So Long John

You can read my posts that have  a "John Forester" label if you're in stay-at-home mode with a fair amount of free time. John Forester passed away on the 14th of April, 2020 at age 90. I heard he had been ill for some time. I imagine there will be lots written about him in the days and weeks to come. I will simply say that his principles on the best ways to ride bicycles changed my life for the better.

Bicycle Connections

Google Maps Satellite View of Where Patrick Francis O'Rourke was Killed on his Bicycle in 2001

As my loyal reader knows, Beto O'Rourke ("e" as in prounounced in the word "President," not "e"as pronounced in the Canadian word "eh') is from Texas and has announced a run for President. This post, however, is not about Beto. This post is about Beto's dad. 

Most people do not know that Beto's father, Patrick Francis O'Rourke, was an avid cyclist - AND a politician. Pat sent a "payment due" bill to Ronald Reagan's US Government in 1986 for reimbursement to El Paso, and was Jesse Jackson's 1988 Texas Campaign Chair. In his day, in his mostly Latino area, Pat was known as the "Tip O'Neill" of El Paso politics. Like our current President (and Ronald Reagan before him), Pat was a lifelong Democrat that became a Republican - in Pat's case, finding what he considered a better way occurred sometime before 1992. But I digress.

In 2000, Pat O'Rourke made a cross-country trip on his recumbent bicycle from Oregon to New York. Pat blogged about it on the Stanton Street Blog,  which Amy O'Rourke, (Beto's wife) sold in 2017. I was unable to find Pat's original bike posts, and a search on it for "bicycle" revealed nothing. Perhaps my loyal reader can find something. I will update this post if I make a later discovery. My loyal reader might also contact Stanton Street to see if they want to 'fess up and repost.

Unfortunately, Pat's cross-country bike trip is not the end of the story. After Pat got back to El Paso, he continued to ride until one day in early July 2001. On that day; a day like many others, Patrick Francis O'Rourke was riding his bicycle near Artcraft Road and Westside Drive. The intersection is about a block from the New Mexico border on the western outskirts of El Paso. Somewhere nearby, Pat was struck from behind by a motorist and killed. I don't know the crash details (newspapers called it an "accident" - some misnomers just continue on and on), and I will update this post if I find more details later.

The crash in which Pat O'Rourke was killed illustrates something that is not well understood within the cycling advocacy community, but SHOULD be. In my blog, I constantly issue the refrain that "the danger is from ahead" and my refrain is true - in urban areas that have intersections, driveways and other hazards, and even more so in these places when the cyclist is controlling his or her lane in accordance with good practice. However, My refrain is NOT nearly so true on high-speed rural roads, such as that where Pat O'Rourke was killed. Statistically, "from behind" collisions are rare, but they have a very high fatality rate because of the sheer energy with which the cyclist is impacted when hit by a heavy, high speed motor vehicle, or even a protrusion from a motor vehicle such as a side mirror.

Hit-from-behind collisions are more common than in the past because more cyclists take long, country rides - they don't like urban traffic. Shoulder riding on a highway reduces the likelihood of a collision because it can be avoided by the simple expedient of the motorist staying within his or her traffic lane, but all the reflective material on the back of police cars and fire trucks, and all the mirrors cyclists and motorists swear by, do not obviate the fact that any highway shoulder is a dangerous place, even if one arrived there in a heavy motor vehicle. Lots of cycling advocates and traffic engineers have  gotten enamored with the notion of "protected" cycling lanes to reduce "hit from behind" fatalities, but cones, lane dots, rumble strips, any of their variants, or low curbs won't protect a cyclist on a rural highway that is in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Protecting non motorized road users on high speed country roads is something that we, as a society, have not really even BEGUN to come to grips with. Even John Forester relates fearful journeys he made on such roads when traffic got heavy.

Beto doesn't speak about his father much in public, though his father was also a politician. Beto shares the middle name of "Francis" with his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, and his childhood nickname avoided confusion within the family. After Beto's rebellious youth, in which he acted more like George W Bush than any other recent President, he came back home to El Paso and delivered the eulogy at Pat's funeral. Two links to stories involving Pat may be found here and here. Patrick's grave memorial including his obituary may be found here.

From now on, when I hear people try to denigrate Beto by calling him "Robert" or even more, by calling him "Francis," I will inwardly smile at how they are ignorantly honoring his immigrant family, or his cyclist father. From a Facebook image at left, taken from one of the links above, you can see Pat and Beto.

Patrick O'Rourke's life is memorialized here. At that site, you can also trace his ancestry back at least into Ireland. Cycling may be fun and safe - but we should remember that there are unexpected occasions when it is NOT. Be especially careful on high-speed, narrow, country roads where at least SOME motorists do not expect a cyclist or anything else to "suddenly" appear in front of them...

Same Rules, Same Roads, Different Outcomes

I’ve recently seen a couple of articles, such as HERE, where motoring writers tell cyclists that they are not allowed to pass a stopped school bus. You see, they figure that “bicycles shall follow the same rules” precludes such an action. However, while the roads and rules may be the same, such writing forgets that becoming a pedestrian (no longer driving a vehicle) is an option for a cyclist that isn’t readily available to someone driving a 4000 lb car. The motoring writers and their motoring police advisers forget that you are not required to RIDE a bike in such a situation. Sometimes these are the same people that advise cyclists to get off their bikes and push a crosswalk “beg button” when they can’t (don’t know how, mostly) to get an induction or camera-controlled traffic light to change.

Even John Forester, a great advocate of operating bicycles as vehicles, recognizes differences in his “Effective Cycling” book when he notes that even the most militant motorists don’t claim that cars should be able to universally drive cross country through local parks. Not even the ones that claim bicycles ought to be required to obtain unavailable insurance or unavailable cycling licenses.

While I generally agree about the principle of “same rules,” the dramatically increased danger that motor vehicles present to other road users compared to bicycles, suggests that some rules intended for motor vehicle control might be inappropriate when applied to bikes. I do not opine on what these might be in this post. THIS post ought to provide food for thought about how bicycles DIFFER from cars in the ways they operate and comply with identical laws.

Just this morning, I stopped at an unmarked crosswalk to yield a pedestrian his right of way to the unmarked crosswalk. He seemed momentarily confused before crossing. Perhaps he hadn’t got the concept that a bike might stop to let him cross before. Definitely, this was a different response than it would have been if I’d been operating a large SUV. I guess had I been on a motorcycle, we’d have been somewhere in the middle in terms of “same rules relevance.”

PS: In case you wonder why I might go to the trouble to WALK past a stopped school bus rather than just waiting, there’s a story behind it. On my on my v2 commute, there were a couple of locations where large crowd of students and motoring parents (picking the students up or dropping them off) clogged things up at the bus stop. On my v3 commute, it turned out that my route passed by a location at a time where the local school bus often stopped to pick up a wheelchair-bound student. While watching the lift in operation was fascinating a couple of times, I elected NOT to violate the law by riding by when the school bus driver took to attempting to wave me by. Instead, it simply seemed logical to stop, pick up my bike, toss it on my shoulder, and legally jog past. Even stopped motorists seemed to enjoy the show – and my passing the bus on foot obviated their need to pass me at all.

Lucky Man

I Admire Forester's Sentiments about Bike Commuting - Unchanged in the New Edition

While few records are truly unbreakable, Cal Ripken’s MLB consecutive game streak is one that is unlikely to be broken in my lifetime. The current active leader, if he never missed a game, would need until 2027 to break it. While it might not be quite so newsworthy, Jon Grinder achieved a somewhat similar feat by bicycle commuting for over 800 consecutive work days. His last one was reported here. Interestingly, even he has concluded it was something special, as indicated by his added post, here. Personally, I agree, though it is the sort of achievement that few with options other than cycle commuting can accomplish more than once, so he better get over it.

I found his report inspiring, though I do not expect to ever come near that mark. In fact, while I’m closing in on 350 consecutive bike commutes, I really do not expect to work enough extra days before I hang up the old "engineering triangle"  to come close to Jon/Cal. Over time, I have come to have a better appreciation for being able to cycle every day, on a schedule, regardless of the weather. Rewards have come from the satisfaction of simply having done something that is simple, but which few in our motorized society do. Getting back to bicycles instead of baseball, John Forester kept a statement unchanged in his new edition of Effective Cycling that I find to be uplifting. Namely:

“In a sense, cycle-commuting is a real test of whether a cyclist has it all together: cycling every day, through heavy traffic in all weathers and lighting, whatever the hopes or disappointments of the day, having the machine in running trim every morning and the cyclist equally capable and competent. In another sense, after a while it becomes so natural to you that you wonder what the catch is -- why so many cannot do it as easily as you do. Then you have arrived...”

Still, the second all-time baseball game leader, Lou Gehrig, provides inspiration as well. As he said in his last-ever game; “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Well spoken. Unlike Lou and Jon, I'm healthy as far as I know right now other than a bit of a cold I caught from one of my kids. Thanks to all three mentioned in this post - Jon, John, and Lou - collectively, I think I've finally moved beyond "fair weather cyclist" status and I thank y'all for that...

From Wikipedia - Lou Gehrig - Second after Cal Ripkin. Like Him, I'm a Lucky Man

First Impressions

Recently, I got the new edition of Effective Cycling by John Forester. The paperback version is about $27 and there is a Kindle version for $21. For such a minimal reduction in price for the electronic version, I think most would be better off with the reality of paper.

HOWEVER, I took the paper version on a trip with me and it is definitely not a "lightweight" paperback. Despite many obsolete items removed since the 1993 edition, this book is not one to lug around.

In weeks to come, I will do some "compare and contrast" snippets. For now, Beck should note that "road sneak" appears to have disappeared, but there is still a lot of irritating "cyclist inferiority" psychobabble.

My first impressions are: "worth the $27 to one that appreciated the last edition."

Traffic Engineering Paradox

Basel Bike Facility Violates No Real Traffic Principles at this Turn Onto a One-Way Street

Some of the Signals Seem a Little Conflicted, However. I'll Bet Bike-on-Bike Collisions are Frequent

Europe is a mixed bag when it comes to cyclists. There are certainly a lot of bikes in the compact, congested cities. There are lots of special cycling facilities, ranging from pretty nice, to conflicted, to downright confusing things worthy of Warrington.

One of our building’s bike commuters, Sheila, just got back from visiting Europe, and she was kind enough to get a lot of cycling-related pictures. Today’s photos were shot in Zurich and Basel. As Sheila notes, it all seems to work, though a bicycle traffic engineer would recoil in horror.

This Poor Zurich Design Works Well Because Everyone Is Cautious Due to the Confusing Alignments

MOST of the Cyclists Ride Pretty Slow, Making it Easier for the Motorists to Miss Them

The variety of approaches reveals the paradox. Sometimes, dangerous facilities are safer, and safer ones are more dangerous. As a case in point, take Orlando, Florida. As noted in “Traffic” by Tom Vanderbilt, East Colonial Drive consists of two portions. One is the older portion. It has traffic conflicts galore. Poles, driveways, strip malls, the works. The other is the newer, “properly engineered” portion that removed the dangers in the older portion. Guess which one has overwhelmingly higher crashes and fatalities? Yup, the “safe” portion is one of the most dangerous roads in the US. Which one would I prefer to ride on? Yup, the “dangerous” portion would be my choice. Which one do people drive faster? You got it, the “safe” portion approaches Interstate speeds. Let’s just hope they don’t “fix” the “dangerous” part of the road.

I have no idea WHAT all this Nonsense is About - I Think This is Zurich

From Tom Vanderbilt’s book (Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do - and What It Says about Us), read about the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde personality of Orlando’s East Colonial Drive for yourself: here.

And so it is with bike facilities. With traffic congestion, lots of cyclists, and strict treatment of any motorist hitting one, the perceived danger in Zurich and Basel causes motorists to drive cautiously, and sometimes more around the worst facilities. It is one element that makes proper lane control of a narrow lane so safe, despite “feeling” suicidal –the motorist knows that bad things WILL happen without a proper lane change, and so they change lanes, mostly without even realizing it. As I said, it’s a paradox. Even small changes in the environment will cause motorist behavior changes, such as the addition of a sound barrier wall on a freeway, tunnels, or narrower lanes; which all cause motorists to slow down. The same principle achieves dramatic crash reductions in the “Shared Space” approach. Motorists actually HAVE to pay attention.
 
While I don’t advocate designing dangerous facilities to make users cautious, we should recognize that dangerous facilities are mostly dangerous to and from those too inexperienced, or clueless, to recognize them AS dangerous. The rest of us adjust our behavior to bring the risk back down. John Forester noted the necessary adjustment (either ride slowly and cautiously or take the longer street route and ride faster) when he considered Seattle’s Burke Gilman trail. As a cyclist, riding from point to point, my focus is with dealing with whatever facilities I encounter, as safely as I know how. My route selection is a balance that avoids danger while taking a direct route. As always, the winning combination includes experience, education, AND vigilance against complacency. Much as I hate to admit it, engineering has its limits.

Getting Better

Instructors Explain Extreme Stopping to Student

Some posts turn out differently than expected. This is one such. I went to Traffic 101 in Dallas today. This makes my third T101. Originally, I intended to discuss how BikeDFW has sharpened their Traffic 101 course, and how I find it interesting that the students are mostly women. Instead, it's about what they don't tell you about Bike Ed, and what it has to offer someone who knows how to handle their bike in traffic, as well as someone that understands how their bike works. The US Military and civilian aerospace both embrace what that is. In short, it's training for the emergency that may never happen. It's why my oldest daughter did her first Autocrosses while she was on her learner's permit, why my middle daughter got taken to a snowy parking lot in Colorado, and why I'm getting a tetanus shot this year (the track requires it).

Traffic 101 is oriented toward an inexperienced rider, but part of it that isn't well publicized are the bike drills. Some of these are the bike equivalent of learning to operate a motor vehicle under extreme conditions; resulting in the student better understanding what their vehicle can do. As in the case of high performance driving of a Jaguar or Alfa Romeo, this should not be done on public roads. Conveniently, bikes are different, and a reasonably sized parking lot suits them much better than Texas Motor Speedway.

If Those Guys Weren't Around, This Student Would be About to Fall Over as His Bike Stops Moving

Pretty much anybody likely to read this blog knows how to stop their bike. BikeEd students, however, learn how to stop their bikes a few feet quicker. If they're smart students, they practice many elements of quickly stopping to help out their muscle memory. It may never matter, but once in a rare while, stopping two feet quicker can be the difference between a close call and serious injury - or worse. The quick stop drill is one that I am unwilling to do on my own. My commute is made with clipless pedals and I find that I will often fall over at the conclusion of a quick stop. If I have to make that kind of stop in the real world, I will gladly accept falling over if it means I avoid a collision. I don't care if you are someone that wants to ride vehicularly in traffic or only on recreational bike paths. Someday you may need to stop a couple of feet quicker. Quick stop can do that and it's a hard thing to learn on your own, no matter how long you've been riding. If you're reading this blog, you're worth saving.

She's Starting to "Get It." With Practice, She'll Be Able to Hit that Inside Marker and Maybe a Bit More

 A second drill that is inadvisable to practice on the street is the instant turn. The instant turn is a maneuver designed to give you an option on how to deal with that Escalade that just made a right turn in front of you besides going underneath it. Again, there's a very good chance it'll never happen, but if it does, someone who performs an instant turn in an emergency might be able to just have a close call. This IS a drill I do on my own, using empty parking lots. If I ever need to do it for real, I do not want to have to THINK about how to deal with the emergency. BikeEd will show the principle, but the student has to make the decision to practice, practice, practice. You don't get that from regular riding. If you're reading this blog, you're worth saving.

One last word on the instant turn. In his book, Effective Cycling, John Forester writes:

You can't safely learn the instant turn on the road, and you will never do it right without practice. ... The only time I was hit was before I learned the instant turn. A car coming the other way turned into a wide driveway. I managed to get into the driveway, but couldn't turn sharply enough to outdistance the car.

Like Forester or hate him, he has credibility when it comes to a statement like that above.

There are a number of other drills as well, but most of them will do no more than teach you how to get a bit more out of your bike, and maybe avoid flats. Those have the ancillary benefit of allowing you to get more out of your cycling, but the ones above may save your life. Even if they don't, knowing you are prepared will improve your confidence on the road just a little bit. If you're reading this blog, you're worth it.

Actually, the Bike Drills are Also Fun. In a Way, it's Like a School Bike Rodeo for Grownups

BikeEd is Alive in Dallas. Thanks, Gail & Richard!

On this blog, I've often stated that bicycling is safe and fun. Well, it is, and that's true even if you never learn this stuff. Aviation is also safe. Partly that's because they practice for emergencies to make it even safer. Conveniently, bike emergencies are usually less dramatic than aircraft ones, but the principle is exactly the same.

You Practice so All the Passengers Come Home Alive! From Wikipedia

Cycling Clots

Nowadays, a lot of us work in offices at desks. If you’re reading this, you probably ride your bike more than the average person. You ride when it’s cold, or when it’s hot. You may have concluded, as I have, that cycling is fun and safe. Unfortunately, around the edges of things there are risks, and it turns out that Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) may be one of those risks. And that risk isn’t as remote as you might imagine. I’ve seen estimates that 15% of unexpected sudden deaths may be linked to DVT and that 3-5% of airline passengers experience blood clotting. This risk isn’t unique to cycling – it will affect people engaging in almost any aerobic activity, but I can think of few that people engage in for such long periods of time at a stretch as cycling. When you put the pieces together, I think you’ll agree that it makes sense. How big a danger is DVT? I have no idea because I have no idea how many unexpected sudden deaths (other than collisions) cyclists experience, nor how their cycling affects their death rate compared to the general public. Even if a cyclist experiences a higher rate, he/she might still be better off due to general condition. Fortunately, most of the preventative steps are very simple.

Exercise as DVT Cause Agent
First, one of the benefits of cycling is that the aerobic activity lowers your blood pressure and resting pulse rate. Your heart doesn’t have to work as hard when you’re lounging around beside the pool. However, this also means that if you are sitting at a desk or in an economy class airline seat, the blood in your leg isn’t getting stirred up as much. A study, summarized here, discovered that 85% of DVT cases amongst airline passengers were experienced by athletic types. I would expect that to be greatest amongst the marathoners and cyclists. After all, swimmers that swim for hours per day are rare. Cyclists that cycle for hours per day are common. If you ride a bike and read this and think "I'm not athletic," think back to when you first started riding frequently and compare it to what you do now. You ARE athletic compared to similar people that do not ride.

Second, as for other long-distance athletic activities, fluid loss and balance can affect your body. Dehydration can cause your blood to thicken. Hmm, now we have blood sitting in the leg in a thickened condition. NOT a good combination.

It gets complicated and not only am I not a doctor, but I’ve never even played one on television. Among other things, temperature extremes can affect you as well. Apparently cold constricts your veins in your legs, and heat causes you to dehydrate quicker. I think I’d worry more about the latter, but then I live in North Texas and summer is upon us.

Finally, if you cycle regularly and over longer distances, you will inevitably experience all sorts of aches and pains along the way. Mostly these will appropriately be shaken off, but sometimes these may signal an early warning for you to go see a doctor. In the link I cited, here, the cyclist got leg pain and swelling, but shook it off. Myself, I got a couple of cramps in the same leg they eventually discovered the DVT on a few occasions. I noticed no swelling or other symptoms. I shall never know if those were leg cramps or early warning signals. DVT is typically mistaken as a simple cramp, even by doctors experiencing it. I think if you get a cramp once, don't worry about it. If you get them repeatedly in the same leg, go see a doctor.

Risk Reduction
Obviously, the simplest and cheapest thing you can do is avoid letting your legs laze around after exercise. If you are stuck on an airplane, do leg flex exercises during the course of the flight.

Next up is to follow the advice that Gail Spann gave us at LCI training – hydrate! I’ve never been a fanatical hydrater. Growing up in Seattle, it was only fairly recently that I learned that hydration was something other than how the grass stayed green. It was only last year that I started regularly carrying a water bottle for trips over 10 or so miles. BUT, water may not be the best solution. Taste your sweat and you’ll notice that it does not taste like bottled water. Sure enough, airline passengers that drink water experienced blood thickening during a flight not all that much differently than did those that didn't do anything. The  reference is here. ON THE OTHER HAND, those that took an isotonic beverage consisting of water, salt, and potassium did NOT experience blood thickening, and it appears they needed less trips to the restroom as well. You could approximate this effect with a sports drink, but those have a lot of sugar which you won't be needing while working in an office or sitting on an airplane. The simple solution is to find a way to ingest salt and potassium along with your water. I have found such supplements, but I'm not prepared to conclude they are strictly necessary, nor to dismiss them entirely. John Forester, in Effective Cycling, is clearly an advocate of "replace the salt you sweat" and has a good discussion on home made electrolitic solutions, though he is oriented towards the "during the ride" solution rather than for "keep your blood from clumping after you get there." Whether you go for a precise mix or not, according to Wikipedia's perspiration article, there is roughly 0.9g/L of sodium and 0.2g/L of potassium in sweat, along with minute quantities of all sorts of things. They also note that the  exact composition depends on all sorts of factors and can vary quite a bit. I wonder how sport drink manufacturers get their composition so precise. Might there be just a touch of marketing exaggeration involved? Anyway, bump up your salt intake along with your water when you ride.

It appears there may well be other simple things you can do to help. For example, herbs such as green tea appear to have a blood thinning aspect to them. Some advocate the use of aspirin, though medical opinions are divided on whether aspirin actually helps, despite being a thinning agent. Conveniently enough, the drug education brochure on the blood thinning drug I've been put on has a list of these things which I am now supposed to stay away from to avoid overthinning my blood. Green tea and aspirin are both on the list, along with things like garlic and ginkgo.

If I were not already on a blood thinning medication, let's assume a scenario where I'm a cyclist that rides enough that my resting heart rate is significantly lower than the general public that otherwise fit my age, weight, and gender profile. What do I do that might help myself if I'm going to work in an office for the day, or if I'm leaving on a long airplane flight?

Office for the Day
In this case, the main task is to replace the salt and fluid lost to sweat during the bike commute. John Forester recommends using unsweetened lemonade with added salt. In reality, it's probably simpler to toss a couple of grams of salt down and bump up the banana consumption a bit. A bit trickier is to figure out how much sweat you have produced. You can approximate that by a careful weighing plan (as a first approximation, most of the weight change is due to  water consumption or sweating as long as you haven't gone to the bathroom and it's fairly warm out). You can improve that approximation if you also estimate your water loss due to breathing, but we're quickly getting complicated here. Anyway, regardless, periodically get up from your desk and do simple leg exercises to keep the blood from solidifying. Basically, I've got six months to get this one dialed in. Luckily, as your commute gets shorter and colder, this gets simpler. In my own case, I need to determine the right amount of water and electrolytes to consume when it is 60F out or 105F out. Fortunately, the results really only need to be in the right general ballpark. If I  can find a way to summarize all this in a way it might be coherent, I'll post it, but such a post will not occur in the near future - I've got six months to figure this out and only one shot to get it right. If anyone has a good source for this, I'd be eternally grateful, as I could move up to an early "trust but verify" stage. I suspect, however, that the most we might hope for is a good "here's how you determine your profile now."

Airplane Flight
In this case, in addition to the exercises, there are several added steps I'd take. First off, it probably makes sense to get a sugar-free isotonic powder to bring along. That will not be available on board. Then order water and consume the powder along with bottled water as the flight progresses. I hear one cup per hour is a good consumption rate. Taken prior to the flight, an aspirin will thin my blood a bit. Opinions are divided on how much, if any, good this does, but aspirin is readily available and will help keep the blood thinner. I'd put it into the "might help and won't hurt"category. In addition, I'd probably order a green tea at the local coffee concession, rather than the coffee I might have had otherwise.

Riding Bikes to Work

Note: This post was inspired by the conjunction of the posts at Bike Commuters and Cycle*Dallas, here, and here.

BS EXCUSES
Bicycle commuting is mainly met with excuses people come up with NOT to do it. They cite safety, though it is actually MUCH safer, done properly, than driving. They cite "I'm out of shape," despite it being a low physical stress activity due to its efficiency. They talk about sweat, despite there being many proven ways to avoid that as a real obstacle. They talk about heat, or cold, despite clothing being a proven technology. I'm surprised they don't cite fear of alien abduction as a reason! As a matter of fact, they cite just about every reason one could imagine other than the REAL reason they don't commute; namely that they really don't enjoy riding a bike very much and would rather spend their time doing other things. Perhaps they simply think riding a bike is childish, or something only poor losers do. I have no idea why they feel compelled to make up nonsense excuses instead of just saying "I don't like bikes or biking." Perhaps it is the same sort of guilt that accompanies not eating vegetables.

REAL REASONS
OTOH, there ARE solid reasons why people don't bike commute. Some are expected to use their motor vehicle as part of their work, or they work at multiple sites too far apart to get from one to another on a bike. Those people cannot bike commute. Some are told by management that bike commuting is not acceptable. THEY cannot bike commute unless they find another job. Some are threatened by family members and THEY may not be able to bike commute.

GRAY AREAS
And then, there are gray areas. I know bike commuters that ride regardless of how cold or hot it gets, and even a crazy few that actually seek out electrical storms, but most of us have limits beyond which we rarely ride. And then, there's distance. The problem with distance is not what most people think. It's not the physical effort, or the safety, it is the TIME. Viewed objectively, an hour of bike commuting is an hour much more usefully spent than an hour of motor vehicle commuting, but even if you throw in gym workout time, there comes a distance beyond which the saddle time becomes difficult to justify.

YARDSTICK

• Under a mile - This is a good walk distance that is hardly worth biking.
• Under five miles - Bike it! This is the sweet spot for bike commuting unless you are determined to make up a phony excuse. Factoring in exercise, this distance range saves time compared to motor commuting.
• Under ten miles - This is practical for almost everyone, but mild dedication is needed. Up to this point, when you combine bike commuting and exercise, you are probably achieving a net savings by bike commuting.
• Under fifteen miles - You are well beyond the routine bike commuter. On the other hand, you get good saddle time for only a reasonable time penalty.
• Under twenty miles - We're talking about serious commute time
• Over twenty miles - You get to the outer fringe of bike commuters, and maybe beyond.

GOOD NEWS
Even if you live too far from work to bike commute every day, there are alternatives. Some people can multi-mode between a bike and transit, though buses are rarely faster than simply biking the whole way. Some can drive part way to work and bike part way. If nothing else, you can bike commute some days and drive some days. Remember, if you live twenty miles from work, and bike commute ONE day a week, you are bike commuting the same distance as someone that lives four miles from work and does it every day.

HE SAID IT BEST

As in so many cycling areas NOT involving attempts to play amateur psychologist, or politician, I think John Forester described bike commuting better than anyone else I've ever read. I reread that chapter of Effective Cycling when I start to feel discouraged about the commute distances I need to go, and it cheers me up again. Thanks, and happy "Ride Your Bike to Work Month!"

Rantwick and the “Line of Sweetness”

Rantwick made a very interesting post, here, complete with his best-ever graphic, in which he included a video of a close pass. My own comment supported Rantwick's observation that slipping left in a lane is best done slowly, so as to not surprise any following motorists. In comments, Skyers suggested that the “Line of Sourness” may have been what kept a close pass from becoming something worse. Skyers’s analysis contains an undeniable element of truth, but after careful consideration, I think it misses at a critical element. Here’s why.


IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE INCIDENT
The video contains two important elements. First, Rantwick executes a left turn, then, about seven seconds later, he gets passed very closely by a car that is going quite fast. We’ll call the driver “Speedy.” The Line of Sweetness (EXCELLENT GRAPHIC HERE) is certainly one principle involved, but it is complicated by a left turn in front of oncoming traffic, bringing “the Land Rover Rule” into play. In this case, “the Land Rover Rule” says you do not turn into the immediate path of onrushing traffic regardless of whether you are going to ride the line of sweetness, sourness, or even if your intent is to jump the curb and onto the sidewalk. You wouldn’t do it if you were driving the Land Rover, you don’t do it on the bike. If I were an official type like Mighk, I’d call it the “first come, first served” principle (see, I DO know some of the official names of this stuff for when I have to take tests).

WAS THE TURN DANGEROUS?
Did Rantwick turn too close in front of the speed demon? Well, Rantwick certainly didn’t think so, and, while it is very easy to misjudge such things if one of the cars is going really fast (also true if you are driving), the video shows Rantwick went seven full seconds before Speedy passed him while passing through an intersection. If Speedy was going twice his speed, he may have been two full blocks back when Rantwick finished his turn. This is clearly not a case of Rantwick lunging in front of a responsible driver who has to desperately swerve to avoid killing him. I’m not surprised Rantwick doesn’t recall the car too clearly prior to the turn.

THE LINE AFTER THE TURN - LIKELY SCENARIO
I try to always let my motorists have lots of time to figure out and execute the proper maneuver without requiring thought on their part. In this case, Speedy SHOULD simply move into the left lane a block or two back. It’s what any rational motorist does, regardless of anywhere in the lane Rantwick might happen to be, because motorists all KNOW that cyclists are incorrigible reprobates, prone to doing crazy things without notice. If you think I exaggerate, read the comments section of almost any newspaper when a cycling article appears. Cautious motorists move over TWO lanes if it’s an option and traffic is light. While it is certainly possible that Speedy might have come on and squished a “Line of Sweetness” Rantwick, I’ll guess he saw Rantwick off to the right, saw the SUV to his left, and decided he could split the difference between them and wind up ahead of everyone. The temporary license plate suggests he was probably not driving his own daily car. The true danger of the Line of Sourness is that Speedy might have misjudged the space by ten or twenty centimeters. We read of such incidents daily in the news. Personally, I like reading Monday Rantwick posts and would not want to read of some “terrible accident,” unless the “terrible accident” involves some sort of giant fracas associated with his music career. In such an event, I eagerly look forward to Rantwick's spin on things. Perhaps it might even be as lively as the Rawhide scene in The Blues Brothers.

THE LINE AFTER THE TURN – ANGRY BOY RACER SCENARIO
On the other hand, let’s assume Speedy was just discharged from his anger management class, and decided he was not about to tap on the brakes for some dorky spandex mafioso by ducking behind the van, and then speeding back up after passing Rantwick, and he decided instead to do a drag race with the SUV, followed by a quick left lane change at the last second. In such a scenario, Rantwick may indeed have a better chance of survival in the Line of Sourness, but his chances would be better yet over on the sidewalk. In reality, even angry Speedy will attempt to slow down if it is clear he won’t win the drag race and it will become clear to him earlier the further left Rantwick is riding, because the risk/reward picture will appear bleaker to him. In the worst case, Speedy has to hit the brakes 3.5 Escalade lengths back of Rantwick’s rear wheel if he is going 75kph and Rantwick is going 15kph. I have practiced panic slowing for imaginary cyclists in our Land Rover, and I was surprised at how close I could come behind the imaginary cyclist without experiencing impact. DO NOT try this if there is a car close behind you! DO NOT try this using real cyclists. A convenient following distance table may be found here.

SWERVE RIGHT YOUNG MAN!
In case there is any doubt, I do NOT advocate EVER swerving to the left, unless you KNOW there is nothing anywhere behind that can be affected at all. If you have to swerve, swerve RIGHT! Unless, of course, you live somewhere that everyone drives on the left, in which case you've already transposed everything

CLOSING THE GAP
In my bottom line opinion, I’m with Rantwick. Two blocks/several seconds is long enough for even an impaired driver to execute a full lane change – IF he decides that is what he/she needs to do instead of shooting for a marginal gap. THAT is the true beauty of the Line of Sweetness. Just don’t apply it in isolation. You want lots of space behind you in the RH lane you’re turning into so any overtaking motorists in it get bored looking at you before they make their leisurely lane change. The traffic rules are a body and you want them all. In this case, I might have waited for a bigger traffic gap before I made my left turn, but maybe not. I wasn’t there. This is not a matter of a cyclist exercising rights, or of brazenness. It is rather a defensive matter of not unintentionally enticing a motorist into a dangerous maneuver by creating the impression of space where not enough exists. THAT is the critical element that I think Skyers is missing. When you ride on the street, every action and your very placement on the road communicates things to the motorists around you. On the other hand, had Rantwick been riding in the Line of Sweetness, the world would now be missing a GREAT GRAPHIC and we’d have to wait five days until his next post.

MAKE MIGHK MAD TOO!
Mighk, as a newly minted T101 graduate, I disagree with the notion that T101 has led me towards the Line of Sourness, even if the notion comes from one rarely given to hyperbole. I didn’t notice Chandra showing sudden enthusiasm for it either. I do not recall being encouraged to ride in the right track, though the brochure art was inferior to what Forester included in his book. Without follow-up rides with experienced traffic riders, I suspect it is relatively ineffective at affecting traffic behavior either way. This could easily be a whole ‘nother post on its own, and I’d like to see Mighk’s analysis, and what I think FBA has up their collective sleeves. Hint Hint!

WHILE I’M IRRITATING EVERYONE
Aptertome, the Line of Sweetness is not so cut and dried as I make it sound. It is not something that experience alone leads you to. Initially, I think it requires an act of faith to violate everything you’ve ever been told about how to operate your bike on the road without getting killed, even though the principles are very logical and simple. It may SEEM like brazenness, but in reality, you are helping guide your own motorists to making safe choices without conflict. Think of it another way. On my current commute, I encounter well in excess of 10000 motorist passes a year. And those are just the ones I become aware of. How much experience do you think each of those motorists have passing cyclists? In the final analysis, you are not being daring, you are stepping up to the mark of guiding your flock of motorists via yet one more way of communicating with them. While cyclists may seem to be vulnerable, in reality, they are the experts in the daily interchange between motorist and cyclist. Seems a little less brazen, to my mind at least.

BE VISIBLE
BE WHERE OTHER TRAFFIC EXPECTS TO SEE THINGS
BE PREDICTABLE
BE A FRIENDLY BIKE DRIVER

Common Thread

Since New Year's, my commute has been uneventful. An uneventful, albeit long, commute gives me lots of time to think of different things to post about. Today, I pondered posting about how I fixed a wiggly Cateye headlight, or how it takes longer to get ready to ride on cold mornings, or posting about the motorist who last week passed very slowly, but otherwise safely (though illegally across a double yellow line), with his wife rolling down the window in freezing weather and pointing off to the right, saying something unintelligible; no doubt warning me against moving over too far towards the "Cyclist Pit of Doom" if I unaccountably abandoned the "line of sweetness." I also considered posting about some positive reinforcement I got this morning, or about how a comment by "cycler" almost tore my heart out. But it all came together in common threads.

First off, CommuteOrlando has an active discussion, here,  about "Roadway Terrorists." Next, I talked with a motorist who passed me this morning on the way to work. He joked about how I was hard to miss. I inquired if, seriously, there was something about my riding that made it difficult for him to decide how to proceed or if my riding made it harder for him to get where he was going. After consideration, he answered that, no, my intentions were crystal clear to him, he understood my signals, and knew exactly what I planned to do and how to drive to avoid any conflict or delay whatsoever. I quipped that if I understood him, the only way I was hard to miss, then, was if he was actually TRYING for an impact. He agreed that was the case. It was a morale boost that says I'm riding well when non cyclists don't have to ponder what I'm up to. Finally, came the item that made it all come together. In it, "cycler" commented:

"I got followed in a threatening way for about 6 blocks today by a dump truck pulling a trailer who was p-o'd that I was taking the lane because we were going down a smallish residential street with parking on both sides and an icy shoulder. He kept gunning his engine. I didn't have to look back- I could hear him, and it was very stressful for me. It didn't matter to him that I was going traffic speed- he wanted me out of his way, and as soon as I got into the bike lane further down the street, he passed me relatively closely and at a speed inappropriate to the size of the street.

"I basically agree with you I think about vehicular cycling being the best way, but I've gotta say it takes a lot of experience and a certain mental toughness to do it. I doubt we're ever going to get serious growth in bicycling if we can't provide some kind of infrastructure that doesn't require people to brave that kind of situation regularly, especially when they're getting started."

I first read the comment when I stopped at a store of "a major coffee chain based in Seattle" on the way home. It disturbed me, and I thought about it the rest of the way home. I considered that "cycler" did the right thing in not trying to move right - the trailer could have easily dragged her under its wheels, and the driver would not have appreciated the attempt at courtesy in any event. I also considered that the statement about experience is NOT correct - I made the final switch to riding vehicularly  in a single day. What it takes is an epiphany, which can occur with no experience or maybe never. Certainly experience can prepare one for vehicular cycling, but it does not lead to it. I know fairly new cyclists that ride vehicularly, and I know others that have ridden for a half century that do not. Those that have not experienced the epiphany are certain to be skeptical. I certainly was - until April 10, 2009.

Anyway, here's the common thread - jerks on the road get a lot of attention from cyclists, and, more seriously, psycho motorists are a weakness of vehicular cycling - being predictable is not a good thing when a motorist is determined to kill the cyclist - the predictable cyclist is easier to hit. BUT, the overwhelming majority of motorists are good people, that just want to go along, and get along, as is the case with cyclists. THAT is a common thread that unites road users of disparate types, and is a big factor in what some might consider "mental toughness" in me. If the crazies were anything more than a newsworthy but extremely rare fringe element, John Forester would not be alive today. This is really something to remember if an occasional jerk decides to try to push you around. If the jerk's a bully, he/she will back off if you avoid escalating the situation - which is something "cycler" avoided as much as she could - a "Keri Wave" might have helped or it might have made things worse. If the jerk's a serious criminal, the cyclist is in real trouble, since the jerk has abandoned all the rules of the road and of human decency. It might be small comfort, but a criminal might just as likely go after the cyclist on a sidewalk - or even out in an empty field.

Different people feel differently about various infrastructure for cyclists to use, and revised laws that may or may not help cyclists. It behooves us to remember that bad infrastructure and bad laws can always be removed later. What we all have in common is we want to get from point to point, and the public roads are what they are. Some motorists are ignorant, but almost all are well intentioned. As a cyclist, my suggestion is never to forget that your best defense when riding is to always ride the best you know how, wherever you happen to be riding. Make it easy for your motoring friends, and remember that the jerks are notable because they both rare and stressful. Thanks, "cycler."

BTW, your blog is pretty cool!

Yeti in Bedord?

Legendary "Cyclaris Vehicularis." More than just a tall tale?

Yeti - a legendary, perhaps mythical creature said to ride a bike on our streets, in our very own cities, in a vehicular manner. The "Cyclaris Vehicularis." Real, or imaginary? You be the judge.

Today, while coming back from Sanger, I got a text message from my oldest daughter, Erin (shown below as "E." I'll be "D.":

E: "We just saw a Yeti!'
D: "Silly Erin! So tell me!"
E: "Abbey saw him too. He was cycling under an overpass in the middle of the 12 ft wide bike lane ..."
D: "Did you get pictures or an interview?"
E: "No. He was too fast for use - all pictures would have been blurry."

Later, E indicated he was bundled up against the cold. That has a touch of realism. Real Yeti almost surely depend on more than just their natural insulation. Some say they're bundled up like Randy in "A Christmas Story."

Now, a couple of facts stand out. Unlike many Yeti sightings, this one actually had a corroborating witness. That means it rises above the usual "one of my friends told me one of their friends saw a Yeti."

ON THE OTHER HAND, there was nothing in the way of documentary evidence, instead resorting to the "blurry picture" dodge favored by conspiracy theorists and UFOlogists.

I suppose it's possible. I may be just one of those people that never see one, just as some people never see ghosts or chupacabras. They say he remained in sight for nearly a minute. No photos. We'll have to put this one into the "possible but not definite" category.

Past reference to Yeti on this blog is here and on occasion afterwards.

Slow Progress is Still Progress

Previously, I noted encounters with a red pickup truck with an "OU" sticker in its back window on Shady Grove Road in North Richland Hills. Most times, when you get honked at, it’ll happen once and you will never encounter the vehicle or driver again. Getting harassed by the same motorist repeatedly over time is rare. Unfortunately, Forester’s advice about this unusual situation in Effective Cycling has proved completely useless so far.

I encountered my OU truck friend once again Friday morning. This makes three encounters. I'm happy to report that I think we’re making progress. Perhaps there IS something to that “safety in numbers” theory and I’m simulating it by simply repeatedly encountering the same motorist over and over. See if you don’t agree

• First encounter – motorist honked with his extra loud and irritating air horn and then stopped after passing so he could threaten to back over me. This incident taught me to be more cautious about making even friendly waves to motorists. It also made me realize that if you are controlling the lane, that's not necessarily good if a motorist decides to jam his truck into reverse and crush you. Under those conditions, a position along the fog line gives you a better chance for escape. Luckily for me, that's not a frequently encountered situation and this guy did not actually go beyond shifting into reverse.
• Second encounter - motorist honked with his extra loud and irritating air horn and then slowed down considerably after passing, before deciding not to stop so he could then back over me. No threats the second time.
• Third encounter – NO HONK! All the motorist did this time was do one of those aggressive sounding “gun your engine accelerate things” as he passed. He was accelerating fast enough that I wasn’t able to take down the license number for possible future reference. How come these guys don't stop in front of me when I'm prepped to memorize a license number?

I never imagined a honkless pass would be cause for a blog post! At this rate, we’ll soon be Facebook friends and gather by the fireside to sing "Kumbaya" together. By the way, this guy MUST be very influential in the motoring world because nobody else honked all day, either. Perhaps I need to send him down to Orlando for a few weeks so he can calm down the motorists in the CommuteOrlando area.

singalong song

PS: Entirely by coincidence, when checking Shady Grove Road in Google Maps, I notice that part of what Google Maps labels as Shady Grove Road is actually part of a Walmart parking lot. I sense another in the "Parking Lot" series coming up. Perhaps Rantwick's mom would approve of parking lots as long as Google thinks they're really streets?

Commute Year

It’s early December and, between the weather, “use it or lose it vacation” time, and the year end holiday, 2009 is mostly done in terms of bike commuting. Rather than waiting for the very end of the month, I thought I’d do my “year in review” now. There were several milestones, including a new commute bike, a work location change, launch of this blog, a few fairly prosaic events, and the obligatory mileage milestone.

Buddy as received

Recent Buddy shot

Buddy

Having commuted throughout 2008, I concluded in January that it was appropriate to acquire a dedicated commute bike, partly as a treat. I selected the commute bike based on a targeted amortized running cost of 10 cents per mile, combined with being fun to ride, and making the mileage I need to make when commuting. I’ll do another post summarizing how I’m doing in this regard later. For now, I’ll just note that 10 cents per mile is easy to achieve if you get your bike from a dumpster. It is tougher if you’re going to be using a new bike with better than average capabilities. It might not be possible if you’re going to try to commute on a high end custom bike, or if you have a shorter ride and you buy a nice “transportation” bike. Certainly, for my particular commute (YOUR commute will surely be different), Buddy is a superior choice over so-called “urban transportation bikes.” Simply put, Buddy gets the job done over the distance it has to go and “urban” bikes don’t. I think if I say anything more on this topic in this post, “they” will be after me with pitchforks and torches! Remember, if you’re reading this and getting warm under the collar, it’s not YOUR bike I’m saying doesn’t measure up! If I had a short commute, or no secure place to park, I would have made a different choice.

Alliance Move

Over Easter weekend, our program moved from Haltom City to Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The new commute is documented in the six-part series, here. Much to my surprise, the increase in riding distance has not dropped the frequency that I ride to work. The problem with cycle commuting is time, not distance. It’s an observation John Forester made in Effective Cycling that has proven to be completely on target. Whether or not you bicycle commute ultimately may come down to “can you afford the time it will take?” So far, for me, the answer has been “yes.”

The buffalo just east of Alliance Airport

Blog

I got a taste of blogging earlier this year, through the kind graces of PM Summer over at Cycle*Dallas. However, I’m not really a “policy-planning-advocacy-principles wonk” and so I launched this blog in June. On occasions, such as here, I do stray into advocacy and policy stuff, but mostly, I stick to the nuts and bolts of getting from point to point around North Texas or other places I happen to find myself. Regardless of one’s views toward the “ideal bicycling world” or “cycling rights,” we’re here and we either deal with it or are limited by it. I can’t say I’m a fan of all the places I ride, such as here or here, nor am I a fan of discriminatory laws, but mostly bicycling is safe and FUN. If it stops being either safe OR fun, I’ll stop riding. Millions of Americans have proved bike riding is not required to sustain life. In the meantime, paraphrasing my favorite ski sticker; “If hell freezes over, I’ll ride there too.” What’s more, I’ll probably make a post about Satan’s big red pickup truck, and whether he passed me safely & legally.

This blog's masthead

Events

There were a few commute riding events during the year, none of which really rose to the level of being “spectacular.” These include getting pulled over by a Fort Worth policeman during “Ride Your Bike to Work Week,” here, falling on a Keller MUP, here, a serial honking harasser, here, and that’s about it. Fortunately, “ol stinky” did not rise to the level of becoming an “event.” Instead of a thrilling “death rides on my left” video, my video was about bus lanes. I’m an engineer. Everyone knows engineers are BORING! Mostly, there are snippets of things observed along the route. In late September, prompted by an “Andy post” at the  Carbon Trace blog, I started my “honking project” and will do a quarterly update in the future. For now, I’ve accumulated three honks in roughly 1000 miles (about 10000 motorist interactions).

I got to go to a special session of bicycle school, but have STILL not succeeded in getting bikedfw to come through and actually HOLD the Traffic 101 course I paid for back in March. No, I don’t want a refund. I want to TAKE the course! People tell me we need more bike education and I just roll my eyes. We need to start by having ANY bike education. I don’t think Richard and Dorothy are going to get it done all by themselves. Hmm, maybe I ought to reread the “blog” paragraph before piling soap boxes any higher. Yeah, we need better advocates.

Mileage Milestones
I hit two cycle commute mileage milestones in 2009. In November, I hit 5000 bike commute miles for the year, and shortly thereafter, I hit 4000 miles for the new FW Alliance commute. If I believe the cycle computers, I did another one or two thousand miles of non-commute riding. For the first time in my life, I’m looking at consumables such as tires, chains, brake pads and such in terms of miles to replacement rather than calendar time. One other milestone – annual mileage on the Land Rover is down. I suggested to my wife that we see if the insurance company wouldn’t float us a discount on that basis. If we get a reduction, I’ll certainly document that event.

Wrap Up
All in all, it’s been a pretty good year for bike commuting. I hope yours has been as good.

Veterans

Photo from Wikipedia - Remembrance Day Poppies

Go here for their story.

Cycling really IS fun and safe. This is true even though there seem to be a high fraction of people on bikes doing really DUMB stuff. However, like soldiers, life is much safer for some than for others. In each case, it’s disproportionally the veterans that survive.

In the mini series, “Band of Brothers,” I recall one episode in which replacements come to the unit. None of the veterans really wanted to know anything about the replacements. They knew the replacements would mostly be the ones hit when the battle resumed and they didn’t want to get wrapped up with someone that’d be dead in a day or two.
In a milder form, the same trend may be seen in motor traffic. It forms the basis for the notion of “graduated driver licensing” that has been implemented in many states, and is part of the reason teen drivers pay higher insurance rates. They don’t have the experience to be veterans. The same thing may be seen in motorcycle accident rates – most often it’s new riders that get killed.

Cycling is the same. Forester, in Effective Cycling, points out that accident rates drop dramatically with successful cycling experience. He claims, and I think he understates things, that a cyclist’s chances of having an incident in a given year are about the same regardless of how far he/she rides. It’s clear cycling veterans know something useful.

This effect, while it ought to be perfectly obvious, plays a role in many ways. For example, accident rates in the Netherlands are lower than the US, but it is it because of their facilities and large numbers of cyclists, or is it really because people cycle there enough that they simply get better at it? Nobody really knows. All I will claim is that an increase in novice cyclists will result in an increase in cyclist deaths, regardless of what facilities may or may not exist at any given moment. It’s mostly the “replacements” that get killed. Those that survive either give up or get better.

There are two main things that’ll help, with a less important third factor that figures strongly in news articles. Training, experience, and equipment. The first two are far and away the most important. The second reinforces the first. The third seems most popular, particularly in the press.

Training comes in two forms, formal cycling education; often difficult to obtain in the United States, and a recognition by the cyclist that he/she can purposely consider and practice situations that may be encountered in the real world. A good start is a post-ride recap, to consider what might have been done better and what might have turned into a dangerous situation. All cyclists do this after a close call. Do it WITHOUT the close call and you’ll be better for it. Another good start is to get a solid book on traffic riding. Effective Cycling comes to mind. Our military trains almost ALL the time.

Experience is also something that can be actively cultivated. In my case, for example, I find that I lack experience in riding amongst large cycling groups. I got downright nervous seeing all the crashes at the HH100. This raises my risk in those circumstances compared to a more experienced rider. That awareness alone reduces the risk somewhat, and adding training/experience will reduce it further. I also lack experience in weekday downtown cycling because I have little cause to be downtown on weekdays. Should that change, I’ll have to work on that. In the meantime, I simulate that experience when opportunity presents. Our military works very hard to communicate the results of experience to all who might benefit from it. They revise the training to better reflect the experience.

Equipment can also help, but it has been demonstrated many times that the superior pilot in the inferior plane wins almost every time. So it is with cycling. Equipment is, at most, a tie breaker. Going back to the analogy, the superior pilot would be foolish to rely on that superiority and eschew safety equipment such as a parachute, but equipment is no substitute for training or experience. As has been noted elsewhere, equipment is a hardware solution to what is, at its heart, a software problem.

This Veteran’s Day, we’d do well to remember that training and experience are most of what make the US military what it is. The same two elements can help us become OLD and wily cyclists.

Seen on Katy Road, on Veteran's Day 2009.

It's amazing some of the things you notice on a bike!

I'd make way for this guy any day...