Camera test

Yep, I'm dabbling in the video camera department.

I bought a cheap camera--sold under the Vivitar brand at Tarjay for $60 or so (plus a few shekels for the memory card...). I just couldn't bring myself to spring for the GoPro, at $200 plus bike handlebar mount and other accessories--yet.

During its first outing, I drove my bicycle through an intersection that seems to terrify many local cyclists, due to the varying ways motor vehicles approach one's path. I speak of Shelbyville Road westbound under the Watterson "Distressway" (or Expressway, although with its frequent traffic tie-ups, "express" doesn't really seem a valid term). Since I live off New LaGrange Road, and travel to do errands in the Saint Matthews area pretty often, it's a corridor that sees a fair bit of use for me. Whole Foods, Feeder's Supply, and, eventually, a new movie theater complex are just the other side of the Watterson from us.

It really is pretty easy most of the time, though. Follow a few basic guidelines, ride as if you own the road (you do, after all), and folks will give you ample room.

These are raw videos, with no editing (save for time). My camera records in five-minute segments and saves the segments sequentially for later review. It also seems to rattle around in its case while the bike is moving, hence the constant noise. Since there is no dialog, feel free to mute the sound if you like:

Here's another segment of US60, this one from Sage Road to Heimerdinger Cutlery near Hubbards Lane:

Note that even on a weekday afternoon I have a LOT of time when there is no other road user affected by me (or I by them). Part of this is due to my road position--well out in the lane and easy to see at greater distance. Folks don't often try to squeeze by me if I'm occupying the lane in a safe manner. They have plenty of time to adjust their speeds to get around me using other lanes.

Business isn't booming, but...

...it's looking a little better.

On the advice of a friend, I supplied a stack of my cards to Brownsboro Hardware Store. I've already gotten a few calls from folks who got my name from that store, so it was clearly a good thing to do.

One woman owns some apartments off Brownsboro Road a bit west of Zorn Avenue. I visited her last week, just to let her associate a face with my name and voice (she had called me a day or two before).

Another woman has already had me do some work for her, and we have made plans for more work as is seasonally appropriate. While not enough to sustain me, contacts such as these are vital to my business plan (such as it is), as having a network of happy small-job customers will hopefully lead to a broader network of such customers.

Over the rivers...

...and through the woods, as the saying goes.

Tuesday of last week, my sister was talking to a friend of hers, and learned that the friend was driving to Williamsburg Virginia for Thanksgiving. The friend's brother lives there, a whole three or four blocks from my grandmother's house.

My sister immediately called my grandmother's house to see if there was anything she could send along to my grandmother, and learned that my father (who lives with his mother most of the time to make sure she is cared for adequately) planned to be with his wife, their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren for a few days.

In the space of a few hours, plans were made for Ella and me to drive to Williamsburg so that my grandmother would not be alone over the holiday.

More Class

Jenn and I had an opportunity to teach another TS101 class together, this time in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Jim Moore, affectionately known by many in the Louisville Bicycle Club as Grizzly Dog (a Mad Dog nickname). He is a professor at Campbellsville University, and the most-recognized cyclist in that town.

Campbellsville is working to become a Trail Town, in effort to draw in more tourism dollars. Conflating, as often is the case, cycling with walking, the Task Force for this effort contacted Jim, who then contacted me. Despite having to address some unrealistic expectations (does Campbellsville REALLY need nine LCIs?), plans were made for a couple of Traffic Skills 101 classes, to be held on consecutive weekends. Partly due to the aforementioned expectations, one of the classes had to be postponed until spring, but the other went as intended. Another of those expectations had to do with the number of students involved, and I bought more materials than were needed. As I don't expect the materials to go out of date before next summer, I'm not too worried, but I'll be watching.

At any rate, we went from expecting twelve or fourteen students each of two weekends to having nine students one weekend. It was a great group, though--all were attentive, and some asked great questions.

Late last week, I learned that I would have two police officers as students. There was a bit of trepidation regarding this, as I have several colleagues who have reported unpleasant dealings with law enforcement officers, and especially with small-town officers. I decided that I would just keep an open mind, though, as these two could be quite pleasant to have in class. These two officers were quite pleasant. They were interested in my viewpoint, had had no real training regarding how bicycling in traffic follows traffic law, and despite that they had more athleticism than the other students, tried hard to do well during the on-bike sessions. Lunch-time conversation with them revealed that much of their job is public relations rather than lots of crime reporting. One reported that he rarely sees cyclists other than Jim (or Mister Moore, as the officer referred to him), and that he was glad to learn what the law says about cycling. I found their professionalism quite refreshing, and told them so.

The class went very well. Jenn and I had a good time working with the students.

Since we were in town, Jim took us out on a bike ride Sunday morning. We rambled along for about twenty miles, taking in a bridge over the Green River that was built in 1905 or so, near the site of a small battle that took place in the summer of 1863 (Tebbs Bend). Jim showed us a graveyard where several Confederate soldiers were buried (although some were apparently removed and reburied nearer their homes after the war). We got to enjoy some countryside that we don't get to see on a regular basis (having to drive two hours each way has that effect on frequency of riding a bike in the area).

It was the first recreational ride of that seemingly-paltry distance I have done in almost a year. I have taken much of this year off from doing club rides for an assortment of reasons, but now find myself more interested in doing some rides with the RCCS bunch. We'll see if that happens.

voting day

If you haven't voted yet today, why not? If it's already too late to vote, why did you not vote?

blinders

Over the years, I've posted my opinion that there are two reasons why a motorist would not see me on my bicycle. Those two are that either a) the motorist wasn't paying enough attention to his or her surroundings, or b) has a vision impairment such that it is not legal for him or her to operate a motor vehicle. No other option presents itself to me without there being a hint or more of dishonesty on the part of the motorist.

A friend or two have suggested that there is a legitimate third option. I am embarrassed that I don't remember the gist of their claims, but it could have been what is discussed in this article from a Royal Air Force pilot, in which much of the discussion focuses on Saccadian masking.

In short, when we move our focus, our eyes move. Our brains don't process the neuro stimuli that land on our retinas during this motion. We only process what is seen during an ocular fixation, however brief that fixation is. Our brains gloss over what is between two points of fixation (or focus, if you will), completely missing any detail in that angle of our potential vista. Please read the entire article, as I don't wish to copy it here. It's worth a few minutes.

The lesson, in short, is to do things to minimize Siccadic masking. Move your head around. Look more than once in each direction. Don't be in such a big hurry to get through an intersection. Know that others you want to see you may not be looking as closely as you would have them look, be aware of their Saccadian masking.

On an unrelated note: I looked at the visit counter yesterday, and noted that it was shy of 11,100. today it is at 11,130, a large jump for this site. From whence does all this traffic come?