I just tweeted this but anyway

The anti-depressant works at keeping me from being depressed. What it doesn’t do is keep me awake, like at all. I have zero energy and can barely keep my eyes open, I’m yawning constantly and also keep doing that “wake up stretch” my body does when I’m fighting off sleep to get something done late at night. Except it is 1630 not 2330. I think my body is reacting to my efforts to put me back on a diurnal schedule rather than a nocturnal one. I keep getting up earlier each day but still end up staying awake until 0300 or 0400, even when I get up at 0800 or 0900 the day before. It’s just not fair, now that I’m not depressed I want to sleep like I am worse depressed than before I started taking the med…

Now I’m gonna force myself to take care of things around the house including myself and the cats. Write to you later.

PSA, Opus

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I was on the road for 6 hours and my feet are killing me, and the Feed

I really should have gotten my toes done before doing all that walking, but one of the reasons I did all that walking was to deposit my check so I could get my toes done. At least this time I didn’t put any holes in my socks. So this put me back home starting filtering at 2030 instead of my normal 1430. Something else slowing me down is the almost 400 political campaign e-mails I got today in advance of the end-of-quarter deadline at midnight, because scattered amongst those money beggars are the online newsletters I check every day for an occasional bike story that doesn’t show in the Feed. I generally get on or two links a week out of that, sometimes way more, so it’s worth the effort.

OK finished filtering and it is 0322. For those not used to a 24 clock, that’s 22 minutes after Gigi loses her Internet every day, which happens at 3 AM here.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Former CM Rosendahl passes away, Calbike endorsements, and holding hands to stop texting

You have to start somewhere. HOUSE PANEL EXPLORES ROADSIDE SALIVA TESTING At the moment there is next to nothing known about weed and other legal or semi-legal drugs other than at some concentration they impair driving. Alcohol has a well-known effect on two critical aspects of driving, judgement and reaction time. What does pot effect? damifino.

We have one of these in the area I live and I was even a member of it at one time. Bike Advisory Committee Works for Better Bicycling in San Francisco You think anyone pays more attention to these guys than got paid to the Bike/Ped advisory committee at NCTCOG?

Infrastructure-related wreck in MD, no cars involved. Women injured in Crownsville bicycle crash There was not much coherent posted about this wreck, “they hit a bump and crashed” is the entirety of the report.

This is just sad. 7-year-old Cape Girardeau girl recovering from serious injuries after being hit while riding bike There is nothing blaming the victim here, perhps the driver of the suv that ran her over was (mostly) at fault. Nothing on the mode except that an intersection was involved.

I had a very hard tie understanding this when I first filtered it. Legislation would steer bicycle safety in right direction It’s still word salad in need of editing, but I think it says that bicycles would always have right of way over motor vehicles. That sounds very much like a presumed liability law, assuming that cyclists are not going to put themselves deliberately out there to get hit, because that really hurts and getting hit by a car takes a long time to recover from.

One new wreck and one old wreck from a NC. Cyclists struck by motorists Another left cross in NC, followed by a rehash of the Belize wreck.

Hmmm, drivers may not know they are driving virtually blind. Study illuminates big performance gap for car headlights Just like for bike lights, it’s not just the amount of light put out, it’s putting the light where it will do the most good.

Infrastructure from far West Canuckistan. Victoria Mayor says fatal collision involving cyclist was preventable The mayor is blaming the wreck on the lack of a barrier between the truck and the cyclist. Since the wreck was a right cross I have my doubts about that, but if they can do protected intersections like the Dutch… Maybe?

One of the strongest memes of this blog is don’t hit the pedestrians! Cyclist breaks little boy’s leg – then rides off: Can you help find the culprit? Especially don’t hit-and-run the pedestrians, even if they walk into the side of the bike as you are passing them. And watch out for little kids!

“Oh, the horrors I saw as I held the hand of the woman I ran over with my truck!” Lorry driver tells court how he pleaded with injured cyclist to ‘hold on’ This should not have been allowed to be presented to the jury. Remorse after the fact has no bearing on if an unlawful act occurred. But it seemed to have the desired effect on the jury. Husband of cyclist killed by London lorry cries as driver is acquitted and Family “devastated” as London lorry driver cleared of killing cyclist

Another UK cycling death. Tributes to ‘gentle giant’ cyclist Steve Wand who was killed in Westerham Good Friday collision The wreck appears to be due to human error on the part of the cyclist who died.

More UK infrastructure. ‘More imagination’ called for to combat thousands of extra cars coming into West Cambridge

More infrastructure, this time from the Emerald Isle. Petition for lights after cyclist death

Another one dies in Oz. Perth cyclist dies after being knocked off bike in Gosnells Did someone declare an open season on Oz cyclists?

Seriously, is there an open season on Oz cyclists? Three WA cyclists in car collisions

And it’s now 0457, and I can barely see the screen to type. I will come back to suffer some more after a few hours of sleep, blessed sleep.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I broke a tooth last night, and the Feed

I had a piece come off one of my few remaining teeth last night as I was putting the post to bed. It’s a very strange situation, half of the front of one of my incisors just fell off the tooth while I was eating a crunch candy bar. Notice the “crunch” is not capitalized because Mrs. the Poet bought generic candy at the Dollar Store rather than the name brand stuff. I don’t think the fact that the candy was not brand had anything to do with ¹/₄ of the tooth coming off. At the moment it isn’t uncomfortable except for the sharp edge that was left exposed to my lip and I have managed to only cut myself on that the once. But I have to remember that I have a broken tooth and bite and chew accordingly.

Early Christmas gift notice. Dumbing of Age: The Fifth Book Collection I love the title of the book. Seriously, love. And I want a physical paper book, not just the PDF. I’m old fashioned that way. I have a bunch of books on PDF but I also have many tons of paper books.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: A very sad weekend in bike racing, and bikesplaining from a windshield perspective That “windshield perspective” link is a riot.

Local but not actually bike related. Driver to face charges in West Dallas crash that killed 3 children How fast was he going to kill three people inside a light armored vehicle, and critcally injure another, while also inflicting injuries on the driver?

Another driver runs a stop sign hitting a cyclist on a through street and LEO can’t decide if the driver should be charged? Broomfield cyclist injured after car collision The one earlier was in CA this one is in CO. And to answer the question, the driver ran a stop sign and caused injury to a cyclist with the right of way, you better at least give a ticket, if not an assault charge.

Hit-and-run wreck in IL. UPDATE: Altamont Man Riding Bicycle Struck and Killed on Route 40 Monday Morning, Search for Driver That Left the Scene Continues Hit-from-behind wreck or maybe just a buzz job that killed because of aerodynamic effects causing the rider to get caught in the rear wheels.

Nice little infrastructure fight in NJ. Bike-Share Fight Brews in New Jersey You can ride your out-of-town bike-share bike but you can’t park it because, it ain’t our bike-share bike. Sure that will pass muster with the constitutional folks?

And since we are discussing NJ infrastructure why not NYC? The Official (Mostly Accurate) 2016 NYC Bike Map Is Here Looks nice, but most bike infrastructure looks nice when it’a lines on paper.

And since we are in NY here is the NYP take on the stupid rich guy riding a bike from L.A. to Vegas in less than 48 hours for a $1.2 million bet. Instagram playboy reveals why he’s risking his life for $600K OK 10 years ago this would not be that big a deal for me to do since I was riding 120 miles round trip to have lunch with a friend, but since having “Chris Christie” move in and be evicted from my neck I probably couldn’t do this in the time limit today.

How to fund cycling infrastructure while reducing carbon pollution. Comment of the Week: Raise the gas tax one penny per fatality If this had been in effect for last year using the 2013 fatalities there would be a $52.80/gal tax on gas last year, because it usually takes until August or September to get all the vulnerable users totalled up and then the tax would go into effect the next year after that. The tax would be $56.04 nationally this year. OR would have a $0.64/gallon tax based on the 2014 statistics while we in TX would be ponying an extra $5.26/gallon. Yes I think this would be an excellent way of reducing vulnerable user fatalities, both because drivers will be incentivized to not hit vulnerable users and as a way to build infrastructure that protects vulnerable users from motor vehicles.

Another infrastructure article from America’s Copenhagen. Guest article: Want safer streets? Ask for them I guess asking nicely would work, if there was an “Or else” with teeth attached to it.

More from the DIY DoT in Portland. What are all these unauthorized orange traffic cones telling us? They are telling us that the bike lanes are incomplete without something sticking up to keep drivers out of them.

And tragedy in Portland. Gresham police say 10-year-old boy’s death on Burnside is “horrible accident” This is one of those wrecks that human nature and bad infrastructure combine to create a situation with no winners.

Do you know the words before you click the link? The three words that mean so much when they come from a cyclist. “Also known as calling your pass.”

Wreck in West Canuckistan. Cyclist, 73, killed in collision with delivery truck in Victoria Truck wreck with a cyclist at an intersection, probably a right hook but since LEO aren’t telling anything we don’t know.

Infrastructure article from Jolly Olde. Chris Boardman dismisses Janet Street-Porter’s anti-cycle infrastructure article as shouting and stamping devoid of logic

Still in the UK, this guy did something extraordinary. Tamworth man completes gruelling 1,000 mile cycling challenge John o’Groats to Land’s End is comparable to riding from Texarcana to El Paso by way of Brownsville or Amarillo.

Another extraordinary achievement in Jolly Olde. Shanaze Reade sets Guinness World Record – for cycling Wall of Death Of course a track cyclist would be good for this. It’s like the world’s smallest and steepest banked velodrome.

Another link to that attempted murder in Oz. Police seize car in connection with hit and run that left cyclist in critical condition Get ‘im! grr!

Another wreck in Oz. UPDATE: Cyclist, 78, killed in freak accident If witness accounts are to be believed he may have had some kind of medical condition just prior to hitting the parked vehicle while riding uphill. Or in other words he wasn’t going fast enough to get injured from the impact, much less killed, so something must have happened before the wreck.

More wreck news from Oz. Police question man after cyclist killed in hit-and-run near Perth [facepalm] Seventy-three years old and “didn’t know” he hit anything.[/facepalm] And there was a second cyclist hit who didn’t even merit a separate article… More Three dead in Easter Monday crashes as weekend toll rises to four

Still in Oz. Loved ones remember man with passion for cycling and humour

Responding to the many injuries and the death in the pro peloton. The Elephant Not in the Room

The good news is getting on your bike will cause you to lose a few pounds. Middle-aged cycle commuters typically 4-5kg lighter than those who drive to work The bad news is unless you restrict calorie intake and really push your commutes long you probably won’t lose much past that initial loss. Of course you really don’t “need” to because your fat to lean ratio will be so improved.

Review of an e-assist bike. Testing the Bosch Edgerunner This is a mid-drive bike as opposed to the cheaper but less able hub motor bikes.

And while we are on e-assist, here is a cell comparison for the ones who make their own packs. Ebenezer Scrooge’s 18650 Ebike Battery Shopping Guide For 2016 If you make your own packs you can get bleeding edge performance for a season, maybe a year. That’s how much the technology is moving, still. It’s not the same as when I was doing experiments with SLA just as NiMH cells became cheaply available and you could get twice the capacity at half the weight, but there are still major advances out there in capacity and especially current delivery.

And it’s after 0400, I’m going to bed. Sorry Gigi for posting late again.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another late night coming, and the Feed

Yep, I know this one won’t get out until after Gigi loses her Internet access (sorry Gigi) at 0300 CDT. I don’t know what time of day that is for her, but that is a strange time of day to lose Internet access, you know what I mean? And I’m still puzzled over how she’s getting on the Information Superhighway, seeing as how she lacks fingers and thumbs to use a standard device, and had serious difficulty expressing herself verbally without resorting to certain 4,7, and 13 letter words that are generally not used in polite company (some that I didn’t use around her, I don’t swear in Yiddish). So how she gets online is a question that may never get answered.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike collisions down across LA, hit-and-runs up in IE, and special offer on a new lighted backpack That’s a nice backpack, shame I hove zero chance at it.

Still in CA. PUBLIC SAFETY: Number of Inland area hit-and-run accidents soaring Make hit-and-run fatalities equivalent in punishment to murder and raise the budget to investigate the deaths so that it would be highly unlikely that you would not get arrested, and require that all vehicles used to commit hit-and-run be destroyed in the most public way possible, and in short order you would get people deciding that staying and taking the lower punishment and keeping your car would be the wisest course of action.

I still say this person was riding in the inside lane in preparation to make a left turn when she was hit from behind. Cyclist killed by car was loved by many

Also still in CA. Two die in separate gang-related shootings in Santa Ana Avoiding this is about as easy as avoiding a flat-black car running without headlights at night and at high speed from behind you. You literally can’t see this coming.

A little closer to home, they found the lowlife who killed a cyclist and ran away in NOLA. Driver arrested in fatal hit-and-run that killed Monique Massey, NOPD says and Police make arrest in crash that killed bicyclist There is some dispute about the color of the weapon vehicle, but that is just an example of why eye-witness testimony is so unreliable, /especially when one of the witnesses was close to being another victim.

Just two days ride south of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Cyclist injured in hit-and-run; police seek driver Left cross, minor traffic ticket. Leaving the scene of an injury wreck, felony with mandatory prison. Watching an idiot get abused by cops for being an idiot, priceless.

Another link to that story of the cyclist hit in WA that used an internet comment section to identify the weapon vehicle. Cyclist has life-threatening in hit-and-run crash Again, a hearty “Thanks” to the readers of Jalopnik for their outstanding contribution to solving this crime.

Down the coast a bit from that wreck, infrastructure news from America’s Copenhagen. Surprise! Gasoline sellers dominate funding of campaign to stop Portland gas tax

This is just soooo Portland. City preps for Bernie Sanders rally with extra bike parking Yep, Bernie’s coming, better get the bike valets ready… 😀

The DIY DoT in Portland calls itself the Portland “Transformation” Bureau, and they have been busy. Portland ‘Transformation’ bureau unveils a new trick: ’20 is Plenty’ signs

Somebody ran a stop sign in Casa Grande. Bicyclist struck by car in CG flown to hospital If I’m looking at the Street View of the wreck right. the cyclist was on the through street and the driver ran the stop sign.

On the other coast in CT. Cyclist clipped and injured on Route 107 The narrative suggests a buzz job or punishment pass, either way use the hit-from-behind protocols to prevent or reduce injury.

It isn’t even officially open yet, but it has been wrecked twice? Updated: Driver damage to bike lane barrier now at $15,000 You know bicycle infrastructure would be a lot cheaper if so much work wasn’t required to keep people from driving on it.

Flori-not-duh. Miami-Dade Merges Public Works, Transportation Into One Agency They both work basically the same place. I mean think of it, how many times have you seen street built and made perfectly smooth, and then 6 months to maybe 2 years later they tear it up to repair or replace the sewers or water mains or maybe the storm drains, when if they had done that while the streets were already torn up while they were replaced it would have cost less and when they got done the streets would stay smooth an in great shape for many years to come. When they patch the street after doing work months or years after the street was rebuilt the street is never as smooth and it jut keeps getting worse and worse at the edges of those patches until they have to get repatched and then potholes start forming and long before it should be the street needs to be rebuilt again.

Another LEO acts like bike helmets protect children from getting hit by cars. Trooper donates helmets after student’s bike accident Kids being kids there will probably be a few wrecks, and maybe one or two kids will not get hurt as bad because they had a helmet on. Also kids being kids a large number will get disgusted at wearing the helmets and stop riding bikes and develop some kind of disease caused by inactivity. And the number of kids who quit will greatly outnumber the kids who didn’t get hurt because they had a helmet on.

I had to look up where this was to figure out why a large group of Americans would be riding bikes there “Belize is a country on the eastern coast of Central America. It is the only country in Central America whose official language is English.” Wikipedia. Five Cyclist Injured on Highway in Western Belize

Humorous infrastructure from Jolly Olde. ‘This cyclist is mortal’: acerbic T-shirts warn drivers of their behaviour Dying is not so bad, it’s that bit between the injury that kills you and actually being dead that is a B*tch. And then the part where you come back alive after being dead? Mother %*$(#$ that hurts!

Oh come on! Hunt for Vic hit-run motorist and Do you know this car? Police release image of car wanted over Ballarat hit-run This was no “accident”, this was attempted murder. No way for a human cyclist to avoid a wreck like this.

Still in Oz. Two cyclist hurt in Vic hit-and-run crash This is another link to that 2 out of 3 wreck I posted on yesterday.

And I’m finally out of links. See you Sunday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Now we march into the dark, and the Feed

There’s nothing deep about that headline, it means I’m working late again tonight. I have another burn test of the new 1K lumen headlight running at the 500 lumen setting to get an average burn time on the lowest setting and see if it’s an improvement on the Cateye LED light I got as a gift back when Blue was a new arrival. Given that I’m testing on the lowest setting against a light that only had one setting, and that this light has a daytime strobe setting that will put your eyes out (or maybe that’s the “disco party” setting?) the winner is predetermined. As far as value is concerned the new light wins hands down as it comes with a battery pack and charger where the “old” Cateye required the purchase of AA batteries, and a charger if you wanted rechargeables, plus had (has? I don’t know if the light is even still available) a higher price, about twice as much as I got the light for from Amazon. On a quick web search I discovered the old light is no longer available and had a rated burn time of 90 hours with alkaline AA batteries. Converting the old light’s candlepower rating (2200) to lumens (27.6K!?! WTF?) (more internet searching) OK cp is not directly convertible to Lumen without doing a spherical target test. Let’s just say that after a side by side comparison the lowest setting on the new light is roughly the same as the old light. The main thing is the old light had to be disassembled to change or charge the battery pack, the new one I just unplug the battery from the light and plug it into the charger until the light on the charger changes from red to green them I plug it back into the light. So, progress right?

Up first because of proximity to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, they actually charged a driver for hitting a cyclist in OK. Charges in bicyclist’s death bring ‘sense of justice,’ his father says The amuseing in a black humor kind of way is with all the other charges they filed they remembered to include the 3 foot passing law which was obviously broken when she ran the cyclists over from behind.

In the same vein in DE. Driver gets 8 years for Hockessin cyclist death For those of you not reading this blog back then, this was the wreck where the driver was speeding and taking his half out of the middle and assumed drunk because he ran from the scene after hitting the cyclist head-on in the cyclist’s lane, preventing LEO from knowing his BAC% at the time of the wreck or close enough to it to file those charges.

Another unusual case in LA, where the cyclist drowned before he could die from getting hit. Driver in hit-and-run that killed cyclist Lon Lomas to be tried Tuesday

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Koretz aid promises Westwood bike lane removal, and the Bieb nearly takes out bikers in the ‘Bu No, I don’t know why the Bieb ran out into traffic either.

Still in CA is this sad story. Elderly Bicyclist Hit, Killed in Novato The 16 YO driver failed to yield to traffic in the sidewalk. If the old guy had been walking instead of riding a bike the outcome likely would have been the same.

Is your city increasing the amount of driving by making parking almost universally available? The problem with too much parking I know that there are places I won’t ride to because there’s nothing to lock up to when I get there, so this has at least some validity on the bicycle level.

A subtle way to kill the poors in your city. The inequality of sidewalks Build your city so that if you don’t drive you have to walk a lot just to do things like buy food or clothing, then don’t provide safe places to walk or jobs that pay well enough to buy that car. You have to be rich enough to buy a car to get jobs that allow you to make enough to buy a car, locking people into a permanent underclass. Insidious, ain’t it?

Gee, riding a bicycle instead of driving actually reduces GHG emissions. Pushing cycling to cut carbon emissions This is published in an area that has been a hotbed of climate deniers until recently, but hot, dry, summers and cold, wet, winters in an area that has been notable by the lack of either of those extremes has caused some to change. Hence the repetition of already-known information.

That idiot from MO has attracted attention in Jolly Olde. Proposed Missouri law to make cyclists carry 15ft high flag As I have pointed out previously the law would make bikes 2’6″ taller than the Federal limit without having to get an oversized vehicle permit. This would effectively ban bicycles from the roads.

Some UK residents are upset that they will be charged for storing their private vehicles in public space. Tamworth residents set to pay to park outside their own homes Ain’t it awful? XD

First of several links from Malta. Protection for vulnerable road users (1) and Protection for vulnerable road users (2)

Then there is this one also from Malta. Saints on the road

A South African driver is convicted for killing a cyclist. Tucville man found guilty of dangerous driving that resulted in cyclist’s death For some reason I’m unsurprised the driver was not Caucasian.

And a more complete report on the motorcycle cop physically assaulting a cyclist on his bike and causing a wreck. Police officer ‘pushed cyclist off his bike’ Interesting that LEO are saying the cop’s helmet cam video does not show the cop pushing the cyclist but they don’t release the video, and two witnesses from very different vantage points say the cop rode right up and gave the cyclist a shot to the shoulder causing him to fall.

And I’m ready for bed. There may be some misspelled words that slipped by the spell check, but the links should go to the right places.

BIlled @$0.02, Opus

Still cleanly poor not filthy rich, and the Feed

There were no winners in TX for the PowerBall jackpot, so I’m still a starving writer. At least I have a well-lighted garret with cats to keep my feet warm. I really would have liked to have a chunk of that money though.

Up first:

'I stay safe in the city by assuming everyone is an idiot', says cyclist (63) – Independent.ie https://t.co/f5d0ipfwpm via @Indo_LIFE

— Cycling Top News (@CyclingTopNews) January 15, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Truer words were seldom said.

The Big Story today comes from Oz, where a motorcycle cop assaults a cyclist on his bike because he wasn’t wearing a helmet. Motorbike cop ‘pushed’ cyclist to the ground after he allegedly ran red light and Police officer pushed cyclist off his bike in Sydney’s CBD, witnesses say Listen to the witness report, the cyclist was riding with the light when the motorcycle cop rode up from behind at a very low throttle and just shoved him off the bike right in front of the witness. No siren, no verbal warning to stop, just “putt putt putt wham!” and the cyclist going “WTF!?!” If there was anything the cop said that happened it happened outside the view and earshot of the witnesses.

Infrastructure news from America’s Copenhagen. After years of planning and compromises, 20s Bikeway is poised for construction I don’t know why but it always feels like the compromises are on the cyclists’ side.

More on the same general subject from the same location. TriMet projects on Orange Line path at SE 8th should improve cycling If only there was some process where actual users of the infrastructure could see and comment on a project before it’s built so that dangerous or annoying mistakes could be caught and fixed without having to tear out the mistakes, saving $$. Something like maybe an advisory committee of cyclists and pedestrians? Or would that make too much sense?

Our Daily Ted, part 1. Morning Links: Alleged drunk hit-and-run driver faces charges, and Che Garcetti leads urban streets revolution

Part 2. Describe Your Ride: What riding a bike can teach us about driving a car

Still in CA. Norwalk Man on Bicycle Killed in Traffic Collision in Downey The directions of travel say the cyclist got more than halfway across the intersection before the wreck. That is a strong indicator of a stale green as shown in the Google Earth view of the intersection which had what looks like 4 lanes for the cyclist to cross and a high speed limit on the street he was crossing.

Some good news, a killer driver was found guilty of killing a cyclist. UPDATE: Man who killed cyclist found guilty of criminally negligent homicide Part of me wants to do a happy dance, part of me is still sad because the cyclist died needlessly.

News from GA as someone “mansplains” why cyclists can’t use a park to get away from cars. Reader responds to News Cycle column on proposed Forsyth bike ban

More on the MD cyclist stabbed to death. Three Arrested for Murder of Cyclist I’m still waiting to hear of a reason why they stabbed the cyclist. Theft? Settling a score? Gang initiation? Attack of the Stoopids?

More infrastructure news. Blaming Pedestrians While Absolving the Streets That Kill Them There are 3 unmarked and 1 marked crosswalk at that intersection, one street can’t be crossed at all according to the LEO report and one can only be crossed on one side because that’s the marked crosswalk.

Speaking of an attack of the Stoopids, here’s a very public one by a MO legislator. Missouri Lawmaker Wants to Require Tall Fluorescent Flags for Cyclists Fifteen feet tall to be precise, or 2’6″ feet taller than trucks are allowed without an oversize vehicle permit. Illegal under Federal laws, so on any road built with Federal Funds the flags would have to be removed and then reinstalled when back on the lettered county roads.

Here’s more on my least-favorite form of bicycle infrastructure. Study: Sharrows Don’t Make Streets Safer for Cycling Sharrows work well on traffic-calmed streets with little motor vehicle traffic. But then not doing anything also works well on traffic-calmed streets with little motor vehicle traffic. So why waste the money on useless paint?

More infrastructure news. Why bike lanes make people mad

Here’s a Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot moment from Jolly Olde. Hit-and-run driver stops to berate injured cyclist before driving off The driver apparently thought enforcing minor traffic infractions by assaulting the cyclist with his motor vehicle was perfectly reasonable.

WTF? part 2. Girl, 18, drank 5-and-a-half double vodkas before crashing car through roundabout No cyclists were harmed in the production of this link, though one did require a change of pants.

Back to Oz, two bikes go down in the same space. Cyclist treated for head injury after accident at The Spit, Mosman Sure they said the second cyclist went down aviding the first, but that just means the second didn’t have time to register that he would have gone down without the first cyclist to avoid. Regardless something made the first cyclist fall…

A wreck in Enn Zed. Car and cyclist collide The damages to the two vehicles involved look like the cyclist got hit after getting most of the way across the intersection and moving at a fair clip as the front wheel showed impact from the left and the front corner of the car showed impact but the main impact of the cyclist was in the center of the windshield. The intersection looks to have bike lanes on one street and a stop sign on the other.

E-assist bike news. Electric Bike Revolution Spinning Profits for Dutch Companies

How do you feel about going for a ride with Bono? Bono giving fans the chance to go bike riding with him in New York

Last link, do you need to ride more or… 10 Things Sex and Cycling Have in Common Do you get enough… bicycling?

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I spent most of the day on my feet or riding the bus, and the Feed

I was running some errands today, well yesterday/today, since this is getting created after midnight, and my feet and back all hurt. The only thing I can say is I’m getting old. I really need to get one bike running so I can do something about my core strength and not have backaches all the time. Also I miss riding bikes, even ones as cantankerous as Francis/es. I have all the cutting and fitting done, I just need to braze it all together and put it on Francis/es so I can ride it the way a cargo bike is supposed to be ridden, slowly and sedately with panache. Now I look like Quasimodo with half a pickup truck. 😛

Up first, can this really be true? Texas DOT Isn’t Learning From Its Horrific Road Fatalities Calendar This quote: “Texas hasn’t had a day without a traffic fatality in more than 15 years.” yeah.

Apparently it is too great a challenge to get drivers to slow down so they can stop in the distance they can see clearly. Hi-vis paint for New Forest ponies? Yes, you read this right, rather than get drivers to stop hitting the animals they’re going to round them up twice a week and give them a quick spray of neon dye.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: All hands on deck for Expo Line bike path, hit-and-run goes global, and Culver founder one of us

Still in CA. Elderly man fatally struck, dragged by car along Monterey Park-Alhambra border How do you drag a man’s body and bicycle ³/₄ of a mile and not know it?

PA wreck. Cyclist hurt in Pohatcong crash identified as Hunterdon County doctor At this point they are only saying the cyclist was hit head-on at a sharp bend in the road, no mention of which vehicle was over the centerline.

Still in PA another example of why cars are roughly equivalent of artillery. Truck crashes into Pine Road building in Dickinson Township Even when people are trying very hard not to be, motor vehicles are incredibly destructive.

More on the GA cyclist who was deliberately run down in GA after complaining of a close pass. Regarding Greg: Injured cyclist focuses on the big picture He has permanent brain damage, memory loss, and is confined to a wheelchair, but he retains a positive outlook on life! edit: whoops! that link kinda disappeared while I was making it! I had a minor computer crash and thought the link survived.

Infrastructure news from America’s Copenhagen. City testing ‘rumble bars’ to prevent encroachment into NE Couch bike lane I still think a sniper with .50 cal AP rounds would be the best solution if they won’t install a k-rail.

More good news from Portland. Biketown, the day after (reflections on a big deal) Biketown is the name of the new bike share system sponsored by Nike. Portland was one of the first cities in the US to consider bike share, but it took them forever to implement it.

And last bit from Portland more than a year later they are finally talking about allowing MTB trails in an area that has had them almost as long as MTB existed. Off-road update: New council date set for River View plan, committee selected for Master Plan

More infrastructure news from WI. 35th and Capitol Needs an Overhaul One of those 5-way intersections that just kinda dump everyone into the intersection at once because timing lights is HARD and planning bike lanes is even HARDER.

A wreck in VA. Cyclist transported to hospital after colliding with car during morning commute and Cyclist injured in collision with car on Broad Street Another crossing cyclist just pulling out in front of moving cars trying to get hit. And I have beachfront property in AZ to sell. On the off chance the cyclist was pre-coffee and not looking for cars you know how to avoid that situation.

How to pass a bicycle in the road from MS. Change lanes to pass

They eventually deal with a dangerous drunk driver in Bermuda. Road ban for dangerous drink driver I would have liked to see those bans consecutive rather than concurrent…

And from Canuckistan they prove that induced demand exists for cyclists as much as drivers. New cycling infrastructure increases number of cyclists on Winnipeg roads, report finds I suggest not reading the comments if you want to stay sane. Since I haven’t been sane in years I waded through them for you.

Humor from Jolly Olde. Cyclist rides through puddle – how Drummond Puddle Watch became an unlikely internet phenomenon

Also from the UK. Force all cyclists to use cycle lanes says Mr Loophole I’m not sure if this is hate speech or satire, sometimes it can be hard to tell.

Follow-up to a wreck from before I started doing this blog. 10 years on: Wife of cyclist killed in Rhyl tragedy reflects on his legacy

From Oz, the way to get compliance with the law is to remind people not to break it right before you plan on enforcing it. Police warn South Australia cyclists and motorists to share road ahead of safety operation I’m not convinced this is the way to run a sting…

Still in Oz. Cyclist injured in crash with car near Geelong This is exactly the kind of wreck the 1-1.5m passing law was intended to prevent, the hit-from-behind.

Last link is highly inspirational. The cycling Kung Fu Nuns That’s almost 1400 miles they’re riding.

And that’s all I got, and the sun is about to rise, so I’m off to bed for a few hours. I’m going to get a haircut tomorrow. Yes I know it’s “winter”, it got down to almost freezing a couple days last week.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

This is going to be a long night, and the Feed

After working on the post later than 0330 this Friday morning, and then spending about an hour to 90 minutes +/- turning my brain off so I could sleep, I was awakened at about 0830 by Mrs. the Poet calling the kittens “Bad children” at a very high volume, and again at frequent intervals through the morning, until I gave up on sleeping and wished my wife a happy 62nd birthday. I have been fighting “brain fuzz” all day today and I apologize in advance for my grammar and sentence construction.

I went out after breakfast to purchase Mrs. the Poet’s birthday gift, not having had a chance to have transportation and money at the same time to buy anything earlier. I got her a Barnes & Nobel gift card (she loves buying books) and a bag of COAL candy (all caps in the trade name) at the “maul”, and dinner at the Whataburger on the way home, and lots of chocolate at the grocery store (bags of soon-to-expire Halloween candy at about 80% off, but it was still good). With the headways of the local line being what they are I left shortly after 12 and didn’t get back until almost 1600 in spite of only going 3 miles from the house at the furthest. We just finished dinner and it’s already 2030 as I type this. I haven’t even opened my email today much less started to filter the Feed… I’m doomed.

Up first, the most dangerous thing you can do to a kid is put him/her in a car, but we haven’t figured out how to NOT do that yet. Carseats and the Limitations of American Safety Culture Basically child carseats are tested to the same standards as cars with adjustments for kids not being able to extract themselves from restraints by themselves (and testing to make sure they can’t remove the restraints without an adult), but the best we could do was take motor vehicles from #1 killer to #2 killer in the age group that uses child car restraints. And for some reason they don’t work if the child is dressed for the cold so wrap the kid in blankets after you strap him or her down into a freezing cold child restraint seat. I guess sternum straps were a strap too far for parents to buckle, because the kid wouldn’t even need arms to be restrained with a 5-point harness with a sternum strap.

Infrastructure criticism from comments on the wreck of a cyclist in Portland OR. Comment of the Week: A map should not be an important safety tool Exactly! Maps should be for wayfinding only, and any route that gets you there should be safe for any mode capable of legally using that route. The fact that we are using maps to find “safe” routes indicates serious shortcomings with the built environment. “We should never, ever have to ask “why would anyone ride their bike on that route?””

And two days ride south of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a pilot program tries combining exercise with transportation to give seniors more independence. On the Move, Seniors Lead an East Austin Trike Revival I set up a trike for a local senior citizen and she’s been riding the heck out of it to do things like run to the market and see people just down the street who are too far to walk but too close to get the minivan out and drive (and it turns out there are a lot of trips that fall under that criteria).

They have already completely blocked the sidewalk, why are they encroaching the bike lanes as well? Walk Bike Nashville It shouldn’t have taken that long to get the lane cleared up, but hey, slow is better than not at all.

Speaking of blocked bike lanes, here’s Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Water-blocked in a Santa Monica bike lane, and real sportsmanship in a Spanish bike race

Meanwhile in MO they finally got around to putting the former mayor of a town on trial after he hit a cyclist. Mistrial declared in case of Sunset Hills mayor accused of hitting cyclist The driver’s lawyer started going on about the civil trial during the criminal trial which caused the judge to declare a mistrial.

The FL cyclist killed by a cement truck was right hooked, according to the witness who watched him go under the wheels of the weapon vehicle. Bicyclist dead in accident involving cement truck on State Road 7 I feel for the witness wh had to watch the cyclist get killed.

More on that CA wreck where the driver was on the wrong side of the street when he hit a cyclist head on. Cyclist Killed, Driver Arrested in San Francisco Bicycle vs. Car Crash I thought there was something janky about that wreck when I read the driver was arrested at the scene for a vehicular homicide. Since the driver wasn’t impaired and didn’t leave the scene there had to be something about the driver’s behavior that caused LEO to arrest him on the spot before they even had time to check his social media profiles. Now we know he was trying to get around traffic by driving on the wrong side of the street. If they check his SM and find rants about cyclists he will probably go down on a murder charge. I’m pretty sure there will be a rant or two about cyclists being scum or freeloaders that never obey the law. And at 26 you know he has a substantial SM footprint.

Another VT wreck. Cyclist injured in Winooski crash with truck All that cheap gas has brought out the wrecks in droves. They’re saying this cyclist may have run a stop sign. And I can’t tell if the rear wheel was hit at an angle or directly from the side but not very hard. So the report may be right may be half right (he might have stopped and mis-judged the amount of acceleration he had at his disposal).

They laid a hero to rest, not just a cycling hero, but a warrior, and the current record holder for the fastest SEAL marathon. Former Navy SEAL killed in bike crash to be buried in Arlington Friday and Retired Navy SEAL killed in Md. bike crash to be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery Dude had some serious endurance athlete chops. Plus the Navy SEAL thing. That’s also pretty serious chops.

Another salmon cyclist hit in OR. Cyclist injured in early morning accident I would like to see a picture of the wrecked bike just to make sure it was hit in the front like it would be if the cyclist was riding salmon.

I’m not the only one pissed that drivers who kill basically get away with murder. Motorists Must Face Criminal Charges For Killing Bicyclists

From NYC a cyclist caught riding in the street (the only place legal to ride a bike in NYC) is arrested for resisting arrest when a BLM protest crossed his path as he went to get some dinner. Trapped In Parole: How Biking In The Street Sent A Man To Jail For 6 Months TANJ!

From Jolly Olde comes this facepalm. Make Cambridge cyclists pay congestion charge, says transport expert I disagree, the expert was Keith Peat’s dog, not Keith Peat himself. Keith Peat would have said something much more stupid.

More legal news from the UK. Man in the dock over collision with cyclist Another hit-and-run driver. I loathe and despise hit-and-run drivers…

Speaking of loathing and despising… Mile End crash: Cyclist seriously injured in police chase hit-and-run

Now I wonder what the driver did to make the cyclist stick his head inside the car and take the keys? Man in Christchurch injured after road rage incident -photo of suspect released The cyclist was obviously disarming a terrorist 😉 The problem here is we are only given the driver’s POV, not what he might have done to the cyclist. After all how many people do you know who steal the keys out of a car and then leave for no reason?

After you build a cycle track you have to keep running the entitled drivers out of it. Yarra Council issues 66 fines to tradies, taxi drivers parked in Copenhagen bike lanes Bike infrastructure does no good at separating cars from bicycles when it’s constantly blocked at some point by parked cars. Phase II of the enforcement action needs to be tow and impound, Phase 3 tow and crush. They have already gone through phases 0 and I.

Another infrastructure article. 8 Things Top Bike Cities Have Done to Promote Safer Cycling You’ll note that neither Dallas nor the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell are anywhere on that list.

And last link, fun time! The Milwaukee Bike Swap is back with a fresh new name: The Milwaukee Bike Bazaar!

Have fun. It’s now 0455 and I want desperately to SLEEP!

Billed @ 20 NoDoz and a Bottle Cap Candy, Opus

I had another stitch let loose during filtering, and the Feed

I thought all the stitches holding the neck muscles down has dissolved months ago, but it felt like one let go while I was finishing up filtering a little while ago. I had that familiar “popping” sensation in my neck with the sharp pain that I have come to associate with stitches coming loose from previous operations. And just like all the other times I had a stitch come loose the sensation was gone in a few seconds. This one felt a little off from where it should have been, this one was just outside the edge of Arthur Dent that was left when Chris Christie was removed back in May. I also had that sensation of my head getting pushed forward when the stitch let go.

Also I picked up a few Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comics while I was out yesterday, and they have been a bit of a distraction from people getting maimed and killed on bicycles. That’s kinda important today. The distraction from death and destruction, not the fact that said distraction has delayed the composition of this post. So, umm, you didn’t see that bit, right? Because strikeover OK? 😀

If any of you remember the Five Man Electrical Band you’ll remember a song about signs. See the Signs Gotta love Bikeyface.

Our Daily Ted also has the power to amuse, because nobody is really this stupid IRL, right? They drive among us… This is what stochastic terrorism looks like when it is aimed at you. And the fact that “stochastic” is a word that is in my browser’s spell checker is even sadder than the existence of the person who wrote that article.

There was a great deal of information left out of this article. Driver charged with negligent homicide in cycling teen’s death This is LA, where many LEO consider cyclists getting killed “asking for it” for being on the roads. Major felony charges for killing a cyclist implies there was something else going on. Especially when they go to such lengths to blame the cyclist for his own death in the report.

Because I’m having a hard time deciding which way to present links today, blind NYC residents are frightened by bicycles. Blind New Yorkers fear reckless bicyclists in NYC I hypothesize that blind people fear cyclists because they are relatively silent in their approach and are there before the blind person knows the cyclist is there, startling the blind person. Cars while they are actually more deadly also announce their presence before arrival to some extent which makes them feel safer to blind people.

I’m tempted to ask when it isn’t serious when a cyclist gets hit until I remember that 5 of the 6 times I was hit this century did not require more than minor first aid for me. Police report serious injuries in vehicle vs. bicycle collision The cyclist was riding on the sidewalk when he came to an obstruction and had to go into traffic, another reason why I say sidewalks are not bicycle infrastructure.

One of the cases that lead to drastic changes in FL law finally comes to a close. Two years in prison for Key Biscayne college student who killed cyclist in DUI crash The only reason this waste of human skin was not given the required sentence was the victim’s relatives were soft in the head and said not to.

Update on a November bike wreck in MN. Evan Steeves, Student Injured in Bike Accident, to Be Discharged From Hospital Thursday Glad to hear he’s recovering, not happy to read that aside from some nearly healed scrapes and bruises all his injuries are limited to his TBI which is the HARDEST kind of injury to recover from. Take it from the former dead guy.

And a couple of states to the east another student… Otsego student injured when bike struck by car on the way to school Nothing on the actual mode but I did notice some blame on the driver mainly because the wreck was just outside a school.

wreck in MO. Edwardsville police seeking help in November hit-and-run that seriously injured cyclist The cyclist was hit completely off the road surface… I’m thinking this might have been an attempted murder.

Injury wreck in CO. Cyclist struck by SUV on Ninth Avenue in Longmont As it appears now the weapon vehicle was making an illegal pass when the wreck happened, as the cyclist had to reposition his line to cross the railroad tracks without crashing and the weapon vehicle was obviously trying to share the lane in an unsafe manner.

Cyclists and skateboarders are so rude in CA. /s Cyclists, skateboarders show lack of respect for law And no, that is not the Onion, but the Orion.

What the new transportation bill means for everybody. What New U.S. Transportation Bill Does for Complete Streets Design Since everyone needs to use streets at some time in the day, everyone needs complete streets.

Justice is served in Canuckistan, as hard as that is to believe. Driver pleads guilty to causing crash that injured teen cyclist in Red Deer Guilty on two charges, with one of the lesser charges dropped in the plea bargain. Sentencing in January.

Can’t send a truck driver to jail just for killing a cyclist, wouldn’t be cricket. Chigwell lorry driver who killed cyclist is spared jail I mean after all it was just a cyclist after all, killed because the driver failed to look and signal before turning across the bike lane. TANJ!

On a similar note, why is this driver not in prison for an extended stay? CTC questions why driver who killed cyclist was only sentenced to a curfew and driving ban To recount, this was the driver who was looking at something or someplace else other than out the front of the vehicle for SEVEN FREAKING SECONDS while a cyclist lighted and reflectored and wearing the glow-in-the-dark clown suit with additional lights far beyond the legal requirements was riding down the straight lane all by his lonesome with no oncoming traffic (that anyone noticed, then again the driver missed seeing the cyclist with the lights and reflectors and the glow-in-the-dark clown suit so what was actually on that road…). Do you know how long 7 seconds is? It’s more than a football field at 30 MPH, which is much slower than the driver was going when he killed the cyclist. Again, TANJ! TANJ, AND T.A.N.J!

More on the cyclist killed this week in Oz. Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club cyclist Nicholas Ruygrok dies after collision with car at Maroubra amd Devoted fiance dies in Sydney bike crash also Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club cyclist Nicholas Ruygrok dies after collision with car at Maroubra Experienced cyclist, but on his first ride with a new group after moving to the city, falls down in front of a oncoming car. I say look for tacks in his tires.

How to survive the Netherlands if you don’t ride a bike (humor). How to survive Dutch cyclists

And I’m about to post Thursday’s post at 0501 Friday morning.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

D&D was cancelled so I get a break in the middle of making the post, and the Feed

The D&D game scheduled for this afternoon was called off because the logistics just couldn’t be made to work. There were too many people who needed rides to get there in time because even those of us who have DART access still have over a 90 minute ride to the game. There is one person who no longer has a car and also does not have DART access, so getting that person (and her character sheet) to the game requires someone with a car to go get her.

The weather system that has brought record high temperatures to the Northeast has brought cool, damp, and cloudy conditions to Casa de El Poeta. The AC hasn’t kicked on more than a few minutes total in the last 3 days, even with the dryer going while my son did his laundry. In fact as I type this it’s only 74°F in my office that normally sees 78-80° all summer long. Outside is only 68° so I might be changing from shorts to long pants soon.

Up first, victory (lower case). Driver convicted in deadly 2014 SXSW crash that killed 4, injured dozens Life in prison without parole…

Still in the city that the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell is a suburb of. Dallas already needs a new ‘bike czar’ as 2014 hire Ashley Haire prepares for ride to Denver This is why we can’t have nice bicycle infrastructure.

Hey, wanna throw stuff on the Trinity Trail? Bike riders to ‘bomb’ Fort Worth trails with milkweed for monarchs Save the Monarch butterfly and get a great bike ride in at the same time!

The big story today is the PA cyclist getting hit from behind by a semi. Bicyclist killed in crash with tractor-trailer near Penn State New Kensington entrance and Bicyclist killed in crash with tractor-trailer in Upper Burrell Now the story is the driver moved over to pass but had to move back before completing the pass because he didn’t allow enough room for oncoming traffic. And then the cyclist “fell” under the truck’s wheels. They claim “witnesses” saw this pass attempt, I just want to know how many were not in the truck.

Next big story is a cyclist fatally buzzed by a dump truck in West Canuckistan. Cyclist killed in Richmond collision and Cyclist killed after collision with dump-truck The article has a Street View of the crime scene under similar weather conditions to the time of the wreck that shows there was nothing to obstruct the view of the cyclist from the truck. So what actually happened is a matter of conjecture.

Down in KS it sounds like a cyclist is hooked or crossed by an unknown vehicle. Hutch teen injured after riding her bike into a car Other than the cyclist nothing was mentioned about the vehicles involved in this wreck.

Over in the most deadliest state to walk or ride a bike in the US, a cyclist is right hooked. Flagler student injured when SUV hits bike The driver was given a ticket in the wreck. The cyclist got unspecified injuries.

Still in the most deadliest state, a little girl is hit by a suspected drunk driver. Girl riding bike hit by SUV, critically injured Nothing about the mode but it’s pretty sure the 5 YO was not commuting to grandma’s house.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Swift justice in Highland Park DUI hit-and-run case, and protected bike lanes spread across US

Still in CA cars take up a massive amount of a project that has nothing to do with cars. San Diego County Spends $36M To Give Employees Free Parking Three quarters of the cost for building a park was moving parking for cars to free up the land… 😛

What the freaking Hell? Woman driving in collision that killed Mark Angeles receives traffic citation That’s a $260 maximum fine for killing a cyclist.

More infrastructure news from PA. How Advocates and Agencies from the City and Suburbs Came Together for the Manayunk Bridge Trail The main story on this was the struggle to find funding. Then they put the parks department in charge of it. For Those Confused About the Manayunk Bridge Opening/Closing Times… Seriously, they lock the place up at dark and don’t open back up until 0800, what kind of highway is this?

NYS still refuses to bring their laws about e-assist into the 21st Century. HELP WIN THE USE OF E-BIKES IN NYS Despite Federal regulations that changed e-assist bikes status to “bicycle” back in 2002 NYS insists that they are “motor-driven vehicles” and can arrest the rider and confiscate the bike if not registered as a moped. But, because of the Federal regs they can’t be registered because they lack a valid VIN and can’t get one because they aren’t motor vehicles.

Cyclist injured in the Great White North. Courtice cyclist, 14, in Toronto hospital after being hit by truck Umm, the geometry of this wreck does not make sense especially since they didn’t claim the cyclist was riding salmon.

More on the cyclist buzzed by a truck in the GWN. Brampton dad’s devastating hit-and-run death still a mystery Apparently they know he got hit by a truck, but there were too many trucks in the area to know which truck was the one.

The end of Daylight Savings Time has been seriously messing with people in the Great White North. Cyclist injured in hit and run in Lorraine They have no idea of what happened before the driver left aside from clobbering the cyclist with a motor vehicle.

Another hit-and-run still in the GWN. Driver drove off after asking if cyclist he hit was OK, police say What happened to all the “polite” Canadians?

Update on the attempted murder of a cyclist and 2 policemen in Canuckistan. Police lay charges in officer-involved shooting Apparently the cyclist was “just an accident” but the cop was “attempted murder”.

Seriously, hit-and-run conviction wasn’t enough to do it? Cabbie who injured cyclist in hit-and-run incident gets taxi licence back after landmark High Court decision So being convicted of two serious driving offenses is not enough to automatically lose your taxi license, they have to prove it?

I don’t link to UK wrecks very often because there is so little in the report because of UK media laws, but this one is an exception. BREAKING: Cyclist dies following collision in Banbury Another cyclist killed because of an HGV…

UK bicycle infra not up to CROW manual standards gets called out. Fears that someone will be killed on A81 Bidirectional bike track separated from a 45 MPH arterial by nothing more than a curb.

More crap UK infrastructure. Calls to ‘sort Mill Road out once and for all’ as cyclist fights for life after motorbike crash

Switzerland has the same situation as other EU countries, cars are getting better at protecting those inside, but not those outside. Serious e-bike and other cycling accidents rise Drivers are still running into things at the same rate, but people inside motor vehicles in those wrecks are not getting hurt. Those outside motor vehicles are still getting injured and dying at the same rate.

A low-information report from Enn Zed. Cyclist killed after being struck by car And another subtle dig at cyclists to remind us that the cyclist is dead but nobody in the car was injured in any way.

Last link I got at like 0100, but it’s freaking awesome. ‘Decoy’ rider puts spotlight on bike safety law — PHOTOS They did a 3-foot law sting! And I love the “Crash Test Dummy” bike jersey.

Billed @€0.02, Opus