The Wrightwing

Over at bicycledesign a few weeks ago, (Most blogs on my blogroll are monthly checks, few are daily or weekly checks), James is talking about a new Campagnolo crankset design, and going further to comment on how Campy has been more of a follower on innovation than a leader as Shimano has been, and looking back at what Campy meant in the past:

As a teenager in the late 80’s, I dreamed of owning a bike decked out with the brand new C-Record grouppo (I think it replaced Super Record in ’87). If I could have afforded it, I would have gladly ditched my Shimano 600 components for sleek looking Campy parts. My preference for Shimano didn’t happen overnight. Throughout the nineties, Shimano just kept innovating while Campy seemed to be resting on tradition, and occasionally following along. I know that some of you will disagree with me, but you have to admit that Shimano came up with some great improvements to the bicycle’s drivetrain in the last 15 years or so. I, for one, am certainly not interested in going back to friction downtube shifters and 6 speed freewheels anytime soon. Of course, to be fair, I should point out that Campagnolo also has a history of innovation. I like quick release hubs as much as the next guy, but really, how long can you rest on that one?

Yup. Back when I started cycling, and graduated to my first real bike, (around 13-14 years old????, 1972-3 era), it was a Frejus ‘Tour de France’ model. Did I buy it from Mike Fraysee in Ridgefield Park, NJ?, I forget, maybe. But somewhere in NJ, not local to my town. It had the typical hodge-podge of components common back then. Huret Jubilee rear derailleur, sew-up tires, Fiamme rims, quill style pedals with real toe-clips. Was it Reynolds 531 tubing?, I think so. I think it even had Bernard Thevenet’s signature decal on it, so maybe it was later. Anyone remember French and Italian threads? Or Detto shoes with those nail on cleats?

But it had no Campy parts, and I had to have something Campy. Even as a pre-driving-age teenager, with no cash, I managed it. From Ridgewood Cycle I scored three, count ‘em, THREE, Campy cable clips to keep my rear brake cable safely secured to the top tube, in a fashion no doubt better for it’s Campy-ness.

All that said, what I really hate about today’s components is obsolescence and a lack of spare parts and reparability. Similar to electronics, many, if not all, of today’s bicycle parts are throw-aways, even those costing hundreds, even thousands of dollars. The expensive components are sold to folks rich enough to not care, or desperate enough to want the best and willing to suffer the expense if, (when), they fail, and the inexpensive components are not worth the labor to fix, unless you can do it yourself. And then finding a way to fix it makes the time involved more than it is worth for all but the most resourceful and talented tinkerers.

Not everything new is better. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is just more cynically designed and marketed. Or both.

So here I am, unemployed but with a decent bank account. But I am fat, very fat, and it is affecting my health and outlook on life. It is making me sleepy and sluggish.

So I have stated riding bikes again. I have lost a few pounds, (211.2 lbs, 27,1 fat, Tamita scale), which is a start. A little tiny start. My strength, stamina and wind are already better. I have gotten up to doing a 20 mile route without resorting to the granny ring on the biggest hills, (which ain’t that big, let’s be honest here).

But the Cannondale T700 Touring bike I am using weighs 30 lbs without water and tools, uses 32 mm tires, and gear spacing so wide it is like using stairs 3 steps at time every time I shift, either up or down.

Plus, my old team bike, a Cuevas, is just not up to carrying a 200+ pound person, even if I could push the gears up hill.

So I ordered a new bike.

A really, really, expensive bike. I hope this is not a bad move.

I always said that the next bike I got would be custom and titanium, because I have weird body proportions, (think Chimpanzee, short legs, long torso), that make most bikes a bad fit for me. Like a 54 cm CTC frame with a 130 mm stem, and even that was too short. (for non cyclists, most folks take stems of 100-110 or less).

Titanium because I am really bad about maintenance and cleaning, and titanium is not subject to the corrosion of steel and looks good without paint.
Not aluminum. I have ridden enough aluminum bikes, (I own two), to know it is not the most comfortable material out there for something without shocks.

But now there is also carbon fiber to consider. When it was first brought out there were issues, just as there were with the first titanium bikes, like the Fuji in 1986. But now it is a well known material and the manufacturers understand it.

So did I order, titanium or carbon fiber?

Yes.

Serotta was doing a test ride day at a local bike shop this past Friday, so, having nothing to do, I wandered on over.

Maybe it was the damp weather, with threatening clouds, and that I was there after 1 PM on a workday, but I was the only one there for a test ride. I suspect there was better turnout Saturday, as the weather was better and they do a weekly shop ride in the mornings with customers. I do not know, I am taking a class in SAP BASIS Administration on Saturdays in the hopes of that helping me get a new job.

So I took out three of the bikes.

A Legend Titanium: Sweet. Very nice. As nice as any Ti bike I remember riding.
The new MeiVici, a full carbon : Double sweet, light and feeling like stiff, yet flexible glass.
Then the Ottrott. A mix of titanium and carbon fiber. For me, it was the smoothest, most comfortable ride of the three. It is also their most popular frame. Though that new MeiVici will be a real winner, I think. There are not many full custom carbon frame makers out there, and that is one sweet ride.

All the bikes were fitted with Shimano Dura Ace, Zipp wheels, Vredestein tires, and Fizzik saddles.

I only rode each for about a mile, around the local streets, which were wet, with maple and birch seeds slicking things up. But I took each up a couple of little local hills, as well as some rough patches to see how they felt, and the Ottrott just worked for me.

Since they had the time, they did a fitting for me, using the Serotta Sizecycle, which was interesting.

So I ordered it.

(Which means I can sit around for only a year living off my bank account, instead of a year and 3 months after unemployment runs out, if I do not get a job by then. Four plus months is the longest I have ever been out of work, but it seems no one wants a 47 year old mainframer that has not touched a mainframe in anger in 3 years, or a 47 year old new to SAP. my resume can’t get past the filters at the staffing agencies all the companies around here use. The folks that do the actual hiring never see it.)

Now I need to kit it out.

I have decided to use a Shimano triple, since my weight and lack of fitness make hills a problem. Less than they were a couple weeks ago. I am getting stronger, but let’s face it, I am 47, in a sedentary profession that sometimes gets crazy hours. So I can not garantee my fitness level like I could when I had an 8-5 warehouse job 2 miles from where a racing club met for it’s nightly rides.

If I am going to spend this kind of money on a bike, I am damn well gonna ride it, and to do that I need to make sure I CAN ride it, hence the triple. The Shimano triples also use chain rings 52-39-30. This is close to the 53-39 I am used to riding, (and I will likely never need a 53, or larger, again), while giving me a low gear for when my gut or fitness cause problems on the hills. The Campagnolo triples use either 50-40-30 or 53-42-30, neither of which I feel comfortable with.

So now I need to consider whether to use Shimano’s Dura Ace or Ultegra components. Do I want to spend the bucks on Dura Ace. I have used top end components for years. Either Mavic, back when they were making components other than wheels, or Shimano. I even had a Mavic Zap shifter at one point. It was great, just too fragile for public use. But now I need to consider whether it is worth the price difference between the two levels of components.

I also need to consider a wheel set. Do I want to go traditional built wheels, using the DA hubs, Mavic rims and DT spokes, or a pre-built set like Mavics Cosmos or Ksyrium Equipe.

The consideration with the wheels is my weight. I am well over 200 lbs, noted above, so I want a lot of spokes. I always used to ride 32 spoke wheels that I built myself, (I have a wheel jig and tensiometer still sitting down on the work bench), and have built wheels for friends that lasted many years, including a set for a tandem ridden by a couple of folks who were both over 6 feet tall and made me, (even at my current size), look puny. They rode those for many years, they lasted longer than any that they ever got from a shop or mail order.

But I can get a pre-built set from Mavic at about the price for the components of a hand built wheel, and not have to pay someone to build them or build them myself.
I will also consider wheels from others, but I trust Mavic, I have used their rims for decades, and never had a problem, as I have with others, and their hubs, when they were available, were bullet-proof.

The saddle will be the Fizzik. I have ridden Selle Italia for decades, couldn’t stand Selle San Marco, but the Fizzik fit so well while I was testing out the bikes on Friday I am wondering when they managed to measure my butt.

Decisions, decisions.

Comments open for technogeeks!

I found this on YouTube:

Classic Monty Python. I just wonder where they got the clip of me at the end…

Since the weather warmed up a few weeks ago I have been out on the bike, (REAL bike, none of that motor stuff for me. Real men don’t need motors), which is saying something, since I have not been riding the past couple of years. Even after dropping a few hundred bucks getting my old touring/commuting bike overhauled last year, I only got out a couple times, to make sure it worked.

I did buy a new mountain bike back in 2004, just to see if that would motivate me to get out and ride, (hey, it was RED…), but I found out I am too fat for the rocky, tree strewn trails here in North Jersey. They are far worse than I remember them, back 15 years ago or so when mountain bikes really started to become commercially available and I bought a Raleigh Peak, hard tail, hard nose. (Those were pre-shock absorber days). Or maybe I am just older-fatter-slower and less able to hop over stuff. Nah. Gotta be the trails. So anyway, I have a Specialized Epic sitting on the rack, unused. I know, it’s a sin. If I can drop a bit of weight and get more fit, I’ll use it more.

Since I am so fat, I can not ride my old team bike, a Cuevas made from Reynolds 753. (Built by Andres in his former shop in Ridgefield Park, NJ, not his late father Francisco). Anything over about 180 lbs. is too much for it, and I weigh in at 215 lbs as of this morning. And to think my racing weight was around 165, at around 6% body fat. 50 lbs over that. Almost 26.7% body fat according to my old Tamita scale. I think I could give Fat Cyclist a run for his money in a ‘folks that should not wear lycra’ contest.

The Cuevas family is still involved in cycling, though not really as builders.

So I am riding my old Cannondale T700 I bought for commuting and sloppy conditions, like the annual spring pot hole slalom. It is 11 or 12 years old, maybe older, but in great condition for that.

I had it overhauled last year, the rear hub was on it’s last legs. It was a low end Shimano that was not worth salvaging. Since this is an old 7-speed sourcing a hub was tricky, but the shop managed to finagle a Nexave out of Shimano.

Totally silent!

That, along with new Mavic A-719 rims just added to the rejuvenation of my ride.

I also upgraded the tires last year. The ones it came with were 38mm bus-tires. Yup, they lasted that long. Considering the tread on them, they should have.
But I always wanted something lighter and just a bit narrower, since I do not do the loaded touring those original tires were intended for. But I am too heavy even for 25mm tires, too many compression flats. So, since I had a good experience with Vredesteins racing tires on the Cuevas, I tried their touring tire in a 32:

Hey, I am losing weight already! Just not off me. These are great and would probably do well on a tandem. Light, roll fast, take 7bars/100lbs pressure.
Unfortunately, they do not list it on the Vredestein US site anymore, but they do on their Euro-site, so you could probably order them somehow, even if you may have to wait a bit.

I just need to lose those threaded valves, they rip up the chuck on my Silca pump. Smooth valves are the way to go!

I even spruced it up a bit this year. I put a spiffy new set of fenders on it.

I spied them while I was wandering around Campmor trying not to look too fat.
Since the old fenders were a bit trashed after a decade, I figured for around $25 what the hell.

Don’t it look spiffy?:

Yes, I still have my radical and elitist stickers on it:

I ride alone since I was politically/socially ostracized out of the local bike club a few years back. Those two stickers illustrate a couple of the reasons why. But you can read about that in part of this post if you care.

I need a politically tolerant club, but in NJ that is like asking for freedom in pre-Gorbachev Russia. (Hey, this is me were talking about here. You thought I could skip the politics? Hah!)

OK, ranting done for THIS post.

After a ride, I like to relax with a big glass or two of tea or juice, and just zone out a bit, I always have:

I could do that for hours. I am just a thrill a decade, I am. Maybe that is why I am still single.

In fact, I am doing just this right now, a warm sunny day, dappled light filtering through the trees, birds chatting away with each other, squirrels and chipmunks scurrying around. Unemployment has it’s compensations. I just had lunch, so: Time For A Nap.

Update: As I suspected, I am not alone. But unlike The Fat Cyclist I am not having paranoid conspiracy theories.

Richard Masoner of Cycleisio.us notes that he is having a ‘dialog’ with folks over mixing cars and bikes on the road, in the comment section for a column Bill Schneider wrote at another site.

This is an old problem. One that comes up annually in my local papers ‘Road Warrior‘ column. Unfortunately the archives do not go so far back as to the first one, where I and a bunch of other cyclists took issue with the original columnists initial reaction that cyclists were at fault.

I was a driving instructor for many years at a commercial driving school in NJ. National Safety Council instructor as well. I also did some Bicycle racing here in NJ, and started my own sponsored team along with a buddy for a couple of years. (Cuevas-Cosmic Wheel for local biking trivia buffs).

So I speak from both sides of the issue.

The point about bikes and cars not mixing is only partially correct. Mixing traffic of widely different speeds is the problem, which also applies to putting bikes on sidewalks, since they can go 10-20 times faster than pedestrians. Cars only go 2-5 times faster than bikes, if within typical speed limits in most areas. Grouping bikes with cars makes more sense than with pedestrians. So far as a bike-pedestrian collision causing only bruises, that is wrong. 170-250 pounds of bike and rider hitting a pedestrian at anywhere from 10 to 50 miles and hour can cause a lot worse than bruises for the pedestrian, not to mention the biker. Severe cuts and broken bones are common, and many have died in such collisions.

The older folks complaining about bikes, (this from a safety instructor in the original articles comments), should consider how they feel when crossing the street, and cars will not wait for them if they can not finish crossing before the light changes. How many of us have heard of older folks getting hit by impatient drivers, or stuck in the middle of an intersection waiting for a second change of the light to finish crossing? There was a news story recently about a cop that ticked an elderly woman for blocking traffic because she took too long to cross at a light.

I have been hit two times by cars operated by dumb drivers. In each case I was riding within the law, yet they claimed they did not see me. None of the drivers were cited for violations. (More on that later). I have been physically assaulted twice, both reported to the police.

A partial list of my encounters with bad drivers:

• In one case I was riding on a warm, sunny, late sumer day, at about 2PM, with a bright halogen headlamp on. I was testing the battery charge to see if it would last during the ride. It was a bright pink and yellow bike, and I was wearing team racing colors. Yet the driver turned left at an intersection, hit me almost head-on, tossing me over the hood of a car waiting on the side street, on Pulis Ave. in Franklin Lakes, NJ. It was a funeral home owner no less. Cruising for clients?
• I have been deliberately hunted down by a crazy in a Camaro on route 9W in Stony Point, NY, who made multiple passes at me after almost ramming me coming out of a driveway on the right.
• Deliberately pushed over into a ditch in by a driver in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge, NJ.
• I had a driver turn around and jump out and challenge me to a fight. (This after I yelled at him for almost hitting me head-on when turned left into me, on Queen Anne Road in Teaneck, NJ).
• I was had a driver turn left in front of me, come across 2 lanes of traffic into a side street, causing me to T-bone into the right read door of the car, on route 303 in Orangeburg, NY. Ever T-bone a Volvo at 35 MPH?
• I had a guy jump out of a truck, claim to be a cop, and grab me by the neck while assaulting me, on West Saddle River Road in Saddle River, NJ. I never heard of any resolution to that one from the police.
• I have been run off the road by more landscapers, tractor trailers, old blue-haired ladies, and balding old codgers in 20 year old Oldsmobile’s than I can count.

So there are a lot of wacko’s out there operating dangerous machinery that can be used deliberately as a weapon, or that can injure, maim or kill when used carelessly.

At the same time I have seen a lot of bad behavior on the part of cyclists. Everyone that rides has seen the same things. Riding against traffic, (a favorite stupidity of kids), wrong way on a one way road, blasting through red lights and stop signs, and the most common complaint, riding many abreast and blocking traffic.

Then there are the rude riders. The ones that have yet to learn that when waving it is best to have ALL FIVE fingers extended, not just one. The ones that yell curse words and foul language at others. And yes, I have been all of them at times, nolo contendre, though I hope I have learned and matured over the decades.

While short tempers can be understood, considering the huge number of dangerously clueless, if not aggressive and hair-triggered, drivers out there, it does no good to foul-mouth some one when all they hear is the bad language. They end up knowing only that ‘those bikers all have nasty mouths’. It is like yelling at a dog for pooping on the rug a day after it happens. They have no clue what you are yelling about.

Then there is also the complacency we seem to have over the misuse of motor vehicles. The times I was hit, no tickets were issued to the drivers that mis-handled the cars, at least that I heard of. The cops could not identify the guy the nut that actually shoved me over, so no assault charges could be filed.

Drivers kill more people using motor vehicles every year in this country than shooters do using guns. Yet cars are not designed to be used as weapons. That’s right. Machines designed for the simple purpose of transportation, and even the saving of lives in the case of ambulances and such, kill more people than machines deliberately designed to project lethal force against other people.

NHTSA stats show 42,884 fatalities in 2003, for 230,788,000 registered vehicles and 196,166,000 licensed drivers. That is about 1 death for every 5382 vehicles, or 1 death for every 4574 licensed drivers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 30,136 TOTAL firearms deaths for 2003, including all deliberate and accidental causes such as homicide or shooting your own foot, with estimates of over 250,000,000 guns owned and at least 150,000,000 gun owners. (Sorry, I can not find any original sources that are easy to read, so I am linking to a partisan site there). That is about 1 death for every 8296 guns or 1 death for every 4977 gun owners. And that is using estimates on the number of guns and gun owners that are probably low, since gun registration is not required everywhere. There are many unregistered guns and gun owners that would mean the real numbers are far higher. (but that leads to a different controversy I will not go any closer to)

Yet if a gun owner were to injure someone due to negligence, what would we do to them? They would be on trial for all sorts of crimes. And justifiably so.

So why do we let the negligent drivers off the hook so often? Why do they get a traffic ticket and a fine, which is usually the total extent of any legal penalties they face?

They should be treated exactly the same, regardless of the machine they mis-use that causes injury or death to another, the same penalties should apply.

Somehow, I think our differing attitudes on how we treat car-killers as opposed to gun-killers is related to the differences in how we treat many groups, where one is considered ‘common’ and ‘normal’ but the other is considered ‘uncommon’ or ‘abnormal’. You could use almost any set of groups to illustrate this. Straights vs. Gays, Religious vs. Atheists, alcohol drinkers vs. marijuana smokers. The one considered common is rarely questioned, or only mildly so. The other is harased, demon-ized and oppressed.

The attitude seems to be that when an automobile operator screws up, well, it could happen to any of us. So it’s not that bad. Sure they should have been more careful, but after all, “There but for the grace of god go I“, The biker/hiker should have known it was dangerous to be there, so they are at fault too, etc, etc. Yet when a biker screws up, all hell breaks loose. Look at the bike bans in many parks that occurred during the advent of mountain biking back in the 1980’s. The public outrage should a biker injure a pedestrian that steps off a curb into the bikers path, (which has happened in Manhattan numerous time in my memory. Sorry, no linkage found).

The problems are well known, as should be some solutions. Or at least what I think are some solutions.

• First, as the original article points out, most drivers manuals ignore bicycles, many treat them as road hazards and lead drivers to consider them as not belonging on the road. But what do you expect when licensing is run by a department of MOTOR vehicles. They are centered on MOTOR vehicles, everyone else is second class. To ask otherwise is like asking the local church/synagogue/mosque to make accommodations for Atheists and witches. At best they will laugh at you.
  • Licensing authorities should be separated into a department of ROAD USERS, with no distinction as to the type of vehicle they use on the road. Those that use any sort of vehicle on public roads that goes faster than a person foot can go, should need a license. A license that shows knowledge of the laws and rules. Regardless of the vehicle, whether powered by motors, humans, horses, whatever. They should be required to learn the rules for ALL vehicles, as well as the rights of pedestrians. (Pedestrians are not vehicle users, so no licensing. You can not license walking any more than you can breathing). Motor vehicle departments should be limited to whatever safety inspections a state thinks are needed or motor vehicles. Emissions, brake and headlight testing, whatever. If specific testing is needed for operating a particular type of vehicle, then that should be a separate certificate or license that shows you demonstrated practical knowledge of how to operate that type vehicle. We do this already with separate licenses for motorcycles, cars, trucks and other commercial vehicles. This is just a logical extension of that idea.
  • Driver manuals should be renamed and re-written to cover ALL road users in a non-discriminatory way, listing all the rights and responsibilities they all have. And the manual should be sent out with every license renewal with all changes highlighted. (If licenses are renewed every four years, every current manual should highlight the previous four years changes).
• Second, the laws of road use need to enforced equally. This means ticketing bikers for all the offenses I cite above. But it also means drivers need to be held accountable when they operate their vehicles in a dangerous manner near other road users, not just cyclists.
• Third, cyclists need to start stand up and for themselves and filing complaints against bad drivers. In NJ, and I believe all other states as well, you can file a traffic complaint against a driver. The downside is that you need to be able to identify the driver. With the advent of cheap, small digital still and video cameras, this is beginning to be a possibility. So keep those cameras, especially camera-phones, ready.
• Fourth, misbehavior by a vehicle operator should be chargeable against the vehicle registration if the driver is not identifiable. The same criteria for suspension should apply. This way some responsibility can be assigned in these cases. In NJ there is a 12 point system for drivers license suspension. Apply this to vehicle registrations. Accumulate 12 points against the registration and it is suspended and the license plates confiscated. Restoration would also be handled the same way as for licenses.
• Fifth, since the same rules must apply, in fairness, to all vehicles on the road, motorized or not, some way to tag and identify them needs to be devised. Perhaps small plates as on mopeds. I know most bikers will object to this, but fair is fair. It also goes against my libertarian instincts, but we either do this for everyone, or no one. If you want the protection of law, you must also subject yourself to the law. It is that, or strap a shotgun to your top tube, call yourself ‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky‘ and take your own chances.
• If you must yell, say something meaningful, like ‘Too Close!’ or ‘Stop Sign!’. Keep it short and informative so the driver knows what they did wrong. And hold back the bad language, it only antagonizes and blocks any other message.

One thing hinted at above, is video evidence. I worked for an electronics company for a while, and suggested a product to them. It was a video system for bikes and other vehicles consisting of two small cameras connected to a central unit. One camera pointed forward, one to the rear. They would record a split screen image of both directions onto a flash memory chip so that should a biker have a problem there would be a chance of identifying the vehicle or driver or both. A gigabyte of memory can hold around an hour of video, depending on the resolution used, which is long enough for almost any purpose. With the prices of flash memory, CCD chips and other components falling, this becomes a viable product. Whether someone makes it, or will, I do not know. But I want one.

Update: Corrected who wrote what in the first paragraph - Thanks Richard!

It seems cyclists are targeted for violence in places other than the U.S. as well:

BULLYING drivers are leaving cyclists for dead on Townsville roads.

After being knocked off her bike six times this year, Linda Bateson is waging a war against maniac motorists.
Six potentially deadly blows and five drivers did not even stop, leaving Ms Bateson for dead on Townsville’s busiest thoroughfares.

Stories like this are why I am so hesitant to start riding again. It seems to not be a U.S. phenomenon.

I found another non-collectivist cyclist over at coldFury, who was asking for some advice on riding in winter. Since I used to do that a lot, I responded, but I thought it may be useful to others as well.

Here is what I posted:

Another non-collectivist cyclist! I am finding a wealth of riches in the blogosphere. It may even be enough to get me riding again.

I used to ride thousands of miles a year, in all seasons, did a little racing, rode with a local team for a couple years, whose sponsor used be a big-wig in the USCF, as was his dad before him. So I learned a couple things about riding in winter, and always suffer when I forgot them and did something stupid. Tights or knickers for anything below 70 degrees to protect your knees. Full tights below 65 and start to think about insulation. Definitely insulate below 60.

1) Accept that winter riding is for maintenance, not improvement.
2) Do not try to do in Dec-Jan-Feb, what you can do in July-Aug-Sept, it ain’t gonna happen
3) Keep rides short enough you do not injure yourself. If you start to feel uncomfortable, go home. Like hydration, once you feel the need for it, you waited too long. If it is too cold to breath comfortably standing around, do not try riding. This goes double for those with any sort of breathing problems, like asthma. I have asthma as well, and the cold is a problem. Sometimes just backing off a bit will allow you to recover, but everyone is different. As Dirty Harry said: A mans got to know his limitations.

To keep warm:

1) Realize that your feet and legs are moving much faster than you are. Add to your land speed the speed your feet are going in a circle. They are subject to much more wind chill than the rest of your body, as are your legs, which have up-down speed to add.

When I rode in winter we trained in conditions down into single digits sometimes, all on the road. I have returned from rides with ice covering my jersey from where my breath froze to it, and water bottles with ice in them. When out in the woods on the mtb., I have had my shift cables freeze to the frame. So I have some experience winter riding, though not recent. So there is probably better gear now than I used to use.

I tried winter shoes, both racing type and mountain type. These are all designed by Europeans for mild European winter conditions, not harsh North American winter conditions. As such, they are next to worthless here. This goes for booties as well. What I ended up doing is getting a pair of very warm non-cycling winter shoes from an outdoor store, with good insulation, a size too large. Add multi layers of socks and use old flat pedals with old style clips. No cleats at all. Yes, this is inefficient, but you should remember that 10-30 miles is the most you can expect in realy cold wether, which is doable in this get up, so long as you are taking it easy and not trying for that 40 mph sprint or honking up a monster hill. Plus with ice and gravel all over the place, getting your feet out fast is a good thing. If you can not find suitable shoes or pedals, or want something more cycling specific, or for longer rides, get non-mesh cycling shoes 1, 2 or even 3 sizes too big and layer up on poly-pro and wool socks. This is the only place where booties may help, if you can not find a non-mesh shoe to fit. The idea is to prevent wind from getting into the shoe. The layers of socks will allow breathing.

2) To keep your feet warm, keep your legs warm. This means multi layers of not too tight leggings. While they should not flop around, too tight will restrict movement and circulation. Fleece tights are nice if you can find them. They were new when I was winter riding, They seem more available now. Use suspenders if you can not find bibs, they WILL ride down.

I once found a pair of tights with neoprene patches on the knees. I loved these so much, when the tights wore out I cut off the knees and wore them under new tights, until the fabric behind the knee was too weak to use any more and the neoprene started to deteriorate. They were great when I needed to do a bike fix on the road as well, knees are more sensitive when cold, the cushion was nice while kneeling next to the bike. I have not seen any of these in years. The message is, and extra wind proof layer on the knee is a good idea, if you can do it, leaving the rest of the tights to breath.

3) Hands. I liked lobster gloves. I still have a pair from Pearl Izumi that are serviceable. They are warmer than all finger gloves, but allow proper use of brakes and hand positioning on the bars. You can also get split palm mittens from outdoor suppliers. These allow wearing gloves underneath, but you can get your fingers out through a slit in the palm when you need them, or use them that way, and slip your fingers inside when you need to warm them up. Windproof is needed here more than breathability, for the most part.

4) For the face and head, a balaclava was good. You will need to adjust helmet fit though. Check outdoor suppliers and ski shops. Some also offer face masks that I have used with some success when a balaclava was not enough. Todays may be better than those from a decade ago. These need to be tried on in person for fit, as well as for thickness, and for a match with a face mask if you get both.

5) Heater pads. Most bike shops carry these, if not outdoor stores and ski shops. Good for a couple hours when placed inside a mitten, or in your shoes, either in the instep or on top of your foot, between sock and shoe. Since winter rides should be short, these work well, but they are not reusable, so they can cost you a few dollars over the course of a winter. Carry some with you anyway, 2 pairs, just in case. If you try a longer ride and get colder than you anticipated, these can get you home.

6) Layers, layers, layers. zippers and buttons better than pullovers, if possible. I avoid velcro, since it wears out eventually, gets gunked up with fuzz, and grabs onto clothing in annoying ways, plus it can leak cold air.

7) In general, cotton equals death. Plants sleep through the winter for a reason. Animals can’t, even hibernating ones need to keep somewhat warm. Remember that humans are essentially a tropical species, learn from our non-tropical cousins. Wool, poly, silk.

I looked at that iceBike site, very good. But remember outdoor suppliers and ski shops, they are sources of good equipment that can be used on the bike as well.

Hope this helps.

My previous post about the murdered cyclist caused me to look through the news, and here is another case that is also twisted up in the war on drugs, which is clouding the issue of personal responsibility.

Colleen Nordberg doesn’t remember much about the events of Aug. 21. But she also doesn’t want to remember that day.
It was several weeks after that day her memory had a brief flashback.
“I remember seeing a truck come at me and thinking I’m dying and not seeing my husband again,” she said.
Nordberg later learned, through her husband and others, that she was riding her bicycle to work about 2:30 p.m. near the intersection of 1700 South and 2100 East when she was hit by a vehicle. It was driven by a 22-year-old man who allegedly ran a red light and was traveling about 30 mph.
“I flew 40 feet,” Nordberg said.
She suffered serious head trauma. The impact cracked her bicycle helmet, but she credits it with saving her life.
Nordberg’s face suffered several fractures, her leg was broken in several places and she lost a lot of blood.
The driver of the car that hit her consented to a blood draw by police, said Salt Lake City police detective Robin Snyder. Several weeks later, his toxicology tests came back and tested positive for recent marijuana use as well as signs of prior marijuana use, she said.
Salt Lake City police screened charges with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. They had hoped felony DUI charges would be filed. But state law does not allow a charge of DUI to be filed under such circumstances.

Why should the presence or not of any intoxicant matter in this kind of case, other than as an aggravating factor?

The driver mishandled his vehicle in a negligent, possibly reckless, manner, and caused injury to someone else. If the truck had instead been a gun, and the driver was instead a shooter that had ignored basic rules of conduct and safety in the use of a firearm, what would the charges be?

The presence of marijuana in the drivers blood, has now caused other issues to be pushed aside, so we can wallow in self righteous rage at those ‘druggies’ who we have to now get tough with and impose penalties upon, worse than those for murder.

Our laws are a mishmash of over specific micromanagement. The drug war only adds to this, in this case, because now they are concentrating on whether the presence of marijuana in the drivers blood contributed to it. Our complacency with motor vehicles adds to this, due in most part to our thinking of driving as second nature, which it isn’t.

Our laws should instead just say that anyone that mishandles anything, motor vehicle or gun, Boeing 747 or chainsaw, any “thing”, which results in injury to another, has committed the same crime. Presence of a drug or not does not matter to the outcome, but may be an aggravating factor.

Notice that the story spends half its length on the problem of drugs. Why? Partly due to our preoccupation with drugs in general, and our ignorance of them.

We do not know at what levels drugs in the human body may cause impairment. This is due to the drug laws which restrict and sometimes prevent research from being conducted. The DEA has repeatedly refused to allow research into the effects of marijuana on people for medical uses, which would also help determine the levels at which impairment occur. Such research may also help invent techniques and tools that could be used in the field to determine intoxication, similar to what can now be done with alcohol.

But the presence of an intoxicant should not matter in the basic issue here. A dolt misused a machine that resulted in injury. Anything else is just an aggravating factor to be added to his responsibility. The fact that he will likely get off with a fine, and little else, is appalling.

Can true mistakes be made? Sure. He could have been struck by another vehicle. A piece of equipment could have unexpected failed. Stuff happens. But as reported here, he was fully in control and therefore fully responsible. But he will not be held to full account.

Even the victim in this story concentrates on the drug use and not the far more common, and serious, mishandling of a dangerous, potentially lethal, piece of equipment. Complacency towards driving combined with preoccupation with the drug war.

In general, the operator of equipment that causes injury should be held fully responsible for that injury. There are no ‘accidents’. There can be outside factors that lessen or remove responsibility, such as actions by third parties or in some cases, natural disasters and the like.

Whenever there is injury in situations as reported in this story, the operator of the larger vehicle should be the one held to the most responsibility. Truck vs. auto, auto vs. bike, bike vs. pedestrian. In each case the operator of the larger vehicle bears responsibility to keep it under control. Barring other factors, they should be held fully responsible for the outcomes of any hits. Can the smaller vehicle be responsible? Sure, as here. Run out from a stop sign or drive way. Dart in front of a larger vehicle and stop. Move against traffic. Swerve side to side, like roller-bladers do.

But barring true accidents, third party cause or culpability on the part of the other ‘crashee’, the operator of the larger vehicle is responsible.

The presence of an intoxicant is an aggravating factor, but not a cause or an excuse.

This was no accident, and should not be treated as one.

A misdemeanor? Is that what negligent homicide is?

A 17-year-old likely will face misdemeanor charges after allegedly losing control of his car while text messaging and hitting a bicyclist.

The bicyclist, Jim R. Price of Highlands Ranch, died Friday, two days after the accident.

There were over 38,000 deaths caused by mis-use of motor vehicles in 2004. About 750 of them bicyclists. There are about 237 million registered motor vehicles in the US.

There are very few true accidents. This was not an accident. This was negligent homicide. This 17 year old was handling a dangerous piece of equipment in a reckless and negligent manner and killed someone. If he had been drunk, what would the charges be? If he had been operating a plane or train and was ‘inattentive’, what would the charges be? If he had been using a firearm, and was ‘inattentive’, what would the charges be? The tool that is used or misused to cause another’s death should not matter.

A number of years ago, well over ten, maybe as long a twenty, a girl driving a car in California tried to change a cassette tape, swerved, ran into a line of cyclists and killed some and severely injured others. The judge let her off, stating the cyclists were at fault and should have know it was dangerous to ride on the road. Some of the cyclists were Olympic hopefuls. ( I am unable to find a link for this, it was pre-web ). That was an outrageous decision, not the same, but still akin to, blaming a rape victim for wearing a short skirt.

I know of one rider that was hit by a car, almost killed and left for dead by the side of the road. His injuries were bad enough that he remembers nothing of the hit, he remembers only riding and then waking in the hospital a couple of days later. He lay on the side of the road for a couple hours before a police officer saw him. No other drivers stopped or called. This was in the era of cell phones, on a busy county road in Bergen County, NJ, in one of the richest towns in the nation. Once you mount a bicycle in this country, you are less than human, and if you are hit by a vehicle you are treated as no more than road kill is. My only wonder is that the cop didn’t shoot him as an act of euthanasia as I have seen them do to deer that are hit but not killed.

This is another reason I have stopped riding. No matter what the laws say, the reality is that the police and courts will treat you, as a bicycle rider, as responsible for being the victim of a negligent motor vehicle driver. They have special privilege over cyclists, not in law, but in reality. Cyclists are treated as less than human, and in reality have essentially no rights as far as the police and courts are concerned, the law, “equal protection of the laws” under the Constitution, and just plain decency, be damned.

Update, more links to this: here, here and here,.

The wife feels sorry for the teen. Again I ask: What if he had been using a gun? Would she feel sorry for him? She should be outraged.

…sort of. I have found another non-collectivist cyclist. the CyclingDude.

I am not alone. Or I would be. not alone that is, if I still rode.

But I can still read and enjoy. I’ll be stopping in now and then, as should you.

You would think that when designing road improvements, the needs of all the users would be taken into to account. Not so:

HUNTER’S GREEN - As designers draft plans for a $172-million expansion of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, there is one clear winner: the passenger car.

The losers? Bicycles and mass transit. By extension, some say, the environment and public health are losing out as well.

When New Tampa’s main drag jumps from four lanes to eight in a job that begins in 2007, there will be, at most, a 3-foot-wide shoulder for those who dare to cycle.

The design also calls for only 20 feet of transit space, confining high-speed bus or rail to a one-way service that would render it virtually useless.

I have been a bicyclist for decades, until the past few years. Traffic in north Jersey has gotten too unsafe, among many reasons. I have been hit three times by cars operated by clueless drivers. I now rarely ride. I also taught driving for a few years, so I am an observer of traffic and driving behavior more attuned to what is gong on than most people.

Roads are paid for largely out of general funds. Gas taxes do not pay for all of the maintenance, nor are those taxes set aside for the purpose, they all go into the general fund so politicians can do as they please with them. Remember that the next time a bridge collapses.

Bicyclists and other non-motor vehicles that need to use the road are treated as second-class citizens at best. Where paths are set aside, bikes are lumped together with pedestrians, dog walkers, and kids doing circles on trikes. That is a dangerous mix when you consider that even an out of shape, slow bike rider can get up over 10 miles an hour on flat ground, and coast up over 40 mph on a downhill. If you consider that bike and rider together can weigh over 200 pounds, hitting someone that suddenly steps across a cyclists path as they approach from behind, or a dog that stretches a leash across the path, can be disastrous for those involved. Do the math.

So the safest place in general for non-motor vehicles is a path or lane to themselves, though how to fund separate paths is a question, and finding the room also a problem.

Adding a lane to existing roads when they are maintained is the best option, but this is often ignored by designers, even when state statute requires it, as it does in NJ. ( state server seems sluggish on Sunday, so I will link when the state server union permits) UPDATE: I can not find the statute or regulation that requires consideration of non-motor vehicles when doing roadwork, so I may be mis-remembering something, or it has been removed. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of how to search they labyrinthine collection of state statutes, laws and regulations can find it. I can link to statutes that concern bicycles: Here .

So when designing new roads, or improving old ones, designers should take into consideration all road users, as well as what the road is intended for. It would make little or no sense to add a special lane to a limited access highway like the NJ Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway, that are designed specifically for high-speed, long distance travel, or interstates, that are designed for military use as well. But to do so on general access roads, like most county and local roads, that are used for lower speed traffic and local travel, does make sense.

In Florida, above, they ignore this need. Government is supposed to be for all the citizens, not just the largest portion.

Why they set aside space for mass transit, when most of that can use the same lanes as regular traffic, yet cheat other users, I do not know. Maybe the set aside is for rail, but that has been proved to be very inefficient for transporting people in most cases. Politics keeps rail alive more than anything else. So this space could easily be used for non-motor vehicle users of the roads. But I guess the mass transit lobby is more powerful than the League of American Bicyclists. (I always preferred the original name, League of American Wheelmen, I hated that change).

Here in NJ, along with better road conditions, road user education is needed. I see many cyclists acting in ways that endanger themselves and others, like riding against traffic, ignoring traffic signals, etc, as well as pissing-off motor vehicle users. But I see even more dangerous activity on the part of motor vehicle users. I have lost count of how many times a car has pulled up on my left side and then turned right, cutting me off in a very dangerous manner. One even hooked me and dragged me into a brick wall.
Oncoming cars that turn left, again cutting me off. One of them hit me almost head on, tossing me over the hood of another car that was waiting on the side road. How many times have I heard drivers claim they never see us, or think they have more rights than cyclist, moped-ers(?), runners, etc. They handle machines more deadly in everyday use than any firearm, yet they know nothing of either the laws or common courtesy.

I need to do something to lose the 40 lbs I have gained since I basically stopped cycling, let alone training and racing. The local bike touring club is intolerantly leftist, and basically froze me out a few years ago during the school-shooting hysteria promulgated by the main stream media, after years of very active membership, for being a brainwashed sock-puppet of the radical libertarian right, a baby killing gun rights supporter and generally not ‘progressive’ enough. In addition, the rides were getting too dangerous. Too many riders that thought they had more right to the road than others, and did too many stupid and dangerous things, like blow through red lights, ride three and four across the road, ride against traffic, etc.

Riding alone in NJ is just too dangerous, at least up here in Bergen County. I need the boost you get from riding with others. So unless I can find a politically and socially tolerant bike club in the area that has regular training rides, and rides safely, I am pretty much done with cycling. It’s a pity. It is the one sport I truly loved. But ending a ride angry and pissed off defeats much of the purpose of exercise. It is supposed to lower blood pressure.

Maybe I am just getting too old and too chicken, but getting hit, badly, three times by cars mis-driven by idiots, tends to take the fun of it as well. Not to mention all the close calls I have had, like being deliberately hunted on US 9W by a true nut case driving a car as a weapon, up in Stony Point, NY. Too bad I can’t do as a friend in N.C. used to do, and strap on a polished nickel plated .45 to my back, but in N.J. you are required by law to be a defenseless target of opportunity.

I have used rollers for years, Kreitler Challengers with the Killer Headwind fan. But the mental concentration needed to stay on them does not allow for disengaging the brain and is almost as tiring as the workout. Even as accomplished at using them as I am, riding hands free or standing up out of the saddle during the workout, letting your mind wander will end up with you on the floor shouting ouch and skid marks on the floor. No, you won’t go through a wall, only the few pounds of your wheels have any momentum, not you and the bike. But you can hurt yourself or leave marks on the floor or nearby furniture by falling off. Using another type of resistance, like one of the many units you can attach to your back wheel and hold the bike upright at the same time has always bored me to tears. Too much like a gerbil in a cage.

I decided to try a rowing machine since I have always enjoyed repetitive activities that allow me to focus on the activity, and not ones where I needed to worry about where others players are, or where a ball is and all that. An activity where you can get both a physical and mental flow-state going. The few times I have tried rowing on water I have really enjoyed it. A long bicycle ride on quiet roads, or, even better, a time-trial race, allows you to do that. I am hoping the rowing machine will allow for that as well.

Well, I just got a rowing machine. I decided on the Waterrower over the Concept2 for a couple reasons.

First, and not necessarily least important, aesthetics. It just looks nicer. Since it will be used and stored in the main living area of the house, and not off in a separate home gym, this is a factor.

Second, it stores upright easily and in less space.

Third, and most importantly, it does NOT use an oiled chain as the Concept2 does. It will be used inches away from an oriental carpet which is probably the third most valuable thing I own, next to my house and my truck. If the Concept2 used a strap instead of a chain, it would have been a much closer decision, and probably would have won.

Yes, I know the Concept2 is used by serious rowers more often, almost exclusively in fact. But I am not a competitive rower. I am not planning on entering any erg races. I am too lazy to drive to the couple of local rowing clubs to rent and row, PRRA and Nereid, and besides, they are on the Passaic River. Ick. I just can not get past that.

I assembled the rower this week end and so far have played around with it a few times and it seems to be a good workout. It is subtle and does not seem like a lot of work at first, but after a few minutes you notice the effort. I will be studying the technique and training guidelines on the manufacturers website and diving in more seriously as the week progresses. I’ll post anything interesting.

From the clutches of arrogant, spiteful, bloody minded French bastards.

IOC Chief Wants Armstrong Inquiry

Frog-sucking wine-pissers

Over at nogodblog there is a discussion of how ‘out’ one is as an Atheist. Dave mentions his bumper stickers, t-shirts, ‘evolve fish’ emblem etc. He reports mostly positive results. Other comments report harassment though. Like damage to cars with stickers, attempts to remove, scratch, and even burn stickers. Drivers cutting them off, flipping them off, telling them they will go to hell, or asking them how come they are so nice if they are Atheists.

‘OUT’ Atheists

Bigotry is not surprising, certainly not in a nation that has been indoctrinated to link Atheism with the horrors of fundamentalist socialist sects like Russian communism, German national socialism and the like.

I am a very out Atheist. I have mentioned I am an Atheist during candidate debates when I was running for U.S. Congress here in the NJ 5th district, I have the Darwin fish on the pickup, people at work and the family know it as well. At work another guy came out as an Atheist after he saw I was out and had few problems. I did have one problem at my current job a few years ago, with a fundamentalist xtian guy, that escalated way too far. While there were no repercussions from management on that, I am much more careful how such discussions go, and refuse to get into email debates any more, for certain.

I did have one very amusing thing happen. When I was running for Congress, I was consulting for a client here in NJ as a Cobol/DB2 programmer-analyst. One of the employee’s there was a strict xtian fundy, thought the world was 4000 years old, or so. Fossils were god’s test of mans faith, all that nonsense. After the election, he said he and his wife had voted for me, saying he was happy to vote for a third party candidate over the 2 old party candidates, who was such an obviously good, god-fearing person. I said, essentially, thank you very much, I appreciate your vote and the compliment, though you should know I am an Atheist. The blood drained from his face, a shocked look appeared on his face, he literally blithered something Cramden-like: ‘humina-homina’, turned and went to his cube, looking like his brain had been shorted out. It had, in a way. He never mentioned it again.

I get very little negative reaction to being an Atheist, but NJ is less intolerant of such things than much of the rest of the country.

I have received far more intolerance of my RKBA activism. Though perhaps the 10 inch NRA Life Member decal on the car and truck mitigates that. Ahem.
During the height of the school shooting hysteria/witch-hunt a few years ago, I took to wearing pro-RKBA t-shirts, and that is when the NRA stickers went up on the car, and later the truck, as well.

Now at that time, most of my social activity revolved around a local bicycle touring club, and another small racing club I helped found. There is nothing like a trim, fit lady in Lycra leading you down the road to get the old attention focused.

From my ‘tolerant’ ‘progressive’, ‘open minded’ Liberal Democrat and Green ‘friends’ and acquaintances, (no longer, sadly), who virtually ‘owned’ and ran the touring club, I received outright calumny. I was accused of being pro-baby-killing, supporting school shootings, and being a brainwashed sock puppet of a radical cult for being a member of the Libertarian Party. It was like they were suffering from some sort of arrested development that ran back to some mythical time in the 1960’s out of a Hollywood movie. It would have been hysterical, absurd even, if it had not, in the end, been so totally isolating. It went so far as to have every one in a room get up a leave when I walked in.
I no longer belong to that club, indeed I almost never ride anymore because having people accuse you of hideous things and motives just is not worth it, and riding solo on the roads here in NJ is just too dangerous due to traffic. My extra 40 pounds of blubber can attest to this.

I have NEVER had such a response from conservative groups about my Atheism or my positions of drug legalization, free speech, church-state separation, prostitution, gay rights, reproductive choice, or any other issue that goes against supposedly conservative positions. They are much more open to differences of opinion and reasoned argument. My libertarian friends are, of course, pro-choice on EVERYTHING, so we have no issues either, for the most part.

The most doctrinaire, authoritarian, intolerant responses I get are almost exclusively from people of a leftist ideology. Their response is very close to a fundamentalist like: “Atheism? Fine… but GUN RIGHTS?! You Blaspheming Heathen! You will go to HELL!”.

Irony….