Sleep deprivation is a &(%$&, and the Feed

I signed off last night about 0500 after finishing the writing part shortly after 0430. Yes it takes me about 25-30 minutes to proof spelling and links and tag after I finish the creative part. And then it usually takes a minimum of an hour to shut the brain down so I can sleep, usually closer to two hours. I was wakened slightly after noon by a loud vehicle (I’m assuming it was a garbage truck) and Mrs. the Poet yelling at “bad cats” and quit fighting to get back to sleep about 1400 and checked the mail. I’m still bleary-eyed as I type this at 1700.

And I’m watching the Sprint Cup practice when this commercial for Marathon gas comes on with the jingle about a “full tank of Freedom”. “Freedumb” indeed. 😛

Speaking of Sprint Cup, some of the drivers are some of us. NASCAR drivers pedal from St. Augustine for bike safety Four hour ride, so about 100km away from the track. I’m betting that lap around the track lasted a lot longer than the 45-47 seconds it took during final practice today…

Ted was a bit busy today with all the news coming at him. Morning Links: Temple City shoots down safe streets on Las Tunas; ridiculous and sublime new bike offerings

Part 2 of Daily Ted. Formerly homeless man dies five weeks after Yorba Linda collision

And an incredible Part 3. Fontana bike rider killed in early morning collision; no details available Poor Ted, this is what happens when you have lots of subscriptions to local media sites, you get to report the bad news quicker.

Still in CA. BART Struggles to Balance Current Needs with Vision for Future BART gets people off the streets in S.F. making a huge impact on bike and pedestrian safety. So this might not seem to be a bike link, but it’s totally a bike link.

Up in America’s Copenhagen, DIY DOT to the rescue! Bike lane in danger? Cone power to the rescue! Riders replace the cones when they get knocked over, unlike plastic bollards that require equipment and chemicals most cyclists don’t carry on their bikes.

Also from Portland, someone said something Really Stoopid. GOP candidate promises to end gridlock forever by adding a lane to each freeway There are no words for how Stoopid this is. This guy has literally never heard of Induced Demand until this article posted and someone emailed him a link on the subject.

And crap infrastructure is never so bad that it can’t be made worse, even in Portland. City proposes shifting future downtown bikeway from Alder to Taylor/Salmon Changing a direct, mostly flat route to one that adds about a mile to the total trip and completely routes the cyclist away from retail and other commercial destinations.

FloriDUH! strikes again. Bicyclist injured in Charlotte hit-and-run crash I’m sorry, but what do you call it when a driver swerves into an occupied bike lane, hits a cyclist, and then leaves the scene without stopping? Aside from attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon that is.

Continuing on the “Stoopid driver” theme for the moment. NYPD: Cyclist fatally struck by car, driver arrested Driver impaired by drugs, not mentioned if they were medication or recreational drugs. But still “Stoopid” either way. More Allegedly Stoned Driver Charged With Manslaughter After Fatally Striking Staten Island Cyclist The later link says the driver was on pot at the time of the wreck.

And infrastructure news from NYC that will flat-out floor you. It did me. Astoria Will Get Three Protected Bike Lanes Despite Local Drivers’ Objections Yep, bike lanes in spite of driver’s complaints, because too many people were getting killed or injured. and to the idiot that said “at some point traffic calming becomes traffic impeding.” boo, hoo, hoo. You were extremely lucky your death machines were not banned outright, because that was on the table.

Good infrastructure news from IA. Bicycle safe passing bill clears Iowa Senate committee This is the most radical concept in bicycle safety that I have seen in a long time. “Change lanes to pass”, like you would a car or tractor or combine. Radical, I tell you.

A mandatory helmet bill in VA is killed in committee. Why bicycling advocates are happy legislators killed a helmet bill Combined with the studies that show that mandatory helmets don’t actually decrease the rate of head injury, just move it to a different part of the head that isn’t covered by the helmet or by impacts that exceed the survival envelope of the helmet.

Crap infrastructure in VT. A VICIOUS CIRCLE? STATE WANTS SAFER ROTARY IN BRATTLEBORO Note the comment that all the problems are caused by bicycles. SMH.

From Jolly Olde, really they are calling this a hit-and-run and not assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder? Cyclist left seriously injured after hit-and-run following row with driver Motor vehicles are the only weapon that an obvious assault would be called an “accident”

And this cyclist has a case for police negligence as they refused to take a report for his wreck that smashed his bike. Cyclist feels he’s had a rough ride despite lucky escape in road smash The bike was rendered unridable, that makes this a reportable wreck under UK laws. Both vehicles were not able to leave the scene under their own power, that raises the wreck to reportable status.

And I am finishing up too late for Gigi to even read it before she loses her internet at 0300 my time. I mean it’s almost 0300 right now and I haven’t even proofed, much less tagged.

Grocery Day, and the Feed

I will be stopping the filter and post process to go shopping for comestibles today. I’m mostly recovered from yesterday’s travels and travails, except my neck is hurting more than usual and my arm still feels like a pincushion from trying to find a vein. There is also still a bruise where they nicked a vein but didn’t get a good stick. That spot is more uncomfortable than the other places they stuck needles in my arm. I still have not heard back from the doctor about what they found, if that is a good or a bad thing I don’t know.

Up first we have lots of Ted Rogers after the break yesterday. Morning Links: Upcoming bike events, new sustainability webisode, and a driver beats a bike rider with a bat Yeah, why use a bat when you already have a weapon that you can use with impunity, your car?

Today’s first Ted post. Morning Links: Turns out running a red light is no big deal, and you really can ride with your kid to Dodger Stadium So, they have bike parking at Dodger Stadium?

And the less-happy second post today. Unidentified bike rider killed in Bloomington collision Condolences to the victim’s family and other loved ones.

And the third post today is less fatal but no less happy. Action Alert: Panorama City NC sneaks in agenda item to remove bike lanes on Chase Street at tonight’s meeting I don’t know about CA’s Open Records law, but here in TX you can’t add items to the agenda after it has been posted.

Still in CA, 15 years after the feds said e-assist bikes are bicycles, CA starts to say the same thing, maybe. AB-1096 Vehicles: electric bicycles This bill mostly adopts the Federal standard except the “Class 3” allows EU e-mopeds to be operated as bicycles with certain limitations.

A TN wreck is felt throughout the community. Teen killed in bike crash remembered by loved ones and Loved ones remember teenager killed in bike crash The thing I don’t understand about this wreck is the cyclist was reportedly riding at the right hand edge of the road going the opposite direction from the weapon vehicle. IOW riding with traffic on the opposite side of the road. The driver was reported to have “swerved” to the far side of the road just before he hit the cyclist. So, why haven’t they filed murder charges against the driver?

More on the MI driver getting away with murder. Prosecutor seeks just sentence in bike death Turns out the walking dead man killer drunk driver will only spend 6 months in county jail, not the full year we had been lead to believe earlier and most definitely not the 2-5 years of sentencing guidelines.

After that downer note, here’s something a little more upbeat. People passionate about pedaling discuss the city’s cycling future as part of NOLA Bike to Work Week

NYC still killing pedestrians and cyclists at pretty much the same rate as always. 35-Year-Old Mother Of Three Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver Near Her Brooklyn Home The victim was knocked out of her shoes, indicating a high-energy impact.

And yet another case of gross stupidity on the roads. Drunk Driver Allegedly Caught With Crack, Weed, And Child In The Car Felony Driving While Stupid…

Is your bike on this list? Then get in contact with me so I can understand how a QR can get caught in the brake disk and cause a fall. Trek Bicycles is recalling nearly 1 million bikes for a safety issue that resulted in one rider becoming paralyzed. and Nearly 1 Million Trek Bicycles Recalled After Riders Injured also Trek to recall nearly 1 million bicycles after injury reports I have been riding bikes with QR levers since the mid-’90s, and I have never had a QR lever even get anywhere near the hub, brake disk, or spokes. The only way a traditional QR lever could even get close would be if the QR was completely released and the wheel held on with the “lawyer lips” on the dropouts. So if you have one of these bikes share a picture of the QR in question so we can figure out how this is supposed to work.

Hasn’t this been tried out there at least once already? Ride Solutions ad campaign advocates awareness of bicycle commuters I could almost swear I remember a very similar campaign from a few years back from the same area.

Does anyone know what the deal is over at road.cc? I had three links queued up to post and I’m getting “access denied” on all 3 of them now. And a page just went up explaining what happened. Access denied

More bad infrastructure in the UK. Cyclist injured in crash at Oxford junction criticised by cycling group Just to clarify, it is the junction that was criticised, not the injured cyclist. The infrastructure is crap, the cyclist’s skills maybe yes maybe no.

I know bicycles are relatively low damage and non-lethal, but still DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! Woman scarred for life after cyclist knocked her over and raced off And don’t leave until the pedestrian has been tended to by emergency responders and details have been exchanged.

I thought there was no such thing as gun crime in the UK. Cyclist stabbed and shot dead in Peckham last night Not sure what triggered this, but the perps really screwed the pooch on this one. Shooting someone in the UK is not taken lightly.

Another link to the drunk driver that killed a cyclist while showing off his unregistered vehicle while driving without a license. ‘Show off’ driver Tykeran Hamilton jailed for 11 years for causing death of cyclist Alan Knight

Bike wrecks can be strange, the victim in this wreck died on the spot, but the bike was in good enough condition to be ridden away from the wreck. Fatal crash bike rolled out for road safety rally It’s almost as if someone decided they needed a prop to display to drum up awareness of bicycle safety.

Wounded Warrior ride in my state. Wounded Warriors bicycle into Keene Friday morning

And a similar ride in the DC area. April 24 26 Face Of America Bicycle Ride Brings Injured Veterans To Dc Region

Can you make people see you if they are not looking? HEADS UP! Then you need to use new “Spray On Meth”! Guaranteed to perk up even the most addled driver out there so they see you and your bike.

Is this ad sexist? If you have to ask, it probably is. Is this thing sexist? Introducing the “Bike Test”

OMG this is so Texas… Cartoon: Bikes and cars

I think I might be out of links. Yep, all done.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Good news for and about Blue, and the Feed

I was out running errands today, dropping the shoe at the shoe-repair place, getting money out to pay for the parts I need to repair Blue, transferring money to Mrs. the Poet’s account, going to Plano Cycling to pay for those parts with the money I took out… And while we were going through the order for the parts the parts guy noticed that there was a shifter set offered that was more than $20 cheaper than buying front and rear shifters separately, same parts in one box instead of two boxes. And it turns out that for one item I will have to pay shipping because it isn’t a part that’s stocked by their warehouse, it has to be bought directly from RANSbikes in KS.

Up first is some semi-local news from the next town over from the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. 2015 City Council Candidate Survey

I’m trying to figure out whose ox is being gored in this one. Virginia Beach says no to Boardwalk bicycle ads

I suggested doing this to freeways as a means of reducing the need for AC in the summer and running fossil fueled powerplants year around. This bike lane in Korea is topped with 20 miles of solar panels For a bike lane this “solution” has 2 problems: 1) It is running right down the median of a freeway, which means nasty, smelly pollution generated just feet away, and 2) getting on or off the bike path requires getting over that freeway and the barriers on both sides. I can see some cyclists using the facility, so either they are trapped there since it was opened, or there is some way on and off that is not visible in the video.

Speaking of bike lanes, this person enthusiastically supports them. Cyclist badly injured by truck: Bike-only lanes a must Yeah, me too.

I was unaware that Buzz Feed used machine translated text, the other question is what language did they translate it from. Auto Vs. Bicycle: Duking It Out In L.A. Targeted visitors “From visitors jams, to pushy motorists, to purple lights and some close phone calls” Red, stop; amber, proceed with caution; green, go when clear; which one is purple again?

And since we are already in L.A., let’s drop in on Ted Rogers and see what he’s up to. Morning Links: Bike the vote in Pasadena election; cyclists urged to defend Mt. Hollywood Wednesday

Vision Zero meets Zero Vision in NYC. Cy Vance: $580 Fine for Driver Who Killed 9-Year-Old Cooper Stock If this name sounds familiar this is the Cooper that “Cooper’s law” was named after.

How not to implement a road diet. The road diet is history, Paw Paw to go back to 5 lanes of traffic, no more angle parking First of all never tell them that this is an experiment, even if it is. You tell them “This has worked well in other places with similar levels of traffic, so we should end up safer and still getting to where we want to go.” Second, you have to give it at least a year to work, not a couple of months.

A Canadian tragedy results in renaming a charity ride. Ride the Rideau cycling event to be renamed, rerouted after last year’s tragedy The fatality has tarnished the reputation of the event, none of the organizers wishes to cease the fund-raiser, so change the name and never mention the wreck again except in a separate setting.

A UK bike retail association asks how do you grow cycling? OPINION: How do you grow cycling? Start with proper infrastructure and instruction on how to use it, then add layers of legal protections. It’s all spelled out in the CROW manual for only €90.

Well, I’m glad they clarified that the drivers were equally or more useless in the article, but the headline is still excessively provocative. ‘Useless’ WA cyclists need lessons This is from Oz, by-the-by.

And now I need a lie down, because I need to get up early for the new RPG group to have an all-day gore fest. There will probably be a short report on my new Warlock5’s adventures, now that he has been gender swapped and is a girl in magical armor, and a cursed armored belt. You may recall my character put on a cursed belt of gender swap thinking it was a Belt of Giant Strength. It might be a Belt of Giant Strength under the curse, my character hasn’t had the chance to test that part yet, he was too busy being seduced by 2/3 of the female members of the party… He’s “real purdy” now. 😉

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I have a lot of links to get through, and the Feed

OK the D&D game was cancelled last night on account of illness. After setting everything up so I could leave the house I got a call to stand by because the game might not happen, and someone would come get me instead of my taking DART. Nobody came or answered my texts until today when I found out the DM was feeling under the weather. Que sera, sera there was nothing I could do about it, so I didn’t get upset about it. And when it all comes down to it, it was just a game.

Up first we have two links to a tragedy in Canuckistan. Cyclist hits, kills woman walking in northeast Edmonton and Woman dies after being struck by bicycle in north Edmonton I have to admit, my first instinct was to ask “was the deceased wearing a helmet?” because that is the first thing asked when a cyclist is hit. Also AFAIK this is the first bike/ped fatality I’m aware of in the entire country of Canada this century.

We can do this when any car lane expansions are planned, too. Anti-Growth Lawsuits Are All the Rage This is blatant tort abuse, and the perpetrators don’t even deny it, they revel in it.

A little legal infrastructure under construction in IA. Bill requiring rear bicycle light gets Iowa Senate OK I wonder if there is going to be a consequent enhancement of violating the basic speed rule for hitting a cyclist from behind? (I wouldn’t bet on it.)

Speaking of infrastructure, why isn’t there better bike infrastructure at international borders? Cyclists demand space on new international bridge Lots of “stuff” in the comments section for Gigi to revel in, she loves people displaying low levels of intelligence.

Some Portland infrastructure is testing well. Right-hook risk drops with flashing “Yield to Bikes” sign on NE Couch Noting like proven results when promoting changes to infrastructure. It’s only one intersection but the data is some help.

Another infrastructure article on the effectiveness of the post-wreck infrastructure. Free State dept probing 2 hour wait for ambulance The headline is misleading, the cyclist was hit between 1700 and 1715, but was not transported from scene until 2000. It might have gotten there only 2 hours later but the victim was not transported until 3 hours after the wreck.

A rare display of sense from Enn Zed judiciary. Driving ban refused for bike rider The judge said pulling his driver’s license for riding a bicycle away from cars and into a pedestrian is ridiculous, and I agree.

Two posts from Ted Rogers today. Update: 41-year old bike rider killed in Anaheim collision with tanker truck and Morning Links: Palmdale man killed defending his bike; LA cyclist rides to hospital after being stabbed by driver

Bikes in major media this week. ‘Grimm’ meets Portland cyclists on Friday’s episode, ‘Heartbreaker’ If I’m reading this right, there are going to be some iconic Portland bikes on-screen in this episode.

Given that a common definition of “cyclist” is “eating machine on wheels”, I find a touch of irony in riding a bicycle to fight hunger. Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry There are so many bad jokes I could use here, but I won’t…

Another memorial ride. Lexington bicyclist readies for cross-country charity trek, inspired by rider killed in Scott County

And yet another memorial ride. Maryland officer dedicates bicycle ride to late Groton City officer, raising awareness to police suicide

Cycling has been a force in women’s equality, not so much for equality of the races. A Historian’s Perspective: Black Women Bicycling

At least I know this guy is not going to go to helmets as the first line of safety in spite of what the media reports. Attorney, bicycle safety advocate to talk about cycle laws

Another e-assist article on a crank-assist system (most assist bikes are hub motors). The Gear Junkie – E-Bikes In 2015 MY experiments in crank assist looked nothing like that but had similar results.

And I’m finally out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

We have a new addition to the Feed, and the rest of the Feed

Join me in welcoming infrastructure news magazine Next City to the Feed today. I got several “back issues” sent when I signed up so there will be many links from them in today’s post. I think this will be a good resource for the future for this blog. On a less happy note the spring equinox ritual for tomorrow afternoon at my church has been rescheduled because of forecast bad weather.

Up first Friend of WoaB Carlton Reid has another article on the fact that paved roads in the US and UK owe their existence to cyclists. “Roads were not built for cars”: how cyclists, not drivers, first fought to pave US roads That’s right, we paid for the first paved streets and highways between cities to get paved, not the motor vehicles that did not exist at the time. I know that, you probably knew that, too, we just have to get the news to about 100 million other people in the US who still think roads did not exist prior to the invention of the motor vehicle.

News from Our Daily Ted. Weekend Links: Witnesses wanted in El Segundo death, Westwood votes for bike lanes, and more Valley CicLAvia

And Bikeyface has got this infrastructure thing nailed down. A ZOO That’s kinda what I feel like out there on the roads some days.

And David Hembrow weighs in on the Sydney Rd. door prize in Oz, placing the blame squarely on crappy Oz infrastructure designs. Eliminating the risk of “Dooring”: Good cycle infrastructure design keeps cyclists out of the door zone and saves lives

Making a coroplast honeycomb material may be the next phase of bicycle helmets. The New Materials That Are Revolutionizing Helmet Safety Right Now More expensive than the current EPS material that is standard for bike helmets, but potentially this could make helmets work almost as well as people think they do now.

The first of the Next City links is about the best bike lanes in the US. Cycling Advocates Pick 10 Best New Bike Lanes in the U.S. The “Best” bike lane in the US would still fail to meet the minimum standards set forth in the CROW manual.

Memphis is feeling the loss of their streetcar revival. Memphis Streetcars Will Come Back, But When? And if you are wondering what this has to do with bikes, the increase in cars caused by the shutdown of the streetcars makes use of the parallel bike lane just that much more dangerous…

Does anyone recall how many times I wrote in this blog that stale greens and short amber phases were getting cyclists killed? Investigation Says Mayor Emanuel’s Office Is Ignoring Traffic Safety Numbers Seems like some other people had the same idea…

Surface level highways without grade separation do not belong in neighborhoods, period, full stop, end of story. Vision Zero Activists Target New York Arterials, Including “The Boulevard of Death” You can’t mix fast cars with cyclists and pedestrians without getting dead and broken bodies, they just are not compatible. And if you can’t get the cars away from the people, you have to slow them down to the point that they can mix with people. Recent studies have shown that the maximum safe speed for motor vehicles on streets with pedestrians is 25 MPH. Any faster than that and the survival rate for the inevitable collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists just get’s unacceptably low. I mean people are rightfully appalled at a 91% survival rate for gunshots when motor vehicle collisions survivability rate goes under that at 23 MPH (90%).

Gee, why encourage people to make your downtown a desirable destination when you can turn it into a free parking wasteland. Parking Wars Play Out Differently in Two N.J. Cities One way gets sales and property tax money back to the city and the other lets car thieves have a choice of an open-air or covered market to select a vehicle from, assuming that anyone actually uses them for parking, because why stop and park when there’s nothing to see or do?

I wonder if this is because they don’t like bikes, or because they don’t like people spending money and generating sales tax dollars? Utah Appears Set to Ban Bicycles From Drive-Thru Lanes

Well this is interesting, a deputy threatening arrest for trespassing for riding a mountain bike on a posted mountain bike trail. Dust up over trail access in Oro Valley’s Honeybee trails

Gee, how DO you get people to ride bikes other than providing them with safe infrastructure that gets them from where they are to where they want or need to go? Four Ways to Inspire Bike Riders in Your Small Community

OK this is just as appalling as people getting shot. Mansfield Woodhouse car crash man walked away after injuring a cyclist He wrecked his car hitting parked cars and knocked a man down causing some injury when he pushed one of the parked cars into the man’s bicycle, then he wandered off because he “lost his passenger”? what was he on at the time? drugs, booze, massive amounts of beer?

Gee, why are huge vehicles with poor outward visibility that take up massive amounts of space when they turn killing people with no protection when they are forced to share the roads? TRL to study London’s HGV operations

Before and after court articles from the same Feed. Before New Milford man to be sentenced in cyclist death and after Lee gets eight years in cyclist’s death That’s 30 years of state supervision in all, with the first 8 in prison of he doesn’t mess things up, otherwise he gets to spend the full 25 in prison, then the 5 years of probation.

OK I an absolutely gobsmacked at this verdict. Van driver cleared of killing teenage cyclist in Kent also Texting van driver cleared of responsibility for death of 18-year-old cyclist He admitted he was trying to text but ran out of battery before he completed the text right before hitting the cyclist, and he was still found “not guilty”? And another view. SOMETHING’S NOT QUITE RIGHT HERE A detailed review of the wreck taken from the published testimony and court record.

At least there was a trial for that one even if the jury was composed of wannabe F1 drivers… One year on, ‘justice’ plea for cyclist dad who died in collision with car That’s right the plods won’t even send the case on to prosecutors.

This Irish cyclist may have missed seeing a pothole at night, but she didn’t miss the pothole! Pothole leaves cyclist with head injuries Interesting that the pothole was filled after the time of the wreck and before the cyclist was released from the hospital. 😛

No rush at all to build this memorial to a dead cyclist killed riding to ball practice, he died in 1983. Board OKs Stoughton pavilion for youngster killed riding bike That’s right he was killed by a motor vehicle while riding his bike July 21, 1983! Almost 32 years ago!

A LEO in AK wants to see how big a difference bike lights really make in drivers seeing cyclists do they really pay that much attention? JPD starts bike safety project

It turns out it is very hard to get people to change their commute once they have a set pattern they follow. The Problem With Paying People to Bike to Work Even when you pay people to bike, if they have already established the pattern of driving to work they will probably continue to drive unless besides paying to ride you also do something that strongly disincentives driving at the same time, like charging hourly rates for parking or putting in meters that need to be fed coins regularly.

This link is a bit out of position because it came in after midnight and I was not in the mood to scroll back up 1200 words and put it over by the rest of the CA stuff. YUCAIPA: Driver jailed in cyclist’s death That is one of if not THE harshest sentence I have ever seen anyone get for killing a cyclist, that I can remember. And they did not even have to prove BAC%. I have seen cyclist killer drivers with proven BAC% in the “you’re gonna die” range get lower maximum sentences than this guy’s minimum sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

And I’m done, no more links and I don’ wanna do this anymore today. 😦

Billed @€0.03, Opus the Poet

Snow in the morning and high 40s in the afternoon, and the Feed

Never has the expression “Don’t like the weather in Texas? Wait a few minutes” been more apropos than today. We had about an inch of snowfall this morning, and nearly 50°F this afternoon. I mean, really?! Snow followed by 20°F above freezing temperatures? Whose idea was this anyway? (I know, nobody had the “idea” for this weather, it just happened as a result of natural forces at work)

Up first is a “What were they thinking?!” report from Enn Zed. Ad covering truck window could have caused cyclist death and Advertising blocked truckie’s view in cyclist death Really? The damn trucks are nearly blind to the passenger side anyway, so you make it worse by covering the passenger side window? Did your parents have any children that lived? Because that is about the stupidest thing I have ever read. This is on a par with removing safety railings from a catwalk or finger guards from dangerous equipment.

Back to the US for another pair of links on the guilty plea of a hit-and-run cyclist killer. Motorist Pleads Guilty in Death of Bicyclist, Leaving Scene and Motorist pleads guilty in death of bicyclist, leaving scene I had some other links to this yesterday. I’m still of the opinion that the driver was treated much too leniently for the attempted coverup of the crime.

Another bad day for Ted Rogers in Our Daily Ted. 89-year old bike rider killed in San Diego; police blame the victim

Maybe if a few “captains of industry” are nearly killed cycling something will get done about bicycle infrastructure? Millionaire entrepreneur explains why cycling — and not golf — is the new sport of choice for young professionals I see what the guy is saying, but I can’t relate to it. One of the comments helped in understandistuping the difference, golf requires a mostly-fixed long length of time to participate, including getting there which may take two hours of driving each way, then 4-5 hours on the course, with very little actual exercise during the whole exercise.

And I’m hoping the sudden change in direction doesn’t cause emotional whiplash, but for some reason in spite of 10-20 cyclists a year dying mostly because of crappy infrastructure the people in charge can’t manage to spend more than half of their budget. Revealed: London’s most dangerous junctions for cyclists – as transport chiefs under-spend £50m road safety budget The fact that they only spent £29 million of £82 million in their budget with a number of known hotspots that desperately needed fixing with several that had killed cyclists repeatedly over the last few years, well there are words that I can’t use and keep the “SFW” rating on this blog.

Still in Jolly Olde relatives of victims ask their government for punishments that are more in line with the seriousness of events when drivers kill. Family of Ross and Clare Simons – killed riding tandem bicycle in Hanham – to meet PM David Cameron The killer in question for this article killed two people while driving illegally and will only spend less than 10 years total on prison.

Still in the UK, the peril of using bad statistics when talking about bicycle safety. Insurance giant’s cycling ‘study’ shows the perils of poor statistics Somehow they got from an official government statistic of 2% of bicycle wrecks involving “no lights” to the 1 of 3 wrecks caused by a lack of lights, so what other bad information did they use?

And over in Ireland, someone won’t let the tragedy of a cyclist getting killed go away. Flowers and stars for tragic cyclist killed in Limerick

And in “late to the party” news, Forbes discovers the “safety in numbers” theory of bicycle safety. The More Cyclists In A Country, The Fewer Fatal Crashes – Report [Infographic]

My short little legs are not the target audience for this article, but I found it fascinating never the less. Building the Next Dirty Sixer This is a buildup article on a bicycle with 36″ diameter tires. The standover height for this bike is roughly 6″ greater than my inseam.

Last link, if you’re getting a custom bike built like the one in the previous paragraph, it pays to have a good working relationship with your mechanic. Here’s how. AngryAsian: Things you should never say to your bike shop mechanic

And those were all the links I could wade through today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Another caffeine-fueled day, and the Feed

Just not feeling the need to eat today, so I’m working the second half-gallon of coffee instead. I have to do something to maintain my “girlish” figure, right? I mean I have found where all the new pounds are going and there is literally nothing I can do about it short of starving myself periodically. The extra weight is coming in my chest and shoulders, unless Mrs. the Poet has found a way to make all my shirts tighter up top and looser in the middle. And I’m sure that lump on the back of my neck has something to do with the weight gain above and beyond the fact that I can’t ride a bike because it exists on my neck. The thing is huge now, and is seriously interfering with my daily life. And it has to weigh at least a pound all by itself.

Up first is an arrest in a drunken vehicular assault down in the RGV of TX. Three Cyclist Injured, Suspect Faces Charges I think whoever supplied the minor with alcohol needs to be charged in the crime also. And something needs to be done to keep drunks off the roads. I’m in favor of taking the cars away from drivers caught driving drunk, but I don’t know how that would keep people from driving drunk in the first place.

And over in Houston they are building something approximating Dutch-quality infrastructure. Take a Look at Houston’s First On-Street Protected Bike Lane and New Green Bike Lanes Downtown And they need to put another protected bi-directional lane on the other half of the couplet so that people can access destinations on the street going the other direction. But baby steps…

And some people are just scum. ‘GHOST BIKES’ VANISHING FROM HOUSTON STREETS

And from a link gleaned from the previous paragraph, Denton and Lewisville are going to get connected by bicycle infrastructure getting round the I35E blockage. Path offers ride alongside rails This fills a critical gap in getting around the north central part of the Metroplex. Until now cyclists wanting to get from Dallas County to Denton had to either take the A Train or go through Frisco and cross over on 380, neither of which is ideal.

Next state over is an update on a wreck from a few years back. Severly injured cyclist says his life was ruined by drunk driver in fatal 2012 Perkins Road crash This guy was messed up even worse than I was, and the other guy died. The driver had a BAC of 0.307% which means that if he wasn’t an alcoholic he would have been unconscious.

A little PR from CO. Crammer: You know me, I ride a bike Making cyclists “human” instead of “other” makes some drivers think twice about running one over. I hope so anyway.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA finally gets tough on hit-and-run, Calimesa driver convicted in fatal DUI hit-and-run

I question where the thrust of this “enforcement” push will be directed. UAPD awarded grant to patrol bike, pedestrian violations I’m thinking they will go after imaginary bike and pedestrian violations while ignoring motor vehicles because chasing down motor vehicles to issue tickets is dangerous while stopping pedestrians and cyclists is much safer.

The Chinese BSO Wal-Mart sells will get painted and partially assembled in the US before getting boxed and shipped to Wal-Marts. Made-in-America bikes hit Wal-Mart “Assembled in USA from components manufactured elsewhere” bikes come to Wal-Mart…

A “rah, rah” link from CA. Attorney Ramin Soofer of the Soofer Law Group Praises Operation Firefly Yay! Headlights.

A cyclist in Canuckistan gets an unpleasant surprise after a right hook. Cyclist Rylan Kafara gets $6,000 bill after collision with SUV

Another protest I was invited to attend and cover over in Jolly Olde. London Cyclists Stage Protest in Memory of Greek Bike Rider

Some infrastructure news from Jolly Olde that does not bode well for the future. Taking Cyclists Off Roads Is No Way to Improve Transit As the article points out there are a number of proposals that spend buckets of money to just get cyclists off the roads but not let them get to where they need to go.

And I have run out of links again.

Billed @ €0.02, Opus the Poet

I’m exhausted and sore, and now I have a full day’s work to do on the blog post, and the Feed

Remember that paying gig I mentioned in passing yesterday? It came through. Unfortunately it came through for about 7 hours right in the middle of opening up the Feed folder in my e-mail. About 7 hours of work putting together an adult tricycle for someone I had previously offered to build a recumbent or crank-forward bike, but who decided that a more traditional adult tricycle was more to her tastes and riding style, so she bought one in a big box from a big box store. That meant she would need someone who could take it out of the box, inventory the parts etc. until a working adult tricycle was sitting on the ground with her on it. I estimated that would take about 2 hours, told the customer it would take “probably” 3, and more than 6 hours later the trike was finished. Since I had promised this nice lady a trike as a gift I “accepted” a Powerball ticket and some Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs for Mrs. the Poet’s Valentine’s Day present. Speaking of that Powerball ticket the first payout of the 30 annual payments comes to $5,415,892.62 after taxes and 10% to the church, while the cash payout for the Texas Lottery drawing the same day is $5,620,000 before taxes and any charitable contributions made as a bribe for deity favor towards winning.

What to put up first was a hard decision tonight, but I think these links to this major story might be the winner. NYC Adding Truck Side Guards to Protect Pedestrians, Cyclists and NYC Adding Safety Guards To 240 City Trucks In 2015 Somebody was looking at the numbers, and just like in London, big trucks are disproportionate in their representation in fatality statistics. So one kind of fatal wreck that is particular to big trucks is cyclists, pedestrians, and small cars getting run over by the back tires when the truck turns or changes lanes and the pedestrian, cyclist, or small car is in one of the many huge blind spots alongside the truck. Since apparently eliminating the blind spot is an intractable engineering problem an interim solution is something that will shove the pedestrian, cyclist, or small car away from the rear wheels. This seems to have a higher success rate than trying to eliminate the blind spots.

These stickers are pretty useless here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, but I might buy some anyway. Passive Aggressive Sticker Campaign Targets Bike Lane Blockers Yep in order to have bike lane blockers you first need a bike lane to block, something that is sadly lacking here.

Ted Rogers was busy this weekend, unfortunately. Palm Desert bike rider killed in early morning collision; DUI suspected and Weekend Links: OC hit-and-run driver charged in death of PCH cyclist; fund set to help injured bike rider also Bike rider dies after January hit-and-run in West Covina; third bike rider killed in SoCal this year even Morning Links: Waking the sleeping giant in LA and Pasadena, and a gut-wrenching Colorado hit-and-run Dude, I feel for you today. This is like one of my worst days back when I was covering wrecks, because you know the wreck locations personally.

Meanwhile in FL, the victim of a drunk driver and the other cyclist that barely survived the wreck were remembered at the event they had been training for. More Than A Thousand Kick-Off The Dolphins Cycling Challenge and Cyclist killed near Key Biscayne remembered at tri-county race

What is more important people’s lives or a few parking places? Hold on a second, there are opposing opinions on this question. Will the SFMTA Board Demand Complete Protected Bike Lanes on Polk Street? I have a simple solution, go to the merchants responsible and ask outright how many cyclist and pedestrian deaths and serious injuries are “their” parking spots worth, then charge them that in taxes every time someone is killed or injured on their block because of a failure in the infrastructure to protect them. I think after maybe the second pedestrian death or seriously injured cyclist (my wreck cost more than a quarter of a million dollars just for the first two hospital stays, and I went back 3 more times).

Seattle’s Second Ave. is seriously sub-standard by the CROW manual, but when your choices are “sub-standard” and “constantly terrifying and frequently fatal” sub-standard looks pretty good. Seattle’s Second Ave. should inspire Comm. Ave. plans Seriously, this is amazing bicycle infrastructure by US and UK standards, but criminal by the CROW manual. But, baby steps are better than no steps at all.

Speaking if UK “infrastructure”… Things are improving for cyclists, but painfully slowly And by “painfully” she means with many deaths, broken bones, much road rash, and other assorted injuries.

And the legal infrastructure in Jolly Olde ain’t that great either. Report into road death investigations makes scathing findings about training, processes and victim support Yep UK prosecution of drivers that hit cyclists is rife with bias even against cyclists dressed like glow-in-the-dark clowns and lighted like Christmas trees for “not being visible enough”.

Last link is about lifestyle. Lexington man biking across country in memory of woman killed in Scott County There are far too many memorial rides, mainly because there are far too many reasons to have memorial rides.

And that’s all I have tonight, and I desperately want to have a lie down so my back with stop hurting.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (still an unkillable badass, but nobody ever said that was painless)

I have to waddle to the phone store, and the Feed

As I said in the headline, I need to go to the phone store in the strip mall down the street and buy a phone card to recharge my minutes. I don’t know if I have related this before, but my phone plan has an outrageous amount of minutes for a decent price, enough minutes that I could spend 8 hours a day on the phone every day for 30 days and still have 10 more hours to burn, all for $30 plus tax. This meets my needs perfectly with the phone I have, there is no way I could possibly spend that much time talking on the phone, even with my headset. I spend most of my time on the laptop anyway…

The “waddle” part of the headline is because I ate too much yesterday/last night. I woke up still bloated from all the food yesterday. It is a good thing I don’t eat like that every day, because I would look like a blimp… Throw a grey T-shirt on me with “Goodyear” down the side and …

OK I’m back from all the stores, I went across the street first to pay my Obamacare premium, then over to buy a bus pass and a top up card for my phone at the same store, then I dropped by the nail spa and paid the tip I couldn’t pay when I got my toes done Monday because “someone” had swapped a five for a ten in my toe money…

first up is pics and a rundown from a local ride today. Pics And Recap Of The 6th Annual Black Friday Ride This ride was the organizer for Bike Friendly Richardson 5 years ago. Looks like they had fun, didn’t it?

Our Daily Ted, Pt. 1. Update: 39-year old salmon cyclist killed in Venice Thanksgiving night

Our Daily Ted, Pt.2. Monterey Park cyclist killed in right hook earlier this month

One way to make streets safer for cyclists is to put as many cops on bikes as possible. Police train to patrol Cape Coral streets by bicycle There is a reason why I call FL the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike (or walk), and this is one way (of many that need to be implemented).

A bit of infrastructure from NYC. Husband Of Woman Fatally Struck By Cyclist Calls Safety Measures “Too Little, Too Late” This was the 8th cyclist-caused fatality in NYC since 2000, but for the family of the victim it doesn’t matter if this was the first or the thousandth.

A little CA infrastructure news, laying out part of the problem. Hit-and-runs take a rising toll on cyclists Treat hit-and-run like attempted or actual murder depending on if the victim survives, and you will see a lot more solved hit-and-runs.

Infrastructure news from PDX. In letter to PBOT, BTA says Williams Ave work zone has led to injuries Someone has to hold contractors responsible for problems, especially problems that lead to wrecks and injuries.

Infrastructure from the Great White North. After another fatality, Ottawa cyclists look for built-in safety (with video)

Oz gets in on the infrastructure act also. Melbourne’s 13 worst cycling crash black spots revealed

Getting back to the Big PX. Bon Wilson: What is a bike rider to do? This is not restricted to NC, this is a problem all over the USA.

And last link is a feel-good e-assist story. Lynn’s Spin: My Plush Pedego

And that’s a wrap, I’m starting to see things that can’t be there, like a segregated bike lane on Garland’s Main Street…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Another visit to the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

I spent most of the day going to and from the LRK office today. Good news is I still have a decent resting heart rate and fairly low BP even after reducing the dosage for my meds and pulling one, so my basic good general health is pulling through. Bad news is I put on another 3 pounds since the last visit and I had to have another blood test to track my hormone levels because my previous one is no longer good. Also since I’m having to change my hormone med to something Obamacare covers the test will be needed to calculate the required dose. The nurse that drew my blood is very good, to the point that I have had mosquito bites that were more irritating than this blood draw.

There weren’t many links after I got done filtering the chaff out that I can’t linger over any more. That means I will get done pretty quick after starting on my composing.

Up first is a dose of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: OC hit-and-run driver gets a slap on the wrist; Detroit’s Shinola opens a new store in Silverlake

Why even have a law that never gets enforced, even when breaking it results in people getting killed? A ‘safe’ distance? Cyclist law unenforced I mean seriously, I would think hitting a cyclist from behind would have to count as not passing safely, wouldn’t it?

And that was all I could find that wasn’t a hazard to my fragile sanity, plus I have to go buy a new compact HD TV tomorrow at a store that will be closed for Thanksgiving which means getting up early again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet