We’ve been here 7 years now, and the Feed

November 23rd is significant for a number of reasons beyond being the day JFK was shot in 1963. It’s also the day I started posting my blog here after getting more or less kicked off of MySpace for having excessive links 7 years ago. I dual posted for about a month with the link to this blog at the bottom of the old blog on MySpace and went from 800 readers per day to about 50 (but on the other hand I’m still going, has anyone heard anything about MySpace in the last year?). I have gotten some recognition from my peers since moving to WordPress, sometimes had enough readers to actually get a few bucks from advertisers, and gotten some free stuff to review a few times. Overall it has been fun, but there have been a few times when it got so overwhelming I just wanted to walk away and read web comics and ride my bike. But I persevered, got some counselling, and just put my head down and kept going. Which brings us to today. But before I do today, 52 years ago I was rudely awakened from my nap in the kindergarten class of Iliahi Elementary School in Wahiawa, HI to be told that the President had been shot and killed in Dallas. My immediate question was what country was Dallas and when were we going to go to war with them.

Ordinarily I start inside the US and work my way out, but today the story closest to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell is in Mexico City. Protesters demand traffic safety in Mexico City after cyclists’ deaths and Mexico City made itself more bike-friendly—and cycling accidents went up Part of the problem seems to be drivers as one of the cyclists was hit from behind by a bus in the shared bus/bike lane. I don’t see how cyclist education would do anything to prevent that.

Baby steps towards justice for a cyclist killed in NYC. City Fires Contractor Responsible For Tree That Killed Cyclist In Red Hook This is the first stage, firing the contractor. Then comes charges, prosecution, and eventually a brisk rap on the wrist, followed by a lawsuit that bankrupts the contractor.

Still in NYC a local newspaperfishwrap wets its pants over the prospect of an Idaho Stop law. The NY Post Is Terrified Cyclists Might Someday Be Allowed To Cautiously Run Red Lights Not the best picture to illustrate the article, a salmon cyclist holding a demitasse of espresso while riding with one hand and holding a shopping bag to the handlebars.

And in the meantime real killers are allowed to stalk the streets unimpeded. MTA Bus Driver Strikes Pedestrian In LES Crosswalk Since the victim was in the crosswalk I’m going to assume he had the right of way until proven otherwise.

Back to the other side of the country for Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LAPD still looking for hit-and-run cyclist, and a bike rider critically injured in SoLA hit-and-run That “hit-and-run” should be in quotes in the headline, because the cyclist hung around until everybody else left and nobody took his contact data… Even the cop looking for him says as much.

Still in CA a memorial to a 9 YO cyclist killed with a van. Irvine grieves for boy, 9, struck and killed on bicycle Apparently they are assigning a large part of the blame to the driver on this wreck, because every time they mentioned motor vehicle operators the words “slow down” were in close proximity.

A bit of infrastructure news from the war zone in CA. Vineland Bike Lanes: So Much Space, So Much Failure It’s really hard to ride in bike lanes when they are full of cars. Too bad CA isn’t a “Stand Your Ground” state so that cyclists could shoot drivers in the bike lanes with their deadly weapons deployed against the cyclists.

A ninja cyclist is hit in PA. Cyclist injured in State College The cyclist had the right of way, but because he was riding ninja the driver couldn’t see him to yield he got hit and blamed for the wreck.

A driver failed to take care of his diabetes and killed a cyclist during a hypoglycemic blackout. Delivery driver who hid the fact he was diabetic from his employers at Currys PC World killed a cyclist when he blacked out at the wheel during a hypoglycaemic attack Yes they spell it with too many vowels, I think it’s to make up for the lack of them in Wales. Anywho they gave him almost 4 years (44 months) in prison for the killing (and I suspect for withholding the information about his diabetes).

A government official in the UK who seems to get most of his news from Fox gets called out on his misinformation. Cyclists pose more dangers than motorists, claims transport minister Fortunately, more rational heads prevailed and called his BS. There are in fact 63 pedestrians killed by motor vehicles for every one killed by cyclists, and 46 injured by motor vehicles for every one by cyclists. And even on sidewalks the ratio is highly skewed in favor of cyclists by more than 34 to one.

They caught a hit-and-run driver in Oz, and they don’t seem likely to let him go cheap or easy. Geelong man charged over alleged hit-and-run that killed cyclist “Azzopardi was remanded in custody and scheduled to appear again in March.” So Aussie cyclists will at least get most of the Austral Summer minus this threat to life and limb.

Another article on how your city could save $$ by increasing the bike share of traffic. Planning for Less Driving, Not More, Would Lead to Big Savings And it doesn’t take much to realize these gains, just enough people on bikes to slow down motor vehicle growth 1% will do it.

And vehicles like this will help it happen. HISTORY BICYCLE CAR

And I’m outta links again. Program note, I will be away from the internet for tomorrow and Thursday so no post until Friday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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State Fair was nice, my back hurts worse than my feet, and the Feed

I spent several hours getting in and out of the driver’s seat of many cars that I would like to drive now that Mrs. the Poet is starting to have difficulties getting around. Mrs. the Poet refuses to get a driver’s license so I will have to be the driver. She is developing the same grip problems as my Dad did right before he crashed his car back in 2012 so she doesn’t even want to go down that road. She figures any car I can get in and out of with the bum leg from the wreck she can do likewise on the passenger side. Wait until I get the jungle gym of the Sprint T mocked up and start climbing in and out of that. Then I think she might change her tune.

One issue I have been discovering in trying on cars is steering wheels that are consistently too close to the driver. I admit I have short legs, but the only car I felt completely comfortable with was the Fiat 500 which has a very arms-out driving position. Of course this was compounded by every car having the driver’s seat locked in the full upright position, and some also having the driver’s seat in the full rear position. Another thing I noticed was seats with relatively flat bottom cushions and very aggressive bolsters on the seat back were more comfortable and easier to get in and out of than seats with the bolsters on the bottom cushion. What was really nice were the cars where the recline and bottom cushion tilt were independently controlled so my legs and back were equally well supported, while letting my legs move and work the controls. This is something I will have to work on when I do the cockpit in the Sprint-T. Tilting the bottom cushion back helps hold the driver in against braking forces and also makes the back bolsters work better at holding the driver in place behind the wheel. You can’t tell I used to build race cars back in the day, can you?

Up first a low-information wreck (for me, there’s a paywall) from Seguin TX. Bike rider injured at fundraiser in Seguin So the cyclist hit (some part of) a parked car. And that’s all I was able to read.

Another low-information report because there wasn’t much information available from LEO, in the opposite direction from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. OHP: Cyclist injured after hit-and-run near Muldrow At this point they don’t know if the injured person was riding the bike or pushing it because of how far off the road the victim was when hit.

More on that wreck in CA that may have been deliberate on the part of the driver. UPDATE: Hurt Cyclist is 2-Time Gold Winning Olympic Athlete I wrote “may” because this is the wreck that someone on FB that I linked to yesterday had an encounter with the driver in the same vehicle last year. That one was dismissed as a “he said, she said” incident, but a second wreck with a cyclist in a year does not bode well for the driver’s version of events. More Road rage repeat offender in Santa Barbara bike crash?

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA BAC meets tonight, Los Feliz NC discusses LA mobility plan, and bike Metro’s Rideshare Week

I have been putting off mentioning the cyclist killed riding the Gran Fondo last week because I just did not have the right link to share. Now I do> Edward Lund, Fresno artist and curator, killed in crash during bike ride

Still in CA, a cyclist is shot to death. Teenaged bicyclist killed in gang-related shooting So stupid.

This seems to be another day that’s extremely heavy on CA links. Cyclists’ Idaho stop becomes hot potato in San Francisco Oh no let’s not try something that works someplace else because our population is so much more dense it changes the laws of physics. Or something. Which is what I would put in a comment if I wanted to register at yet another news outlet web site…

More on the cycling couple who were hit by a red-light running vehicle in UT. 1 killed, another injured after pair of cyclists hit by car Still the same story, cyclists waited for their red light to change before entering the intersection. Driver hit them more than halfway across the intersection after running a red light that had been red for some time before he got to the intersection…

And across the country in NYC another pedestrian is killed with “no criminality suspected”. Staten Island Driver Fatally Strikes Pregnant Mother Of Two Somebody needs to do something to stop the death machines from killing everyone in NYC.

Back to PDX for some infrastructure news. Broadway Bridge updates: A broken shoulder and upcoming closure Looks like a mess there indeed.

Over in Jolly Olde cyclists are getting injured in droves as a tram line runs through a bike lane at an acute angle. Changes to Edinburgh junction where dozens of cyclists have fallen on tramlines described as ‘terrible’ More than 100 seriously injured and more getting hurt on a daily basis with 2 or 3 a week serious enough to file suits? The pooch is screwed.

Some cyclists deserve to get fined. Cyclists receiving fines at rate of about 100 a month Given that this is for the entire country of Ireland 100 a month is not excessive, but I do wonder if cyclists are being targeted because they are easier to catch then drivers.

And as helmet use increases, so do spinal injuries. Cyclist spinal in juries ‘soar 320pc in five years’ I realize that correlation is not causation, but I wonder how much is due to an increased percentage of helmet users, and how much is due to just more cyclists to get hurt?

A Canadian visits Amsterdam and does a little research into the history of cycling there. Paul Wilson: Amsterdam — bikes, battles and bare heads

Someone imagined an entire city as devoted to cycling as transportation as your typical late-20th century US city was to cars. Architect imagines a neighborhood and a whole new building type designed around bikes Glorious isn’t it?

And I’m outta links again and need to sleep because I have to get up early tomorrow to do my volunteer gig. 0600 wakeup, ugh.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

It’s Bean Day again, and the Feed.

Yep, I’m slaving over a hot slow-cooker, stirring and adding spices and seasonings, to make the perfect pot of beans and rice. Still working on that, but I’m getting closer. Now it just so happens that I’m making beans because I like this particular dish, not because I can make 3 dinners for 2 people for about $0.75, but the fact that I can make this for that small amount of money is a good thing right now… As in there was only $5 to spend for groceries last week and the pantry is getting mighty bare, and we are dipping into the Strategic Ramen Reserves… I will be so glad when the check comes in and we have a positive bank balance.

My mood today without coffee:

i hope you are all having a dark as hell national coffee day http://t.co/gYUGA5MdPd pic.twitter.com/JjMOnsu1gz

— rstevens Ʒ (@rstevens) September 29, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
BTW I want that coffee cup…

Up first are updates on fatal wrecks, this one recent. Driver charged in deadly cyclist crash and Driver charged in Brecksville crash that killed two cyclists It’s a pity that those are all misdemeanor charge in OH, and that this is about as severely as a driver driving on the wrong side of the road and hitting 5 people can be charged.

The older wreck is at trial. Cyclist’s fatal injuries in hit-run detailed in court That sounds about right for a cyclist hit head-on by a car driving on the wrong side of the road in excess of the speed limit. I sincerely hope this driver is sentenced to the maximum permitted by law.

Speaking of drivers on the wrong side of the road, here’s a third. Cyclist killed after being hit by SUV and Superior man struck, killed while riding bicycle another one Cyclist Dies After Being Hit by Vehicle I’m sure there was no other meaning for the second headline than identifying the cyclist’s town of residence, but IMHO it also described the stature of the victim. Why the driver was not arrested and taken to jail at the scene is still up for question.

And refreshed and ready to go after taking a Mental Health Day it’s our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Gov. Brown signs hit-and-run alert law, bike park meeting Wed night, and SCAG says Go Human

Also in CA. Cyclist hit, killed in Mira Mesa “They” say the cyclist ran a red, but the only two people there were the cyclist and the driver that killed him.

LEO “proving” they are limited in IQ in the big city. Lee says he’ll veto legislation OKing rolling stops for cyclists Whoops, sorry that’s the mayor, Lee, not LEO.

Still in CA, in the same city as Duh Mayer up there. Mother Credits Police With Spending Time, and Money, to Help Injured Son Thus proving not all LEO are heartless. And if it seems like I’m a little hard on LEO most of the time, there is a reason for that: my son-in-law was recently promoted to chief of police in the town he serves.

More information about that cyclist killed during a time trial event in CA. Spoiler alert, it was the driver’s fault for making an unsafe pass. Cyclist Hit, Killed By Car During Time Trial Near Esparto The driver moved to pass a cyclist going one way, and ran head on into the cyclist going the opposite direction in the other lane.

Update on the ID kid hit and dragged riding home from school with his Dad. Boise 5-year-old boy injured in minivan-bike crash, slowly recovering after surgeries I’m still waiting to hear about at least a ticket for hitting a little boy riding legally with his father. Buehler?

And I’m with Maus on this one. Let’s find these tricycles stolen from a 65-year old wheelchair user The hand bike at least should have tipped the thieves that this was not a person that should get ripped off…

Another KY cyclist gets hit. Man injured in bicycle accident in Philpot Dogs are a constant problem in the rural South. And almost impossible to avoid.

Back in MI. Longtime physician at Bronson killed while riding bicycle Nothing on what happened, just who it happened to.

Back in Portland, infrastructure news. TriMet adjusts Orange Line crossing plans after community opposition – UPDATED Still planning on using the trailer-trapping gates at one crossing, but that is somewhat of an improvement. They had been planning on all three crossings having the bike traps installed. I still don’t see what the problem is with using the regular train crossing guards that have been in use for decades.

Still in PDX, I’m not certain how to classify this link. Portland company’s “Pot Tour” by bike includes free joint My brain chemistry won’t handle pot, I get a headache and then go to sleep since the wreck (even on the “contact high”).

Two links to a wreck in far West Canuckistan. Kelowna Cyclist Killed After Collision with Car and Cyclist killed in Kelowna car crash Some serious questions here, as they claim the deceased cyclist ran the stop sign, which can’t be proven or disproven after the wreck, but at the same time “don’t know” if the cyclist was wearing a helmet, which is easy to prove or disprove by just looking for the helmet at the scene. And for the sake of this particular wreck I’m going to go by the “car” version of running a stop sign, which is come to a stop then go.

A little infrastructure news from Oz. Cycling lane dividers have little impact on safety: government report

Also from Oz, the true story of how VW was brought down by 4 college researchers. The who, what and why of Volkswagen’s diesel scandal Yep, one of the drawbacks of the diesel engine is the high compression ratio and initial burn temperatures cause much more NOx emissions than spark ignition engines. There are catalysts that break up the NOx back into N₂ and O₂ but they can only do so much, which is where the delicate mixture control of the computer feedback controlled injection came in. It is my understanding that turbocharging is actually beneficial to this process by reducing the CR required to maintain the compression ignition and reducing that contribution to NOx production.

And those were all the links I had today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet