Month: November 2005

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Ode to the traffic light

There once was a guy on a bike
who stopped at the local red light.
The light never turned
but the Law he can’t spurn,
so he sits there to this very night

– Chris (on BBC Talk)

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Have you seen this pickup truck?

A bicyclist was struck and very seriously injured two weeks ago (Sunday October 30, the day before Halloween) on Randolph Road at Sherwood Forest Drive, just west of New Hampshire Avenue, in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was a hit and run — the driver didn’t stay at the scene and didn’t give any aid to the injured cyclist. The cyclist was riding in the right lane and was apparently struck from behind. The incident happened at 3 pm, on a very sunny day as I recall.
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Bike Jam Once Again Apart of the National Race Calendar

Baltimore, MD – USA Cycling has announced that Bike Jam featuring the Kelly Cup, Baltimore’s only professional cycling race, is apart of the 2006 National Racing Calendar. This marks the third straight year that Bike Jam has been on the calendar. The National Race Calendar, now in its 10th season, features 45 events in 2006 and represents a collection of the most prestigious road cycling events on American soil. The 2006 version of the event will take place on Saturday, May 27.
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Speed and pedestrian safety

Faster speeds not only reduce the amount of time pedestrians and vehicles have to react to each other, but also increase the likelihood of a pedestrian being killed in a crash. A pedestrian hit by a vehicle traveling at 40 mph has an 85 percent chance of being killed; at 30 mph, it goes down to 45 percent, while at 20 mph, it is only 5 percent.
– U.K. Department of Transportation, Killing Speed and Saving Lives, London, 1987.
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What’s in YOUR bike bag?

-Rita Zeidner on the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club list serve
Here, in response to popular request and in no particular order, a summary.
* * * * * * * *
Peter at minkhollow
Absolute minimum? A cell phone, to call my wife and ask her nicely to come out and pick me up. If I’m riding way out in the country, I stick with my Verizon phone, since they have more coverage, and it has an analog mode. (Don’t leave it on — analog mode runs the battery down quickly.)
If I need to be more independent:
– Small (but powerful) pump that can actually pump up a tire in a reasonable amount of time – Spare tube – Tire levers – All-in-one tool with hex wrenches, screwdrivers, and a chain tool.- Piece of old tire casing to use as a boot in case of major tire failure
I carry more than that, but those are the things I feel I need.
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We Are Traffic

Video 49 min 52 sec – Oct 23, 2005

There are a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts in this video. One of the comments in the video was about how we punish people in this society by confining their movement. Which got me thinking isn’t the space inside a car near equivalent to the space in a jail cell?

Cars were once the great enablers of freedom and now they are becoming jail cells in rush hour or at best, modified wheel chairs so the occupants do not have to do more then 5-15 minutes of
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