I cooked dinner tonight, and the Feed

Well most of it anyway. We splurged and bought ³/₄ of a pound of chicken livers because I haven’t had chicken livers in years. Part of the reasons for that is Mrs. the Poet refuses to go through the mess and bother of cooking them, primarily because she can barely eat them. I wrapped about half a pound of bacon around the livers and fried them up, a preparation method that leaves the livers so that I love them, and Mrs. the Poet will at least have a couple of ounces total uncooked weight so she gets some protein in her meal. Anyway that takes a while to cut the bacon strips in half, wrap them around the livers, and fry them up. So I ended up losing about an hour from the filtering process preparing the blog post, but as this was Friday and I have to wait until after midnight to finish filtering I could afford to take the time out for cooking. And they were goooooood…

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike beats car in race to beach, Calbike wants your take on bike politics, and BMX legend dies

Still in CA. Bicyclist Suffers Major Injuries in Head-On Crash Near Jalama A person claiming to be the driver in the comment section said she was to the right of the centerline and the cyclist was on the wrong side of the road.

And speaking of that BMX legend, here’s a link off of my Twitter feed. Dave Mirra, BMX Legend, Dead At 41

Down in Houston a 3YO cyclist is run over by a driver that did not know he was there when the SUV started moving. Former UGA star Danny Ware fighting for body of son killed in Texas Again this is more of an issue with the blind spots of the SUV around kids.

In WI a kid-authored bill would make cycling the official state exercise. Kids Advocate for Biking to be State Exercise With two bike manufacturers in-state (Trek and Volae), this is really a no-brainer choice to make.

A bill presented to the FL legislature would strengthen the state 3-foot passing law and extend it to other road users. SPEAK UP FOR SAFETY OF PEOPLE ON BICYCLES, PEOPLE ON FOOT One of the major changes proposed is to put teeth in the law when a driver hits a cyclist from behind (or a pedestrian or any of the other classes of “vulnerable users”) substantial fines are levied against the driver.

More infrastructure news from FL. Recent accidents raises concerns for local cyclists It’s worth noting that of the recent wrecks listed none were the cyclist’s fault and would have resulted in the enhanced penalties in the proposed bill mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Update on an injured CO cyclist. Fort Collins cyclist hit by car remains hospitalized I do wish they would stop saying drivers don’t get hurt when they hit cyclists with their cars.

Death-defying report from NY. Police log: Dogs chase man on bike

Another link to the saga of the unlicensed driver in an HGV running over a cyclist wearing HiViz and blinky lights waiting at a red light. Lorry driver who killed cyclist jail appeal rejected Did he seriously expect to get a reduction in his sentence after having multiple driving convictions and driving without a license or insurance when he killed the cyclist? He’s lucky they didn’t find a way to increase the sentence.

Infrastructure-related wreck in Oz. Cyclist falls on deteriorating Bellarine Rail Trail amid calls for repairs It seems they can’t decide if the cyclist wrecked because the surface was bad, or because the surface collapsed underneath her.

New gadgets for the tool geeks out there. The 6 coolest accessories we’ve spotted this week That suction-cup bike carrier looks interesting.

And I think I don’t have any more links (checks) Nope, no more links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Yesterday was a busy day, and the Feed

Yesterday was another day spent mostly away from Casa de El Poeta, being a volunteer for the HRC and mostly riding DART. I had to miss morning services because it took all morning to get from home to the bowling alley where HRC was holding their fund-raiser (Carnibowl), specifically that part of the morning when morning services were held. I got done early enough to make it to evening services at church, and then home to catch up on my e-mails. I finally got caught up on those about 0145, so I decided to just bag it and head to bed.

This morning was interesting mostly because we got checks for a class settlement for getting ripped off by Wells Fargo when we had our mortgage through them, to the tune of nearly $800 total for the six years involved in the settlement.

Up first is part 1 of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Improving bike safety on Bouquet Canyon, less liability on bike paths, and doping gets mechanical

Part 2 of Our Daily Ted. Bike rider killed in South LA collision last week

And Part 3. And the winner is… I deliberately did not submit an entry for this because I have bikes I could ride with a little work and I thought that someone else should hav a crack at it that doesn’t have a bike. Ted agreed with me as you can read in his post.

Still in CA. Cyclist killed in latest hit-and-run Another article that is more concerned about the clothes the cyclist was wearing than the fact the driver left the scene with an injured person on the road.

Guess what happened in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle? Bicyclist killed in Sarasota hit-and-run identified Hit from behind and hit-and-run, all it takes to make it a trifecta of Stoopid would be an impaired driver without a license.

Still in FL. Cyclist, 16, dies in hospital one week after wreck in Royal Palm Another wreck that blames a cyclist for not being in a crosswalk.

Cyclist down in CO. 53-year-old Ft. Collins cyclist injured in crash

Update on a cyclist down in NM. Bike ride organized to support injured teen

Over one state in AZ, another hit-and-run. Boy on bicycle injured by hit-and-run driver Another article erroneously suggesting that cyclists belong in a crosswalk.

More on that OH cyclist killed by an impaired driver. Cyclist dies after hit-and-run; driver to be charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, police say “The driver, Melinda Woodall, 34, of Amelia, tried to hide three bottles of pills in her bra after hitting 42-year-old Michael Prater of Cincinnati on Kellogg Avenue.” There was also drug paraphenalia inside the car.

This NY wreck looks like another serious case of windshield bias. Investigation nears end, driver to be ticketed in Hammond cyclist’s death Hit-from-behind and the driver will get… TWO tickets (not just one). TANJ!

VT infrastructure news. COUNCIL APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL BALLOT QUESTION ON BURLINGTON TRAFFIC CHANGE I want to know who put giving all the streets and roads over to cars up for a vote?

Another wounded veterans ride. Ride 2 Recovery helping local veterans cope with injuries and PTSD

A confessed candidate for life in prison over in Jolly Olde. Drink-driver admits causing the death of a cyclist in Walton crash I think I have made my opinions of drunk drivers known over the last 7 or so years I have been doing the blog here on WordPress. The thought of this waste of skin actually getting back out on the roads again just makes my skin crawl.

Also in Jolly Olde. Floral tributes at Great North Road in Newcastle after cyclist dies in hospital Sounds like a great guy taken too soon.

Even the best place in the world can be made better. Even Copenhagen Makes Mistakes

Over in Oz, another driver gets a serious case of the Stoopids when he sees a pack of cyclists on the road. Cyclist’s on-bike camera shows road rage incident in Glen Forrest If I wasn’t positive the guy that tried to kill me was dead and buried…

Still in Oz… Cars are ‘lethal weapons’: killed cyclist’s partner voices her anger and grief Anybody remember that Mythbusters episode where they compared driving while talking on a cell phone to drunk driving, with drunk driving coming out slightly better?

A wreck in Enn Zed. Cyclist avoids serious injury in riverside crash Hit from behind wreck that turned out not-too-bad considering. His ‘bent is now really bent, but a wrecked bike is better than a wrecked life.

And I’m outta links, time to proof and tag and get this thing published.

Billed @$0.02, Opus the Poet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

The temperature in my office varies between 77 and 78 so why is my butt cold? and the Feed

One of the questions tormenting mankind it is. Either my thermometer is busted, or there is something that has seriously changed in my levels of temperature tolerance. I mean I’m the guy who used to wear shorts year around, now I’m getting cold in a room that is 77°F? That’s a large change of temperature tolerance, or maybe I’m just so heat acclimated that it will take a while to get ready for winter this year. I did notice that I now have a couple of pairs of shorts that fall off if I don’t pooch my tummy out to keep them tight all the time, so maybe I have lost some more body fat or my glutes don’t hang out as far as they used to. Either or both of those could result in my feeling cold because of a lack of internal heat generators or inability to keep the heat I generate contained in my body with insulating body fat.

This popped up again in the Feed. Ex-Episcopal church bishop who killed cyclist pleads guilty to manslaughter, drunken driving and Former Episcopal Church Bishop Who Killed Cyclist While Driving Drunk Pleads Guilty also Ex-Bishop Who Killed Cyclist Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter this too Ex-Bishop Who Fatally Struck Cyclist Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter I could have sworn I did this last month…

It only took two years and the building owners complaining about “squatters”. Police shut down notorious ‘Slabtown’ stolen bike chop shop Why is it they can get a half-dozen cops to run a stop sign sting when some busybody makes a single phone call, but a criminal operation that cops witness in operation goes two years without being able to shut it down?

Same state as WoaB but Kansas is closer than this wreck. Boy struck by vehicle moved to Houston hospital From the damage to the bike I’m going to assume the kid could have made it across the road had the weapon vehicle been doing the 35 MPH speed limit, because I didn’t see anything blaming the victim.

Meanwhile in TN. Bicyclist struck, killed by car in Sumner County and Woman killed while riding bike on Cross Plains highway Hit from behind wreck as the cyclist turned, or is that the next paragraph?

I know for sure this cyclist was hit preparing to make a left turn. Cyclist Struck, Killed In Henderson Co. and Cyclist killed in crash on U.S. 64 in Hendersonville also Henderson Co. Mother Hit, Killed While Riding Bike to Work Notice the cyclist is being blamed for not wearing a helmet or a glow-in-the-dark clown suit, while nothing was said about the drivers not driving according to conditions because they couldn’t stop when they saw her preparing to turn.

In OR two cyclists are hit at the same time by a blind driver. 1 cyclist dead, 1 injured in Newberg crash According to Google the wreck was 30 minutes before sunset and everyone was going west, with an elderly driver behind the wheel of the weapon vehicle. Unfortunately in situations like this cyclists are dependant on drivers doing the right thing and driving according to conditions, because there is nothing a cyclist can do to make herself more visible against the glare of the sun.

If I’m reading this report right the cyclist pulled out right in front of the weapon vehicle without activating the crossing signal. Eleven-year-old boy injured in bike crash The street view shows the switch to activate the crossing lights on a pole on the opposite side of the path from the stop sign, facing away from the path. To put it bluntly this was designed to get cyclists killed.

Some mixed news from IA. UPDATE: Police ID Council Bluffs bicyclist killed, driver arrested Cyclist getting killed = bad, killer getting arrested = good. Another hit-from-behind wreck because the driver failed to drive according to conditions.

I think it’s time for Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: New website seeks to undo Rowena road diet, and more news about kindhearted people

Still in CA. Brentwood: Bicyclist killed by suspected DUI driver ID’d as Brentwood woman Another driver and cyclist headed west, but this time about an hour before sunset.

He owns the championship-winning IndyCar team, he has one driver in the Chase and another who can win his way in, and teams contending for the USSCC in road racing, so he goes for a bike ride to relax. Chip Ganassi injured in bicycling accident I have to say that I didn’t have that much hardware when I broke 4 bones in my wreck.

A wreck in CT leaves a young victim and several people damaged by the wreck from a distance. Classmates remember Waterbury teen killed after being hit by car The only thing about this link that was the same when I filtered it is the URL.

From the really eastern part of the Great White North. Cyclist killed in collision in Sydney Since they aren’t blaming the cyclist on this one and it sounds like it may be an intersection wreck from the side… More Cape Breton Regional Police continue to investigate crash that killed cyclist

Update on another cyclist hit in the Great White North. Injured cyclist is recovering Just a reminder this was a SWSS wreck.

Two links to the same UK wreck at the same paper less than 18 hours apart. Norham Road collision: Man arrested after cyclist injured in North Shields and the later one Norham Road collision: Man due in court after cyclist injured in North Shields The first link makes it sound like a possible attempted murder charge, the second is “causing injury by dangerous driving“.

As more and more cyclists are injured by potholes in the UK, there inevitably comes the backlash against the people who failed to maintain the roads. Injured cyclist plans to sue council over potholes In the UK road users are allowed to sue local agencies in charge of maintaining the roads when they are not maintained.

I have to admit that I clicked on this link mostly to find out what kind of animal a sjambok was. Patrols after sjambok attack on cyclists Silly me, a sjambok is some kind of weapon, but I still don’t know what one looks like so I googled it and found this Sjambok

I think we have a winner for the hyperbolic letter of the year award. Letter: Bicyclists the ‘ISIS of rural roads’ Really, ISIS of rural roads? There must be a huge number of car/bike wrecks where everybody in the car died that I haven’t heard of.

Are you riding with the wrong cranks? Are shorter cranks better?

Rhetorical question: Are you ready to save the world? The World Could Save Trillions With Buses and Bikes

Last link is a different take on the Barnes Dance. Video: Pedestrians Turn Busy Intersection Into Dance Floor

And I feel like hell, again. I need to do something about this, maybe get a better chair?

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I was shanghaied Monday and the Feed is Huge

I was only supposed to be gone a couple of hours yesterday to create new characters for one of the D&D groups I play with that is starting a new campaign, over and done with by 1700 and home in time for dinner, but instead we got into debates about getting the best possible party and balancing the characters out against each other. This continued with point buy calculators going nonstop until everybody’s phones died and we had to quit about 2230. Anyway my Warlock died again last session as we had another TPK by cultists with mind control spells, except the one character who has so many ranks in hide and the hide-in-plain-sight feat that he is essentially invisible at will and who only joined the party for that session so not actually part of the party, just there when the rest of the party showed up. This time I created a Warblade character with huge hit points and incredible Dex, leading to a touch AC of 16 or regular AC of 20 and impossible to catch flat-footed unless unconscious so flat-footed AC is equal to regular AC. Part of my equipment includes +2 gloves of Dex that added to my already high Dex results in the Dex mod of 6. I also have a feat that adds another 2 to Dex for days when I’m going to not wear armor, like on diplomatic missions or other activities when armor is a faux pas, making my AC on those missions 17 touch 18 regular. My current status is part of the Town Guard near the site of the TPK, but on a provisional basis as a reservist when I’m not adventuring. I’m about to go off my reserve status as a monster has invaded the town…

Up first is a breaking story off my Twitter Feed. Ex-Bishop Who Killed Cyclist Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter Ten years for killing a person… And that is one of the harshest sentences I have seen for killing a cyclist in the US. I don’t know if I should be happy she’s getting one of the harshest sentences, or dismayed that 10 years for killing a cyclist is “harsh” when there are people serving life without parole for pot possession.

They are all stupid wrecks, but some moreso than others. Glen Allen woman killed in Hanover bike crash and Cyclist killed in Hanover called “a force for good” The cyclist was hit from behind on a straight road in the middle of the day. I can’t describe this in any other way than “stupid”.

This story is semi-local to me. Sorry, DWI Barbie car girl, drunken driving isn’t cute I hadn’t heard about this one before today, but there was a girl who lost her driving privileges after a DUI, not because a judge took them but because her daddy took the keys to the car back. Princess Spoiled Brat “protested” by driving a pink Barbie™ Jeep™ around campus because she didn’t want to ride a bicycle. I have nothing good to say about convicted DUI “drivers” who think they are “too good” to ride a bike on trips that a Barbie™ Jeep™ can do with ease. Take away the kid’s toy AND the bicycle and let her walk or die of starvation.

This one is a little closer and just as annoying but for different reasons. Mother speaks out on son killed in car/bicycle crash Same old story, LEO with windshield bias ignore evidence that cyclists are riding within the law because of imaginary laws that they think say cyclists shouldn’t be there to get hit.

Here’s a little Daily Ted because I need to cool off a bit before getting into the “other” parts of the feed. Morning Links: NY Times fumbles LA’s Mobility Plan, anti-Rowena road diet petition, and a CicLAvia sneak peek

A WI cyclist is killed but nobody is talking about the wreck. Cudahy man dies after he was struck by vehicle while riding a bicycle in Franklin and Cudahy man, 51, killed while bicycling in Franklin also Cudahy father killed riding his bike hat last link says it was a hit-from-behind wreck and the cyclist was lighted and reflectored far beyond legal minimums. And they can’t decide if the driver did anything wrong. TANJ! If the cyclist was hit from behind like that, the driver always did something wrong, especially in states with minimum passing clearance. This is lazy police work, pure and simple.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a survivor. Boy,12, riding bike struck by vehicle in Lake Worth Oh, that explains it, he was hit riding in the parking lot of a C-Store. Getting hit at 10 MPH and below is only about 2% fatal.

Also in FL. Bicyclist critically injured after being hit by ambulance If the ambulance hit the cyclist on his right side he was more than halfway through the intersection, why do they think he ran the stop sign?

Another hit-from-behind, this one in VA. Family friend: Carrie Wortham, woman killed riding bike, made huge difference and Community mourns death of cyclist killed in Hanover crash This was a person who gave from the heart and was one of us. I am saddened to see her go,

Another DUI wreck in CA (this is why I’m so pissed at the DUI Princess in that article above). Cyclist killed by man who was arrested for drunk driving

Why? She was on a group ride, it’s not like she was invisible. Des Plaines woman riding bike struck by car, killed in Aurora If I’m reading this right she was crossing the road from a bike path or MUP and the traffic controls were either set improperly, or the sightlines were such that the rider was unable to complete her crossing.

LEO in NC are leaving no stone unturned in trying to blame this cyclist. Bicyclist dies in traffic accident on Highway 194 The picture of the weapon vehicle in impound with driver’s side front damage raises 2 questions: Which way was the cyclist hit, head on or from behind, and 2) since both vehicles were in their correct lanes how was the driver not at fault in this wreck? Blaming the rain is just another way of excusing the driver for not driving to conditions.

More than 500 riders in two different locations turn out for memorial rides. At least 500 cyclists honor Birminghamian who was killed last week while cycling and 500 rally in memory of bicyclist killed on the road When I filtered that first link there were several comments about all the cyclists on the road on the tail end of rush hour bolluxing the traffic. I just think they probably would not get 50 people to show up, much less 500. Anywho all the comments were removed.

A wreck just down the road from my in-laws. Update: Police ID LaGrange cyclist injured on Union Vale road Notice the quickness to blame the cyclist for being there… Then again this is NY State, where the cyclist is always wrong unless there is video.

Another link to a wreck from last month. Friend says Hammond cyclist killed in August was safety-minded

Another SWCC wreck with two injured, one fatally. Man killed, woman hospitalized after pickup hits bicycle

I can NOT relate how angry this link leaves me. Granville veterinarian dies in car-bicycle crash The cyclist was hit head-on by a sleeping driver around 1500. Was the driver a third-shift worker out too late?

IA is regarded as a decent but not exceptional state to ride a bike, but lately those with dogs on the fight have noticed there are more wrecks than there should be. Why does Iowa have so many bike-car crashes? Because you have a state full of Faux Nooz watchers? No? How about you have a bunch of spoiled brats who never learned to share and now are incensed that there is someone else using the roads?

Up in the Great White North another cyclist is splatted. Cyclist suffers life-threatening injuries after being struck by car in St. Catharines and St. Catharines cyclist seriously hurt in collision I call this a SWSS wreck, because there’s only the driver’s word on what the cyclist did and we all know how well drivers process the existence of a cyclist in front of the vehicle.

And if you’re falling-down drunk, you might want to wait a while before riding your bike home. Intoxicated cyclist struck, injured in Newmarket

You know when you pass a cyclist too close they get a little hyper? Driver hit in the face with rider’s helmet in road rage outburst I mean look at the evidence: “I got out and he swore at me and said people like me get cyclists killed. He then took his helmet off and smacked me in the face.” There were three other vehicles that passed before the one with the assaulted driver, and then the driver had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting the cyclist. That is not how to do a safe pass. But don’t hit the driver with your helmet even when he gets out of the car to have an argument with you after almost killing you.

And dude, no, just no. Bicycles Don’t Belong on Busy City Streets The wrongness just oozes and drips from every word in this article. Seriously, I have been cycling since LBJ got sworn in and I’m wondering about all the taxes that I wasn’t supposed to pay. Where can I apply for the refund? That’s almost 50 years of refunds due…

And I’m outta links and patience and my back is killing me, I’m going to tag but not proof this because I have been staring at this computer for like 14 hours and I want to have a lie-down.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I went for a massage today, and the Feed

Since the last file of links won’t show up in the Feed folder until after midnight Friday is a good day to go do things. So I went to get a massage to try to do something about my neck, which has stopped getting better about two weeks ago. My range of motion hasn’t improved much over the big jump I had on the day after surgery, and my neck still cracks every time I try looking up. The good thing today was after the massage I was able to turn the overhead light on without using Braille, I could look almost straight up to find the pull chain on the light. That won’t last, but I hope there will be some carryover until I get another massage.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: OC hit-and-run truck driver guilty; SGV bike rider found beaten to death; get ready for CicLAvia Didn’t that trial just start Tuesday?

From down the road a day’s ride. Memorial ride planned Saturday for bicyclist Brian Silva “This from Please Be Kind to Cyclists …”

And motor vehicles in NYC killed the same number of pedestrians in June as people on bicycles killed since 2000. NYPD: Drivers Injured 1,228 Pedestrians and Cyclists in June, and Killed 10 The 10 includes one dead cyclist…

This NYC wreck is just troubling. No Charges for Driver Who Killed 72-Year-Old Cyclist in Sunset Park and 72-Year-Old Brooklyn Cyclist Killed 1 Block From Home As was pointed out in the Streetsblog article, the cyclist or the driver could have run the red, or the cyclist could have entered with the green and gotten balked by pedestrian traffic and then the driver failed to yield. Only one of those scenarios has the cyclist at fault.

Update on a FL fatal hit-and-run. Suspect arrested in hit-and-run that killed teen on bike They did a database search for cars matching the description, narrowed it down by specifying a radius from the wreck and then went and looked at all the cars until they found the weapon vehicle. Exactly what I told the detective to do in my wreck, but he said it was “too hard”…

This Chicago cyclist isn’t fooling around. Cyclist avows injuries, sues three The driver that doored her, the driver that hit her when she got doored, because he shouldn’t have been driving, and the owner of the car that hit her for allowing a driver who was required to have “adult supervision” to drive alone. If she’d lucky she might get enough to pay her doctor and hospital bills and cover her lost income and maybe even the costs of moving after losing her apartment…

A cyclist in VA is found bleeding on the side of the road. Stuart man injured while riding bicycle Apparently they don’t think he was hit by anything, just fell down after getting dizzy or something.

The links to this Boston hit-and-run report keep changing as I write this, so I have no idea what you’re going to find when you click. Truck, driver connected to fatal bicycle crash located out of state That was originally a description of a bog-standard right hook, complete with a semi turning from the wrong lane across a bike lane. Police Find Driver After Fatal Bicycle Accident In Boston and this one Police locate truck that hit, killed bicyclist OK they found the driver and the weapon vehicle. and the comments from the first link are continuing to blame the cyclist even though they are saying the truck violated her right of way.

Another hit-and-run in Chuck. Judge sets bond for woman accused of DUI in fatal Hollywood crash OK that link changed and now the driver was “just” drunk.

I’m just flabbergasted with this link. Man charged in collision that seriously injured cyclist in Chapel Hill What surprised me the most is NC has a reputation of blaming cyclists for being there to get hit, and less than 4 days after the wreck they have criminally charged the driver for making a right hook.

The Mounties got their man! Oshawa man charged in Stouffville-area hit-and-run involving cyclist and Police arrest man in April hit-and-run that left cyclist seriously injured Is that the charges, or a laundry list?

A cyclist in the Great White North left-crosses herself. Cyclist seriously injured in Fort Erie and Senior cyclist serious hurt in Fort Erie collision What more can I say? Left turning vehicles must yield to through vehicles.

This tale from the Great White North sounds exactly like a Buzz Job. Cyclist injured in collision near Delhi, Ont.

This is about as far east as you can get in Canada without taking a ferry. Cyclist injured After looking at the front of that car, if the driver stopped it was only for a fraction of a second and it was burning rubber until contact with the cyclist. IOW this was a left cross at speed.

And Canadians can only stay polite for so long. It’s a mixed up, shook up world when pedestrians punch cyclists

[facepalm] Lorry driver who caused death of Denbighshire cyclist by careless driving has driving ban cut on appeal [/facepalm] Seriously?!? Only 5 years of not-driving for killing while driving and it was still too much? and he didn’t even get community service…

Part 2. County Durham bus driver spared jail after killing Washington cyclist Les Turnbull Another killer driver gets probation and a meaningless driving ban instead of something appropriate, like drawing and quartering.

Texting and driving is bad, umm kay? Deal Mum of teenage cyclist Daniel Squire features in emotional video for new phone app and Mum’s campaign to prevent texting at wheel after death of her son

Oh Ghisallo, fix this junction or direct large heavy vehicles away from it. Bank crash: Cyclist hit by van at notorious junction where Ying Tao was killed in lorry crash The only thing that prevented this from being a fatality was low speed and the weapon vehicle being comparatively light (compared to a semi that is).

Automating road surveys so they are done constantly instead of once or twice a year. Pittsburgh Program Looks to Seal the Cracks in Urban Road Management Good pavement looks textureless to the program, but as the pavement degrades it develops more and more texture, until it hits a point where it has to be replaced. Using this program will keep maintenance from getting behind the curve so that roads can be repaired instead of rebuilt and lower costs.

And when our robotic overlords take over the streets they will be polite to cyclists and pedestrians. This is why self-driving cars will be programmed to let cyclists rule the roads

And that was the last link, and I’m beat.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet (current time is 0227 )

I had errands to run on the Big Feed Day

Now that Mrs. the Poet is home I have access to her account for paying the bills that my income won’t cover (which is just about everything except groceries). So I spent a few 2½ hours out in the 99°F heat paying bills that had to be covered today or face huge late fees. I was fully hydrated before I left and did not stop to rehydrate until I got home, so I’m all hot and sweaty and thirsty now. That’s called “living in Texas”. 😛

Up first the biggest story continues to be the cyclist hit by a texting driver in OK. Young Teacher Biking Across America Senselessly Killed By Driver On Her Phone also Key Biscayne native killed riding bike on Oklahoma highway and this Schoolteacher Killed by Distracted Driver While Biking Cross-Country for Charity: Officials Wow a bike wreck covered by People magazine! NYC teacher killed during cross-country bike ride for charity And from Gothamist NYC School Teacher Biking Across Country Killed By Distracted Driver In Oklahoma and even this Teacher on cross-country charity bike trek killed by driver looking at cellphone in Okla. Am I allowed to say this was a senseless death? Because this was a seriously senseless death. This is even easier to avoid than a DUI murder: put the fucking phone away when you are behind the wheel or handlebars. BAM! your driving or riding abilities are improved 1000% over your on-the-phone state.

Our Daily Ted, Part 1. Morning Links: It’s Mobility Monday — contact your councilmember to support LA’s Mobility Plan as written

And Part Two. Update: 23-year old Newport Beach e-bike rider died after colliding with parked van and Corona Del Mar Cyclist Killed After Crashing into Parked Car Something caused that cyclist to be a couple feet off the curb at nearly the speed limit when he hit the back of that van. Seriously I have seen bikes hit by cars going 40 MPH on the wrong side of the road that had less front end damage than the bike in this wreck. Unfortunately the only witness in police custody has been transferred to the coroner’s custody…

Part three. An open letter to the LA City Council in support of the Mobility Plan 2035

And another wreck in Sooner Country. Cyclist killed in Pontotoc County crash If the street view of that intersection is to be believed, there is no way to safely cross that ramp as a cyclist, and no way to avoid the frontage road riding from northeast to southwest or vice-versa in certain areas. This is as much an infrastructure failure as a wreck between two vehicles.

Interesting response to a MI wreck. Boy seriously injured in car-bike accident in Lansing What is interesting about this report is in the comments section, where none of the comments blamed the cyclists involved, and at least one directly blamed the driver. And this is in spite of a Street View that shows the weapon vehicle had right of way and the cyclists were facing stop signs. I wasn’t able to follow the street view far enough to find a speed limit sign, but from the comments it can’t have been too high as this was in a residential area.

Another hit-and-run in PA. Cyclist injured in hit and run in East Liberty, police say If you see a car missing a mirror near Philly, call the number in the article.

More on that 2 vehicle bike wreck that was minus any motor vehicles in Philly. 68-Year-Old Man Seriously Injured After Collision With Another Cyclist While Riding Bike Not known if the victim was the one riding salmon or the other one.

Another bike wreck minus motor vehicles in MA. PMC Rider Seriously Injured In North Attleboro Bike Crash The PMC is a ride on the long direction of MA from NY to the sea going east. Neither of these guys finished the ride.

And in upstate NY they can’t figure out how a cyclist got hit from behind. Bike rider seriously injured in Kinderhook collision Seriously? “when a Hyundai Azera driven by Leah Tricozzi, 45, of Valatie, heading northwest on Route 28, struck Donald J. Wilber, 68, who was biking in the same direction in front of her, for unknown reasons.” When a car hits a car travelling the same direction do you try to figure out a way to blame the slower car for getting hit, or do you just write the damn ticket?

Another one killed in the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike or walk. Fatal bicycle crash in Polk County and 2 Die in Separate Polk Crashes The cyclist appears to have been setting up to make a left turn on one of the intersecting streets in the area. I call this one an infrastructure failure, the cyclist was doing what it takes to make a legal left turn and appears to have had the legal requirements of lights and reflectors (not mentioned means everything legal 99% of the time).

Meanwhile in NC a drunk crosses the centerline and hits a cyclist head on. Driver charged with DWI after cyclist hit, killed in Hickory Remember what I said about the bike running into the back of the van in CA? This is the picture I was writing about. Notice the blood on the roof of the weapon vehicle, which sustained additional damage from hitting a pole after hitting the cyclist on the shoulder of the road. It almost looks like the driver was targeting the cyclist.

These kind of wrecks make me the craziest because they are almost always the fault of the cyclist and so easy to prevent. Huron: 15-year-old bicyclist killed by train See what I mean? All that is needed to prevent this wreck is staying behind the crossing guard.

Another hit-and-run in OH. Pickerington man injured in bicycle crash If my area readers see a vehicle matching the description of the weapon vehicle notify LEO at the number given in the article.

Read the article, then read the comments to see why the article fell on deaf ears blind eyes. Editorial: An open letter to cyclists, motorists Seriously, it is like they read the article and then completely dismissed it because it didn’t comply with their prejudices.

More of the same in a different accent. Bicyclists seek solutions following accidents

This is just one city among thousands in the US, albeit one of if not the largest city (depending on how you define “largest”) so multiply this by say, 100? NYC’s $138 Million Pothole Problem

Tragic story from the Great White North. Did vigilante kill Michael Sullivan for pretending to take child’s photo? Not a True Canadian then. And talk about jumping to fatal conclusions.

Ugghh! Cyclist struck by SUV in Oshawa intersection Who outside of the weapon vehicle is saying the cyclist ran the red light?

I was uncertain about including this one because it was so low-information. Cyclist dead after collision in Vaughan

Not a good ride in Jolly Olde. RideLondon 2015: cyclist dies from suspected heart attack while climbing steep Surrey hill I’m reading separate reports that I can’t link to at the moment that are blaming heat and dehydration for the death.

And here is one of the Good Guys. Cyclist going the distance to help terror victims

And I am out of links, hurrah!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet (this will be my sig for the rest of the month to celebrate my upcoming Death Day 08/31)

Dealing with dysfunction and people I love, and the Feed

Want a train wreck? Try combining a depressed Trans* person, and Mrs. the Poet’s denying of the existence of depression, forgetting the fact that I have been dealing with varying degrees of depression ever since the wreck that temporarily killed me. The seismic shocks have been rocking the house all afternoon. And I mean seismic, Mrs. the Poet can be very … passionate about things. I love her (obviously) but she has blind spots in her worldview. I probably do too. I think everyone has to one degree or another. It’s just that this particular blind spot makes it hard to explain about the situation. This is similar to trying to talk to a person about climate change when they don’t believe there is any such thing. The outcome is seldom pretty.

Up first, more anti-cyclist H8 on display in the media. Double standards on bicycle safety? Two hit-and-run wrecks, one a pedestrian with lots of publicity and information about the wreck, the other an un-named cyclist with no information other than he was killed on a particular highway and was about the same age as the pedestrian.

Hey, a city is taking responsibility for creating infrastructure that gets people killed or injured, and for a driver that t-boned a car with a dumptruck. Denver City Council OKs settling 2 crash cases involving cyclist, motorist for $235K The cyclist was caught in a road seam that flipped him over the handlebars, the driver was hit by a truck and “severely injured”.

In the UK, a cyclist can take a cycling course instead of getting a ticket. Cambridge cyclists to face course or fine if they break law Note that of the three infractions listed 2 are reactions to crappy infrastructure, not things that are in themselves dangerous to others. The other one is riding without lights.

From Oz comes a report of a highly biased and inflammatory slur against cyclists on a popular game show. Family Feud question about ‘something annoying a cyclist might do’ causes backlash The comments are priceless worthless.

A bit of US infrastructure news. Motivated to ride a bike? Bike-share company changes name Another sign that Portland has lost its mojo, as Alta Bike Share leaves Portland and fires all the bikey people that were running the company.

And quiet day, those are all the links I could find today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Good news and bad news after visiting the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

Busy as the proverbial one-armed wallpaper hanger, and the Feed

We’re leaving tonight for NY taking a 2 day ride on the Dawgbus. As a result I expect to be out of communications until I hit a bus station, and I don’t expect to see the inside one of those long enough to establish communications with the blog and still get the things I need to get done at the station for life support done. We here at Casa de El Poeta have been taking the Dawgbus on long trips since before there was a Casa de El Poeta, so we are experienced in the ins and outs of dealing with transfers and tracking luggage and whatnot. One of the hardest things about long trips with few or no layovers is life support. They have toilets on the bus, but no food or drink you didn’t carry on with you. So one of the things that has to be done when you hit the station is hydration, buying a cold drink (at 3 times the going rate at a C-store or vending machine away from a bus station) is usually a must.

Anyway, we are packing clothes for the trip, electronics are being sorted into the go bag, and last-minute preparations (getting a haircut for one) are being taken care of. Which is making Mrs. the Poet and me run around like the proverbial chickens.

Up first is a UK wreck, where the driver in a hit-and-run tried to eliminate the witnesses. Gee, you would think hitting the cyclist might have been on purpose. Man who went to check on injured cyclist is hurt as police seek aggressive driver following Ilminster incident The deliberate assault with a motor vehicle on the witness/person giving comfort after the initial hit-and-run make me strongly suspect the driver hitting the cyclist was no more an “accident” than the assault on the witness. Take it from me when someone targets you with their vehicle it is very hard to avoid getting hit. What makes me angry about this one is that the initial assault will be treated like “an accident” and little to no punishment will be levied, but the second assault will be treated as an assault with a deadly weapon because there can be no doubt about the deliberateness of the second attack.

Update on the GA cyclist assaulted with an SUV earlier this month. Injured cyclist’s family, girlfriend remain hopeful The red Nitro should still be damaged, or there would have been a report from a body shop by now. BOLO to my readers who are local to the wreck in suburban Atlanta.

Speaking of assault with a motor vehicle, this double hit-from-behind is either an assault or a driver that has zero competence behind the wheel. Onawa, Iowa, cyclist killed in collision with vehicle; another injured I mean how do you “pass” 2 cyclists so closely that one os dead and the other is critically injured in a ditch?

And what is up with ABQ lately? Two more cyclists hurt in accidents It almost looks like someone was trying to get all the cyclists off the streets, this makes 6 dead or injured since the beginning of June. The wreck with the drunk driver reads like another deliberate assault fueled by alcohol, the garbage truck incident was not covered well enough to allow analysis to avoid. Both wrecks could be prevented by getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch”. Of course part of that is getting the local LEO extremely competent and knowledgable…

Since we are bouncing all over the place, here’s a wreck in MO. Cyclist killed in St. Louis hit-and-run is ID’d; police find car suspected in case and Victim identified in fatal hit and run in north St. Louis also Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run Hit from behind by street racers, and the bike was utterly destroyed. I could not see a single component of the bike that was undamaged. This is another one of those wrecks that the closing speed of the weapon vehicle makes avoiding the wreck impossible, and segregated infrastructure the only way to prevent the wreck. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any way of getting stoopid people out from behind the wheel with the current licensing system.

Speaking of Stoopid Drivers, here is an AL wreck where a driver makes a right turn directly into a cyclist crossing with the light. Cyclist injured in Monday accident in Gulf Shores identified I have never seen a wreck that better illustrated “looking but not seeing” than this one. There were 2 cyclists riding single file and crossing with the green and the driver went right into the trailing cyclist. Completely and utterly blind to the existence of the cyclist in front of the car. I would say intersection protocols but nope, not going to help in a wreck like this. I have to say the only way to prevent a wreck like this even with infrastructure “up to Dutch” would be somehow preventing this particular driver from getting access to a motor vehicle, much less a license to drive one. Even a segregated cycle track with separate signal phases for bicycles are helpless in the face of a blind driver making a right on red.

OK this wreck is just bizarre. Bicyclist killed in crash at 15th, Market OK I’m going to go with the “child’s bike” on this one as a BMX style bike, but the rest of the report of the middle-aged man riding against traffic and pulling into the intersection against a red light he couldn’t see because there was no signal for wrong-way traffic…

Another strange wreck report, this time from GA. Cyclist hit, killed on Peach Orchard Road SWSS by a cyclist riding against traffic? I would really have to see the wreckage of the bike to make a call on this one. First I would have to say that if the salmon accusation was accurate then ride with traffic and apply hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A buzz job in IN. 1 injured in Elkhart truck, bicycle crash The truck passed the bicycle and the cyclist wrecked after hitting the curb, yeah that’s pretty much one of the definitions of a buzz job. The only reason the cyclist wasn’t run off the road was because he wrecked on the curb first. The curb made hit-from-behind protocols unusable (or maybe that was why he wrecked against the curb, trying to go off the road as his escape route), so that only leaves getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” as the viable method to prevent the wreck.

A limited-information wreck in MA. Cyclist injured in Provincetown crash Cyclist wearing a helmet seriously injured in a wreck no involving a motor vehicle? And that’s it?

Another CA cyclist is killed in a wreck. Man hit on bicycle in Monterey dies Other than the ages of the operators involved there ain’t a whole bunch of information on this wreck.

Moving to Canuckistan, this driver is about to get hosed after the cyclist he hit dies a lingering death in hospital. Hit and run charges upgraded after victim succumbs to injuries And there was so much Stoopid being spread in the comments that the comments were closed… Wow!

And the town that saw 5 cyclists nearly killed in a single wreck/assault with a deadly weapon 4 years ago sees another cyclist hurt. Cyclist injured when struck by a car in Kanata Saturday morning And we get another person who believes in the power of the majik foam hat in preventing injury to things not even covered by the hat…

Update on the wreck where the driver was let off because the speed limit sign was in the wrong place when the cyclist was hit waking the bike through the crosswalk. I miss Jaye every day: Partner of cyclist killed in crash plans to sue driver Her wife is suing the driver that was almost double the speed limit when he killed the cyclist. And the infrastructure hasn’t been corrected either as the wife was nearly hit while placing flowers at the site.

The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow in Enn Zed. Truckie who hit cyclist in court The cyclist was plainly visible with lights and reflective garments which kind of puts the earlier coroner’s recommendations that all cyclists wear hi-viz in proper perspective. (It only works in court to get more money out of the driver that hits you, not to actually prevent a wreck.)

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: The risks of biking in the Valley, Pippa makes it all the way, and a road rager attacks rescuer

Lifestyle as the relatives of a cyclist killed back when this blog was still young transfer the reward money for the arrest of the killer driver to a dog park memorial for the cyclist. Family of cyclist killed in hit-and-run donates reward fund for Capitola dog park This is poetic, because the cyclist’s dog survived the wreck and waited with the body until it was discovered when people went to investigate the barking dog.

And those were all the links that gave me fits today. No giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus