Shameless Plug



The Family's Youngest, in a Tree Well at Stevens Pass, Washington. "The Pouty Skiier"

Mostly I write about cycling topics on this blog, but today I digress for a shameless plug. You see, a major family milestone was reached last week. Our baby graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School. I saw tears in my wife's eyes. Me too. Kudos to one we called "The Pouty Skier."


Three Sisters. The Youngest Just Graduated

YOU GO, GIRL!

The High Schooler Learns How to Pass Cyclists - "Make FULL Lane Change When It's SAFE!"
I Believe That Lesson Sunk Home and Will be With Her FOREVER

CHHS Drum Major

Graduates File In

Last Post of the Old Era

I'm going to go in a little different direction. If you happen to be my loyal reader, don't despair. I don't think this blog is actually going to GO AWAY in the near future. However, a little clarity has entered my life and I'll unveil it soon. For the moment, I'll dispense a little wisdom in the way I've been accustomed to do.

Dear, Departed Eugene Sloane

Today, I want to rant a little about the pure ignorance of traffic engineers where people that ride bikes are concerned. I'll start with a blast to the past. Specifically, Eugene Sloane's classic book on bicycling. In it, amongst other things, he ranted against drain grates that trapped cyclists. My own edition (actually, my wonderful wife's book) was published back in 1969. For those of you that are math challenged, 1969 was the year we first put man on the Moon, and it was also FORTY THREE YEARS AGO.

Well, some dips, er, traffic engineers haven't learned much in the last NEARLY HALF CENTURY.

You see, within a block of a "Safe Routes to School" project (supposedly to make things safer for kids), exists THIS TRAP.

What do you think would happen to a kid riding to school who hugged the curb. Yeah, me too. Fortunately, I ride WELL left of such dangers. It just strikes me how little progress we've made in impacting road design and drainage in the last half century...

Wowza, a Bike Rack Right in the Road! It's Been a LONG Time Since I Saw Such Egregious IGNORANCE

I Got a Little Nervous About Leaving the Bike Just Standing There. I Really DIDN'T Want My Expensive Wheel to Get Bent.
28c Tires Fit Into the Grate WITH ROOM TO SPARE

If You Needed a MODERN (Post 1969) Reason NOT to Hug the Curb, Look at THIS DRAIN Grate. It Could RUIN Your Whole Day - IF You're Lucky.
City of Hurst
Public Works
1505 Precinct Line Road
Hurst, Texas 76054
(817) 788-7076

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!

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...

Weight the Outside Pedal

If you learn to ski, once you get past the snowplow and some of the other basics, you eventually learn to PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON THE OUTSIDE SKI when you want to make a turn. I go down a tough run and I really STOMP on that outside ski. Corona Bowl at Stevens Pass. Some of the tougher stuff over on the left side coming down A Basin.

Riding a bike, I never really realized it isn't all that different. You want to make a really SHARP turn, PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON THE OUTSIDE PEDAL.

Try it. It works. You watch the video here, you'll notice most of the students wind up doing just that. I don't know if the instructors told them or they just sort of wound up doing it by trial and error.

I learned it in bicycle school. Thanks again, guys! Cycling is more like skiing than I thought...

Yes, I Can!

Steve, leaving to take a
Traffic 101 course
that never happened

By late March, I’d taken the Land Rover out for scouting trips on the prospective route. I'd attempted to take a Traffic 101 Class that got canceled without notice (I found out upon my return home). I also concluded that I could probably avoid an unacceptable cycling time penalty by just riding a day less per week compared to Haltom City. By early April, I’d ridden the route twice, and fixed problems not readily evident from Google or the Land Rover scout trips. It looked like the trip would take a bit over 90 minutes, depending on wind and traffic. Some parts, such as Westport Parkway, were not very nice - I couldn't see clearly as I rode west, down the road, the road was that rough.

The second scout ride was the day before Good Friday – we were moving over Easter weekend and I wanted to ride the route on a work day. It was a dress rehearsal. It also turned out to be a day I'll remember...

Next, Change I Believe In
Previous, Can I make this ride?
Index, Deadly Serious Bike Commute

Alliance Gateway Freeway - the only smooth road in other than I-35W!

Training Future Motorists

As y'all may know, I have definite preferences when it comes to how motorists pass me when I'm on my bike. I like LOTS of clearance. Tonight, I took my daughter, Aurora, out for a driving lesson. On our way home, I saw a cyclist. Initially, it looked like she might be a vehicular cyclist. Unfortunately, she was going the opposite direction. Luckily, inspiration struck! This was an opportunity to instill some proper passing behavior and even a little "this is a good way to ride a bike" propaganda at the same time. So I extended the driving lesson.

Well, we got turned around and eventually caught up to the lady on the bike. The lady turned out to be a triathlete and pretty close to the gutter pan, but I explained that the safe thing to do was to always make a full lane change well back of the cyclist so the lane change would be smooth and safe. That way, we'd just slide by without any problems at all. And so it was. I also explained that's why she ought to ride further left in such lanes - so any motorists whose parents hadn't taught them to drive properly would still make a safe maneuver.

My daughter exclaimed that it turned out to be pretty easy. And her face in the picture above shows it. First successful pass of a cyclist. I think that was a bigger thrill than getting to merge onto the freeway for the first time.

Perhaps, in addition to questions on the written exam about cyclists, the actual driving test ought to employ a couple of "ringers" so the driving examiner can establish the applicant is able to drive safely...

This Camera Stuff Can be Hard

At the risk of stirring up still more controversy on the muckraking dfwptp blog, the following for your consideration:

Shot near Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The thumb in the picture says it all for anyone who thinks I take more than an occasional decent picture. In the words of an M&P engineer I used to know, "Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while - but usually not."

And before some comedian comments, no, this should not be taken as encouragement of cycling blogs taking shots of body parts. In fact, the thumb is not needed as much for cycling as it is for Jaguar driving. If the bike breaks down, I can always walk it somewhere. If the Jaguar breaks down, it's the thumb. It's another way that bikes are different...

Honking Love

When I was first learning to ski, just over ten years ago, a Boeing engineer told me "If you're not falling, you're not learning." I took that to heart. When I ski, I don't always go into nasty places just so I can fall down, but I try to do it often enough that I get better. It's how I learned terms from my little sister like "tucking trees," "ski armor," and "mandatory deduction."

Cycling has proven to be much the same. However, instead of falling, I depend on my motoring friends to warn me if I've been taking things a little too easy. If I get too many interactions or days without a single "toot," it's a warning that I need to get out of my comfort zone a bit to sharpen my skills and expand the "ZONE OF UTTER COMFORT." Put another way, if you just stood out in an open field a mile from the nearest road, with a wall around you, nobody would EVER honk at you. But you wouldn't get anywhere and you'd never get better. Remember, if they're not honking (at least once in a while), you're not learning. It shows they still love you.

Postscript - That engineer broke his leg skiing the next year (on a run even I would have no trouble with), so his credibility might be suspect.

Bike Shoes for the Rest of Us

One of my engineers bought his first "real road bike" last fall. He went to a large bike store over in Dallas County. Never been there myself. They fixed him up, not even trying to talk him into a Exotimundi Carbone Speciale. They did, however, sell him stiff road shoes with external cleats, telling him that's what he needed for a road bike. Now, if he gets off his bike, he waddles around like a duck - like the other roadies. This is a guy who may never ride more than ten or twenty miles at a time, mainly along paths or on charity rides.

The bulk of my bike mileage is commuting. The distance is far enough that my main concern is whether I can afford the time. One thing about commuting is that you have to do a little walking when you get to work. If you stop somewhere, you have to do a little walking. My bikes all have either spd pedals or toe clips, even my road bike. I wouldn't argue if you claimed that Eggbeaters might have been a better choice, but the pedals are bought & paid for. Mainly, the recessed spd clips let me walk like a human being. I could wear the bike shoes all day if necessary, although the reflective features give "high visibility" a whole new meaning in an office environment.