Cycling Savvy Instructor Training accomplished--now for the REAL work!

Jenn and I are now listed as Cycling Savvy Instructors!

Of course, now the real work begins! We have to polish our presentation (a lot), so that the scripting is tight and effective. We have to create a tour route that has clear progressions and good teaching intersection sequences. It will take some time, and perhaps a test class or two before we "open the doors" and start really scheduling classes. Jenn and I both have some other stuff to accomplish over the next few weeks, so it's likely to be August before we are really up and running, but we'll get there.

I mentioned Day One stuff recently. Our time in the classroom that evening was enlightening. It was Sunday before I got to take my own turn presenting my module, and I was chagrined that I missed a couple of key points I normally mention when I discuss that topic. I'm calling it a reminder that I need to use my notes more effectively.

We did our road tour on Sunday, having done a "ground truth" visit to the features on Friday morning. I did reasonably well on my presentation and "chalk talk," but still learned from the experience. The plan was for me to present for one intersection, and have Jenn demonstrate that feature, then for Jenn to present for what was to be the last feature, and me demonstrate for the last feature of the day (and watch riders at a key point in that feature). Mother Nature had other plans, however. As we were riding to the next-to-last feature of the day, we got rained on. HARD. "Three inches in an hour" hard. At one point, the rain coming through my helmet washed sweat and sunscreen into my eyes, and I had to pull off the road for a while until I could see again. "We changed our route back to the starting point to avoid heavy traffic while the visibility was diminished" hard. Apparently, it happens with some regularity in central Florida--later in the summer.

Wanting to not spend our entire life savings on the trip, we took advantage of standby tickets at a better-than-retail price. While still not "cheap," they were pretty reasonable. The downside is that there was no guarantee of the planned flight having room for us, which was a factor during our return trip. We got to spend several extra hours away from home, but still found ways to make it not so bad.

Another way we saved some money was that we were invited to stay at the home of some folks in Orlando instead of using a hotel. This was REALLY cool, as our hosts live close to where the training was based, as compared to hotels either miles and miles from the focal point or very expensive (or both). We also enjoyed the company of our hosts, which is not common in a run-of-the-mill hotel.

And Jenn got to eat dinner at Ethos Vegan Kitchen, a reprise of a highlight of our February trip. Nutshell review: I'm a meat-eater, and I would eat there again if the opportunity presented itself, even if Jenn were not with me on my next visit to Orlando.

Not far from our hosts' house is 903 South Mills Market, another great place for lunch, or an afternoon snack, or perhaps breakfast.

In another post I'll talk more about Cycling Savvy, and what it means to be an instructor for that class.

Cycling Savvy Instructor Training, day one

...has started. We have a bit of a break between the "Ground truth" segment, during which the candidates get to see the features we are going to "teach" to our classmates, and the classroom segment this evening.

Each of us has been assigned a module of the Truth and Techniques course, two of the drills in the Train Your Bike" course (with a co-instructor), and will be assigned a feature of the road tour to teach (with probably a different co-instructor from among the candidates).

The intense work is yet to come, although it's somewhat less intense if one prepares well. I've been internalizing the lessons for a good while, so I feel reasonably well-prepared, but we'll see. There is always that little bit of "I'm used to teaching this other class so I know how to teach this stuff" attitude that may get me in trouble.

That said, the Instructor Trainers are not "gotcha" folks. They want us to succeed. We want to do well.

During the ground truth riding, we've had some time to socialize with our fellow candidates. I have some internet history with a couple of the others, and am just now meeting the rest. A few puns have been tossed about, as one would expect. Some good jokes have been told, as well as a couple of vignettes that have elicited responses ranging from chuckles to astonishment.

I'll be in class again in a couple hours. Back to the books!!

Silly numbers post

I haven't done a silly numbers post in a bit, so here's the latest one: My visit counter will soon read 13579.

No, I'm not going to keep watching for when it actually happens.

Ode to my truck, or, owed to my truck.

I mentioned some weeks ago that my pickup truck is no longer serviceable, without major repairs. After putting off taking action for too long, I finally sold it today.

Of all the gas-powered vehicles I've owned, I have this one the longest. I bought it at the end of 1999, after not owning a car for a month or two (the car I had before then was written off by the insurance company after a crash, and I had the luxury of not needing to buy a replacement right away). I put a bit over a hundred thousand miles on this truck, which compares to the mileage I put on at least two other cars I've owned (although spread out over a longer period--I drove the heck out of a couple of those cars, and have tried to ride more than drive for the last several years).

The truck served me pretty well. I sometimes wish I had done a better job on keeping the maintenance up to a standard, but I suspect it would have cost me a similar amount of money either way.

If one were to anthropomorphize a truck, it would seem sad to have it go to a salvage yard--it seems an ignominious end to a truck that has served me well. However, I figure that the parts can go to help others get service out of their trucks this way. Sort of like that I'm an organ donor.

Odd feelings

I feel a bit odd about this sort of thing. I don't know why, it's not the first time.

You see, after something like fifteen years of working for or being a locally-owned business, I have sought and been offered and have taken a job working for a big corporation. A really big corporation. With big buildings.

The handyman service isn't going away, at least not any time soon. I'll still do jobs for folks as time permits.The new gig is part-time, on order of twenty to thirty hours a week. It's an entry position, but the company in question is big on promoting from within, and all of their staff hiring is done via short-term/part-time trial period sort of deals.

Of course, since the company in question sells stuff that I would find useful in my handyman work, I have to be really up front about potential conflicts of interest, so as to avoid such conflicts becoming problematic. I cannot and will not talk to customers or coworkers about my business (although the HR folks know), nor will I place my business cards in the store (I don't think there is a place for that, anyway, but even if there is...).

And I don't get to wear kilts at work, which made me ponder things a bit.

But I get a nifty orange apron to wear. The store is less than five miles from home, and has a number of places where I can lock a bike rather than drive a car. The work involved will have me sweating more than the bike ride to work, in all likelihood. And the pay will be steady, if not a mountain of cash.

The handyman stuff is good, when the work is there. I haven't been good about going after work, though. It was a stop-gap measure, at some levels, so that I could say I was still self-employed rather than unemployed after Bluegrass Bicycle closed almost a year ago. The owner of Nomad Radio once told me that if one is self-employed, either the boss is a slave-driver or everybody goes hungry. Despite Jenn's income, times have been lean enough that we've spent some money we didn't want to spend on daily living.

As I mentioned, though, it's not the first time I've worked for large corporations. When I was in high school, I bagged groceries for Winn-Dixie for a couple of years. I worked for U-Haul as a truck mechanic for a while in the mid-1980s. I worked for UPS for nine years, two months, five days, and a few odd hours (not that anyone kept track). I worked for a national supplier of backyard storage buildings for almost two years, until their CEO ran things into the ground to the point that they couldn't afford to pay their field staff (when I started with them, there were thirty-six or so folks in the corporate office, but sixty when I left, PLUS they had added a couple of regional managers with company cars and not enough to do...).

I would like to work for a locally-owned company, but few small companies are hiring folks with my skill set. Maybe some day, though.

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...