Sidecar this, garden that

Last weekend, Jenn and I decided that it was time to start on the mulch plans for the season. We need a fair bit of mulch, as we have not renewed the mulch in the backyard landscaping since we moved in to the house almost three years ago, plus we made a garden in the front yard. Here's the first load of mulch, with some tomato cages and a roll of landscape fabric:

Eight bags, each three cubic feet, for probably 250 pounds of payload.

The garden is largely planted, albeit a bit early, as there is still some danger of frost over the next couple weeks. We have an assortment of protective coverings ready to deploy, rather than remove the plants from the garden area.

In other cargo-capacity news: For my recent anniversary of appearing in this world, my mother gave me some money earmarked for the purchase of an Xtracycle Sidecar to fit my Big Dummy. The Xtracycle web site indicated that the Sidecar was out of stock, but I noticed a bit over a week ago that there were some available. Mine arrived earlier this week, and I found time to mount it and a deck for it yesterday. Here it is in the "ready to haul stuff" configuration:

 And in the "on the bike, but stowed for now" position (although it's only being kept there by inertia as pictured--I have a cargo net on the deck that can hold it in place):

 When I went to get the plywood for the deck, I had the Sidecar frame on the bike. I found that it interferes with the trailer if I try to turn hard to the right. I expect even worse interference if the Sidecar is in use, so I've decided to consider them not compatible with each other:

The plywood in question is simply cheap Lauan 5mm sheet stock. When I bought it, I had the lumber store rip cut the sheet at the proper width for the Sidecar, and again to fit as a floor for the trailer. I stained the piece I cut for the Sidecar with some stain left over from another project, mostly to reduce water absorption if the thing gets wet.

I discovered that the holes marked on the Xtracycle template were off by about 5mm. It's not a big deal--I have enough material for two more decks, after all--but it meant drilling some holes after partially installing the deck. When I make a replacement for this one, I'll know.

Also: Astute observers may note that I mounted the deck on the underside of the Sidecar frame. I did this thinking about reports from others who have the Sidecar who have found it hard to keep some cargo loads from scooting off the deck. The frame makes for a decent retaining lip in this case, as a load I'm likely to carry with the Sidecar is not likely to break the plywood. If I find myself using it for heavy enough loads that I'm worried about plywood breakage, I can get longer screws and thicker plywood (or make a second layer to add to the existing layer).

Load-testing of the new toy will happen over the next several days. I have no shortage of semi-heavy stuff to use for mock payloads.

It's live!

It remains a work in progress, and will require some level of effort to maintain, but Commute Louisville is now live!

By design, it is closely related to the suite of sites built by Keri Caffery for Commute Orlando, Cycling Savvy, I am Traffic, and related sites focused on St. Louis, Dallas, and elsewhere. This to the point that it was designed by Keri. All mistakes you find in the site are my own. Dropping me an email message pointing out a needed correction is encouraged.

There will be another companion site up later this summer, as Cycling Savvy Louisville becomes a reality. I also hope to eventually have shirts with this logo on the front, and the MUTCD R4-11 sign on the back. Note: For a production shirt, I would either omit the lower panel with its snarky "get over it" message or replace it with "Change Lanes to Pass."

In other news, I had mentioned that I was having trouble with my GoPro camera a couple weeks ago. The problems eventually led to me sending the camera to GoPro for warranty examination and replacement. I hadn't heard from GoPro for several days, and sent an email wondering what they had found or when I would hear from them.

As I was unloading my bike after a trip to a customer's house, a FedEx Ground vehicle came down my street. The driver came to me with a small box that came from GoPro. A few minutes later, I opened my email to find a message from GoPro with a tracking number assigned to the package that was on my desk. Great timing, folks!

Summit-reaching

So, against some of my better judgement, and in the hopes of learning something worth the time and energy, I attended this summit thing in Frankfort KY over the last couple of days.

Among the highlights (without specifying positive or negative): There were two "breakout sessions" by John LaPonte, who was at one time the chief transportation engineer for the City of Chicago (actually three, but I attended two); one on pedestrian issues and another regarding on-road bicycling facilities (in which he showed himself a proponent of majik paint, albeit in somewhat less frothing at the mouth degree than, say, Anne Lusk).

There was a presentation by Andy Clarke, of the LAB, during the plenary portion of the proceedings (I managed to not throw any rotted fruit). There was also a breakout session by him on sustaining and advocacy organization (his apparent strong suit, although advocacy for what remains a point for another discussion).

Among several semi-related factoids brought to my attention: There is an LCI Seminar in Lexington, KY next weekend, the Coach for which is the same guy who was the Coach for the LCI seminar in Lexington two years ago when my wife got her "ticket." His pre-class managements skills have not, apparently, improved. Similarly, the pre-test from the League remains poorly-constructed at best (as if I would be surprised at this). Bill, who was my source for much of the low-down on the LCI seminar, introduced himself to me with the comment that he had been warned about me as an LCI. It was of no surprise to me that some of the folks who were in Jenn's LCI seminar were in attendance, and one of them had been in the small group I had managed as an assistant coach. She appreciated that I held her to task over stuff that matters to me as an LCI, using the expression "tough but fair."

As is common for me, I also encountered a few folks I've known casually over the years but had little or no expectation of seeing there. On this list, I include Chris, who writes From the Pavement's Edge, a blog I've been reading for a while.

I met a few folks new to me, of course, including a couple of members of the Kentucky Bike and Bikeways Committee, a couple folks involved in community bike shops, and a few educator-types (including the folks who reported the LCI Seminar snafus). I expect I'll develop some new friendships and working relationships as a result.

Another result was that I had little time to get on a bike yesterday, and don't expect to go out on it today. I did get some walking in yesterday, getting to and from the dinner site, having left the car at the hotel where the rest of the summit was being held.

Cycling Savvy

I mentioned several weeks ago that Jenn and I attended the I am Traffic Colloquium. The event was organized to explore creating a national organization based in education about cycling, including not just educating cyclists (via the Cycling Savvy program), but also children (Journeys from Home), law enforcement officials (IMPBA), engineers, and policy makers.

I've been talking for more than a year about my interest in bringing Cycling Savvy to Louisville. To this end, Jenn and I have pursued becoming Cycling Savvy Instructors. We just got word yesterday that we have been accepted into the next training class, happening in the next two months. Our travel plans have been begun, meaning the airline tickets have been purchased.

The class is in Orlando, which is roughly nine hundred miles away from Louisville. Figuring twenty miles per gallon on a rental vehicle large enough to haul our bikes, it would cost us a bit less than four hundred dollars to buy gas for the trip, not counting rental costs (not sure I want to take the Volvo that far, although I feel it would make the trip). One of Jenn's perks with her work is that we can get standby tickets on one of the passenger airlines for about $150 round trip. We can rent bikes in Orlando (we did this when we were there in February) for a small enough amount of money that it's cheaper to do that than drive taking our bikes.

I'm figuring that lodging and food would be roughly the same either mode. We will eat a meal or three a day any way we go, after all. I found a hostel in Orlando that charges roughly $50/ night, and it's not far from where we'll be taking our class. There are a couple of details to work out (one night's homework assignment requires internet access, transit to and from the airport, and the like), but the outline is workable.

Another part of the plan is to launch Commute Louisville as a companion blog to Cycling Savvy Louisville (and the other Cycling Savvy sites already up). I have the Commute Louisville site in place, but am waiting on some formatting information to keep it consistent with the existing network of sites (which will in all likelihood become part of whatever organization comes out of the I am Traffic colloquium). With a bit of luck, Commute Louisville will be ready to take visitors in the next couple of weeks, in time for May (Bike Month) and Bike to Work Week/Day celebrations.

And, just because I haven't been doing much with numbers on this blog of late, this is the 555th post. 

Car-free? Not yet, but...

Jenn has made some ironic comments over the last couple of years regarding my admiration of the car-free choice compared to the number of cars in the family that are registered in my name.

Since last summer, when I bought a Volvo wagon from my mother, I have had three motor vehicles titled to me.

At the end of February or early in March, I found that my 1994 Ford Ranger had developed a new water leak. This may be related to the head gasket leak of which I was already aware, or it may be a new leak point. In either case, it is cost-prohibitive to repair this engine--the truck has over 230,000 miles on it, and has some other wear issues making it worth somewhat less than an ideal asking price. I removed its license plate and cancelled the registration a bit over a week ago, so as not to pay penalties on doing so in April (March being my birth month, all motor vehicle registrations are renewed in March).

Also some time in March, my younger stepdaughter came home reporting that the Toyota Corolla she has been driving since we got the Volvo was either smoking or steaming. On inspection, I found oil in the radiator--never a good sign. As the purchase price on this car was pretty low, and as it has over 250,000 miles on it, it doesn't seem cost-effective to replace the head gasket (one likely reason for oil in the water jacket and high pressure in the cooling system blowing the water out of the system), let alone replacing major engine components (the less likely reason). So, it, too has had its license plate removed and surrendered, with an eye toward salvaging the car rather than repairing it.

Both titles are still clear, meaning I could perhaps repair the cars and return them to service. Or I can go the route of "junking" the titles as I sell the cars to companies that sell parts off them. I'll be making some decisions this week on whether to sell them outright to salvage yards or donate them to one or another of the charities we favor. It would be nice to have the cash, but the tax credit for donation can help also.

Whatever I decide to do with the pickup and the little white car, we are now down to one gas-powered vehicle in the driveway. My stepdaughter usually walks to work, since it's a bit less than a mile for her. If I'm going to need gas power to get somewhere, I can coordinate with Jenn.

Or, as happened a couple weeks ago, if I need to haul bicycles to an out of town function of some sort, I might be able to borrow my stepfather's truck. Or rent something.

Big Four crowd

About the first of the year, I got a GoPro camera. I had played with the el-cheapo Vivitar one for a bit, and decided that better image definition was worth having. I also like the ruggedness of the GoPro hardware, especially compared to the crappy stuff that came with the Vivitar camera (I found myself using an old camera tripod strapped to the handlebar for the Vivitar, as the original handlebar mount failed miserably as I went over a rail crossing one afternoon. Vivitar wanted me to return the entire unit to get a replacement doo-dad!!).

As I expected, the vast majority of my captured video is pretty boring. Cars go by. Motorists change lanes. Road miles get eaten up by the wheels of my bikes. This is good, in that I can use this pile of boring video to show that it's quite safe to ride a bike if one does it right.

And, that it was on the handlebar and running served me well on my last bicycle excursion into Oldham County. Yes, I have video of Officer Krupke as he gave me misinformation regarding bicycle application of traffic law.

Still, I am toying with the camera. In strict accordance with Murphy's Law, I also have a warranty issue with the camera, which is in process.

Sometimes, though, the camera works as it should. I had it on the bike when I went to get pictures of the approach to the Big Four Bridge the other day, and can use part of what I captured to show just how well the bridge works as a skinny park (tm). The wide-angle lens gives the thing a sense of fairly fast motion, but if you compare what you see me doing to the actions of walkers around me, I'm often moving at barely above walking speed.

Other pictures

I've been meaning to get to taking these pictures for a week or three. A while back, Louisville got really excited about the "soft" opening of the Big Four Bridge. In my comments on that event, I alluded to some dissatisfaction with regard to its value as a transportation option.

Let me restate my opinion a bit: It's a GREAT "skinny park" that spans the Ohio River, and affords views of Louisville and Southern Indiana that have been denied to people for generations. It's a ten- or fifteen-foot wide multi-use path, in essence, in that walkers and bicycle riders are allowed, and many walkers bring their dogs, children, and other family members to enjoy their outings.

I remain a bit disaffected, however, as part of the "selling" of this bridge to the community was that by having it redone in this manner, Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana could meet a federally-mandated requirement to include bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the eventual new I-65 bridge over the Ohio River, to be built alongside the existing I-65 bridge over the Ohio River, as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project, a 1950s solution to a twenty-first century problem. Because it is a skinny park, it is NOT a viable transportation option for cyclists wishing to ride apace. My fear is that one result of this bridge being open to cyclists is that the current Clark Memorial Bridge, the only bicycle-legal bridge for some forty or fifty miles up- or downstream, will be repurposed as an off-ramp for I-65 Southbound into Louisville from Indiana, with zero bicycle access available. This is called "putting all the transportation eggs in too few baskets."

At any rate, another objection I have to the way the bridge is arranged is access to the ramp. If one parks in the lot nearest the bridge ramp entrance, and is using a wheelchair, one must be sure to get on the sidewalk exactly at the disabled-specific parking slots, and NOT the ones on the opposite side of the lot from the ramp. Otherwise, one would have to go to the end of the lot at the road to get on the sidewalk along River Road first.

A cyclist entering the lot from River Road must use the sidewalk--and riding on the sidewalk is strongly discouraged in most places, for a variety of reasons. That one must use the sidewalk here reinforces the notion that riding on the sidewalk is acceptable in other places, frankly. To make this a bit easier to understand, here's a link to a googlemaps image showing the ramp during one or another construction phase.

 
View Larger Map

Looking toward River Road from just west of the ramp:

Looking at the sidewalk from in the parking lot:

From deeper in the parking lot. Note the curb in front of my bicycle, which is standing in an area that used to be two parking places:

Looking sort-of east on River Road. Witherspoon Street enters River Road to the right. The ramp is partly visible to the left.

The ramp, as seen from the same vantage point:

Despite my misgivings about this bridge as a transportation option, I remain happy that it's open as a park. I am very happy to see that the community has repurposed this old rail bridge and made it useful again.

A couple of pictures

It seems I neglected to add some pictures to my recent post about working on a velomobile.

As it happens, I didn't get any pictures of myself in the thing, nor do I have any images of the owner in it.

I did, however, get a couple shots of it once I had loaded it on my trailer for delivery to its owner:

This is called the FAW+, short for Flevobike Alleweder Plus, as it's a modification of an early-1990s design. The kit (they offer assembly at additional cost) is available from Pedal Yourself Healthy in Texas.

I've been looking at this thing off and on for a couple of years, and remain mildly interested in owning something like it. It's fun to ride, despite the problems I have fitting in the thing. It can carry a fair bit of cargo--including groceries for several days, or luggage for a several-day tour.

Saturday morning entertainment, of sorts

If you've read much of my blog, you've picked up on enough little hints here and there to realize I don't believe in gods. I really don't mind if another person believes in some god or other, but a person's right to believe in and follow a god ends where it intersects my right to not believe. For this reason, our legal system is, or is supposed to be, secular in nature. I realize that in many circles this would be a controversial position to take, but it's who I am.

Another controversial issue in current society is abortion. In short, I consider abortion a private matter between the woman in question, her medical care provider, and others as SHE sees fit. Regardless of whether I know her, it's not my decision to make.

(more after the jump)

Velomobiles rock!!

It's long been a dream of mine: Owning a velomobile. I haven't had enough money to get serious about buying one, so haven't invested in going to Texas to test out factory demos of the FAW+ or a Quest. As I'm not close to buying, I'm reluctant to ask folks who have them for test-rides.

I have, however, been able to play with one that belongs to a friend for a day or two. He built his FAW+ from a kit, as many do, but lacked the patience to get the front end alignment right. We worked on it a bit last spring, and it was better, but his life was such that he wasn't able to ride it for a while, and so the story goes.

He and I talked a few days ago, and he wanted me to do some fine-tuning on the alignment and install his electrical system for him. As a result, I've taken the liberty of riding the thing a bit (test-riding my work, don't you know), and have a couple of observations:

My largest observation is that I'm a bit wide and heavy for this thing. I can make do, but it's not quite comfortable for me. The foot area isn't quite wide enough (I have big feet, which is part of the problem), and my feet rub the inside of the wheel wells. So do my calves.

One possible fix is a narrower bottom bracket, and perhaps a different crank with a narrower q-factor. I hesitate to do this, as a) it's not my machine, and b) if it was my machine, I'd wonder whether the narrower q-factor would be harmful on my hips or knees.

If I ride with my elbows at my sides, as I did when I had a V-Rex, I'm not moving side-to-side. I'm snug in there. I can ride with my elbows out, but that would probably not work if I'm using the cockpit cover.

Aside from those fit issues (that are most certainly NOT the machine's fault), it's a neat little ride.

Bike crash news as discussion springboard

This morning, near Columbus, Ohio, a cyclist was hit by a person driving a motor vehicle. The cyclist's injuries were reported as "non-life-threatening," which is one of very few good things about the linked report, a key other being that the motorist called police rather than drive away.

Grammar problems aside, there is a line in the article that "Police say the driver will not be charges because the person on the bike was not wearing a reflective vest."

Really? That is why the driver is not being charged? Over a non-standard talisman that probably wouldn't have mattered in the first place?

One wonders whether the cyclist was wearing a helmet, as the "news" article doesn't say...

Was the motorist wearing a seat belt? Talking on his/her cell phone? Eating breakfast? Spilling coffee? Otherwise being generally inattentive to his/her surroundings, to include other legitimate road users? Did the bike have lights? Reflectors as (maybe) required by Ohio law?

The problem I have with this "driver was not charged because..." nonsense is that now drivers will start saying inane things like, "You're not wearing a reflective vest! I can't see you! Lalalala if you are hit it's your fault!"

I happen to prefer bright-colored clothing for my cycling wear. I figure that if I'm going to wear wicking fabric stuff, it may as well be easier to see rather than dark and harder to see. I have a wind shell of Illuminite that is probably eight years old, and looks the part. The back has lost some of its reflectivity, after I've worn it while riding the Vanguard for so many miles. I have reflective vinyl on some pedals I own (Shimano "dual use" pedals that allow riding in cleated shoes or regular shoes are on two of my bikes). I have reflectors (some are homemade) on my bicycles, and reflective tape here and there on some bikes and all three trailers. I also have lights on every bike that is likely to be ridden when it's not light out, and I use those lights.

I have no idea what lights, if any, the cyclist in this news report had in service. I would think lights more noteworthy than a reflective vest in any event.

Brief chuckle

I looked at my view counter today, and noted that the number is now 12666.

Tee hee!

Witness this!

Jenn received a piece of mail today. Or, perhaps I should say a piece of mail came to our mailbox today, addressed to Jenn or "current resident." Inside was a single-page, hand-written note, inviting her to read and respond to the enclosed bible tract, which had been carefully cut from a booklet of similar tracts published by the Jehovah's Witnesses.

As you realize, if you've been reading my blog for a while, both Jenn and I are atheist. We eschew religion. Indeed, we find religion to be all but evil in many ways, but that is beside the point at the moment.

I cannot but wonder whether this is a new tactic being employed by the Witlesses, er, Jehovah's Witnesses, mindful of the quip often attributed to George Carlin that the USPS should hand over final delivery duties to the Jehovah's Witnesses to save time and money.

It also reminds me of a story from my early days in my apartment in Old Louisville:

I had recently moved in to the apartment building, called "The Cavalier," on Fourth just north of Ormsby. One sunny Saturday morning, about nine, my doorbell rang. Despite having gotten home only a couple hours before (I was working for UPS as a ramp rat at the time, loading airplanes, and got off work around six on Saturday mornings), I tumbled out of bed, found some sweat pants and a t-shirt, and was putting them on as I stumbled down the stairs to see who had come to visit me in my then fairly-new-to-me digs (there was one exterior door where the doorbell buttons were, serving six apartments on three floors--I was on the second floor, meaning I had to descend three half-flights of stairs).

When I reached the exterior door, I found a man and a woman wishing to chat. "Hi! I'm Fred, and this is Ethel, and we are from the Kingdom Hall a few blocks down Fourth Street. We'd like to discuss..."

"NO, I'm not interested in your god!" I interrupted, as I turned around and stalked back up the stairs to resume my slumber.

I hadn't learned my lesson, though. A couple weeks later, around the same time on a Saturday morning, my doorbell rang again. Again, I tumbled out of bed, pulled on the same pair of sweat pants, and stumbled down the stairs while pulling on a t-shirt, to find...

"Hi! I'm Barney, and this is Betty, and we're from Kingdom Hall a few blocks down Fourth Street."

Before they could continue, I interrupted them, saying, "Is this the first doorbell anyone has answered this morning? I heard that one of my neighbors is into the occult. I read up on the cult he's rumored to follow, and they do human sacrifice-like stuff. They are supposedly VERY fond of using Jehovah's Witnesses for their ritual sacrifices."

"Barney" and "Betty" were looking at me with, between them, one eye, as one sees in cartoons. Yep, one great big eye, with four little tiny dots in the middle that would have been their pupils.

I lived in that apartment for another ten or twelve years, and never once got another doorbell ring from Jehovah's Witnesses.

yet another birthday

I recently had another birthday. After the larger hubbub surrounding the last two, I opted for a low-key approach this year. Several factors are present and affecting this, not the least of which is that I just didn't feel like having a big to-do.

I did get to visit with some friends that evening over a dinner and a few beers--the Louisville Atheist and Freethinkers group had another of their periodic get togethers at O'Shea's on Baxter Avenue to enjoy Pint Night (buy the beer of the night and get to keep the glass). I'll be going out to dinner with family this evening, I think.

I might even get to ride a bike for a while today, just to ride the thing. THAT would be a change of pace.

In other news of my life (not that anyone really cares): I have been wanting to bring Cycling Savvy to Louisville for some time, now. I am hoping I get to take the Cycling Savvy Instructor course when it is next offered, even though that would mean another expensive trip to Florida.

Along with that desire, though, is a desire to spread the concepts in I am Traffic to cyclists in the Louisville area. I like the site layout better than that of many such sites, and like that Cycling Savvy, I am Traffic, and Commute Orlando (and Commute St Louis) have consistent messaging (this is not by accident...).
 
Eventually, Louisville (indeed, Kentucky) will be listed in the Cycling Savvy "Where we are" section. In the mean time, though, I am preparing to launch Commute Louisville:

 As I get things going, I will be looking for guest posts that share cycling community events, positive encouragement for driving our bicycles, and the like. As the new national organization developing from the I am Traffic Colloquium comes about, I will work toward a solid affiliation here in town and for the region.

Conflicting feelings

I've gotten spoiled, I guess. I've not had any run-ins with law encroachment officers (ahem) over my lane position in over a dozen years and well over thirty thousand miles.

Until yesterday.

I'm not even sure how much I want to say about this publicly, as I really want a couple things to come out of this experience--namely that the department and especially the officer in question quit harassing cyclists for taking control over our own safety.

At issue is the perception by this law enforcement (encroachment?) officer that bicyclists are supposed to stay very close to the white line (fog line, if one prefers), presumably under KRS 189.300. That statute reads (with apologies for kerning issues):

189.300

Vehicles to keep to right.

(1) The operator of any vehicle when upon a highway shall travel upon the right side of

the highway whenever possible, and unless the left side of the highway is clear of

all other traffic or obstructions for a sufficient distance ahead to permit the

overtaking and passing of another vehicle to be completed without interfering with

the operation of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or any vehicle

being overtaken. The overtaking vehicle shall return to the proper traffic lane as

soon as practicable and, if the passing vehicle enters the oncoming traffic lane,

before coming within two hundred (200) feet of any approaching vehicle.

(2) The operator of any vehicle moving slowly upon a highway shall keep his vehicle as

closely as practicable to the right-hand boundary of the highway, allowing more

swiftly moving vehicles reasonably free passage to the left.

 On its face, this statute clearly shows a willingness to subvert the safety of a slower-moving road user to the perceived convenience of a faster-moving road user, as there is no specificity of vehicle type. This is wrong at its core.

Never mind that by taking the center of the lane, as I was doing at the time of initial contact, I am far more visible at greater distance, allowing an overtaking road user to adjust to my presence with less drama (and greater safety). Never mind that by taking the lane, I am also communicating with said overtaking road user that it really is NOT safe to pass at the moment, either in my (too narrow for such things) lane or due to possible oncoming traffic.

The cop declared that HE was the one who determined what is practicable, although in states where practicable is mentioned the cyclist has numerous caveats for conditions not readily visible from a motor vehicle being driven at 35+ miles an hour (debris in the roadway, surface defects), or that the lane is too narrow for side-by-side passing, or that the rider is preparing for a left turn, or passing an even slower rider.

The cop gave me a verbal warning, and did not look at my driver's license. I have his badge number and name. Nonetheless, he did warn that if he saw me again, he would cite me and have it go to court. My concern here is that the judges in Oldham County are not over-friendly to cyclists, given the hue and cry from the anti-bicycle-biased citizens of that county we see peak every year about Ironman time (late August, after a summer of triathletes training on US42 all the time). This threatens my freedom to move within the county, which certainly has a deterring element. I don't wish to waste time in court defending my right to drive defensively according to current best practices as recognized on a national level by folks a lot smarter than this law encroachment officious, er, well, police officer.

Now to construct a presentation to the officer's commanders that will help ALL who cycle in Oldham County...

I am Traffic, and a new organization

I am home from a weekend away. I attended the I am Traffic Colloquium in Orlando, along with forty-some of my best internet friends, sentient cyclists all.

I Am Traffic, which I will use as a working name for the group in the short term (the formal name has not been determined), is based on several principles, many of which are summed in discussion of the Six Es:

There are SIX Es, not the traditional five, and the most important of them is Equality. Indeed, I personally feel (and some seem to agree, although we haven't pushed for formal adoption of this belief) that Equality is the "Super-E" of the group. By this, I mean that equality in education and enforcement, and equity (not exactly equality, but related) in engineering and encouragement, along with equality and equity in evaluation, reach paramount importance. Nothing less is acceptable.

Some years ago, when the "Five-Es" list was promulgated by the League of American Bicyclists, there was a push for the sixth E to be Equality. The League has not done well at keeping to that concept, that since the laws in every state of the Union say that a bicycle operator is a driver of a vehicle (or device, in some states), such cyclist has the full right and responsibility of movement on the public roads. Of course, other laws go on to restrict cyclists' rights to use the roads as elements of traffic, and in all cases, such laws put cyclists at risk to enhance the perceived convenience of faster (and thus presumed more legitimate) traffic.

The traditional "Five Es," with some annotation:

Education: Teaching folks how to use the shared public space called our road system is all but nonexistent, at least in a formal sense. People learn bad habits from parents or friends or society at large, and those lessons lead to a LOT of prejudicial behaviors and myths. Educating cyclists is important, but we cannot forget that educating law enforcement officers, motorists, jurists, and policy-makers is also important.

Enforcement: I will not defend blatant lawbreaking by cyclists. At the same time, I read many accounts from riders who experience biases against cyclists behaving as defensive drivers of their vehicles when dealing with law enforcement officers who are, at best, badly trained in traffic law. That judges also fail to recognize that cyclists are operators of vehicles with stunning frequency is deplorable.

Engineering: We are happy to endorse well-designed bike-focused infrastructure. Sadly, there is little out there that meets this level of quality. Well-designed infrastructure does NOT violate safe movement principles. A through bike lane to the right of a lane from which a motorist may make a right turn is in direct violation of safe movement principles. Such a "bike lane" in proximity to a line of parallel-parked cars is doubly so. It really is that simple.

Encouragement: Too many folks think cycling is some combination of: hard, exhausting, ludicrously hazardous, rude to other road users, inconvenient...the list goes on and on. We aim to help folks see how easy it can be, how being part of traffic is NOT rude, but actually more polite than "hugging the curb," how safe it is when one controls one's own actions, and so on. It's amazing what can be done with a bicycle!

Evaluation: Too much of the evaluation we have so far is looking to the wrong data set. Simply counting bike users going through an intersection doesn't tell us much, and is too subject to error (inadvertent or otherwise). To evaluate either a policy or a facility, we need to know things like, "How was this intersection navigated before, by cyclists exhibiting edge, driver, or pedestrian behavior?" and "How are edge-, driver-, or pedestrian-behaving cyclists using it after it's built?"

We had presentations about Cycling Savvy and its origins and philosophy, law enforcement and bicycle use, a program that teaches engineers about how bicycles operate as part of traffic and how to design accordingly, and a program for kids called "Journeys from Home" that is absolutely top-notch in how it teaches movement as communication.

On the second day, we did some brainstorming on a vision statement and a mission statement. The original vision statement is quite good (Our Vision: That drivers of human-powered vehicles are Expected and Respected as a normal part of traffic.), but is it good enough?  What mission statement do we want? Many ideas were floated about, and the word-smithing is yet to be done. Creating a lasting organization with the goals we have in mind is not a simple task, and putting forward the right messages in our vision and mission statements helps others see what we are on about. We discussed high-altitude views on what sort of business model we wish to adopt and some of the nuances between a couple of choices open to us, what our goals as an organization are, what our name should be, how our governance will be structured, and how we will get the details sorted. A board was chosen to assemble Articles of Incorporation and a draft of the bylaws for membership approval. There has been some discussion over who is or is not a member at this point, with incomplete resolution (I am confident that some ideas on this will come out of the board's efforts).

We even get some local input via that formation board: Jenn is one of the five members!

visit counter

A while back, I made a couple of posts regarding the number of visits counted here. Some time today, the number should be 12345.

I probably won't see that number on the counter, as I have more important things to do than watch it.

Louisville's Bridge to (India)Noplace.

For over twenty years, Louisville has been working at improving its "front door" image along the riverfront. We have Waterfront Park, that has replaced numerous scrap yards, warehouses, gravel pits, and other eyesores.

The crown jewel of this park, to many people, opened to the public today: The Big Four Bridge, named after the railroad company that had it built over a hundred years ago, had gone out of favor some time in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and the approaches were removed. There were some ideas of using it for condos at one point, and it had held lights for various charity campaigns over the years, but it was otherwise just sitting there.

In the mean time, "powers that be" in and around Louisville were working on the Ohio River Bridges Project, to add two interstate-level bridges between Kentucky and Indiana (a 1950s solution to a 2013 problem, but that's another rant). Since this is an interstate-grade project, the federal government requires a percentage of the total cost to be dedicated to adjacent bike and pedestrian infrastructure. This would normally take shape as bike lanes built on to or under or otherwise in conjunction with a cross-river bridge, but it was decided that it would be quicker and cheaper to divert some money to rehabbing the Big Four.

$25 or $50 million or so later, we have a gorgeous spiral ramp that leads to the bridge. The bridge has a nice shiny new concrete deck and spiffy new railings, lights, benches, and signage.

The ramp to ground at the Indiana side isn't ready, yet, and there is probably a Hoosier joke in there some place, relating to Kentucky's reputation for being twenty years behind the times.

As excited as I am about this bridge and what it means for transportation by bicycle or by walking, I have some reservations about the overall execution.

Instead of being a transportation bridge, it's become a linear park. I guess that's to be expected, given that it's part of the Waterfront Park complex, but to call it mainly a transportation piece is a bit deceiving.

As this image shows, the surface is marked with two faux rails. These are to evoke memories (as if anyone under forty would remember) of the bridge as a rail bridge, but they also serve in the current incarnation of the "bridge rules" as lane markings: walkers on either side of the rails, cyclists in the middle.

There isn't enough room between those lines for a fast oncoming pass for to cyclists.

I suppose I may be worrying about something that won't be a big deal--there is little enough bicycle traffic going across the river now that when cyclists do meet, there will likely be plenty of room for them to get outside the rails long enough to pass safely. Still, if this is successful in increasing cross-river bicycle traffic, it will become self-limiting. There is little room for growth in use beyond a handful of cyclists per five-minute period.

On the plus side, the concrete is nicely done, the railings are attractive, the light fixtures, well, I'll have to wait for an evening to ride down and have a look. The fixtures themselves are innocuous enough.

The folks in Indiana haven't quite caught up with us with regard to bridge access. They are working on it, and promise opening their ramp in a few months. They certainly have made progress:

I need to go back and get some pictures of the entryway. There are concerns with how that was done that I want to discuss at some point, and it will be easier with pictures.

Twitterpated motorists

A reader asked if a certain Twitter post referred to me the other day. The person who made the tweet (as I think such things are called) encountered me as I rode to Whole Foods near Mall (Maul) St. Matthews, along Shelbyville Road. As I was getting ready to turn left, I was--wait for it!!--in the left lane.

Before I type any more, I want to put this out: There is no reason to find that tweet and give the person a hard time. The tweet-poster and I have had private exchanges, and I have received and accepted what seems to be an apology. My primary goal in that exchange is that we both gain better understanding of how traffic works and should work, and I'm quite capable of stating my own case in that discussion (citing references as I see fit, of course).

In essence, the driver in question was also in the left lane, and felt it necessary to slow sharply and wait for a hole in traffic in the next lane to avoid hitting me from behind. I remember seeing a few cars lined up at the light where I joined Shelbyville Road (incidentally, the same stretch covered in one of my test videos from a few weeks back and shown on this blog). I remember getting under the Watterson overpasses before any cars that had not been in the queue with me coming out of New LaGrange Road became an issue (or I for them). I haven't paced it, but it's at least a tenth of a mile (520.8 feet, or 176 yards, or...) from the light to that overpass, and I was essentially the only thing moving on that piece of road for several seconds.

Again, I don't feel a need to hammer on this particular driver. I admit that when I first read the tweet in question, I let my dander rise a bit. Well over 99% of the motorists I encounter figure it out well enough, even if less than two thirds of them change lanes two hundred yards or more before overtaking me on multi-lane roads. When I was riding to Crestwood all the time, I would encounter thousands of motorists a week. To have one per week act an ass would come out to far less than a tenth of a percent of that group of motorists, even though one jerk a week seemed like a really high jerk quotient.

However, I think it points to a couple of things that many of us take for granted. Many drivers fail to recognize that streets like Shelbyville Road are NOT limited-access throughways, and as such have "interrupted flow." It is perfectly reasonable--indeed, self-preservation requires--that we expect traffic in front of us to perhaps be going slower than we would otherwise go, and sometimes MUCH slower.

This is one of the lessons I've learned from being a transportation cyclist that has made me a much better driver. It is such lessons that have led me to posit that part of maintaining a driver's license should include some number of documented bicycle miles per year as "continuing education" for drivers. I recognize that implementation and monitoring would seem cost-prohibitive and politically all but impossible, but I firmly believe that having folks ride more (with reasonable exceptions for those with physical impairments) would help folks recognize their limitations as drivers of cars.

I happen to hold as an adjunct to this that people should spend time in a simulator so that they could understand truck drivers' challenges, but that's another rant.

CYCLOCROSS

What a crazy couple of weeks!!

Two weeks ago, I figured out that I couldn't not help assemble the UCI World Championship Cyclocross courses. Since then, I've spent thirty or forty or fifty hours (I didn't fill out a time card) helping with course construction, and another twenty or thirty in race-days helping out here and there. The Tuesday of Masters' Worlds, I found myself assigned to pressure-washing detail, and was there for the remainder of the event.

A few hours into my first day doing that, a SRAM Neutral Tech Support guy offered a lesson in how to make bikes cleaner during a race. I took his advice to heart, and concentrated on getting the bike rideable before making it look pretty, especially when there was a race on. My proof that I learned something came in the form of what was probably my favorite moment of Friday: I encountered two people who appeared to be a couple walking in the vendor area, and the man nudged the woman, pointed at me, and said, "That's the guy who washed your bikes six times during your race yesterday."

Jenn and I volunteered for the Elite races, as well. Due to the rising river level, the four races were held on one day instead of being spread over two days. Our assignment had us controlling access to a photographers' pit at the end of the start-finish straightaway, and while people were nice and brought us food, we felt "locked down" because no relief came until the last race, and by then most of the reasons for going to the expo area at the other end of the facility had gone (I mean, of course, the time-honored tradition of gathering free stuff from vendors advertising their products).

I came to realize, however, that my assigned position had some really great perks. The view of the start/finish line, for one:

Jenn's post wasn't much worse. I was with her at the start of the Elite Men's race, and got this shot of the racers going around the first turn:

Now for some rest and relaxation! Since the Stupor Bowl is later today, I'll take the opportunity to go get some groceries.