Another huge Monday Feed

I took a look at the Feed Folder today and at a quick glance it looks huge (or YUUuuge). Now how many of those links are duplicates is an open question, there are some duplicates without a question. If I’m lucky most of the links will be dupes, otherwise I may be sitting at this computer for a long time tonight.

Up first because of proximity a cyclist is hit from behind by a driver making an illegal pass on the shoulder. Cyclist killed in Highway 12 crash The driver got impatient and tried to pass a car by driving on the shoulder, which is semi-legal in TX if the car being passed is stopped and there isn’t anyone to hit on the shoulder. There is nothing a cyclist can do in a situation like this.

Still in TX we get a six vehicle pileup that sends a cyclist to hospital without a single motor vehicle involved so far as we know. Six bicyclists involved in crash in Fulshear

Ted had Too Much Fun at CicLAvia in the first half of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Images from Sunday’s CicLAvia, and a NY cyclist is bumped by an SUV, then threatened with arrest

Daily Ted part 2. Huntington Beach bike rider has died following last week’s bike lane collision

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike takes another victim. Man on bicycle dies after being hit by car SWCC wreck, except there were two people inside the weapon vehicle.

People who have never been chased by a dog are blaming the cyclist for shooting a dog outside of a fence in rural Wyoming. Decorated combat dog killed after allegedly attacking cyclist and Army Vet Mourns the Loss of Service Dog and Retired Military K-9 After He Was Fatally Shot by Cyclist From the various stories I have read that I can’t link to the cyclist carried a .41 Magnum revolver in a holster on the top tube of the bike loaded with .410 shotgun shells to be a mostly non-lethal means of dealing with feral animals and snakes while riding and does not understand how the bird shot in the shotgun shell could have killed the animal.

Back in CA a cyclist is injured “running” a red. Cyclist fighting for his life after Miramar crash That intersection is huge! There were “only” 6 traffic lanes, a left turn lane, and a right turn lane but I measured the width the cyclist had to cross at between 105 and 110 feet. Even going with the smaller of the two measurements that’s still an average lane width of more than 13 feet. If the cyclist was watching the oncoming traffic for a left cross more than the traffic signal he could have entered a second or two after the amber and been caught in the middle or outer through lanes when the light changed.

More on the CO cyclist critically injured in a hit-and-run. State Patrol Releases Name Of Cyclist Seriously Injured In Hit & Run Why in so many of these wrecks is the weapon vehicle a ratty pickup truck?

Not sure exactly how this wreck happened, just that it did. Cyclist killed by tractor-trailer in Botetourt County The driver left the scene but came back. So there is at least a hit-and-run charge involved, right?

A couple of states over from that wreck we get another serious wreck in DE. Delaware troopers investigating fatal crash in Long Neck that killed a cyclist Another fatal SWCC wreck. I would like to see the bike wreckage. The nose of the car was messed up by whatever else it ran into after hitting the cyclist, so the only possible reliable evidence in this wreck is the bicycle.

What is the best way to prevent winning the door prize? Not having anyone trying to give you one! Oregon Attorney Releases Bicycle Dooring Video PSA “Look For Cyclists” I think making dooring a cyclist a crime commensurate with the possible consequences would also help a lot. “If I open this door without looking I could possibly kill a cyclist and go to prison for a long time. I better take two looks just to make sure.”

Back in CA for a non-wreck story with two links. Injured Veterans Cycle Through Central Coast to Los Angeles and Palo Alto: 200 cycling vets take off on recovery ride As always WoaB suggests getting out and supporting these veterans.

A little MI infrastructure changes going on as Northern cities start to downsize after all their jobs were shipped overseas. A Plan in Progress for a Bike-Friendly Detroit Metro Area There seems to be an abundance of space even on the “Boulevard of Dreams” now that so many cars just flat aren’t there any more.

And in OH they are having the same situation, an excess of road capacity. A 40-Block Bike Path Could Be Coming to Cleveland “Back when Lorain Avenue was built, we had a million people in the city of Cleveland,” Tom McNair, director of the west side development group, Ohio City Incorporated, told WCRN. “We now have 400,000.” So with less than ½ the population you need less than ½ the street capacity that already exists, time for some quick road diets.

A Ghost bike goes up in SD. Local cyclists honor crash victim with ghost bike The driver of the weapon vehicle crossed a sidewalk fast enough to kill a cyclist…

Cyclist right-hooked in the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision with vehicle Sunday

Aftermath of a hit-and-run in Jolly Olde. Cyclist narrowly avoided death after hit-and-run in Sunderland It’s a good thing the cyclist was able to crawl out of the road after getting hit and breaking his spine. It’s a bad thing that he had to.

Whee! The weapon vehicle burst into flames after hitting the cyclist. Cyclist critically injured, car in flames after collision This is the first time I remember a car going up in flames after hitting a cyclist. Did the broken bike tear loose a fuel line underneath the vehicle?

Last link is from Oz, as a cyclist and a van have a “meeting of the minds”. Cyclist, van in serious city crash near Victoria Park racecourse Any time a cyclist is hit it’s “serious”. Well almost any time, there’s “horrific” and “deadly” at one end of the scale, and “minor injuries” at the other, but how often do you see “minor injuries” in report about a motor vehicle and a bike wrecking. This report seems to be about the second half of the wreck as …”Early investigations indicate the man lost control negotiating a high kerb and veered into the path of the van, which was travelling east on Wakefield Rd.” Why would the cyclist have been trying to negotiate a high curb (American spelling) unless he was run off the road or trying to avoid getting hit?

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

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This post should be done by dinner time, and the Feed

Not much in the Feed folder today, and the grocery run was completed by 1300. So I have most of the afternoon unencumbered for filtering and writing the blog post.

I got some more parts for the Sprint T yesterday via Speedway Motors. These are the rear lower control arms that locate the rear axle fore and aft and also work with the upper arm to control rotation. The actual upper arm will depend on what rear axle I end up with but the lower ones are the same no matter what rear axle I use. There are two places to mount the rear springs on this arm to adjust clearance between the spring and the rear axle housing and also the effective spring rate at the wheel.

This is one of the front spindles. It connects the front wheel to the front axle.
By choosing this I will have a choice of three different brake calipers, 4 different brake hubs and 3 diameters of rotors, and 5 different bolt circles to mount the wheels. Three of the hubs mount directly to the spindle, but one requires machining an adaptor to fit over the existing spindle. Since I recently got access to a CNC lathe machining the adaptor became almost as simple as plugging in the dimensions of the adaptor and flipping a switch.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Public Works says don’t ask us on Glendale-Hyperion; Ventura Grand Jury says cars are dangerous On that second part of the headline, can I get a “Doi!”?

There is no lower limit on IQ for getting a driver’s license in NY. Driver Crashes Mercedes Into UWS Restaurant While Fleeing Police And we can see what it takes to get arrested for a wreck in NYC, drugs and property damage.

And the victim of the wreck that led to “Cooper’s Law” is remembered by his classmates. “I Will Miss Cooper Every Day Of My Life”: Classmates Of Boy Killed By Cabbie Rally For Safer Streets This was the wreck that made hitting a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk a crime all by itself in order to get reluctant DAs to file stiffer charges against killer drivers. It didn’t work of course, because the NY Supreme Court required a mens rea almost identical to first degree murder to convict of vehicular manslaughter…

What is the law about riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in CA? Dolan: Application of vehicle law to cyclists Depends on what town you are in and where in the town the bike is on the sidewalk…

More on the Marine handcycling from San Diego to Arlington VA. Town cheers injured Marine’s Ride Across America Did you see the shoulders on that guy? Wow!

Another link to the despicable woman who lied about being on her phone when she hit and killed a cyclist. Motorist was using mobile when she killed cyclist There is a circle of Hell just for people like this, a cacophony of strident ringtones, people talking at full volume, and the frequent but irregular shot to the head with a large clublike object being swung around by a blindfolded person on a noise-canceling headset so they can’t hear when they hit you while they talk to some distant person. I hope this woman goes there soon.

The UK has crap bicycle infrastructure. Protect cyclists from obstacle course So, this is news?

Just Yikes! Eskom liable for cyclist’s burns Electrocuted through the forehead? And still able to function? Yikes!

Lights would be good, but you saw the cyclist, right? No helmet, no lights, decked out in black: Cyclist tempts fate on major Sydney road during 3am ride And once again the “invisible ninja cyclist” myth is busted by the very people trying to perpetuate it. They saw the cyclist well enough to take a series of pictures of her and even get gender and an age range estimate, so what’s the problem?

Last link is just for fun as a sometimes-troublesome immigrant is granted Japanese citizenship after more than 50 years of residency. Resident evil: Godzilla made official Japanese citizen

And I seem to be out of links today, but there will be more tomorrow. There is always more tomorrow. I need a “more depressed” font for that one.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Grocery day, and the Feed

One thing Mrs. the Poet and I have never seemed to come to a consensus on is my desire for salty snacks. I mean sure she lets me buy them most weeks, but every so often I can tell she just does not understand why I want those snacks. Personally I feel $4 for a pound of cheese balls in a reusable and resealable container is a bargain, particularly when name-brand cheese puffs cost nearly that much for half as much by weight and they come in a bag that lets the uneaten snacks go stale in a couple of days. I mean look at it this way, not only am I getting a full pound of snacks, I’m getting a free cookie jar for her snacks. Also we are getting 10 quarts of Powerade for $0.69/qt because, reasons. And I’m also having difficulty persuading her to get the salt that is 50/50 sodium chloride and potassium chloride to deal with my potassium deficiency, because she can get store brand salt for $0.59 a pound and the potassium mix is like $1.50/4 oz.

Schadenfreude over a man who has done everything in his power to endanger cyclists with bad infrastructure. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Hospitalized With Suspected Tumor Not wishing Rob Ford to die soon. That would be too kind… And really I don’t wish him to suffer, much (a few days, please?) because really if he was to get an equal amount of pain for all the pain he has personally brought on Toronto cyclists with his policies he would be in agony for pretty much the rest of his life. For those with (blessed) short memories Mayor Ford compared riding a bicycle to swimming with sharks, and said that all cyclists deserved to die horribly in a wreck with a motor vehicle. I guess all I really have to say is “Ain’t karma a bitch, Robby?”

Another hit-and-run killer, this time in WV. Man Arrested In Connection With Death Of Boy Struck, Killed On Bicycle The story actually changed as I was creating the link, first it was just a hit-and-run, then it turned into an arrest report. Congratulations to the LEO who tracked him down and arrested the driver of the weapon vehicle. Hit from behind wreck of a cyclist not even riding on the road, protocols moot, so infrastructure “up to Dutch’ to prevent. And crush the vehicles used to commit hit-and-run as part of that infrastructure.

OK strange story time in IN. Officials: Muncie man killed in bike accident; sister found dead in home next day by deputy coroner SWCC wreck for the cyclist, who knows what happened for the sister. The infrastructure that got the cyclist killed was obviously not “up to Dutch” or the cyclist would not have been able to be hit when crossing the intersection of the bike path and the road.

A SWCC wreck in CA. Cyclist killed in crash on San Juan Grade Road at Crazy Horse Canyon Classic SWCC narrative claiming a cyclist pulled out in front of a speeding car just as the car came along to hit him/her. Since there is an intersection nearby protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Another wreck in CA, this one hit-from-behind. Long-haul cyclist injured in Highway 1 crash near Santa Cruz Hit from behind 2 feet off the road, not the cyclist’s fault or much she could have done to avoid it. I’m going to blame this one on CA not being the Netherlands.

Right hook in West Canuckistan. Cyclist injured Intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. I like wrecks with survivors who will recover and simple-to-solve problems.

I can’t believe they posted this in a UK media outlet… Cyclists airlifted after van crash between Swindon and Royal Wootton Bassett As the story reads now the cyclist were hit by a van that crossed the centerline into the cyclist’s side of the road. I don’t know how long that will stay up. As the story reads now there was nothing the cyclists could have done to change the outcome of this wreck, leaving only getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Hit and run by a distracted driver in the Emerald Isle. Cyclist knocked down and killed by driver who was using his laptop at the wheel and Driver who fatally hit cyclist (19) with car and ‘callously’ drove away without ever taking foot off accelerator jailed The driver did not get anything close to the sentence he deserved, but as I understand it Ireland no longer has a death penalty. Pity, because hanging, drawing, and quartering barely covers what happened in this wreck. Three years in prison does not even come close for a wreck and subsequent behavior like this one.

Update on a wreck in Enn Zed. Injured cyclist remains critical Still hit-from-behind on the shoulder of the road by a driver that could not keep in the proper lane, still infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A fatal wreck in Oz. Young woman killed in South Brisbane crash Killed while waiting for traffic to clear to make her turn, surrounded by sub-standard bike “infrastructure” that failed to allow for cyclists wanting to turn. And why didn’t the driver of the semi just wait behind her? Get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent another wreck. More Brisbane, Fast, First: Cyclist dies in collision with truck and the latest breaking news – September 11

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: AAA promotes 3-foot law they previously fought; Brown legalizes triple bike racks on buses Good stuff.

Infrastructure! news from Oz. Clover’s deluded death wish list for Sydney’s cyclists Really, jihad against cars? Bubba, you ain’t seen jihad if you think making a little (tiny bit) of space for some other mode of transportation is a jihad against cars.

Lifestyle from IL. Jacob Bass, Bridgeport Cyclist Killed, Has Music Scholarship Named for Him

And this review of a revamped A2B e-assist bike. A2B launches Entz e-bike with frame-integrated motor and gearless shifting

And those were all the links that gave me fits or giggles today, plus shopping for groceries. You would not believe the amount of food we bought today. It completely filled the back of a 2010 Honda Insight.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

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

We have an election today, and the Feed

Today is Primary day here in TX and I am facing a conundrum. My state senator is facing a strong challenge from a Tea Party loon and he’s running unopposed in the general election. BUUUT there is a stealth Tea Party challenger for the Democratic race for my US senator. And many of the local races will be decided during the primaries of both parties. So do I vote to keep a relatively sane state senator still in office, or do I hope that most of the voters in the primary are sane and keep the crazy out of the race to be my national representative? Either way I’m likely to be represented by someone whose views range from mostly opposed to totally opposed to my beliefs.

Up first is a Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Interrogative moment from the next county over from the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicycle rider killed on Interstate 20 in Arlington Yeah, that area is terrible for anyone not driving a car and a barrier to even people in cars. The Street View of the scene shows an underpass about a quarter of a mile away, and there is another crossing about a half mile in the other direction but nothing that could be considered to be “bike friendly” in either direction. Still those are better than trying to cross on a bike and are within riding distance, and there is nothing for the rider to have been crossing from or to in the area, leading to the WTF? moment of trying to decipher this wreck There is even a bridge available on the frontage road to cross the body of water immediately to the west of the wreck location, so it’s not like he was riding on the shoulder to get over the stream. And in order to figure out how to avoid this wreck I first have to figure out why it happened. At this point the best thing I can say is not to ride on Interstate highways that don’t have bike provision, and get the infrastructure right (there is currently ZERO bike infrastructure in car-sick Arlington) to prevent.

A completely innocent cyclist is hit from behind by a drunk driver driving a stolen car in CA. Update: Chula Vista bike rider killed by drunk driver in stolen car No way for a cyclist to avoid this one, and infrastructure might but not positively would prevent a similar wreck. As all of the driver’s actions in this wreck are already felonies I don’t see changing the legal infrastructure as any help either.

A UK wreck story with a twist. Cyclist (94) died after being hit by car – 100 yards from where brother was fatally injured 59 years ago Blind driver kills and gets a gentle caress on the wrist, “120 hours’ unpaid work, was banned from driving for a year and was ordered to pay £250 costs and a Government-imposed £60 surcharge,” what else is new in the UK?

It was a really bad weekend in Oz. Five killed, pedestrians injured in horror three days on SA roads The was the one guy hitting a group of five pedestrians walking on the sidewalk in a residential area, people driving cars and motorcycles into stationary objects on the sides of roads, and one guy hit by a truck while riding a bicycle. The damages to the truck are clear indicators of a sideswipe wreck as there was blood on the side of the truck and a broken mirror on the passenger side. The description of the site leads me to believe that Oz’s rules of the road may have contributed to the wreck by forcing the cyclist to the side of the road but the driver holds most of the blame in this wreck. Infrastructure to prevent a similar wreck. More Four fatalities on SA roads due to speed

Really bad Infrastructure! news from Jolly Olde. Figures reveal Hackney fares worst in London for serious cyclist casualties as Boris promises Old Street roundabout re-design Yep, making streets that are suited only for motor vehicles actually makes them suited for nothing if there are any other roads users present. People get killed in large part due to the bad infrastructure combined with the bad driving. Fix the infrastructure and re-test all the drivers to weed out the ones that eventually kill or injure other road users. Make any tickets result in re-testing for bad driving skills and attitudes, and shred the licenses of those not qualified by skill or attitude. Make it permanent for bad attitudes and require additional training and testing for those with poor skills. Combine that with infrastructure suited for the purpose and the KSI rate will plummet.

An e-assist that’s built into a cargo bike. English Cycles: Designing & Building a Custom Electric Cargo Bike w/ Bosch, Gates, NuVinci

Last link is to another e-assist drive. Drive Motor 5.0 This motor is also intended to be built into the bike from the start rather than being an add-on for the consumer.

And those are all the links I have today about bicycles. I shared the other links on Facebook.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Postus interruptus, and the Feed

This post will be written in two parts because I’m going to another doctor today. This is a continuation of the treatment for my back pains caused by having one leg shorter than the other since my wreck. I will be leaving after 1400 and back about 1900 or so. I will add a travel story after I get back.

Up first is a report from CA on a cyclist hit from behind in the bike lane by a Sheriff’s cruiser travelling at a high rate of speed. Breaking news — bike rider killed in wreck with Sheriff’s patrol car and Bicyclist killed in crash with sheriff’s patrol car in Calabasas also Bicyclist Killed in Collision With Sheriff’s Radio Car and this too Bicyclist Struck And Killed By Sheriff’s Patrol Car In Calabasas still more Former Napster COO Killed in Crash With Patrol Car yet another link Former Napster exec killed on bike by patrol car OK I have read several thousand wreck reports and know that it takes an impact of 50 to 60 MPH or higher to cause laminated safety glass to shatter so that flying glass intrudes on the passenger compartment so as to cause facial injuries to the driver, which is the case here. So we can deduce the cruiser was moving at 70 MPH or higher (much higher) on a surface street while on “regular patrol”. Protocols in this case would have had no effect because of the high closing speed of the weapon vehicle, and the cyclist was already using appropriate infrastructure for the location. So the only way to avoid or prevent a wreck like this in the future is training and screening of people with deadly weapons. You would think the training and screening of people assigned with the responsibility of having firearms should be enough to prevent incidents like this, but evidence suggests otherwise.

The other “big story” today is a restaurant worker killed in Chicago. Bicyclist killed on West Side and Charges filed in bicyclist’s death: ‘Tragedy of epic proportions’ also Cyclist Killed in Crash Was Marine, Dreamed of Being a Chef As in the previous paragraph the cyclist was hit from behind with little to no chance to avoid the wreck. A parking-protected cycle track would have been the appropriate infrastructure for the site, but not implemented yet. I don’t know what infrastructure was in place or planned but the cycle track would have been the only thing that would have stopped the drunk from hitting a cyclist. If I read the articles correctly, the reason he stayed at the scene was the weapon vehicle was disabled by the wreck and unable to drive away. As in the previous paragraph that requires travelling at more than the posted limit by a large margin.

Also with more than one link is this wreck in Las Vegas NV. Bicyclist Killed in Accident At 0:45 in the video there is a light reflected from the seat-post reflector the cyclist “didn’t have” Coroner: Bicyclist killed in Eastern Avenue crash ID’d SWCC wreck so intersection protocols apply to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A GA cyclist is killed by a drunk driver. Police: One dead, biker seriously injured in drunk driving incident Sorry, but when I was filtering this link I saw the driver was doing 86 MPH when he hit the cyclist and saw there was a death and assumed the cyclist was the one that was killed, but it turns out the passenger was the one that died, so far. Hit from behind wreck, but because of the speed involved there would have been nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid the wreck with the built environment. Get the infrastructure right to prevent a future wreck, but to be honest I’m not sure what that should be. The location speed limit of 45 MPH suggests a parking-buffered cycle track would be the thing to do as far as physical infrastructure is concerned, and recycling vehicles used by drivers with multiple DUIs as part of the legal infrastructure changes to prevent a similar wreck.

An Aussie cyclist struggles to remain on this side of the veil. Young boy fighting for life after being hit by car while riding bike And that is the entirety of what I know about this wreck.

Is Australia about to be the first Anglophone country to actually place a blind driver on trial for killing a cyclist? Driver to face trial over cyclist death Apparently so. The combination of a lowered sun visor, shades, and still hitting a cyclist because the driver was “dazzled” was just pushing it too far for the prosecution.

Infrastructure! news from FL. More bicyclists getting hurt in Broward, Palm Beach counties The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike gets worse, and they still wonder why.

Similar news from CA. High rate of cycling injuries in San Luis Obispo may be a “call to action for decision-makers” It took them three tries to pass a 3-foot passing law and get their Governor to sign it and they wonder why so many get hurt?

A plea for IL drivers to have sense. Drivers, give teen bike riders like me a break This is from what would be classed as a “strong and fearless” cyclist.

Infrastructure news from the UK. Boris Johnson: ‘Death protests’ risk scaring cyclists off the road No Boris, 6 cyclists killed in 9 days does that quite well enough all by itself.

Also from the UK. HGV mag: ‘Our driver killed a cyclist! Read our tragic story.’

With the recent ice storm a set of these on the erstwhile Snow Bike would have been nice. Good friend of my installed 450 screws in his tyres to ride in winter !!!

Last link makes you think. DEAR MOTORIST

And those were all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today/tonight. I should add that it was terrible trying to get to the clinic today as the quick routing required taking the train at least part of the way and the trains were at a standstill here in Garland because of ice on the catenary, meaning no power to the trains.

Billed 2€0.02, Opus

Beeping and buzzing after visiting the Lab Rat Keeper, the Feed

Yes I’m beeping and buzzing every 15 minutes at the moment as the ABPM is keeping track of my blood pressure and heart rate for the final set of data points for this study med. I have to say I’m of mixed mind about this med. On the one hand, it works. I can’t deny that my blood pressure is under better control with this med than any study med I have ever been on. On the other hand the side effects while not life-threatening are certainly not consistent with a quality life-style. The constant phantom itching and the peripheral circulation issues are bad enough to make me quit using the meds if this was not a study with a known cut-off date. I mean seriously, if taking them wasn’t my job I would have stopped these meds weeks ago, there is no justification for frozen fingers and toes when the room falls below 70 degrees F. One thing I am happy with is the side effect the second med was supposed to correct is almost gone. I have almost no swelling of the lower leg to speak of. So the new med does what it is supposed to, it just does a lot of other things it isn’t supposed to do.

Up first, the driver in a hit-and-run attempts to continue running, this time away from a court hearing. La Quinta Hit and Run Suspect Detained After Skipping Court Appearance I think the facts are becoming plain in this case, the woman is scum, lower than a snake’s belly, of low moral character, help me think of some more phrases synonymous with the previous… Murdering slime, unfit to share air with… Think of some more. The facts of the case are that the driver hit the victim from behind in the bike lane hard enough to kill him at the scene. In the bike lane, where cars should not be by law, and then she left him to die. Then she failed to show at the hearing for her plea-bargain, which in my mind disqualifies her from getting a plea and indicates some degree of malice in the actions. And for Deities’ sake don’t let her bail or bond out again! She’s a proven flight risk.

From one of the 3 most dangerous counties to walk or ride a bicycle in the US another cyclist is hit from behind. Bicyclist injured in crash on U.S. 19 If we take this story at face value it strongly illustrates a major part of the problem, lack of cyclist education and poor choices by cyclists. The cyclist was riding in the concrete median and was apparently riding while impaired with dark clothing and no lights on the bike when he left the median and entered the inside lane of traffic. This illustrates why it is such a bad idea to ride while inebriated, it hampers your judgement and makes you think it’s a perfectly reasonable idea to ride at night with no lights in the median of a high-speed road. I have nothing to say about the rider’s choice in clothing color except to ask what color clothes does the investigating officer wear to work?

A lady in Oz is hit by a cyclist that was hit by a car, for the second time in her life. Cyclist injured in car collision OK how many times can this actually happen to a person? I mean she’s only 28 and this is the second time she was riding her bike and hit by another bike that was hit by a car. My wife says her life is much like the song on Hee-Haw “If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all…” As for how to avoid, technically it’s a pinball wreck, which requires super-human abilities to analyse and avoid.

In infrastructure news from CA, because bike lanes were not installed when the street was widened a decade ago a city will have to move $4000 from road maintenance funds to install new signage directing touring cyclists to a different route. Santa Cruz City Council to consider changing coastal bike route I hope they get huge potholes on the road they “forgot” to install bike lanes on… 😉

And that’s all the news that gave me fits so far today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus