I had real COFFEE today, and the Feed

Finally I had a cup of coffee that tasted like COFFEE instead of vaguely brown water. Pro tip, the reusable K-cup filters are only good for a small cup of coffee, there is just not room for enough grounds to make a 16 oz (473.176 ml) cup of coffee. Seriously, even going to 10 oz is seriously over what the little things can do without using an espresso ground coffee. If you have a coffee grinder that can go to espresso then you can get 10 oz easily, but drip grind won’t give you enough surface area to extract all the good flavors because of the limited amount of time the water stays in contact with the grounds. The Keurig is halfway between a drip brewer and an espresso machine as far as extraction is concerned. Higher temperature and more pressure than a drip brewer, lower than an espresso machine. If you have the reusable filters go with espresso grind. Now I need to find a good coffee grinder.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Memorial ride for RPV cyclist, 11-year old advocate writes for Times & Mt. Hollywood stays car free

Still in CA. Meet the Ovarian Psycos: women of color building a movement on bikes These are the people who do the Clitoral Mass ride once a year, a Critical Mass just for kick-ass women (womyn?).

Lots of Portland infrastructure links today. State begins project on Broadway near Rose Quarter Monday If they get this right it will be an improvement for all modes, not just the modes with engines or motors.

Good transit and good cycling go together like hotdogs and mustard. Bus riders’ union launches new campaign: Discount fares for low-income people Sure they are great separately, but put them together and you have a killer app that gets you across town letting the bus protect you from the cagers, while extending your reach far beyond the bus deep into unserved territories. The technical term is “first mile, last mile”

And when you integrate infrastructure it synergizes your investments. New Portland Plan Addresses Walksheds and Watersheds Together When you install paved streets and drains and cover those drains with sidewalks all at the same time it works better and costs less money to do. Whodathunkit?

Update on the cyclist critically injured in a MN hit-and-run. Update: Cyclist Injured In Hit-And-Run Still In Critical Condition and $1,000 reward offered in hit-and-run crash that critically injured bicyclist in Dakota County Yeah, he’s not going to be riding again any time soon after that latest surgery. I hope something equally gruesome happens to the driver, or they could just recycle the vehicle with him still in it.

Something fishy in this OH wreck. Cyclist hurt in collision with highway-patrol cruiser Notice that they aren’t blaming the cyclist for this wreck even though there were intoxicants involved on the cyclist’s part. The wreck mode was hit-from-behind, so they probably have dash cam recordings of the cyclist’s lane position and track. My guess is this was a SWSS initially until someone took a look at the video, then backtracked.

A MA hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in Wellesley hit-and-run So all my Boston readers BOLO for a Toyota P/U with front end damage and report it to LEO.

This is slightly disturbing as WoaB heavily promoted these guys. Wounded Warrior fires execs over spending accusations If I’m reading the article correctly these clowns took money donated for rehabbing injured veterans and spent it on luxuries for themselves. Shame on them.

A Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment from Jolly Olde. Serial drink-driver who killed cyclist in crash jailed for just seven years This idiot had EIGHT!(8) DUIs, and never passed a test to get a license, and somehow he was still free to drive. “Taylor, of West Molesey, was also banned from driving for nine years.” He never had a license, and you think a court order will stop him from driving in the future? I have this bridge…

Well if they survive they won’t Wiggins on London Bike Boom – cyclists aren’t going to go away I get what he’s saying, gas is cheap now, but it won’t stay that way and people will still have to get around. Riding a bike is way faster than the bus in London (and for short trips even I could get around faster than DART, especially if there was a detour to the transit center and a transfer to a different bus involved. Point to point a bike is faster than a bus unless both points are on the same bus route. Then it all comes to how many times the bus has to stop for passengers.

Woman accidentally locks herself in a van, cyclists hear her pounding on the door/side of the van and let her out. Charity cyclists free woman trapped in van for 4 hours

Cyclist is buried after a wreck in the Emerald Isle. TEENAGE CYCLIST KILLED IN ROAD TRAGEDY LAID TO REST

A UT grad is hit and killed in Singapore. Woman dies in bus accident; arrested driver suspended pending inquiry Ordinarily I don’t report Singapore wrecks because their laws are so, so different from ours, but the victim in this one made me link this one.

And this from Oz. Sydney cyclists reportedly fined £225 – for trackstanding Apparently the sight of cyclists maintaining balance without putting a foot down for an extended period of time just blew the LEO’s mind, they had never heard of such sorcery.

And this. Sydney cyclists say new laws don’t make them feel safer – MPs set to debate scrapping them The abuse cyclists have been receiving since the change in the laws has been skyrocketing, and drivers have been interpreting the passing law exactly backwards of the intention, instead of moving over the meter they are claiming cyclists have to get a meter off the roads when a car passes. I wonder if they are all idiots.

And I’m all outta links now.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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It’s Friday again, and the Feed

Well it’s Friday a little after noon as I start composing this post, but I won’t get done until well after midnight, with a break at some point for watching TV or reading a book or something. I found something I want for Solstice that isn’t RPG dice or a string trimmer, and costs about the same as the RPG dice.

A couple of sets of those would look nice with this.

The reason yesterday’s post went up so late was because of how hard it was to filter out bike links from the noise on Twitter. I got a lot of good links, but it took several hours to read all those tweets about yet another mass shooting to find the ones about people getting killed mostly in ones and twos. I still think that Twitter will be a regular source for links in the future.

Up first because I don’t have a lot of links to choose from but this one is still the best, our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Coronado bike lane madness hits big time, Rowena redux, and OC deputy gets bike law wrong

Over in OH the driver who hit 5 cyclists in a paceline of 8 and killed 2 pleaded not guilty. Brecksville man charged in crash that killed cyclists pleads not guilty and Brecksville man pleads not guilty in deadly cyclist-truck crash What more can I say except that this is simply a procedural step before trial or plea bargain. I still wanna see the driver’s social media profile, though.

Took them long enough. CHP releases name of bicyclist killed Sept. 18 on Highway 154 They are still sticking with the hit from behind “for unknown reasons” story.

More on the drunk driver that hit a cyclist with three kids in the car and left the scene. Pardo admits being ‘6 to 8 inches’ in cyclist’s lane The tune keeps changing, but the singer is still off-key. Earlier he was entirely within his own lane, now he was “6 to 8 inches” into the cyclist’s lane.

Hit and run outside NYC. Police: Man killed in hit-and-run, woman charged The DA is frustrated that the potential punishments are not in line with the seriousness of the outcome.

Looking at this rendition of a surface street in IN provoked a serious WTF? moment or three. Is This a Downtown Street or a Surface Highway?

More Wounded Warrior stuff. Kirk Middle students cheer as injured vets ride through Newark This was the U.S. Military Academy to the U.S. Naval Academy ride, West Point to Annapolis.

A blind driver gets some punishment for destroying the life and livelihood of a cyclist. Lorry driver banned from roads after seriously injuring cyclist in Moray Yeah, the cyclist is not coming back to “normal” from that wreck. The punishment is trivial, but at least something.

At least this driver got some jail time to go with the minimal driving ban. Texting driver gets 21 months’ jail after seriously injuring cyclist

Minimal information about a hit-and-run in Oz. Cyclist injured in Melbourne hit-and-run

And over in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed in Napier named

And that’s all I got today. See you Sunday with the “just life and thoughts” blog post.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Large hunks of links are from Twitter, and the rest of the Feed

It takes longer to filter, but I’m finding more and better links on Twitter than I do in my Feed Folder in my e-mail. I think that may be due to having humans directly sending me the links from the articles as they post. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I can give you better links than I used to.

Up first, LEO have found the driver who killed a cyclist earlier this week. PD: Police identify woman who struck, killed bicyclist in Pasadena They haven’t arrested her, just “talked” to her.

More on the cyclist killed in MN by a driver who crossed the entire road to hit him. UMD mourns staff member killed while bicycling in Hermantown and SUV fatally hits bicyclist in Hermantown heading other way on shoulder I’m still trying to figure out why the driver is not in jail for this.

Since we are in “old wreck” mode at the moment, more on the cyclist killed in CA during a time trial event. In the News: Cyclist killed by car in California TT race and CHP Finds a New Way to Blame the Bicycle Rider Yep, getting blamed for the driver that hit you in your lane is pretty low, even for the CHP. Seriously, what would Jon and Ponch say? More Cyclist killed in Esparto was experienced Foster City rider

Still in CA, a hit-and-run driver attempts murder when the victim catches back up to him. Driver charges at cyclist, carries him on hood and Caught On Camera: San Francisco Cyclist Ends Up On Windshield In Apparent Hit-And-Run So two hit-and-run incidents, one that might have only cost the driver a ticket for violating the 3-feet-to-pass law, and a second that might end up with assault charges.

Another AZ cyclist hit from behind in the bike lane. Bicyclist killed in northwest Tucson collision I have lost count of the number of cyclists hit from behind in the bike lanes of AZ this year, but it seems to be too common even if there were only two. The danger zone in this wreck was the mixing zone before the turn lane. The driver failed to yield to the vehicle in front (the cyclist) and killed the cyclist as a result. I know what will stop wrecks like this, but I don’t know how well it would fly in the current legislative climate. When you hit a cyclist you lose your car, 90 days if there was no or non-serious levels of injury, a year for transport to hospital wrecks, and forever if the cyclist dies from injuries or in case of hit-and-run.

Not a bicycle wreck, but indicative of what you could expect as a cyclist if you get hit. NYPD: “No Criminality” as Cab Driver Runs Over Kids on Bronx Sidewalk and TLC: Driver Who Hit Children on Bronx Sidewalk Works for Uber [Updated] The car went completely across the sidewalk and bounced off the building that a commenter stated was 20-25 feet away from the curb, and in the video I thought I saw the left front wheel pointed towards the camera which means the suspension was broken when it hit the curb. I estimate the vehicle speed at 40-50 MPH. But the NYPD doesn’t suspect any criminality for driving 40-50 MPH on the sidewalk full of kids… TANJ!

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Cedillo condemns calls for safer streets, Coronado madness round 3, and more bighearted people Cedillo needs to be charged as an accessory for all the people killed and maimed since he stopped the North Figueroa project literally days before it was to begin for no apparent reason. I still say follow the money.

A restaurant named after the great Eddy Merckx. The Cannibal, a restaurant and butcher shop coming to Culver City, with bike valet Free beer when you wear your bike kit into the establishment.

A CT cyclist gets injured and he’s the guy responsible for getting other people to live more healthy. Norwalk Director of Public Health injured in bicycle accident over weekend This sounds like a buzz job to me. Or maybe a “punishment pass” for daring to ride in the street.

There are good people in this world. Woman injured riding bike wants to thank stranger who helped her Fortunately they filled the pothole but unfortunately not until after her wreck.

Another buzz job in NC kills another NC cyclist. Cyclist dies in road accident Another driver driving too fast to stop in the distance he could see clearly blames the victim for not wearing a glow-in-the-dark clown suit with body armor.

If you are going to carry cocaine on your person, know that you don’t have to submit to a search until after you get arrested, and put some lights on your bike. Bicycle stop leads to cocaine arrest “The pill bottle contained 0.2 grams of powder cocaine” or not enough to get a chihuahua high, much less an adult human being.

Another Wounded Warrior ride north of WoaB. Injured Service Members Ride toward Recovery in Oklahoma’s Capital City If you’re in the area give these guys a cheer when they ride by.

A wreck in Oz involving two cyclists and a car and they can’t figure out who was where and which way they were going. Cyclists injured in Monaro Highway crash How crazy is that?

Also in Oz they have another wreck they are trying to decipher. Police appeal for witnesses after cyclist injured – Dora Creek

Last link, I’m sure you are the kind of person who always makes sure the quick releases on your bike are done up tight, but you brother-in-law hasn’t checked his since Clinton was in office so he might want to check this out. Thirteen bike companies recall models over disc brake/QR concern This is the same QR as the Trek recall only on other manufacturer’s bikes.

And I’m out of links again for the day. Grocery day tomorrow.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Well now that that is over I face another reminder of mortality in 3 weeks, and a huge Feed

Yep, it is an irony that I get two reminders of “OMG yur gonna DIE!!!” less than a month apart, but my birthday is 3 weeks from today. I’m still wanting those d6 or a working string trimmer (replacement for people not local, or come get the 2 I have that run but won’t run out fresh cutting string and get them repaired, if you can get to my house to pick them up). There were 17 messages in the Feed folder this morning, so I probably won’t get done until some time in the early morning…

The Big Story today is the death of 1 cyclist and 2 injured in a hit-from-behind wreck by a driver who admits distraction. Wife of prominent B’Ham contractor killed talks about his death and impact on Magic City and 1 cyclist killed, 2 injured after being struck by truck also Pickup truck strikes, kills cyclist; 2 others injured and this hot mess 1 cyclist killed, 2 others injured after being struck by pickup in Blount County In at least one of those links the driver admits dropping a lighter while trying to light up, and was also reading texts when he dropped the lighter. This, this is why we need a death penalty for drivers. Because they are guiding a freaking killing machine they are using to get from A to B. Many times when such a device is the worst possible choice to use to get from A to B. Late links Cycling community stresses road safety after man killed Saturday and 1 cyclist killed, 2 injured after being struck by truck also Recent fatal bicycle accidents spark concerns over bike rider’s safety

Our Daily Ted, Part 1. Today’s post, in which I remember a friend. Rest in peace, Howard Krepack.

And Daily Ted Part 2. Morning Links: OC driver faces DUI vehicular manslaughter charge, and a long listing of bike academic papers

Lots of links from the Most Deadliest State in the US. Cyclist killed in suspected hit-and-run and FLPD: Cyclist Dies In Hit & Run, Driver At Large also Bicyclist dies after hit-and-run crash in Fort Lauderdale Yeah if I saw a cyclist run over and then the weapon vehicle left the scene I would “suspect” hit-and-run too. BOLO for the weapon vehicle.

More on a DUI hit-and-run in KY. Memorial Created For Cyclist Killed In Crash, Suspect Pleads Not Guilty and Police Charge Man In Deadly Hit-And-Run That Killed Cyclist The driver had been drinking for several hours prior to the wreck but the BAC% has not been released. It has to be astronomical.

Right hook in NYS. Cyclist killed in collision in Geneva and Teenager Riding Bike Killed After Being Hit by Tractor Trailer Also Teen killed on bicycle mourned in two school districts The narrative does not say if the cyclist was stopped first and waiting to cross straight through, or waiting to turn right, or pulled up after the truck stopped or what, just that the truck turned right and ran over the cyclist. Without knowing who was there first I can’t really say what the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck, if anything.

Another DUI murder, this time in WI. Beloit police say alleged drunk driver hit & killed bicyclist I can’t believe they are going to try to blame this wreck on the cyclist instead of the drunk driver. TANJ!

Another hit-and-run this time in IL. La Grange police blotter: La Grange teen on bike hit by tan SUV The geometry of that wreck does not make sense. If a vehicle is going north then east is on the right, not west. But this is either a cross or hooking wreck, and still a hit-and-run.

More on the cyclist hit head-on by a drunk salmon driver. Memorial held for cyclist killed by suspected DUI driver

A really bad wreck in CA. 79-year-old cyclist hit by multiple cars in Modesto identified and Cyclist killed after being hit by multiple vehicles in Modesto It sounds like the cyclist misjudged the speed of the first vehicle, then the hits just kept on coming, and coming, and coming. At this point LEO are not even sure how many times the victim was hit. Talk about your distracted driving…

This CT wreck must have been the cyclist’s fault, he wasn’t wearing a helmet. /snark GHS Football Player Severely Injured in Early Morning Bicycle Collision with Truck Intersection wreck, there are ways to avoid those listed below the header at the top of this page.

This wreck was in MI. Police identify bicyclist killed in alcohol-related crash OK who was drunk, the driver or the cyclist? I was wondering because they kinda seemed to be blaming the cyclist for getting hit by the drunk driver. Hit from behind wreck keep a close eye on your six to avoid. The driver “didn’t see” the cyclist. The helmet was completely destroyed in the wreck, demonstrating how effective they are in wrecks with motor vehicles.

Closer to home a woman is killed riding in LA. Troopers ask for help identifying woman killed in bicycle crash Another blame the cyclist wreck.

Another wreck in LA on the same highway but a different town. 60-year-old woman struck, killed while riding bicycle in Mandeville, MPD says Another wreck caused by bad sight lines. This intersection could use some way of alerting the cross street when there are no motor vehicles coming, or maybe there was some way of getting drivers to stop when someone needed to cross the intersection, like a signal of some kind.

OK you won’t find me here mostly because I still can’t ride, and Philly is too far to ride from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Naked, body-painted bicyclists ride through Philadelphia and 3,000 Philly Naked Bike Riders photo-bomb wedding shoot

This is why I keep saying that sidewalks are not bicycle infrastructure. Cyclist injured in Morristown crash; police investigating The sight lines in this wreck were so bad that neither party in the wreck saw the other until it was too late to avoid the wreck.

Infrastructure improvements on a national scale, but only the ones approved by the Feds. U.S. Transportation Officials Cheer On Ambitious City Planners

Infrastructure gets changed after a cyclist is killed by bad infrastructure and a bad driver. Fixes set for deadly Back Bay intersection

Getting to the other side of the Pond, more on the terrorist attack on a cyclist. Labour councillor seriously injured after bike brakes cut deliberately For those who think I exaggerate, what would cutting the brake lines on a car or truck be called?

More on the killer potholes in the UK. Cyclists being killed due to delays fixing potholes say CTC

Killer infrastructure is killer. Council admits new Oxford junction DID make cyclists ‘vulnerable’ Good of them to admit their mistake, now how about fixing said mistake?

Drunk driver gets a gentle tap on the wrist. Darron Gibson handed 20-month driving ban for hitting cyclist while drink-driving Drunk hit-and-run driver comes within millimeters of killing a cyclist, while almost hitting two others (so close they were injured by flying debris from the wrecked bike) and gets a “Bad boy, but he’ll recover so pay damages and take a time out and that will do you.”

I’m hoping I’ll have Francis/es fixed up in time for this ride. Injured Veterans Tackle Wounds of War in Soldier Ride Dallas

And I’m finally out of links, patience, and coffee. I think the last two kinda go together.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Looking at another long day, and the Feed

Well, the computer crashed twice during filtering. So I know it’s going to be a long day when that happens. Usually that means I had too many pages with Flash ads running on them for the available memory on my Chromebook which has 2GB of memory. So when you read the links, only open one at a time, s’il vous plaît. OK, maybe two. [Monty Python]Four is right out[/Monty Python]

Up first because the injured (killed?) cyclist was pretty much ignored in the other casualties and because the number of dead and injured in this one incident was so high. Three Killed As Car Ploughs Into Shoppers and Man kills 3 driving into crowd in Austria — on purpose, authorities say also Car ploughs into crowd in Graz, Austria Sorry about the auto-play videos on those. So as it appears as I post this, the guy went off his rocker after getting kicked out of the house by his wife and starts looking for someone to take it out on and these people were handy as he drove into a car-free section of town (roads still passable because delivery vehicles were needed for shops in the district). Either the cyclist was not among the named dead or the fact that the dead person was the cyclist mentioned earlier did not make it into the article.

Our Daily Ted. LA bike rider attacked with machete, bad news from Hemet, plus Bicycle Coffee and pleasant private bike cops

And another link to the machete attack. 18-Year-Old Bicycle Rider in Critical Condition With Skull Fracture, May Lose Hand After Late-Night Machete Attack

Still in CA. Family of Rady Children’s CFO killed in bike crash wants answers, apology If the airbags were deployed this indicates a very severe impact for hitting a person riding a bike, an impact where there was a significant force transmitted to the car by the body of the cyclist. That is a BIG hit.

Not out of CA yet, would you rather have this drunk on a bicycle or behind the wheel? Cyclist falls, gravely injured in Chula Vista As it is, the falling-down-drunk cyclist hurt exactly one person in this wreck, himself. Most drunk drivers manage to avoid hurting themselves while injuring or killing others.

Machete attacks seem to be the rage this weekend. Brooklyn Man Arrested For Road Rage Machete Attack In Holland Tunnel Road rage, that is… I know, it is a bad pun but in my defense I saw 30 deaths in links that won’t get posted here. Interesting that he was charged with assault when all he hit was the car… are cars people now, too?

Not sure about this report from Seattle. UPDATE: Woman hospitalized after bicycle/car collision at Delridge/Dakota AFAIK this seems to be infrastructure related because the cyclist was hit in a bike lane but the driver did not hit-and-run.

Holding a hit-and-run driver accountable in the Great White North. Woman charged in hit-run death of cyclist remains behind bars

Lifestyle news from the Great White North after another hit-and-run death. Tribute held for cyclist, 26, killed in hit-and-run and Vigil held for cyclist killed in Yorkville hit-and-run

Don’t hit puppies either! Puppy owner thought cyclist had killed dog in ‘hit-and-run’ collision Off-leash dog runs under the cyclist and gets run over, not the cyclist’s fault, but you could hang around for a few minutes to show compassion for the owner.

Not again… Cyclist killed in crash with tipper truck at Bank junction in the City of London That makes 8 dead, 7 caused by trucks, and 6 victims have been women. Is there something in the water? or does it have more to do with the state of the infrastructure that places cyclists in the blind spots of trucks at intersections where neither party can see what the other is going to do?

Does it seem like every time a tiny bit of paved space is taken back from cars it’s a big news item? Closing Streets to Cars for Walkers and Cyclists Is Getting More Popular by the Minute

Infrastructure news in ME. Leg Work: Seeking safe passage in Maine crosswalks, on foot and on wheels A vulnerable road user bill is long overdue in most states.

More infrastructure news from VT. Another View: Our goal is zero deaths

First of several infrastructure articles from north of the border. Brian Dexter: Cyclists, get on the sidewalks! Basically what this guy is saying is if you aren’t going to provide safe infrastructure for cyclists, let them use the spaces for pedestrians even if it’s sub-optimal. Better than they should get killed.

And more blame the victim from Canuckistan. Motorists, cyclists share responsibility — improved weather often means rates of fatalities on roadways increase

This is the time of year when cyclists ride in honor of people not killed or injured riding bicycles. Wounded Warriors Canada Battlefield Bike Ride Participants Raise $500,000 for Ill and Injured Veterans and their Families As a vet and a cyclist you know I am endorsing this one.

This truck makes a better window than a door. The Safety Truck Could Revolutionize Road Safety I can personally think of several bike wrecks where something like this could have made a difference.

And I’m all out of links. And sanity, but that was pretty much a given years ago.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

My lump has a name now, and the Feed

I got a suggestion in the e-mail for a name for my lump, which I have been comparing to a GOP presidential candidate. The suggested moniker is “Chris Christie”. Whaddya think? Now as to why there was no post yesterday I just could not muster up anything to say. I wanted to write, but just could not come up with anything I wanted to share. Sorry if I disappointed anyone.

And before I forget, I hope you had a happy Star Wars Day (May the 4^th).

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Photographic proof of bikes in Hollywood, ride LA with Phil Gaimon, and transvestites on bikes

The Big Story today is someone has been disrupting travel on Oz by putting tacks in the bike lane. Stop the tacks: Kew Boulevard cyclists say enough is enough and Angry cyclists fed up with tack attack on Yarra Boulevard Why has this not been treated as a terrorist’s attack on infrastructure? And the culprit(s) have been busy, re-tacking the route between the 11PM sweeping and the start of the protest ride against the tacks. The expense of all those tacks means that if there is a single suspect he probably has access to a lot of money, or he lives very simply to afford the endless mounds of tacks he spreads on the streets. And why call a blowout an “explosive decompression”?

It’s hard to believe that it has already been a year since a bicycle tourist was stabbed to death in a random attack. Festival honors cyclist killed on ride to Florida last year and Festival honors cyclist killed on ride to Florida last year Same headline from two different stories. Apparently the killer was off his meds or something because there was just no provocation for the attack, he just walked up to the victim while he was talking on a cell phone and stabbed him.

Another Southern killer of cyclists faces court in AL. Parker pleads not guilty in criminally neglect homicide case He hit 3 cyclists, if it wasn’t “criminal neglect” it was on purpose and he was undercharged. If this case was in TX he would have been charged with Felony DUI and since there was a death the prosecutor could seek the death penalty.

Riding season starts in Upstate NY after a very bad winter for the roads. Potholes or not, Rockland bicycle season hits high gear This sounds like fun.

Getting the word out on NYC’s pedestrian right of way law. Families For Safe Streets Demands Accountability From Bus Drivers Look before you turn.

Trying to get NYC drivers to slow down is a never-ending struggle. Jarring New Vision Zero Ad Tries To Make Drivers Less Sociopathic

Sometimes it feels like a war out there, and I’m not the only one who noticed. Bikes vs Cars: why it’s war between cyclists and drivers on city streets They have: light armored vehicles that would be classified as WMD if they were deployed against soldiers in wartime. We have: cameras and styrofoam hats. I don’t like this war…

Lifestyle in MI. ‘Ghost bike’ removed by city, replaced by activists

Lifestyle in IN. Mayor’s Ride kicks off National Bike Month events

More lifestyle this time from NE. Blood Drive Honors Former Millard Educator Killed While Biking Put some of that good cyclist’s blood in circulation.

There is something I want to say very badly about this link, but I will take the high road and not do it. President Bush’s 2015 W100K bike ride: Healing the invisible wounds of war

And those were all the links I had to share today…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet.

I’m back in shorts and a T-shirt, and the Feed

Well the headline pretty much says it all concerning life here at Casa de El Poeta, the outside temperature has risen to what the heating system was designed to cope with (low 40s-high 30s at night) so I’m back to wearing shorts and a T-shirt in the office, and Mrs. the Poet is still wearing her sweatshirt over a T-shirt and long pants. I am comfortable in a very wide range of temperatures wearing the shorts and T-shirt, and do much better than Mrs. the Poet when things get really cold, mostly because I have real cold-weather gear because I hung on to my issue cold-weather gear when I left the Army, and bought more of it when it hit the surplus market. Mrs. the Poet hates mil-surplus clothing because of the way it looks, but I’m the warm one in winter. And I have a selection of gear that I can wear riding a bicycle as well, so I stay warm on my bike. Or I would be warm if I could actually ride my bike.

Up first is some good news from Brownsville, as they discover that they can stuff a lot of bicycles into the space that used to house just one car. Brownsville installs downtown bike corral They replaced one car spot with 14 bike spots, greatly increasing the revenue potential for that parking spot. Sure shoppers that arrive by bike don’t spend as much money per trip, but they make 2-3 times as many trips and now they have the potential to serve 14 times as many customers.

Pedestrians are still getting killed same as they always were with Texas right out there in a battle for the “lead”. Pedestrians killed at about the same rate last year as they were in 2013 This mirrors UK statistics showing cars are getting more forgiving about bad driving, what with air bags and crumple zones and being required to have doors that open after running into a concrete wall at 35 MPH, but drivers are just as crappy as they always were if not worse now that the consequences for them are so much lower.

More on the Houston bike cops going undercover to get drivers who drive poorly around cyclists. Undercover Houston Cops On Bikes Are Nabbing Drivers Dangerous To Cyclists Houston passed a law against buzzing cyclists in 2013 when they discovered how many cyclists were getting knocked down by cars passing too close, then instructed bike cops to run stings against the drivers breaking the law. Nobody is getting ticketed for passing between 2 and 3 feet away (just warned), the (big) tickets are going to the ones passing less than a foot (300 mm) from the cop. So far no word on how many cops have been hit doing these stings, but you know it is just a matter of time before some Bubba decides to “teach a lesson” to one of the undercover cops and misjudges how wide his F-150 really is, like the guy who broke his mirror off on my elbow a few years ago.

Why is this news in NYC? Cops Are Giving Out Speeding Tickets To Drivers Who Are Speeding Really now, cops giving tickets is “Man bites dog” rare in NYC?

If you have a young-looking bike-riding friend in SF please check on his whereabouts and if you can’t find him call SFPD. Young cyclist unconscious, and police don’t know his name The wreck was early Monday morning to give your young man a time frame to be missing, if you saw him after 0800 or so on Monday it is pretty much guaranteed that this is not the same guy.

They have some bad infrastructure over in NOLA, so bad it kills people. Cyclist death shines light on dangerous intersection And cue the H8ers complaining about cyclists taking the lane for visibility when this was a crossing wreck at an intersection and LEO admit they have no way of knowing who ran the light. Check out the comments section.

When the state refuses to act in AZ municipalities take charge. San Luis to enforce ban on cellphone use for drivers It seems there are certain people in the AZ legislature blocking driving while using cell phone bills from getting to the floor, not naming names because I don’t know who is doing it, just that the bills never seem to get a vote.

It seems that providing even barely usable bicycle infrastructure has a positive effect on car ownership (if you are trying to reduce traffic congestion). Multnomah County car registration is down 8% since 2007, and isn’t rebounding They had a steep drop during the recession but people discovered they didn’t need to have a car for everyone so the number of people replacing cars sold during the recession has been very low. Also there is the possibility that they are just not registering their deadly weapons like they are supposed to.

Along the same lines just up the coast a bit. The Remarkable Drop in Car Commuting to Downtown Seattle They expect to see even further reductions when their bike infrastructure gets built all the way into the Downtown area.

Another link to that SD bill that would require drivers to not hit cyclists they are trying to pass. Bill Aiming To Keep Cyclists Safe On The Road 3 feet at 35 MPH and under, 6 feet on faster roads. And the bill has passed the Senate and goes on to the governor to be signed into law.

Cyclists in the Emerald Isle are discovering that protecting the head just seems to move the injury to some other part of the body. Soaring popularity of pedal power leads to 200% rise in spinal injuries That energy has to go somewhere, and when you protect the skull the next thing in line is the neck, which this report seems to indicate is the part taking the abuse.

And whadda you know, crap infrastructure is crap. Are Southend’s roads safe for cyclists? If you have to ask, then the answer is probably “NO!”.

I think I’m done taking Boris Johnson seriously. Cyclists should wave like Simon Rattle to avoid being hit, says London mayor Really, get out in front of a heavy truck and wave your hands around in the vague hope that the driver will see you and not run you over? And how is that begging for your life at the base of the guillotine working out for you, Boris? 😉

Speaking of stupid things in the UK. Cyclists vs motorists – 3 STUPID acts committed by the frustrated car driver

Dealing with the rather arcane legal infrastructure in Oz. TAC admits cyclist claim rules are confusing after host of anomalies in rules exposed If I had to deal with a mess like this with my wreck I would be pushing a walker or a wheelchair still.

This is stupid, bike 4 months, skate 4 months, and 4 months transition when you can’t safely do either. Canadian ‘freezeway’ could let residents skate to work And what about people who can’t skate, like yr fthfl srvnt blogger? Aside from the fact that I’m 2027 miles from Edmonton by bike that is.

The kind of lifestyle article I like to link to, because nobody had to die first. For injured veterans, bike ride helps heal body

Our Daily Ted was a little late posting, but I got it. Morning Links: Endorsing Ramsay and O’Grady in CD4; and a blind bike rider needs your help to regain his sight

Some infrastructure news out of Dallas as they debate adding a bypass Interstate (I 345) or enhancing the existing grid. Why the Grid Has More Latent Capacity Than a Highway The thing about I 345 that I object to is they are putting it through existing neighborhoods, unlike its northern counterpart I 635 which was built on what was mostly semi-rural farmland (there is still an active Future Farmers of America at Garland HS in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, which is located outside the 635 loop).

And a Texan I would be proud to share the designation with. 76-Year-Old Man Bikes 300 Miles To Raise Money For Planned Parenthood

I’m outta here.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Finally paid all my property taxes, and the Feed

I made my final trip this year to pay my property taxes, at the GISD tax office. Now I understand why there was a line out the door when they stopped accepting payments Friday, there isn’t enough room inside for more than 2 people to be in line before they hit the door. There were 4 windows to pay at, but I don’t know how many people they had to take the money Friday. Today they only had 2 people working the 4 windows, but there was no line and I was in and out in seconds.

We are going to start out with a double dose of Our Daily Ted. Weekend Links: Burbank Sunday Funday ride; Spokane police bend over backward to blame bike riding victim and A rider fallen, family and friends shattered, and a young woman on the verge of hard time

And to go with that second Ted link… Bike ride to honor Irvine cyclist killed on Santiago Canyon Road

Another link to cycling lifestyle in FL, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Critical Mass Comes a Week After Cyclist’s Death and another protest Cyclists Gather Over Concerns For Safety Amid Deaths

This was how things were when I was a kid. This Is How Normal Walking to School Used to Be For some reason they just left off things like sidewalks as subdivisions grew up in what used to be rural areas. And then there was the “Stranger Danger” panic, so now most kids only get to school by bus or by car, and some places will arrest parents trying to walk with their children.

More victim-blaming from NC. Being reminded of the ‘see and be seen’ mantra Heaven forfend that we should place any onus on drivers to not run their killing machines into cyclists and pedestrians using the roads with them.

A bit of infrastructure from Jolly Olde. Dramatic rise in road deaths as numbers of traffic police fall Surprise, surprise, when you don’t enforce the laws people ignore them.

Speaking of bad UK infrastructure, this updates at the beginning of every month. Cycle Facility of the Month Yes, that is a bollard-protected bike path that is just over a meter long.

I keep getting invited to these things, but I don’t know why exactly. Vigil and Die-In If someone could get with me (maybe by a FB message?) and tell me why I’m getting invited to a UK protest from TX.

More about the unconscious driver that ran over a cyclist during a diabetic episode. “…An accident waiting to happen ” – Diabetic who fell unconscious while driving jailed for seriously injuring cyclist and Diabetic crash driver jailed

When drivers break traffic laws they’re bad drivers/people. When cyclists break traffic laws all cyclists are “provocative”. Provocative cyclists

Sometimes advertisers have a “tin ear” when it comes to cyclists. Taxi advert shows cabbie running over a cyclist I’m absolutely convinced that many of not most cyclists get hit by taxis in search of a big payout, not because cabbies drive like maniacs. [/sarcasm].

Another veteran gets back into life thanks to the UK version of the Wounded Warrior Project. Injured veteran’s vow to join Help for Heroes cyclists set to be fulfilled

Some Ozzie cyclists remind a news media outlet that the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”. Cycling risks insurance This bit is about 2 Page Downs from the top of the page.

In bits and pieces, even sub-standard infrastructure can look great. The best cycling infrastructure in cities around the world – your pictures

And I’m fresh outta links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

It’s Tuesday again yay! and the Feed

Welcome to another day that I pump artificially by taking portions of Monday’s Feed and holding them until now. That gives me a few more links to post today and lets me finish quicker on Monday. Otherwise I wouldn’t get Monday’s post finished until about 0200 Tuesday…

First up I’m trying to get hit-and-run with injury upgraded to the same crime as it would be had a drunk driver remained at the scene, because right now in TX a drunk driver can take years off his/her sentence by claiming ignorance of the wreck and turning themselves in the next day, after all the alcohol gets processed out of their body. Hit-and-run should be as great a crime as DUI manslaughter The only thing that can get hit-and-run investigated and prosecuted is to treat it like any other assault with a deadly weapon. One step at a time…

A potential source of hit-and-run drivers for Portland, OR. Travel site says ‘driving cyclists off the road’ is rite of passage in Portland – UPDATED The article has been taken down, but Google Archive and the Wayback Machine (thank you Mr. Peabody) never forget…

Who wants to live forever? How Exercise Keeps Us Young Not live “forever” but be as healthy and physically happy (I can’t say what cycling will do for emotional happiness beyond make it easier to find) as you can be until you do die.

And getting more of these may let you do more of what was recommended in the preceding paragraph. Traffic Gardens Galore “Traffic Gardens” are park-like settings with lots of paths painted up like streets and roads so that children can practice their “road sense” in an environment where mistakes would not be fatal but easily correctable. The small size and frequent intersections keep speeds low so that any collisions are more scraped knees and elbows than broken bones.

Remember that year they recalled every car because they were killing so many people? Citing Indefinite Safety Issues – Car Companies Recall Every Vehicle Ever Made If any other mode of transportation killed like motor vehicles it would be regulated into non-existence or safety. Look at trains and airplanes, when I was a pilot I had to take a flight test every 2 years if I hadn’t gotten a new rating in the meantime. When was the last time you had to take a retest at the DMV?

Speaking of cars killing people. Is “Safe” Road Design Killing Bicyclists and Pedestrians? I think it has become quite obvious that making streets that are specifically designed to move lots of cars makes every other mode dangerous.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Aaron Paley talks CicLAvia; a visionary from the past; and a pedal-by fooding in Seattle

Given how cyclists trying to get to sidewalk bike parking are treated by the NYPD, how is this guy not dead or in a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds? Cabbie Rams Cop Cars & Drives On Midtown Sidewalk In Crazy Rush Hour Rampage Seriously, he rammed multiple cop cars and drove on the sidewalk, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk without endangering anyone gets you a ticket that looks like the interest payment on the National Debt, and so far the driver does not even have a ticket (though the TLC did suspend his hack license for 90 days).

Philly works to get drivers out of the bike lanes, how well did they do? So, How Did #UnblockBikeLanes Work Out? I think (hope?) that picture at the top is pre-campaign.

How long should I celebrate the schadenfreude on this one? Bail Set For $2.5M For Bishop Charged In Cyclist’s Death That said, there is something in the Constitution about “excessive bonds or bails” when holding someone for trial.

Hit 3 cyclists from behind and then after it comes out the lights were pulled from their bikes after the wreck to make it look like they were riding ninja file a suit about how hitting them has harmed you, now going on for 2 years. Canadian Driver Who Hit Three Bicycling Teenagers Suing Victims’ Families For Emotional Trauma How about filing suit against this driver because knowing she is still out there driving makes you traumatized, Canadian readers (I know you’re out there, I get regular hits from Canadian IP addresses)?

Another court link, this one from Oz. Driver sobs in court over death of 70yo Perth cyclist Paola Ferroni I wonder is she sobbing over the death of the cyclist, or because she may have to go to prison or jail because of it?

Another Wounded Warrior ride. Bayou-to-Brookley ‘Indy Ride’ cycling event celebrating veterans to be part of Mobile Aerofest This looks like a good ride except that it is in AL.

And I’m fresh out of links now.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (still an unkillable badass)

I’m working sick, and the Feed

Yep, after a slight recovery yesterday I had a slight relapse today, but I got nagged out of bed and consumed calories so I’m able to filter links and do the blog. And yes, that was Mrs. the Poet doing the nagging. I still feel like crap, but I feel like I have enough functioning brain cells to compose a post without looking too stupid, or as Gigi puts it in her blog critiques, “Stoopid”. The timeline so far is that I slept until 1600 or so yesterday, was wiped out and back asleep by 0200 and did not wake back up until around 1330 today and still felt like cold crap even then. I had the breakfast that was left over from yesterday, re-heated, then about an hour later (1500) Mrs. the Poet fixed soup and sandwiches for lunch that I finally finished about 1600, and it is now 1745 as I type this and aside from having to wrap my legs in a blanket I’m mostly alert and active. I’m just getting ready to filter the Feed for relevant links, but I REALLY need to take a shower…

Up first is another bit of Schadenfreude about a killer driver. Bishop charged in cyclist death to remain in Baltimore jail Drunk driver blows 3 times the legal limit with a previous DUI and FINALLY gets some serious bail imposed after she kills someone. And while I feel some righteous indignation that the victim was a cyclist, I would feel almost the same had she killed a pedestrian, not quite the same had she killed another driver because there would be a strong possibility that killing another driver would result in serious injury for her. But yes, I’m having lots of schadenfreude about her having to stay in jail until trial, which might be in another 2 or 3 years.

And while we are in the legal infrastructure side of things, another driver gets a caress on the wrist for hitting 3 people and killing the one riding the bicycle. Distracted Driver Gets 1 Year In Minn. Crash That Killed Cyclist Mom Actually 360 days in local jail with time out for attending drill with his National Guard unit, so it’s an “interrupted” year.

This bill could potentially provide us with an endless stream of physical infrastructure, or be used to prevent federal funds from ever being used to build bicycle infrastructure. All Bill Information (Except Text) for H.R.199 – To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure credit assistance pilot program, and for other purposes.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: New hope for North Fig and Santa Monica Blvd; bike rider attacked on San Gabriel River trail

Another link from Oz that conflates wearing a bicycle helmet with avoiding injury on a bike. Cyclists’ injuries getting worse The article is about being dragged under a large vehicle like a semi, something that is so far out of the envelope of a bicycle helmet’s protection that it might as well be circling the rings of Saturn… but yet they still manage to mention wearing helmets while also talking about massive internal injuries that require weeks if not months of bed rest to recover from. Last I checked helmets only covered the top part of the head and did nothing to prevent internal injuries.

I don’t know why this article on passing cyclists safely includes a picture of the 2014 TdF peloton riding in the rain. RSA urges passing drivers to stay clear of cyclists The people in charge of suggesting rules have the right idea, but what are the editors of the media outlet trying to do?

Cyclists generally have big hearts, and not (just) because we are endurance athletes. Cyclists get on their bikes in support of injured rugby player Owen Williams

Another link about that useless “safety” app from Volvo. Volvo’s Next Safety Frontier: Tech To Help Drivers Share The Road With Cyclists As I pointed out before, this thing only works if you have a compatible cell phone with you as you ride, and for the foreseeable future only applies to Volvos driven with the app activated by the driver. Every other vehicle is still just as blind to you as before. Which is pretty much everybody.

And last link, bicycles and handcycles are a vehicle to recovery for physically and mentally damaged veterans. Wounded Warriors Interact With Dolphins, Bike Across Keys Bridge

And those were all the links I could find.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet