This is such an ugly Monday, and the Feed

The weather today is just ugly, with flat grey skies and chill, humid air. It’s not even the good kind of cold, the dry cold that invites outdoor activity and isn’t really all that bad if you keep covered up. This is the kind of cold that still feels cold no matter how much you put on and even when you are red-faced and sweating from being over-dressed you still feel chilled to the bones. Seriously it’s warm enough to go get the mail in shorts and slippers without danger, but you still feel cold wearing a parka. Ugly cold is what it is.

Up first, an injured kid instigates installation of really, REALLY, crappy infrastructure on the street where he was hit (did I mention this infrastructure was super crappy?) Days after injury to child, a new lane for cyclists on Mesa Not a bike lane, on street parking for cars that bikes will have to weave in and out of or ride in the door zone while getting buzzed and harassed by angry drivers wondering why the cyclists are not in the “bike lane”.

Our big story is 4 cyclists hit from behind in NC. CYCLISTS IN HOSPITAL AFTER BEING HIT BY CAR IN ANGIER and Four bicyclists in hospital after being struck by car in Angier also Cyclist injured in Angier crash questions how accident happened I’m seeing another blind driver nearly killing 4 cyclists because “it all happened so fast”. Fortunately “Highway Patrol officers said charges are pending against Williams and are expected to come down later in the week.” This is also a good example of why AFRAP laws kill cyclists so they do not inconvenience drivers.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Victim’s family calls for compassion as hit-and-run driver gets time served; bike thief faces 27 years The SUV in the distracted driver video had some pretty major front end damage, this was obviously not the first time this driver was driving around with his or her nose buried in a cell phone.

Still in CA we get a Ghost Bike installation. Friends mourn Buena High football player at roadside memorial

PA wreck takes out a pedestrian walking in the bike lane/shoulder (the preview said bike lane, the actual article says shoulder). Police investigate fatal crash involving a pedestrian The car left tracks showing a path off the road onto the shoulder and impacting the pedestrian, meaning that if she was a cyclist using hit from behind protocols she would have had a fraction of a second to make that dive for the cover of the ditch if there was any place to dive to.

Still in PA, a driver is sentenced in the death of a cyclist. Drunk driver gets up to 13 years in cyclist death Up to 13 years, probably closer (much closer) to the minimum 4½. And seriously 0.29% BAC is almost at the point of alcoholic anesthesia, how could she even stay on the road? She had to be an alcoholic to even be conscious at that BAC level.

Another hit-and-run in CO. Bicyclist seriously injured in hit-and-run on U.S. 36 north of Boulder If you see a black sports type car with a missing pasenger side mirror and front end damage call the LEO number in the article, and stay out of range of the driver.

Wreck in east TN. Cyclist struck, killed by car near Seymour From articles I have linked here at this very site, I know that hitting a cyclist from behind is a crime in TN, but I don’t see any mention of an arrest in this case, what gives? Oh yeah “Criminal charges are pending, according to the report.” I just hope they don’t pend too long and the drive gets away because of the statute of limitations.

Something that has bothered me for years. Trailer Side Guards Make Difference Between Life and Death for Cyclists and Pedestrians These things not only prevent vulnerable user deaths and serious injury, they also save more than their costs in fuel savings, why do people resist installing them?

Up in the Great White North a driver is arrested for killing a cyclist, months after the cyclist’s memorial service at the site of the crime. Police charge driver in Claremont Access cyclist’s death and Hamilton motorist charged after local cyclist, teacher killed in December Took them long enough, you know there is such a thing as being too polite.

First UK article, would you jump out of an airplane carrying one of these folding bikes? The British Paratroopers Who Parachuted Into Enemy Territory with Folding Bicycles

Also from the UK they actually arrested a driver that killed a cyclist. Man arrested after cyclist killed in crash with 4×4 near Harbury Yep, killing someone with a motor vehicle is pretty much the definition of “dangerous driving”.

I’m still trying to figure out what the Sky Ride on closed roads has to do with a cyclist getting hit from behind by an idiot at the controls of a car, but that’s the first video on this link. Veteran road race cyclist seriously injured after being hit by car while training Just read the text and ignore the videos and pictures which have zilch to do with the report.

I think I know what it takes to get a serious sentence for killing with a motor vehicle in the UK. Drug dealer jailed for causing Swanley man’s death by dangerous driving First be a convicted criminal, second don’t kill a cyclist, kill someone sympathetic like a pedestrian. The drug dealer got 12 years prison for hitting the pedestrian…

“Wreck not accident”. Air ambulance takes cyclist to hospital after “accidental injury” in Sevenoaks Weald There was no context given for the wreck except “accident”.

Some potentially good infrastructure news from Jolly Olde. Chisholm Trail will give Cambridge’s cycling couriers ‘competitive advantage’ in city

And last link, bike share can make your city great(ish) How Bike-Sharing Can Gain Popularity

And I’m outta links with 9 minutes to spare before midnight.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Another mass shooting in the US, and the Feed

I’m going to open by saying that there was a cyclist involved somehow with the shooting in San Bernadino because I saw the news of the shooting on my Feed first. Beyond that I’m watching CNN for developing news as it happens. I dearly wish that I knew this was something from The Onion and not really involving multiple dead people. This was the link I got first ’20-Victim Shooting’ Reported In California; Shooter At Large I had to quit Twitter early tonight because the timeline has been completely overtaken by this shooting.

The rest of the Feed is a desert because of the shooting, but I did find this in Twitter

Picking up a fresh cut tree by bicycle has become one of our favourite Christmas traditions. #bikeYVR #cargobike pic.twitter.com/da3E3OM1dm

— Chris Bruntlett (@modacitylife) November 30, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Up first because Houston is in the same state as WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. A ride, a death, a city figuring out its cycling future

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Good news for Silver Lake TraJoe’s cyclist, LACBC Open House, and more bighearted people

Still in LA. Eyes On the Street: Cars Parking On Sidewalks I am firmly in the camp that cars parked in bike lanes or on sidewalks should get a road flare through the window.

Also in CA. Policeman Runs Down Two People, Media Focus on Cop’s Good Looks Speaking as someone who was in the business for a couple of years, he takes a good picture. Whether he will still look as good after he gets out of prison…

A MA cyclist gets sideswiped because of a combination of not checking oncoming traffic and not getting seen by the traffic. Cyclist draws warning after collision with car

More on a MI cyclist killed on the roads. Police release name of bicyclist killed in Ann Arbor crash The cyclist had a rear reflector but no headlight and the wreck did not appear to be a hit from behind, I’m assuming a left cross or some other intersection wreck where the weapon vehicle should have yielded but didn’t because the driver didn’t see the cyclist.

Another take on the London die-in protest. Protest highlights road cyclist deaths

Infrastructure from Finland. Helsinki’s bicycle highway and other great innovations to build healthier cities

Infrastructure in Enn Zed as they take advantage of rebuilding after a recent earthquake to install bike/ped infrastructure. Video fly-by of Auckland’s new Nelson St cycleway Unfortunately this is shared bike/ped infrastructure that neglects the differences between bicycles and pedestrians.

A long article about something that could end all cyclist and pedestrian deaths that aren’t suicide. The High-Stakes Race to Rid the World of Human Drivers There are some wrecks that are not suicides that would not be prevented by autonomous cars but they would be a tiny percentage of the 30+K deaths and 4 Million injured every year now with unaided humans.

And when that happens more of us can be saving energy with one of these. Rise of the e-bike

I bought a car today off Amazon 1925 FORD T FRUIT WAGON. I will make the stock C-cab, the Bucket Hot Rod, and before I build the rod use the bucket portion of the kit to make a mold to pull a vacuformed body to make a Mini Sprint-T. One of the reasons I want to go the vacuformed body route is I still haven’t decided on how to mount the body to the completed frame since the frame goes on the outside of the body instead of under like it does on the Speedway kit. Since I lack access to a 3D scanner and I want something to refer to during construction tha easy way to go is build the frame in scale then cut up a vacuformed body and snake it through the frame to see how best to get the body ontoinside the frame without breaking the body.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another Grocery Day combined with a UPS run, and the Feed

I just took over $40 a month off my internet and cable TV bill by sending a bunch of unneeded equipment back to Verizon, and dropping a bunch of channels we never watch. The only channel I didn’t get but really wanted was MAV TV. Well the only channel I didn’t get that was available through FiOS, I still wanted to get Funimation Channel for my anime fix but that was not an option. Anywho while I was going to the UPS store I had the phone out capturing check-ins and prize boxes to get that next gift card, and hit my bag limit before we got back to the grocery store. That puts me even closer to that next gift card.

The blister situation on my foot has gotten both better and worse. The “swollen” part from yesterday turned out to be a second blister underneath the first blister. That first blister started to peel off the bottom of my foot so I cut the dead skin off so that it wouldn’t tear off and pull out some live skin. After doing that the other blister immediately started feeling better. So that’s good-ish.

Up first, we cyclists sometimes have soft spots for critters, especially the ones that get hurt on the roads. Cyclist comes to aid of injured deer All together now: “D’aaawwww!”

Since we are in CA anyway, how about our Daily Ted, part 1. Morning Links: 77-year old victim of bike hit-and-run dies, arrest made in Expo Park road rage murder case

Daily Ted, part 2. Mountain biker dies from trail fall in Riverside County

Still in CA, another link to the SFPD report blaming a cyclist’s fatal wreck on not being in the bike lane that wasn’t there. SFPD Once Again Blames Cyclist For Own Death, City Refuses To Release Video Of Accident

More from CA as people local to the wreck blame the infrastructure for the wreck as much or more as they did the driver and cyclist. Bicyclist killed Tuesday was a Silicon Valley executive Basically the cyclist was hit because the bike lane went from the shoulder to the median across a 50 MPH speed limit pair of lanes on a highway with a lack of signage warning drivers that bicycles were going to be crossing the highway. I think I found the winner for today’s “really crap infrastructure” tag. Seriously, what the Hell were they thinking? More Palo Alto: Bicyclist killed on Page Mill Road and Bike Accident Scene Palo Alto Nov1st

Not In CA, they caught the bus driver that killed a pedestrian in NYC. MTA Bus Driver Arrested In Fatal Hit & Run Has History Of Arrests So besides being partially blind, the dude had very poor judgement.

WI cyclist run over by a semi. Woman killed in bicycle vs. semi crash, police say Hit-from-behind wreck that seems to be at least partially the fault of the cyclist for riding too far to the right, which encouraged the truck driver to not move over to pass. So yeah this was all the truck driver’s fault.

NE rider severely injured by hit-and-run driver gets blamed for the wreck. Suspect Vehicle Located In Hit & Run Which Injured 6 Year-Old Riding Bike “Omaha City Council Member Garry Gernandt said speed bumps weren’t the answer, but rather, parents need to “control their kids.”” While the kid was hit riding in front of his house with parental supervision by a driver who has abandoned his vehicle miles away from the wreck. The local pol is now living on a steady diet of crow.

Meanwhile in OH. Alliance boy on bike injured by hit-and-run driver The comments section was blocked for this link.

More on the WA cyclist hit by a bus. Cyclist injured when hit by transit bus on Bainbridge Island Again, the cyclist was hit from behind by the bus, that pretty much absolves the victim from blame. Drivers must see and avoid whatever is on the road in front of them.

FL cyclists say drivers need to look out the windshield and not drive in the bike lanes. Bicyclist death highlights need for awareness I can see the bike tire mark on the car bumper, why can’t the LEO investigating the wreck? I wish I could see the bike too. The thing that bothers me is the lack of damage to the front end of the car, besides what looks like a tire mark there is almost nothing until the crushed roof and windshield. There’s the tire mark on the driver’s side bumper, a slight scuff mark on the hood directly behind the mark on the bumper, and then the crushed windshield and roof. Very strange.

Another report on the cyclist shot by an insane man in CO. Iraq veteran and father-of-two named as cyclist who was shot dead at random by Colorado gunman despite pleading for his life Another thing we know is the gunman was reported to 911 several times before he started shooting, but LEO could not respond because CO is an “open carry” state. Seriously, there are no words that can convey my emotions about this.

In Canuckistan the driver who hit a cyclist in a hit-and-run wreck comes back to have a shot at the cops investigating the wreck, who them shoot back. Calgary police shoot man after ‘shocking, wanton’ post-hit-and-run attack, narrow miss for officer “While emergency service personnel attended to the seriously injured cyclist, the subject vehicle reappeared on Dermot Baldwin Way and drove directly at the officers,” said police Chief Roger Chaffin late Tuesday night. The driver was reported to have deliberately targeted the cyclist with the stolen vehicle. I blame Rupert Murdoch for the attempted murder wreck and subsequent attack. 😉

More on the pinball wreck of a cyclist in the Great White North. Cyclist dies after being struck by two vehicles on Highway 27 in Etobicoke The impact damage on the weapon vehicles, especially the first one, just looks wrong for the narrative.

More on the cyclist hit by a truck in the GWN Police looking for five drivers after cyclist killed in Brampton I still say he fell off his bike after getting buzzed by the truck that ran him over.

A Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, wreck in Jolly Olde. Two people are injured after a BMW chased by an unmarked police car ploughs into a bus stop, lamppost, car and cyclist No kitchen sink?

A coronial inquest has found that Irish truck drivers are blind and need all the help they can get to see a cyclist. Truck driver unaware he had run over cyclist, inquest told Coronial inquests are not intended to find guilt, but rather to find out how to prevent future deaths from the same cause. So apparently this one decided that two headlights and two tail lights mounted at two different heights on the back of the bike were not enough and the cyclist needed to do more instead of the truck driver watching where he was going.

Last link is an echo of the way I felt when I took the wrecks out for a while last year. Rick Vosper: Haunted by the Ghosts of Dead Cyclists

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

It’s raining here, and the Feed

And by raining I don’t just mean a few drops or a light mist. I’m talking the kind of rain that comes down hard enough that we can feel the foundation move under the house. BTW the front door latches now without using the deadbolt. I’m talking streets flooded with runoff up over the curbs and us living more or less on the top of a minor rise in elevation. Typical Texas T-storm rains but of hours duration instead of the few minutes a typical Texas T-storm lasts. Weather.com says this is the leading edges of Patricia which made landfall in Mexico today. That’s a BIG storm, it’s making landfall on the west coast of central Mexico, and we are getting deluged almost a thousand miles away. It could be worse, Corpus and San Antone are getting much more rain than we are.

Up first because Holy Crap, She’s Not Dead! Bicyclist Killed At Busy Lincoln Park Intersection Thursday and Police now say woman on bike was not killed when hit by truck in Lincoln Park Let’s just say as one formerly-dead person to another “You go, girl!”

Meanwhile in OK. Guy Citi Biking Across America Punched In The Face Outside Tulsa The puncher then went on to attack the house of an ex with an axe, a baseball bat, and a small handgun… I don’t ride in OK any more.

This seems like an appropriate place to put this link. Guy On A Bike: Attacks On Cyclists & Staying Safe Learning how to be knocked off your bike and not get hurt? They have classes for that now?

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Amgen ToC route announced, Stephany trial goes to jury, and the state of cycling in Santa Ana

Still in CA, the video that went with this article was very hard to watch. Cyclist hit by AC Transit bus awarded $2.5 million settlement There was a bus stopped to the left of a bike lane when the other bus made a left through said bike lane as a bike came out from behind the bus that was stopped. The suit was basically won when it was decided the moving bus was going too fast, but I never saw any reason for the stopped bus to be stopped at a green light which definitely contributed to the wreck as it obscured the views of both of the vehicles in the wreck.

Still in the same city in CA. Bicycle Rider Killed By San Francisco MUNI Bus On Market Street: Why Do Buses Pass Bicyclists Who Are Riding Next To the MUNI Rails?

Still in CA more about a cyclist run over with a truck while he was riding to school. Community mourns young surfer killed while riding bike and 12-year-old boy killed riding bicycle in Oceanside A great deal of the injuries the victim sustained could have been prevented by the driver stopping when he heard the impact and not driving off.

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle has injured another cyclist. Cyclist injured in Palm Coast crash and Flagler woman critically injured when she was struck while riding a bicycle This one looks like a case of poor situational awareness on the part of the cyclist, fortunately she will survive her mistake.

A CT cyclist is killed. Bicyclist Dies After Hitting Truck in Torrington This has elements of the SWCC/SWSS, since the cyclist “came off the sidewalk” to get hit. I don’t know how much of this wreck was the fault of the driver, and how much was the fault of the cyclist if any.

A NJ hit-and-run fatality. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run crash in Rockaway, mayor says The wrecked bike looks like it was hit sideways on the front and the witnesses said the weapon vehicle was a dump truck, so maybe the driver did not even know he had hit anything, much less killed anyone. Not that lack of knowledge excuses anything.

A little infrastructure news out of KY. NKY Bike Trail To Spur Economic Development

Up in far West Canuckistan an insurance company blames a cyclist for getting hit head on by a driver who crossed the centerline?!? ICBC named as third party in civil suit over Whistler cyclist’s death They claim the cyclist could have avoided the wreck somehow. Sure, if the cyclist was prescient or had super-powers, maybe. But in the real world when the driver also hit and killed the people riding in the chase vehicle behind the cyclist…

The UK driver who was warned the day before to stop driving still tries to pin the wreck on the cyclist he hit from behind in a fake “apology”. Hexham motorist accused of dangerous driving over cyclist death apologises in court Trying the “He swerved in front of me!” lie(n).

This wreck is why bike lanes need to be separated from highways. Locking child cyclist death result of traffic collision She fell from the bike lane into a lane of 60 MPH traffic. Such a thing should not be allowed to exist.

UK infrastructure that I hope is better than what killed that kid in the last link. Council reveals draft plan to get Dundee people on their bikes

From Oz, it didn’t take long to find the driver that nearly killed a cop on a charity bike ride. Charity bike ride hit-run charges Yep, you do NOT want to mess with a cop even a cop riding a bike. Regardless I hope they throw the entire law library at this low-life.

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Still feeling the high a little bit, and the Feed

I’m still feeling the high a little bit from the SCOTUS decisions last week on gay marriage and the ACA, and every time I log onto Facebook to see if there are any links not in the Feed it’s like I took another toke on the bong. I’m going on distant memory here because I found out that my particular brain chemistry and wiring is not compatible with pot back in 1977, but this is kinda what that felt like back then. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the “Gay Marriage Challenge” page as it has been rendered moot by the SCOTUS last week. I mean the prize has been removed so why still play the game?

On the other decision, the ACA subsidy decision, I can’t tell you how relieved I am that one went the way it did. I mean the policy I have now is about as close to single payer health care as you can get in this country when you factor in the subsidy, but without the subsidy the premium is about 25% more than the combined household income here at Casa de El Poeta, and the OOP limit just about broke the bank here, just for my condition. We still have Mrs. the Poet to get repaired…

And I’m running late again today as I had to finish food shopping when transportation was made available when my son came over to do laundry. It’s cheaper for him to drive over to Casa de El Poeta and use our machine than it is to feed quarters into the machines in the laundry room at his apartment, and he takes us grocery shopping when he does his laundry.

Up first because, why not? is our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Statewide hit-and-run alert bill in trouble; Gil Cedillo shares the outrage at tragedy he helped cause

A road hazard that thankfully is confined to the Deep South. Cyclists Injured in Crash After Slipping on Gator Carcass on Road in Weston this, too Alligator remains cause six cyclist pile up, leaves man fighting for life in Florida I think the Road.cc article is conflating the wreck that killed the gator and sent a motorcyclist sliding down the road with the later wreck that just injured a few cyclists with nothing really more serious than a broken collarbone.

An injured cyclist leads to calls for improved infrastructure in south TX. Bicycle community rallies behind injured cyclist, push stricter laws Go Team Don’t Kill Us

And just a light ride west from WoaB the city of Ft. Worth tries to make their citizens live longer, happier lives. City of Fort Worth Hopes to Get People Walking Till They’re 100 Walking in TX heat is not hard, but it gets much worse when you have to share the road with cars or walk in the mud/dirt off the side of the road with cars driving right next to you. In that there is not much difference between walking and riding a bike in TX.

NYC has a car problem, still. NYPD: Help Us Find This SUV Driver Who Hit A 7-Yr-Old Yep, serious car troubles you got there. Might want to do something about that. This does not exactly count as “something” in that nothing was done, but as they were trying to eviscerate a law to protect people with right of way, nothing is better than doing something bad. Advocates, Mayor de Blasio Fend Off TWU Attack on Traffic Safety Laws I urge a compromise, instead of arresting and jailing the driver that hits someone with right of way in a crosswalk or bike lane just on the spot cancel their driver’s license. Put a punch through the expiration date so it can still be used as an ID but if you can’t control your vehicle so that you can prevent hitting someone minding their own business, then you can’t drive, both in the legal and physical senses.

If it didn’t require the cyclist to have died first this would be good news from MO. Felony charge filed in year-old case of Ozark teen killed on bicycle The victim was in his last year of the IB program, a HS curriculum that would be valid in almost any country in the world. That takes smarts and commitment, and the bozo with an SUV took that away from not just his parents but from everybody. Kids like that change the world, and now he won’t have the chance to try.

This sounds like a rough event. St. Charles cyclist dies after collapsing during Bike MS event

This looks like another infrastructure-related wreck. Update: Cyclist critical after crash with dump truck The route was the least-stressful way of getting across the Interstate but requires drivers to slow down and pay attention. Obviously that is too great a price to ask from motor vehicle operators. Another contributing factor was the nature of the business the weapon vehicle was involved in. Local drivers like this dump truck driver are paid by the run rather than by time or mileage, encouraging drivers to keep their speed as high as possible to get as many runs per day as possible so as to pay off the fixed costs and maybe make a little money on the day. One thing I’m extremely glad about for this particular article and comments, nobody expected a styrofoam hat to make any difference in surviving a dump truck running over you.

A letter from just outside NYC in one of the most car-sick communities in the country. Guest Spot: Cyclists, motorists must learn to coexist

“You’ll get my car keys when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.” In Seattle Region, Half of Drivers Say They Won’t Give Up Solo Commute Pity because we may not have the time to wait for natural causes to take effect. Even ignoring Climate Change, the pollution from I.C.E will drastically shorten the lives of millions, while tens of thousands die from wrecks every year, and thousands more in wars to secure the oil supply (two that are currently going on as I type this). Electric vehicles will help, renewable fuels will help, but we really need to get away from the automobile lifestyle. And I am aware of the irony in that statement as I build the Sprint-T. I like cars, I just don’t like what cars have done to the world.

Some cyclists in GA want better enforcement when drivers kill. Remember and Ride On: Cycling community airs worries Another “If you want to commit murder…” quote.

Things are starting to get a tiny bit better in Jolly Olde though. Man charged with murder after cyclist death appears in court He’s still in jail pending another hearing. And this is a case where I definitely want to know why this man was charged as he was. Most of the time you can’t get a littering charge when a driver leaves a dead body on the side of the road…

More protests in London. Bank junction blocked again by hundreds of cyclists in ‘amazing’ tribute to tragic newlywed, 26 The comments section was priceless this time.

The “tomorrow” mentioned in the headline and article was today, I’m afraid. Tomorrow: Second Bank die-in to protest death of 26 year old cyclist killed while commuting

The medical system in Jolly Olde is trying to outrun the murderous drivers and are just about doing it. West Midlands roads averaging more than one cyclist injury a day This is why the UK changed to KSI rather than a straight fatality tally to monitor road safety.

Cycling in the UK is safe as compared to skydiving without a parachute… The truth about cycling safety

Maybe drivers will see lights projected against your back? Azeri Designer Makes Cycling Safer Probably not…

Need a project, or panniers? Coroplast™ Pannier Build.

And the last link is Faabuuuloouuuussss! Cities Paint Rainbow Crosswalks in a Show of Gay Pride No seriously, have I mentioned how happy I am that some of my best friends can get married now and be just as unhappy as straight people? 😛

And that’s it, I’m done. Stick a fork in me.

Opus the Poet

I just got a news item that really bothered me, and the Feed

I read several on-line newspapers as part of looking for bike articles to post here, and in one there was a report of a 21 YO white dude shooting up a black church in Charleston SC while berating the victims for raping white women and other such nonsense. This is much worse than what we get as cyclists. At least as a cyclist you know that once you get off the road and put the bike away you are no longer in any more danger than anyone else of your demographic age, but being a Person of Color is not something that you can put away and be done with at the end of the day. My heart goes out to all the people of Charleston who were affected by this tragedy.

Up first because it’s in TX, Houston cyclists are getting killed faster than they can put up Ghost Bikes to mark their passing. THREE HOUSTON AREA CYCLISTS KILLED IN THREE WEEKS Seriously, all those cyclists getting hit and nobody is even getting a ticket for failure to pass 3 feet or more away? TANJ!

Another double dose of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike rider shot to death in LA’s Mid City; LADOT GM Seleta Reynold is new interim VP of NACTO Another senseless shooting death.

Part 2 is a guest post. Guest Post: Testing to Destruction I don’t like this post, it places too much blame on the victim for being there to get hit.

Some good news from NYC. Report: City Will Partially Ban Cars From Central, Prospect Parks and New Maps Reveal Expanded Car Ban In Prospect And Central Parks

A VT wreck is suspected to have been caused by a drunk driver. Police: Suspected DUI in crash that killed cyclist Really a 0.123% BAC and DUI is “suspected”? Oh, the perp is a cop’s wife…

This kind of wreck is very rare, but unfortunately it does happen. UPDATE: Cyclist dies from bicycle crash The juvenile mis-judged the clearance when he(?) made his turn. This might have been a case where a helmet would have helped.

This was a wreck where the helmet made absolutely no difference, in spite of what the LEO posited. Brooks cyclist escaped serious injury thanks to helmet When a big truck hits a cyclist they either have a head injury, or they don’t. Presence or absence of a helmet is not going to make any difference one way or they other. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.

Trigger warning: the video in this clip shows a cyclist being assaulted from a moving vehicle with intent to cause harm. Disturbing footage captures laughing yobs shoving cyclist off bike from moving car The people inside the car thought it was hilarious as the cyclist face-planted in the grassy verge. I did that a few years back and even wearing a full-face BMX helmet it wasn’t fun. I got momentarily stunned but the helmet prevented skin to ground contact. This guy didn’t even have that level of protection. There is a special circle in Hades for animals like this.

One reason the aforementioned animals might have done their assault is articles like this. Dorrington cyclist fatal hit-and-run: Suspended sentence for lorry driver Cyclist wearing HiViz and equipped with flashing lights still gets hit and killed, and the driver gets 200 hours of community service and a 2 year ban on getting caught driving.

Still in Jolly Olde is this report on a wounded veterans support ride. North East cyclists support wounded soldiers on gruelling bike ride

Ozzie cyclists strike back at crap infrastructure. Bike activists take guerilla action by painting ‘unsafe cycle lane’ on Sydney roads A cyclist was killed a couple of months ago riding in just such a lane as he was thrown in front of a truck after bouncing off a door opened in his path without warning.

If building your own is too much trouble, or you lack the skills, then Pedego has your assisted cargo carrier needs in mind. Pedego Introduces a Superhero Bike — the Stretch Cargo! I wonder if it uses the industry-standard Xtra-bike seats and cargo bags?

In other e-assist news scientists are studying how battery materials act under overcharging conditions to design next-generation batteries with higher capacities. X-Ray Imaging Reveals Secrets in Battery Materials

And on a sad closing note, WoaB lost one of the founding employees today when Brian the Security Cat died on the job. Brian has been “working” for WoaB since before we started writing a blog. He had lost a lot of weight in the last few months and we were getting worried about his health, then his breathing got raspy this morning and he couldn’t find a comfortable place to rest anywhere in the house. He went to take his afternoon nap under the bed and never woke back up.

Brian 2000-2015, RIP

Whee! full moon service tonight, and the Feed

The local Sumerians are hosting the full moon service at SJF tonight. This is a mutually beneficial relationship, as they have a requirement that to graduate from one level to another the applicant must perform X number of public rituals and our ritualists had become completely burned out between two services a week and 8 solar celebrations and then 13 lunar services a year, plus most of us having full-time jobs on top of that (that comes to 125 services of one type or another per year, or about twice to 2½ times as many as your average Christian church pastor. Plus there’s the fact that Sumerian services are really fun and engaging. It’s a win-win for everybody, especially the people that come to services.

Up first tonight an iconic bridge converted to a bike/ped river crossing may stop a toll road that nobody knows how to pay for and has no real need to be constructed in the big city next to the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. An effort to make Continental Ave. Bridge a Dallas landmark — and kill the Trinity toll road? I’m including this because this is the only bike-ped crossing for miles, and because if the toll road gets built it has the probability to suck the air out of bike projects that have been in the planning stages since before I got to Texas 26 years ago. I mean one mile of this boondoggle would pay for that bike project, and this is a 10+ mile highway from nowhere to nowhere. Unlike the similar Hunt bridge recently completed, it won’t even make for backdrops to pretty pictures.

Is that a big rig or a ticking time bomb next lane over? Yes! Big Rigs Often Go Faster Than Tires Can Handle That big rig could have just spent several hours at or above the safe speed for its tires and they could be ready to explode at any second. I admit it is unlikely here in urban areas of TX because the speed limits are lower, but one that just pulled off of one of the 85 MPH speed limit highways to the south and west of the Metromess could be ready to blow.

Police are still not sure if this cyclist was shot on purpose or hit by a stray bullet. Police identify Albany teen shot and killed on bicycle Don’t know why he was out riding at 0200, but the reasons are moot, he had a right to be riding just like he would have had a right to be out in a car.

Again, not something one can really plan for. Lawnmower rider injured in accident on bike trail, winds up in water Good thing that cyclists have much better visibility to the sides than people in cars, right? Because that is what eventually saved the maintenance worker, being seen.

The good news for this blog is that no cyclists died in the month of February in NYC. NYPD: Drivers Injured 816 Pedestrians and Cyclists in February, and Killed 11 That is of small comfort to the 11 pedestrians that died and the 816 cyclists and pedestrians injured that month. One thing I find interesting was there were only 137 wrecks where either the driver or the victim was drunk, but 2604 where the driver was not watching where the vehicle was going, and that does not include the 646 drivers going backwards illegally.

Infrastructure news from the coffee-drinking capital of America. Will an Overturned Fish Truck Hurt Seattle’s New Transportation Tax? If one wreck can shut down your transportation system for 4½ hours, you have the wrong transportation system and need to make changes ASAP. Like maybe putting in some bike paths so people don’t have to drive everywhere?

Speaking of infrastructure, what drugs were these guys taking when they designed this fustercluck? Cyclists say city has much work to do to improve safety I see the problem as they don’t run the proposals past real cyclists until the projects are near completion, when they expect the cyclists to “Oooh and aww” over the shiny new project while they brag about how much money has been spent for you ungrateful cyclists. And either the shiny new project won’t get used because it is inconvenient and visibly a death trap, or it gets used because it can’t be bypassed and cyclists get maimed or killed. Both things seem to be happening to these projects.

That door prize in Oz has consequences, good ones finally. Sydney Rd bike safety works fast-tracked The single most important thing they are doing in this project is removing on-street parking. There just is not enough room for parked cars, moving cars, a tram system, and bikes all in that one street. The least useful thing has to give, and that was storage for private motor vehicles not being used at the time.

The young man involved in this case was a kid when this wreck happened, and kinda needs this money yesterday (many years ago). Court Orders New Trial or Reduced Verdict for Injured Cyclist I would love to see a new trial and the damages increased by 50% or so instead of the 70% reduction ordered by this court. He just needs care for the rest of his life and is in constant pain… and this case pre-dates my starting this blog on the original site by more than 2 years.

The legal case over a cyclist killed about the time I started doing this blog here on WP is finally settled. Racecourse legal wrangle over cyclist’s death finally ends

Ghost bikes. I will keep building ghost bikes as long as cyclists’ lives are taken Little point of information, Ghost Bikes were first made in St. Louis MO.

Could your doctor help pay for your next bike? A Polaris® eBike May Qualify as a Medical Therapy Device in Medical Deductions for 2014 Federal Income Tax Check with your tax professional to be sure.

And I’m all out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

OK the ice and snow is gone, and the Feed

By this evening the last of the ice and snow that has been dominating the weather in these parts finally went away. Good riddance! Finally we have temperatures our heating system was designed to cope with and Mrs. the Poet has divested herself of her coat and 2 of the 4 shirts she was wearing. Yep, she’s down to 2 shirts and 2 pairs of underwear and heavy wool socks, instead of the “everything in the drawers and closet” costume she was wearing yesterday and Saturday. I still keep getting awakened at night with her trying to keep getting closer even after she gets into full body contact under the covers. I mean at this point the only way she could get any closer would be to skin me and wear me as a coat, which is kinda hard to do in your sleep and messy besides. Outside of the house the roads are no longer coated in ice, just slightly damp, and the number of injury wrecks has declined to only slightly above “normal” for a weekday. Have I mentioned that TX drivers lose their minds when the roads are anything less than perfectly dry and smooth? You would think that given how low the state’s road maintenance budget is compared to how many miles of road we have people would be used to crappy roads by now.

Up first is the massive amount of links to various aspects of an Italian cyclist “winning” the “door prize” in Australia. Brunswick cyclist death: ‘Car-dooring’ fatality prompts calls for motorists to pay more attention and Chilling footage of cyclist’s road death sparks passionate debate I wonder if anyone was paying attention to the bike lane symbol peeking out from under the weapon vehicle at the bottom of the image? Alleged dooring death: cyclist launch Sydney Road parking ban petition and another one Sydney Road bicycle death: Labor minister Jane Garrett sets emergency meeting as Greens MP Greg Barber renews call for TAC-style dooring campaign not done yet Italian cyclist Alberto Paulon killed on Sydney Road, Brunswick, remembered by work colleagues and memorial ride still MORE! Brunswick cyclist’s car-dooring death a ‘wicked waste’ and easily avoidable, safety campaigner says are we done yet? Tougher dooring penalties call rejected after death of Italian cyclist Alberto Paulon As I interjected between links I noticed what appeared to be a buffered bike lane underneath the line of parked cars the cyclist was next to when he was doored and thrown into the path of the truck that killed him. What is going on that there was nothing mentioned about this in any of the hundreds of comments I read about this wreck?

Also generating a ton of links is ongoing reporting on the lawsuit filed against the driver of a car that was used to kill a cyclist and the owner of that car. Suit filed in death of cyclist hit by alleged drunk driver also Suit filed in death of cyclist hit by alleged drunk driver and Cyclist’s Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Alleged Driver As I have written earlier, they should also file suit against whoever is in charge of this piece of infrastructure for the third identical death in 5 years in nearly the same location, a drunk driver drifting into the bike lane and hitting two cyclists from behind at high speed. One such death is a tragic accident, two is a coincidence, three is a design defect. We are now in design defect territory.

I find this conviction unusual especially given the state it was obtained in. Judge to sentence man for death of Casper cyclist Seriously 16 years in prison for killing a cyclist in Wyoming? The state that recently decided they didn’t need to know how and how many cyclists were getting killed and injured on their streets and highways?

Another one of those links about a dead cyclist that I don’t have a good label for. BICYCLIST STRUCK, KILLED BY CAR IN FRESNO COUNTY LAID TO REST

And while we are talking about CA here’s Our Daily Ted. A giant falls — Alex Baum, the father of modern LA bicycling, dies at age 92 WoaB sends its condolences to the LA bicycle community.

And some people in CA are just bastards. Robin MIller: Grow up and put your helmet on Seriously, I wear a helmet every time I ride my bike (and the recent medical problem I have been having that has been keeping me from wearing my helmet is also keeping me off the bike), but I know my helmet is mostly to protect my heirs in the lawsuit they will file against the driver that kills me to show I did everything in my power to not get killed.

And in NYC a killer driver refuses to admit fault or even that he committed hit-and-run when he killed a cyclist. No Apology From Trucker 3 Years After Killing Williamsburg Cyclist The sad thing is even if they pull his license and he kills someone else, unless he is drunk or leaves the scene again the most he will get is a ticket for driving while revoked.

OK this is mostly a bike story because they stabbed this guy so they could steal his bike. Islington stabbing: Alan Cartwright, 15, killed while riding bike with friends and Islington cyclist stab murder inquiry begins

A little UK “infrastructure”. I use quotes because there is little to none for bicycles in this article. Cycling campaigner brands Westminster Council’s attitude to road safety as ‘neanderthal’

News of a driver actually facing charges for killing a cyclist in Enn Zed. Driver charged over fatal cyclist crash Another turning truck running a cyclist over from behind…

Seriously, what is wrong with some people? Cycle-route booby traps: a growing danger for Spain’s mountain bikers Barbed wire and heavy fishing like at face or neck height? Rocks big enough to require 3 people to cooperate in carrying and placing them? This is acts of terrorism, pure and simple. And that steel plate with spikes welded into it? Someone was trying to kill somebody.

And here is some real “Lifestyle” of the cycling kind. 2015 Twelve Hours of Santos: Riding to Help an Injured Racer

And thank [$DEITY] I have finally reached the end of today’s links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Ramen on Bean Day, and the Feed

I have someplace to go this evening (as I’m writing this) and I will probably have to finish the post after I get back from my gig. I’m going to do data entry for a political phone bank this evening, since I’m crap as an operator since the wreck. I have zero improv skills since the wreck and I knew my public speaking skills were gone the first spoken word gig I had after the wreck. I was speaking like I had never been on stage in my life and had never had any training in how to use my voice. I had some slight improvement for a few years then things have been steadily deteriorating ever since. So I take my laptop and transcribe phone sheets into a database. This saves the callers considerable time and also allows people without laptops to call as quickly as they are able.

The ramen bit is I needed something that could be whipped up in a few minutes for Mrs. the Poet before I left and also be done when I needed to go, so I’m using ramen in the traditional Japanese way rather than the American way of “noodles in pot and 3 minutes later in stomach”. I’m adding leftover veggies and a couple of whipped eggs to the noodles to make the pack of ramen into a meal for two. It’s quick, it’s easy and it uses up leftovers. That makes it perfect for tonight.

It looks like a hit-and-run in South Texas is today’s leadoff story. Driver kills cyclist then flees the scene in Harlingen Scene pictures show this as a hit-from-behind on the right side of the bike lane (making assumptions from what appears to be a puddle of blood next to the curb) which means the driver of the weapon vehicle left his lane and went almost to the curb to hit a brightly lighted cyclist. This means the cyclist was riding extra legal as in as legal as possible and also means that protocols are moot for this case, the driver would have just killed the cyclist further from the road had he bailed any further to the side than he already was. Dutch infrastructure standards would be to put the person that approved this design in jail because of the inevitability of exactly this occurrence. This was a highway with speed limits much too high for a simple bike lane to be safe. Without a barrier this wreck was inevitable, the infrastructure here is simple appeasement. Ask Neville Chamberlain how well appeasement works. Dutch quality infrastructure to prevent.

A little to the north of that a cyclist discovers that when you’re carrying drugs you need to not ride salmon. SAPD: Several drugs found on cyclist riding on Broadway St. Or at least just obey LEO when instructed to ride with traffic instead of dropping the bike and running away on foot.

Sometimes it seems like everything is out to get us, even the trees. Cyclist struck by falling tree, critically injured in Winnetka and this later link Chicago actress Molly Glynn dies after being struck by falling tree The duo was riding in the forest when a strong pop-up T-storm broke nearby and the outflow from the storm on the ground toppled trees. This is in the Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Interrogative category or an act of [$DEITY] depending on your religious self-identification.

Still in the Chicagoland area we get a SWCC fatality. Bicyclist killed at Bridgeport intersection Note the narrative, the cyclist was unconscious a the scene and died after being transported and the driver of the weapon vehicle was operating without a license, but they still believed him when he claimed the cyclist was the one running a red light. Get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” and the driver of the weapon vehicle may have found cycling so convenient that he would not have been driving, saving two lives.

A bike-on-bike wreck in MA. Somerville Bicyclist Killed In Medford Collision With Motorcycle As of this posting with neither participant able to talk to LEO and very little evidence was left at the scene so I have no idea what to do with the built environment to avoid this wreck but since 90% of the wrecks I cover would be eliminated by Dutch quality infrastructure I’m going to go with that to prevent.

I’m not sure if this wreck was in MA or VT, but a kid paying more attention to his cell phone than where his Weapon of mass destruction was going managed to hit a cyclist from behind riding 3 feet away from the actual road. Cycling: Recent incidents a reminder of perils of riding Also a MTB cyclist pranged it a good one the same week. This is another one of “those wrecks” that human cyclists can’t evade because they are already at the limits of their escape route, and only a barrier or massive amounts of distance will prevent a similar wreck, or developing technology that causes a car to come to a complete stop if a cell phone is used in the car. Something that makes the phone catch fire if the car is in motion and the phone is in use? That might be a little safer than stopping the car while trying to call police because someone is trying to carjack you, then you can throw the flaming phone at the carjacker.

“Final” word on a CA wreck. No charges filed from Irvine cyclist killed in Newport Beach If the narrative is correct this wreck appears to be a cyclist that left-crossed himself, which is tragic but not the fault of the driver.

A SWSS wreck in CA results in a deceased cyclist. COLLISION KILLS 60-YEAR-OLD CYCLIST IN CHULA VISTA Hit from behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and infrastructure will prevent a similar wreck by removing the ability of the motor vehicle to get within striking distance of any cyclists.

Another CA wreck as reported by Ted Rogers. 61-year old bike rider killed in Huntington Beach; second cycling death in the city in just five days The wreck is known to have been in an intersection, and that’s about all they know as of this posting.

The initial criminal charges for a hit-from-behind wreck in ND. Man who struck deaf, blind Norwegian cyclist cited There were two people on that bike, the blind cyclist was just the stoker. And I’m thinking he wasn’t the only blind man on the road that day, knowhutimean?

LEO are hunting the weapon vehicle in this hit-and-run in AK. Troopers looking for driver in hit-run collision; 1 cyclist seriously injured The narrative reads that the weapon vehicle went off the road to hit 2 cyclists riding on the shoulder. This speaks of pre-meditation to me, or just general Dumbassery. Neither scenario leaves cyclists with much if any options to avoid the wreck considering they were already off the road on the shoulder so that leaves Dutch quality segregated infrastructure and presumed liability legal infrastructure to protect cyclists from drivers like this.

Tragedy in the Great White North as a rider on a charity ride gets hit. Ride the Rideau cyclist hit, killed by truck and Mother of two killed in Ride the Rideau cycling event Nothing about the mode, just the cyclist was hit by/with a dump or garbage truck while on the course raising money to fight cancer. I assume they do charity rides in the Netherlands, too, so get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Cyclists in Scotland are in danger. Cyclist dies after Aberdeen crash and North Anderson Drive closed northbound after cyclist seriously injured in smash What I could see in the pictures was a hit-from-behind wreck, which means the pictures will probably be taken down shortly to comply with UK media laws. So, protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another low-information wreck from Oz. Crash cyclist seriously injured The scant description of the wreck as a “two car crash” makes me think that this might not have been a wreck that a human cyclist could avoid.

Infrastructure! argument from about 80 miles east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Readers take sides on bicycles on public roadways

Infrastructure argument in far West Canuckistan. Cyclists, pedestrians collide on Vancouver’s mean streets You know when infrastructure is properly designed for everybody there are no “mean streets”. Just sayin’, yannow?

Lifestyle in Seattle. Maj. Margaret Witt reflects on fallen cyclist’s legal legacy and Hundreds gather in Seattle to honor cyclist killed by truck No, no, no. The cyclist was killed by a dumbass politician, the truck was just the murder weapon. Remember, this project would have been completed a year ago if some dumbass hadn’t delayed it to score political points. That person should be in jail now.

Lifestyle in NV. Cyclists memorialize rider with ‘3 Feet for Pete’ ride

Lifestyle in NC. Friend talks about Greensboro man killed while riding bicycle

And what does the future hold for the lowly bicycle? FUTURE BIKE: TECHNOLOGY

And those were all the links that didn’t make me want to kill someone with my bare hands gave me fits or giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet