Finally got some money, and the Feed

The check came in this morning, so I’ll be out running around paying bills and making deposits and stuff tomorrow instead of going with Mrs. the Poet to shop for groceries. There won’t be a big difference for the blog, just for my selection of salty snacks. I think I might have to give up meditation to get my BP up high enough to make the grade for the new test med, because cutting my current meds in half doesn’t quite do it, and eating salty snacks doesn’t do it either. I’m barely at 110/80 now.

Up first, wait, what?!?

Another cow caught stealing a bicycle…… pic.twitter.com/7gtONxicdn

— classicretro (@classicretro) March 30, 2016

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And closer to home.

Crews Finally Add Last Block of 2-Way Protected Bike Lane in Downtown Houston pic.twitter.com/DyjHLsSstv

— StreetsblogTexas (@StreetsblogTex) March 30, 2016

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Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Downtown bike lanes draw new brewery, new bollards on Vineland and a new LA Bike Fest video

Unknown mode of wreck in MN. Bicycle rider killed by car in Sartell and Bicyclist Struck, Killed In Sartell As of this posting all I know is there was a cyclist hit by an unknown vehicle and possibly left for dead making this a possible probable hit-and-run.

Victim blaming in the Great White North. Cyclists share responsibility for accidents More blaming the victim for not wearing the GITDCS that drivers seem to think every cyclist should wear 24/7 when riding. Instead of you know, actually looking more than 20 feet in front of the vehicle.

Right hook in far West Canuckistan. Cyclist dies in collision with truck in Victoria’s Chinatown and Cyclist, 73, struck and killed in downtown Victoria I zoomed in on the picture of the crime scene and the only truck visible was a COE with good forward and side vision. So, aside from using the standard protocols posted in the links at the top of the page what could be done to prevent this wreck? They were already using the delivery vehicle with the best outward vision, the cyclist was wearing clothing that made her visible, what else could be done? EDIT: As I was getting ready to move from the first link to the next link the page updated with a much better picture of the crime scene showing the actual delivery vehicle having a conventional cab that is blind to a large area in front and to the right where the cyclist was hit. So going back to the question, replacing the delivery vehicle with a COE flat van and a glass door to the right would be a massive help.

Speaking of the devil, here’s an article from Jolly Olde on just that kind of vehicle, this one in a trash hauler. Pioneering lorries with panoramic view hit the streets in bid to save cyclists’ lives

Also from the UK is this factoid from the trial of a killer driver. Janina Gehlau: Lorry driver ‘should have seen cyclist for up to five seconds’ before fatal collision The cyclist was using the infrastructure as designed, the driver of the weapon vehicle should have been looking in the direction he was planning on driving before actually proceeding through that space, I believe the colloquial phrasing is “Looked where he was going”.

This is an aspect of UK jurisprudence that I would dearly love to see here in the US. Cyclist injured in fall from bike due to road ‘hazard’ awarded damages after suing council for ‘negligence’ Injured or incur property damage because of crappy infrastructure? Sue the government body responsible for it not being crappy.

Now this just sucks. Man pushes cyclist off BMX and rides off on it I try not to wish harm to another human being, really I do, but this guy needs to get hit by an HGV turning left at a stop light since this is over in Jolly Olde where they drive on the wrong side of the road.

Another rider in Oz hits a parked car? Qld rider killed after hitting parked car Seriously this is two this week.

More on the 73 YO driver that killed a cyclist in Oz. Hit-and-run driver charged over WA cyclist

Back in the US, SF infrastructure! TWIN PEAKS FOR EVERYONE OK let me get this out or I’m going to explode: “That’s one fine cuppa coffee” .

And how do you get bike parking? How Portland’s oldest Buddhist temple got better bike parking Sometimes you have to DIY.

And here it is not even midnight and I’m outta links, Gigi is going to be so happy.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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More Cush for the Tush!

I just got back from testing a major upgrade to Gigi. If you look closely at the picture in the blog header you can see that the previous seat “cushion” was held in place with duct tape. It was also only about 10mm thick open celled foam and did not have as lot of “give” because it did not have much room to provide that “give”. You will also note a large amount of curvature to the seat pan which caused me no end of pain from an old injury from my college days, a shattered coccyx. That’s another long story, best suited for another blog post, but the Reader’s Digest Version was that after it healed it made a big bump on my rump. Back when I was a fat slob managing an Italian restaurant it wasn’t that big a deal, but that was when I was much less active than I am now, and the curvature in the seat pan combined with the thinner than spec cushion caused pressure on the aforementioned “bump” such that I could only ride about 20 miles in relative comfort and by 30 miles I was missing some skin, and spent the next 4 days typing leaned forward in the chair and sleeping on my belly.

I had purchased a OE RANS cushion for the seat, but it was susceptible to abrasion without a cover so I would walk by where it was stored looking at it longingly until I could procure a workable cover. Well I was given a EZ-1 seat cover for Father’s Day this year and it came in the mail this afternoon. It fit fine on the RANS seat after I figured out how to install it, which took almost an hour of finagling.

Then I went for a test ride… Bliss! Bumps that had been spine jarring were barely noticeable with the OE cushion, more notable by the noise the rack made against the seat than by actual feel. I think I will need to tilt the pan back a little more than it is right now, and also make adjustments for leg extension. But I am thrilled with the ride comfort now

So I have cargo capacity, I have a comfortable seat, I have adequate lights when supplemented by a reflective blinky LED vest, now I need to address the cosmetics of this build. Gigi needs a touch of makeup. So opinions please, should I paint the newly fabricated stem black, or white? I’m leaving the stem clamp white, but should I paint the handlebars white like they were on the BMX bike I took them from, or black, or should I install the shiny polished stainless numbers from the BMX bike in the parts pile? My personal choices would be to paint the stem and the handlebars black because they would look good against the orange-red paint on Gigi and also with the fenders I’m fabbing.

Billed @$.02, Opus