God BLESS British Engineers



Who's the Guy in the Top Hat? Abraham Lincoln? No - an ENGINEER!

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies contained a tribute that passed mostly without remark in American coverage of them. Among others, they honored one of the great engineers of history and one of my personal heroes: Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

For those that are not engineers (or a few architects), Brunel was a giant of the Victorian age. He broke new ground in railways and railway construction. He also did the same in other construction with ships such as the "Great Eastern."

I had to argue a bit with my kids as they only knew the actor as Hamlet. Well, he played an engineer as well this last week. Thanks, Brits, YOU ROCK! There is a reason many polls list IK Brunel as the #2 Brit of all time - after Winston Churchill and before any "Royal."

Passing of the Torch - Another Brunel Connection

Brunel - In a Classic Photo as Shown in Wikipedia. Compare With the Actor at the Top Shot

Just a Casual Recreational Rider



Non-Chain Coffee - Where Should I Go?

This morning, no longer having a commute to make, as "just a casual recreational rider," I decided to wander around and see what I've been missing. I had nowhere in particular to go, other than I was pretty sure this'd be my last chance for a FARATS photo.

I figured that looking for colorful trees, it'd be a good bet to head for parks and woods and places where such reside besides local subdivision lawns. So I headed north, into Grapevine. I was a bit nervous, because, as reported here, Grapevine sounded pretty difficult for a cyclist to get around in if their mayor felt it necessary to publicly suggest it was necessary to put in bike lanes to help out the commuters. If commuters were helpless, how could a casual recreational rider hope to survive, what with packs of rider barreling around blind corners on paths at 20mph? Still, as I finished coffee, I decided to be brave and venture into the wilds of Grapevine. Soon, Kermit led me into Parr Park - by the back entrance. There didn't seem to be a well-paved trail, or any bike lane either. Come to think of it, things seemed not quite up to my usual standards for bicycle travel. And Kermit made sure I knew it, despite his misleading smile. There WAS some prickly stuff and swampy dirt. Fortunately, the brush was light enough that before too long, we got to a proper MUP path. The Parr Park "Bicentennial Tree," however, was gone - struck by lightning. In any event, when they cut it up, they discovered it wasn't really much older than about 190 years.

Where the Heck ARE We? Somewhere Near Parr Park in Grapevine - Looking for Those Bike Lanes.



Now THIS Looks Like a Better Route for Kermit!



While the path was nice enough, the path was filled with those little yippy dogs that seem determined to commit suicide by dashing into one's front wheel. Luckily enough, I spyed a little offshoot to the MUP path and it led to my favorite kind of North Texas road. The "massively overbuilt five lane collector road with absolutely no traffic at all." In this case, it was called Heritage Avenue. I felt all nostalgic for Heritage Parkway at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, but this one is a road that dead ends, having started nowhere in particular and ends nowhere in particular. In a couple of miles along this road, I was passed by exactly two motorists. Neither of them felt compelled to use the two-way left turn lane.

Heritage Avenue, Somewhere North of Parr Park. Typical Traffic Conditions.

Heritage Avenue also runs close to my home and I ride it often, but THIS Heritage was just a little strange. For example, I saw a sign alerting me to the presence of the West Fork of the Trinity River! I'd never dreamed I lived so close.

Are You About to Arrive at the West Fork of the Trinity River?

And HERE IT IS! This river is almost as spectacular as the Los Angeles River. There really IS such a place, you know. It is featured in the movie "Gumball Rally."

West Fork of the Trinity River!?!

Not too far north of the raging river, I came to the northern terminus of Heritage Avenue. And then, as I pondered where to go next, inspiration hit me. I had a PERFECT entry for the Rantwick FARATS contest. Lots of color, nice shape, a bike in the shot, and smooth pavement. No, the entry is NOT the gratuitous bike photo below, but keep going.

Gratuitous Bike Photo Underneath a Tree

A few words on the tree. Unlike almost every other FARATS entry, the tree is not a Sugar Maple. In fact, it is not a Maple at all. It's just a regular "tree" that decided to turn red and glorious instead of the typical North Texas approach of leaves either turning yellow, or just turning brown and dropping off the tree. It is in Grapevine, about 200 feet south of Mustang Drive, which is where Heritage Ave dead ends. We may not have KINGS in the US, but this tree shows any ordinary tree can grow up to be the PRESIDENT.
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How Can this Lose? It May not be Big, But it Has a Bike, a Texas Flag, and a Five Lane Road with Smooth Pavement all in One Shot!

I must say there are perks to recreational riding. I surely discovered more new stuff in a couple of hours than I would have in a month of commuting. Still, it was unclear to me exactly where Grapevine should put those bike lanes. Perhaps all the murderous motorists that necessitate them were sleeping in this morning. Oh, well, there's nowhere I'd commute to in Grapevine anyway, being just a casual recreational cyclist, and any future commuting would lie in a different direction anyway.

PS: The last photo has nothing at all to do with the rest of this post other than Rat Trap Press suggested I'm obsessed with clipless pedals. You will note the classy "Costco Court Classic" shoes restrained by ancient toe clips - and the toe clips are probably older than RTP. For Chandra's benefit, I have a "High Vis" reflective clip to keep my cycling-specific Old Navy blue jeans behaving.
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Costco "Court Classic" Shoes do not Include SPD Mounting Provisions

Lane Position Gone WILD!

A Cyclist has Three Lane Position Choices. Through Broken Pavement, Skirting it, or
Darn Near the Middle of the Road. Most Motorists Take the Third Choice as this Pickup Driver Has Done
Despite the Road Surface, Many Motorists Really Take the 45mph Speed Limit as a Directive.

I know there are some pretty savvy cyclists that occasionally peek at this blog. I know there are also some people that read this blog, on occasion, that are a bit nervous about the whole concept that one of your jobs on a bike is to help your motorists succeed in their prime objective, which is to not hit anything, and especially not you.

Mostly, this is a pretty simple task. The rules of the road are a simplified way for road users to communicate with each other and accomplish everyone's task of getting places with no crashing noises. However, sometimes it gets a little messier, like when a road is gradually getting beaten back into the earth by a combination of heavy use and patchwork maintenance. Old Denton Road in the far Northwest corner of Fort Worth is such a situation. It is like nothing in Effective Cycling. All in one place, the road dynamically functions as either a two-lane road with really narrow lanes and a brutal shoulder, or as a one-lane road with a lane wide enough for sharing.

This Pavement is Pretty Sad, as You can Judge
by the Shadow of the Wheel

I would be THRILLED to see how various people of BOTH extremes would ride up this road. You see, I don't think I have found any lane position that will consistently avoid close passes. Going DOWN the hill is easy - just ride far enough left that you get the sweetest smooth pavement, while allowing oncoming traffic enough room to avoid a head-on collision, and ride like hell. Any other lane position will result in some sort of ugly event whether motorists are in the vicinity or not. If you're lucky, you'll only break a wheel.

Going up, as you may see from the photos, Old Denton Road has become effectively narrow enough that it is almost a single-lane road. If I ride in my usual "line of sweetness," anyone passing will wind up hitting broken pavement with his/her left wheel, and I'll get close passes as a result. Broken pavement under the left wheels make motorists even more nervous than an assertive cyclist. As I observed this, I tried moving right, so that I was riding toward the right edge of the unbroken pavement; about four feet to the left of where the right edge of the road would normally be. It's where the left edge of the right tire track would be if everyone didn't just drive down the middle. This improved things, but NOW I get close passes from motorists that are, understandably, trying to avoid running on to the broken pavement to their left. I suppose I COULD just ride through the broken pavement myself, but that pavement is broken because people continue to go through it, breaking it down further. I think I'd rather shoulder the bike and walk up the hill than try to ride through that crud on a bike with skinny tires.

Riding Further Towards the Road Center Would Actually Give the White Car a Choice
Between a Close Pass or Venturing into the Broken Pavement on His Left (or Just Not Passing at All)

What would YOU do? Now, before you say "I'd take a different road," you should know there are really only three road choices to the east and south for Fort Worth Alliance Airport. One is Westport Parkway which I have talked about in prior posts, such as "Stinky Road." One is the Alliance Gateway Freeway, which I DO ride on the way TO work, but it represents a bit of a detour to go home, and it also has a lot of traffic in the afternoon. Old Denton Road is the third. One GOOD thing about this stretch is that I always feel like I've accomplished something when I reach the crest of the hill. At that point, it turns into a massively overbuilt four lane road with a median, right after I turn off to head east. The four lane portion has the same 45mph speed limit.

The SUV is Just a Skosh Towards the Center of Where Most Motorists Would Choose When Passing a Cyclist
HE was only Passing a Cyclist Standing off the Edge of the Road Shooting Photos.
I'm Pretty Sure this Big Boy Would Have
Been a Foot or Two Further Left Had I Actually Been ON the Road

Another Shot of the Pavement Nearing the Ridge. Up Ahead, SMOOTH Pavement. YAY!
and Things Get Simple Again

Looking Down on the Tricky Part. Going Down, I'm usually About Six-Eight Feet Left of the Right
Road Edge and Accelerating. Prevailing Wind Helps the Downhill Run

Stinky Road

Westport in the "Good Old Days" When it was Just Rough

Thanks to a gas well drilling operation and other construction, Westport Parkway no longer looks as pretty as it did in my previous "rough road" post. NOW, it looks like the road below. NOW, it literally DOES stink, especially when it gets hot out. And yes, potholes are still present, but they're now camouflaged by the black asphalt/tar. Speaking of which, I still haven't figured out how, or why, Fort Worth plans to paint bike lane stripes as is specified in their bike plan. "Buycycling Magazine" may complain about Dallas not being "bike friendly," but I'll trade Westport for Preston any day. At the moment, it's not the favorite part of my commute.

Stinky Westport Proudly Remains Rough

Actually, thanks to the magic of Photoshop, I HAVE figured out how they can put bike lanes on this road. All they have to do is put it on a "Road Diet," as shown below...

Westport Parkway After Road Diet. Those West-bound Cars Will Have to Find Another Route!

Getting OFF the Road

McDonwell School Road in Colleyville, Texas - Looking East near Liberty Elementary School

We need smooth pavement! Heading east, that "Safe Routes to School Path" trumped the street today. I rode the street on the way TO work and it really is rougher than it looks, which made the path look even MORE inviting. Taking the path, I turned right at the second telephone pole and detoured a block south for some smooth road. I think I'll leave the construction gravel to the SUVs.

It really IS the "fix the roads" season around here...

Where I Ride and Why

A long time ago, in a blog far away, in a post about riding in a Texas traffic lane less than 14 feet wide, I noted that as long as I rode AT LEAST as far left as the right-hand tire track, motorists ALWAYS altered course and gave me good clearance. ChipSeal, in his blog, suggests the superior place to ride is in the LEFT tire track, though he never actually addresses my own favored lane position. He noted it was a bit rougher in many places in the exact center of the lane.

Absent particular situations such as Boulevards, covered here, I rarely ride in the above lane positions. Instead, I ride in "the line of sweetness." In the "honk project," I refer to it as the "LC" position. Specifically, it's at the far right side of the Left-hand tire track. More or less. This is not rocket science.

Why do I prefer riding LC? Besides smooth pavement, it's very simple. It derives from "The Land Rover Rule." When I drive the Land Rover, my eyes align directly with the LC position. Seeing and reacting to a cyclist IN that position requires me to have no peripheral vision whatsoever. Should I (IN the Land Rover, of course), be texting, or putting on makeup, or simply daydreaming, LC is the position I am MOST likely to notice. At night, I'd see the annoying cyclist a full mile back. By the time I'm a half mile back, there will be no doubt I need to make a full lane change to pass the guy. UNLIKE the full left tire track, there will be no temptation to pass on the right, and it'll be easy to give him lots of clearance without running off the road on the LH side. I don't know about YOU, but I see a LOT of motorists chatting on their cell phones. I don't know about YOU, but I think the safe place to ride is where such people are likely to see and react to me early, not where the guy in the video below rides. It calls into question my previous assertion about the safety of that RH tire track. While all motorists may alter course, some alter course less that they should.

540hvs from Bikesafer on Vimeo.

LC also accrues benefits when it comes to the more serious hazard of crossing traffic. In a more visibile position, a motorist crossing my path is much more likely to notice me when I'm where I'd be if I were driving the Land Rover. This pays dividends repeatedly, most recently on one of my last commutes of 2009, when a motorist, ahead and to my right, began to pull from a side street to make a left turn. Had I been further right, it could have turned into a close call - or worse. As it was, a simple yell from me alerted the motorist and, with extra space and time, we all avoided any unpleasantness or need for evasive maneuvers. I don't want close calls on my bike. Not ever. An occasional fall due to loss of traction might be tolerable, but nothing more serious than that.

There is also advantage with oncoming traffic. When I ride down the narrow two-lane roads around here, I occasionally encounter spandex mafia types riding the other way down the fog line. Often, they're trailed by a line of cars. I find these encounters stressful. The first thing in my mind is that if a motorist decides to pass that spandex guy, I'm at risk of death via a head-on because of the durn gutter bunny. In this situation, the advantage of LC is subtle, but very real. If I were riding at the right fog line, or even in the RH tire track, the oncoming motorists are MUCH more likely to pass, despite my oncoming presence. If I ride FURTHER LEFT, the motorists would not see me as easily as in the LC position, and I'd still be in trouble if they tried a straddle pass around the gutter bunny. Uncertainty is not something you should inflict upon the motorists YOU share the road with.

Anyway, that's where I ride, and why. So there. It seems to work, so I wonder why I have never seen anyone else (as in NEVER) along my commute route riding the same way. Mostly, I see people riding in the "cyclist pit of doom" position. My kids, here, claim I'm not completely alone, but there are a lot of people that believe in the Yeti. Few have seen one. Really, however, mostly this is a finer point (it really ISN'T rocket science!), because, unless you fall into the "Cyclist Pit of Doom," cycling really IS pretty fun and safe, despite what some might try to make us believe.

Bad Pavement Makes Serendipity

This afternoon promised to be somewhat of a non event. It's been nice this week, unlike the entire month of October. Not quite chilly mornings and temperate afternoons. I know Rantwick claims life is enhanced by smooth pavement, but rough stuff like that shown in the photo also can make things a little brighter. It gets us all to slow down a little and interact with the neighborhood.

Coming home, I'd made the turn from FM 1709 (also known as Keller Parkway International Raceway) onto Anita, headed south, prior to turning onto E Hill Street. The photo was shot from Hill Street, looking West. You can see where I started my turn, at "1."

This used to be a nice, fast left turn, prior to a similarly fast right turn on to Gloria. Southbound, all the stop signs are in your favor. Nowadays, it's a little trickier. Now, I wait for any oncoming, northbound traffic to clear the gravel moat so I can sneak down the gutter pan onto Hill Street (carefully following the line of arrows) without having to do a cyclocross shoulder carry or risk bending a wheel. Commuting is NOT a cyclocross race, though I am occasionally tempted. As a wrong-way gutter bunny, debris in the gutter pan bothers me not at all. I just make sure I go slow until I reach the SMOOTH pavement beyond.

Today, by chance, towards me came a lady in a new VW Beetle going northbound . She was clearly intimidated by the gravel moat, creeping forward across the construction so as to not damage the paintwork or suspension of her very nice car. All this while, I was waiting at "1," with one of my weird left turn arm signals. As she pulled up alongside, she smiled and said out her open window "you'll pop a tire if you go through this!" I replied, "I'll be careful." I thought about elaborating, but I'd been waiting for a while and didn't want to unclip from the pedals for a long chat. Little did she know that I was about to make ChipSeal tempted to make a special post about salmon masquerading as cyclists, and sneak on to Hill Street without a care in the world just the moment she proceeded past me. Apparently, it didn't occur to her that my left arm, weirdly hung out, was signaling an intention to turn left rather than cross the moat. A block later, I decided to return for a shot of the scene of the crime. I'd missed the opportunity to capture the scene with the Beetle and its nice driver present. Smooth pavement doesn't prompt friendly motorists to warn cyclists about popping tires. Instead, they just want to zoom by them.

This delay due to rough pavement was serendipitous a second time. When I turned on to Gloria, what did I see, off on the sidewalk to my left, but what was either a middle schooler or a racing dwarf on a bmx bike, riding down the sidewalk. We waved and then I asked "you ready to race?" He smiled and laid the hammer on. Yup, whooped by a middle schooler, but I'll bet he was nearly as pleased as the occasional dog that gets to chase me as far as the corner of its fenced yard. He certainly stopped with a flourish when he got to his crowd of admiring fans. Another pleasant interaction on a pleasant day - due to rough pavement. Actually, due to no pavement at all.

Bikes really ARE different...

Frankenbike Tours Lubbock

Worse than bricks are bricks in traffic. But what would Lubbock be without a visit to see Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs in "Prairie Dog Town?" So I went. Really, bricks are better than Westport. I actually got a photo of one of the little guys. They look like squirrels without the bushy tails. Another item off the bucket list.

Coming back, I found a brick-free route and even saw some "Bike Route" signs. After I got back, I found a route map on the Lubbock City site. The one I rode on seemed pretty nice. Then we visited the Buddy Holly statue. Is Frankenbike ready for its closeup?

One nice thing about riding around is just trying different routes. Bricks are just one of the features. At least it appears Lubbock has no cobblestones. It also appears that the TTU bike lane craze has not infected the rest of the city. I can't say if the drivers are any nicer than our Tarrant County bunch, but they were polite and there were less of them. And Lubbock isn't as flat as you think.

According to our parent briefing today, I'm supposed to relax tomorrow while my daughter frantically struggles with registration. Sounds like a plan. Is there anything else to see around Lubbock? What time does the windmill center open up?

Frankenbike Gets OFF a Lubbock Road

I took Frankenbike along to visit Texas Tech in Lubbock. Look at the photo and you tell ME why I did a little riding on the sidewalk. Fortunately these "B" items were very localized and did not extend onto campus. Speaking of which, they've got bike lanes all over campus, combined with "Share the Road" signs. What does THAT combo mean? On the other hand, motor traffic ran about 15mph so I just went with the flow, other than telling my daughter I spit on the TTU bike lanes (I think it's the ChipSeal influence).

And yes, I rode very slowly on the sidewalk. On the way back, I just rode north until I saw a road without bricks. I don't like riding on bricks. Come to think of it, they're not fun in a car, either.

We Want Smooth Roads Too!

Clicking picture leads to larger view

Rantwick started it. But here's my very own road I love to hate, and it's one reason I can't get enthusiastic about bike paths. Maybe those are fine for urban oases or for recreational types, but commuters go point-to-point. I want smooth roads, or at least roads that don't shake the fillings out of my teeth.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Westport Parkway, shortly east of Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, (yes, the same Fort Worth that's just now proposing a new bike plan which somehow misses Alliance). Other than the Alliance Gateway Freeway, this is the only road available to a cyclist east of Fort Worth Alliance Airport. This is the NICE portion of the road, it gets nastier once you get east of Old Denton Road. Hotter, too.