or paying money we don’t have to someone else to do it and from the way that clause was constructed you should see the problems with that. I started to do it earlier in the week but had to quit because of back pains (standing bent over the mower to fill the gas tank and clean the dirt off the air filter caused it to go into spasm and it never quit spasming). Then it rained, then I had more back pains, and today I had no back pains and good weather to mow. So the rest of the lawn got mowed.

On another front, my Death Day celebration is coming up on the 31st. You know what is a good thing to give a guy that died and came back from a motor vehicle wreck? Amazon gift cards, or a Logitech steering wheel for the PS2 that is compatible with GT4, or a USB steering wheel and a copy of GT3 since you can grab a good new USB PS2 steering wheel and pedals that will work with GT3 and a copy of GT3 for less than the price of a used Logitech wheel and pedals. I just want to have a controller that works so I can build a virtual Sprint T and drive it, since it is looking less and less likely that I will ever get the chance to build the real thing. I’m trying to find out the file format for cars in the GT games, because I have read that GT3 cars can be imported into the GT4 game by putting them in your garage, and that you can connect a PC via the LAN connection on the PS2 and convince it that you are downloading your GT3 garage to the GT4 game garage… Can you tell I’m trying anything that would let me drive this car I have been thinking about for over a year now?

Up first from the Great White North, why use an entire car to hit a cyclist when just a wheel works just as good? Runaway car wheel strikes cyclist, sends him to hospital Um, OOOOhhhh Kaaaayyyy then. Moving along…

Moving closer to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist hits a car head on. Cyclist killed in collision in northeast Arkansas OK there are only 2 ways for a bike and a car to hit head on in the road, somebody was on the wrong side of the road. Problem is the narrative leaves that information out, but does mention the driver of the SUV the cyclist ran into (or that ran into the cyclist) was uninjured. So… Don’t ride salmon?

Update on a CA wreck. Wife of paralyzed cyclist thanks community The cyclist is now officially paralyzed from the chest down, and there is still some question about the condition of his lungs. WoaB wants to remind everybody to send this victim some positive energy to use as he needs.

A SWCC left cross in GA (too many acronyms/abbreviations). Cyclist injured in bike vs. car accident Cyclist allegedly hit while running a red light, but did the driver not see a car and assumed the road was clear to make the turn? Because I don’t see any mention of any other witnesses except the driver of the weapon vehicle as the cyclist was transported by ambulance from the scene. Anywho, this is an intersection wreck so protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A LEO-involved bike wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Sheriff’s deputy car collides with Cape teen cyclist Nothing about the geometry of the wreck, but the intersection appears to be a 2-way stop. Since the directions of travel were not given, and they aren’t blaming the kid for running a stop sign or riding without lights before sunrise, I would say there is a very high chance the Deputy did a “Not See” on the bicycle and ran the stop or stopped and went when there was no car in the intersection. And failed to miss the cyclist he didn’t see.

Moving to the north a KS cyclist wipes out on a steep trail because she was too short to see the warning signs. 9-year old injured in bike trail accident OK unless this was a technical off-road MTB trail I call this really bad infrastructure, if it was an off-road MTB trail and the signs were too high for this rider to see them it’s still not-very-good infrastructure. OK the video finally played so I could see the facility in question and whoever built the thing should be in jail. Imagine a street with a sign “Next 700 feet undrivable, get out and push”.

Update on the unlicensed cab driver that killed a cyclist in NYC. Police: Driver Who Allegedly Struck, Killed Cyclist Was Not Licensed For Livery Cab The initial report was no license, not just no commercial license.

A pair of red light runners collide in Paradise. Cyclist injured in early morning crash with sedan the weapon vehicle was making an illegal right turn on red (no stop) and hit the cyclist crossing in the crosswalk against the DONT WALK sign. If the DONT WALK sign was still flashing then the cyclist was technically running a yellow (or not even that, as most pedestrian signals only flash during the latter part of the green phase). I am not entirely certain about HI traffic codes on cyclists crossing in the crosswalk and which set of signals they need to obey. The one thing I do know is that even with infrastructure “up to Dutch” that would not prevent the driver from running a red light at 0246.

An apparent BUI in AK. Bicyclist critically hurt in collision with SUV in Midtown Anchorage Cyclist was weaving through traffic and apparently disoriented when he cut off an SUV and got clobbered. Not much I can say except don’t ride impaired, and that even drunk cyclists are safe from wrecks with cars with the infrastructure “up to Dutch”.

A cyclist is dragged through an intersection in the Great White North, and blamed for not wearing a helmet. Bradford teen cyclist airlifted in critical condition following collision In one picture you can see the cyclist being extracted from under the driver’s side of the weapon vehicle. The narrative seemed more concerned about the cyclist’s helmet or lack thereof than the geometry of the wreck. That only leaves me with the advice to get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent a similar wreck.

A buzz job kills in Jamaica. Police seek truck driver in death of cyclist Hit from behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another infrastructure wreck, this time on camera in Scotland near where my daughter lives. Cyclist helmet cam video of tram track crash You can see from the video what looks like zero warning before the wreck, one second riding along normally the next sliding on the street…

Another Aussie cyclist gets buzzed. Witnesses sought to Caulfield South cyclist crash Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Sad Fiesta Island news, for and against the 3-foot law, and a new reflector could stop cars sooner

Lifestyle from CA. Family of Slain Rider Wants Drivers to Change Lanes to Pass a Cyclist

Lifestyle from the East Coast. Danvers woman conquers Washington in honor of friends killed by motorist For those who are not familiar Mt. Washington is the Pikes Peak Hillclimb for the east. And there is an event for e-assist cycles in the early fall, late summer called the Alternative Energy Regatta or something like that. They have never had more than 2 e-assist bikes make the attempt in the same year because of how tough the climb is. Just completing the climb is a serious test of battery capacity and motor cooling.

Lifestyle from the Great White North. Cyclist killed in collision commemorated with ride fundraiser

A new approach to making bikes theft resistant. Coming Soon To A Pole Near You: A Bike That Locks Itself If this becomes widespread this will be the first major change in bicycle design in almost a century. I don’t count all that crabon bushwah, that is just a materials thing

Battery breakthrough for a low-cost high rate cell. Energy Breakthrough, A Supercapacitor Battery Made From Hemp Supercapacitors are not really “batteries” but they have enough energy capacity now to be considered as a competitor for chemical storage. Where supercaps have it all over chemical storage is charge/discharge rates, making them really useful on systems that have lots of regen and energy recovery. And naturally lower-cost energy storage for large passenger and truck EV means lower cost energy storage for e-assist bicycles.

And going the other way for capacity and low weight over low cost. Tesla Developing 500-mile Graphene Battery? And this is also good for e-assist, lighter cells of the same capacity means better performance without assist, or the same weight means longer assist.

And because I haven’t linked a cat picture lately… Here’s what happens when you get an inbred cat

Billed @€0.02, Opus