Welcome Back to the Rant of the Day

Sorry, I'm still here. It may feel like I have abandoned you like a puppy in a cardboard box in front of the 7-Eleven, but rest assured I haven't gone away.

Anyway, not to make up excuses, I just needed a break to re-focus, which turned into several months of  "Yeah, I need to write on the blog, but this television show is so interesting..."

Again, sorry.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my dentist for the semi-annual cleaning and x-ray of the pearly whites (sorry if this peek into the excitement of my day to day life makes you a little uncomfortable, I promise it is somewhat relevant to today's post, and to keep the jealousy down, I'll try to keep these little peeks behind the curtain to a minimum. I do want to add that I am cavity free.) As I was waiting, I picked up a magazine to read. Between People and Sunset, I chose the latter. Whilst thumbing thru articles about planting the ideal garden, and how to renovate that old barn into a super cute bungalow, I came across this, and simply had to discect it.

"because I saw a necessary product that nobody else was making", the article states. 

I'm sure that her helmet is a fine helmet, but a statement like that is ludicrous. That's like the local greasy spoon saying that they have the "World's best cup of coffee", or saying that the best lobster roll in Maine is actually from Utah. (okay, scratch that last one.)

There are literally dozens of companies who make commuter helmets, and several of them make helmets inspired by motorcycle helmets. One company that springs to mind is Nutcase, who has a helmet that looks like it was inspired by Evel Knevil. It also has vent holes - something I notice a distinct lack of in the above pictured helmet. 

"a line of stylish protective headgear that people would actually want to wear."

No one wants to wear a helmet. Even the most comfortable helmet is uncomfortable. They're bulky and hot. It's much more enjoyable to ride with your hair flowing in the breeze, but in the name of safety - real or perceived - most of us put a Styrofoam box on our skulls. 

"Experts told me there was no market for what I was doing,"

Yes, because as I said before, there are literally dozens of companies making helmets. 

Again, I'm sure her helmet will work just as well as any other helmet at protecting your head, and I applaud her on a successful Kickstarter campaign, but lay off the boasting and misleading statements, we get enough of that from the Office of the President. 

Tales from the Commute: The Overly Righteous Motorist

Yes, boys and girls, it's time for another Tales from the Commute.

This morning, I was riding in as is typical.  I was also riding on my normal route, which is typical. And, I was treating the stop signs on the lighter-traffic side streets as suggestions, again as is typical.(I should pause here from the narration and address the previous sentence. Yes, I don't stop at every stop sign or light. Yes, I know that here in Utah it still is the law to stop at stop signs. But, if there is no traffic coming down the cross street, and if there is no traffic turning from the opposite direction, I do not see the point of breaking my momentum and wasting energy. I like to think that I am obeying the law - Newton's law of motion.) 

So where were we? Oh yes, I was riding in, fully aware that I was skirting around the municipal traffic laws on my commute. I came up to the 4-way stop shown in the picture below, traveling in the direction indicated by the red arrow.

Now, at this particular intersection I never stop, nor even hesitate, because as you can see, there is almost 0% chance of any cross traffic, or left-turning traffic because the road dead ends at the high-school ball fields. 

Since today was a typical commute, I was typically not stopping at this intersection, when suddenly I heard a car honking behind me rather excitedly and repeatedly. I look back to see what his particular problem is, and see an older gentlemen sternly pointing and gesturing in my general direction - and in direction of the stop sign. Figuring that I already knew what he was so upset about, I rolled up next to him at the next light to "discuss".

He rolled down his window and I asked him if there was a problem.

"You didn't stop at the stop sign!" 
"Yes, I know, there was no one coming."
"But you need to stop! It is the law!" 
"There was no one coming, buddy! What about you?"
"I stopped at the stop sign. You didn't!"

The conversation was going nowhere, so I rolled on up to the stop sign. Then I decided that I wasn't finished with him yet, so I flipped around and went back to his car. (At this point I should mention that due to several cues, I knew that he worked in the nearby offices of the local predominant religion. This is not to disparage him, or the religion - of which I am also a member - but just to give perspective to my final words to him.) After I motioned him to roll down his window, I told him "Don't forget, 'let him who is without sin cast the first stone.' As soon as you're perfect, buddy, then you can talk."

I don't bring up the fact that I quoted John 8:7 to a motorist simply to say that I know scripture, but to point out that yes, we are not perfect. We run stop signs and do things that are against the law, but so do motorists. how often when we are behind the wheel do we exceed the speed limit? How often do we make that U-turn where we are are not supposed to? How often do we try to race the yellow light so we don't have to stop?

Yes, I don't stop at every stop sign when I'm on my bike, I also don't always obey the speed limit when I'm behind the wheel of my car (as the highway patrol in Orderville, UT are aware). My point is not to be so hasty to judge and point blame. None of us are perfect.

Warning: Rant Ahead!

I have been accused of being a grumpy old man - mostly by Mrs. Bike-junkie.

I am not here to dispute that statement. In fact, I frequently relish and enjoy my curmudgeonly status. It makes rants like the following not seem out of character.

What has spiked my righteous indignation today, you may ask? It is a common thorn in the side that goes by the name of "Cyclists who throw their punctured tubes and other trash on the side of the road instead of picking it up."

This morning, I was back to my usual commuting routine after a week off boating and attending a wedding (unfortunately, two separate events. I think a wedding on a boat would be pretty epic) in the state just south of the one I call home. I came up to a left hand turn on my route that has a signal button for cyclists, and saw this.

I am truly confused by this display. I frequently come across punctured tubes and spent CO2 cartridges discarded on the side of the road, curse the Lycra-clad Fred that couldn't be bothered to pick up his trash and stuff it in his jersey back pocket with a festering case of saddle sores, and pick it up and stuff it in my bag to be patched later and added to my growing supply of spare tubes. But to dangle the punctured tube from the turn signal, and to stuff the box behind it? Not to mention the Ziploc baggie at the bottom containing another tube? It defies the senses.

Here is a better shot at what I recovered:

I don't know if they were going for points by "attempting" to pick up after themselves, but they still lose, because all they did is nicely organize their trash. Unless they have an app that will summon a drone to rush in a spare tube in case of emergency, they packed it with them. So, what is so hard about packing it out? Are they trying to increase their wattage on the back half of their training ride by jettisoning any excess weight? Well, I can tell you by ditching the few ounces of tube and cardboard, their effort went up from "you suck" to "you still suck, and now you're a littering slime-bag".

If you leave your tubes on the side of the road, YOU SUCK! No way around it, and no sugar-coating. 

Victim Blaming: Go Ahead and Blame Us, We're Used to It.

Watch the following video. Go ahead, I'll wait for you. 

Are you back? Good. I missed you. No, really, I did. 

So, what's wrong with the video you may ask? While I agree it is not the smartest thing to stand between a child and free candy, or under a falling piano. The difference between those and a lorry (that's the Queen's English for "truck") making a left turn (right turn if you are in any other part of the world that doesn't call a truck a "lorry") is that the lorry has the ability to slow down and wait for the cyclist, whereas the falling piano and kids fighting for candy are forces of nature, subject to the laws of physics and oncoming sugar comas.

The video does a fantastic job of blaming the victim - the cyclist in this case - for not realizing that the lorry coming up behind him is going to blaze past him and make a left hand turn. Of course it is the cyclist's fault that he was in the way, I mean he was in front of the lorry, how dare he!

Blaming the cyclist is so common it is almost involuntary, like sneezing. Car hits cyclist? Must have been the cyclist's fault for being on the road. At least he was wearing a helmet! Oh, he wasn't? Then it definitely was the cyclist's fault! 

How 'bout we try something different? Instead of putting a video out showing a cyclist clearly doing nothing wrong and saying that it is their fault, let's instead put a video out telling the lorry driver to watch for cyclists and not make left turns into them. 

Fortnately, I haven't been involved in any right hooks (left hooks in the Queen's Monarchy), but I have come close to being hooked, and in every instance, the car has come from behind me, thinking that they are fast enough and far enough in front of me that they can make it, or not even considering that I am there. 

I'm not faulting their attempt at education - a little education goes a long way - but let's educate the right group. 

Rant of the Day

Yesterday I read a blog post talking about leaving your lock at work. 

The article made a valid point mentioning that you could save five-ish pounds, and some space in your bag by leaving your lock at work.

The problem I have with that idea is when the locks become orphans.
 

 

 

I'm absolutely sure that the owners of these locks - and the several others scattered around the racks and fences of "the place which pays me so that me and my family do not end up homeless" - had only the best intentions, and did not deliberately abandon their locks.  I'm sure that in a moment of inspiration they decided that they too would become bike commuters, and either weather, sweat, or the perceived lack of time to ride to work compelled them to abandon their lofty goals.  The locks remaining behind as either a bad reminder, or a half-hearted promise that they will try it again, once the weather or fitness improves, or they suddenly find themselves with an excess of minutes. There is also the possibility that keys were lost or combinations were forgotten.

 

Either way, the locks remain.

 

When it is on a bike rack or fence, the abandoned locks become an eyesore and a minor annoyance, but they can become more than that...

 

I found out a couple of weeks ago from a friend and co-worker that my building has a "dedicated" bike storage room. a place safe from prying eyes (and sticky fingers) behind a locked door where one can securely store their bicycle.  I obtained a key, and went down to check out this Shangri-La.

 

The floors are not awkwardly curved, I took a panorama of the room.

Well, my expectations of Utopia were found lacking, but still a space in a storage/junk room in the bowels of the parking garage is nothing to turn your nose up at.

I was excited about the bike room for approximately 10 seconds. That is how long it took me to notice that anywhere that I could conceivably lock my bike (I place little trust in my fellow man) had a lock attached to it. Locks that hadn't seen a bike in months.

Okay, it is winter, and most people do fall into the fair-weather commuter crowd, but come on! If you and your bike are hibernating for the winter, do those of us who aren't a favor and take your lock with you! It's just inconsiderate and rude to "call dibs" on your spot on the wall by leaving your U-lock there all winter.

Rant of the Day

After a morning commute filled with altogether too many close passes, horns honking because I was “in somebody’s way”, and near cutoffs (seriously, what is it with this morning? Is it a “Thursday” thing?) I have come up with a brilliant and simple solution.

It should be mandatory that every year, to keep your driver’s license, you need to ride a bicycle for at least a mile (maybe more like five miles, just to make it interesting) on moderately busy roads (shared lanes, bike lanes, left and right hand turns to be included in the route), just so you know what it feels like to be the one out there exposed while 5000 lb cars pass within inches of your shoulder.

 
When I’m elected Emperor for Life over all the Known Universe, that will be the first law I pass down.

Mini-rant over. You may go back to your regularly scheduled day.

The Cycling Gods Are Angry at Me for Some Reason

I don't know what I have done to upset the cycling Gods, but yesterday they were angry with me.

It started out yesterday morning when I went out to the garage to get my bike for my regular morning commute to the train station. I grabbed my bike, and noticed that the rear tire was flat. My options are limited (the other bikes have been hanging long enough that they are also flat, and I currently don't have a car - aside from the wife's van, which she will need today) and since I have a class after work tonight in another part of town, getting a ride is not an option.  I quickly change my tube (I found a sliver of metal I must have picked up the night before), and head out for the train. About a mile down the road, my rear tire is flat again! After a brief meltdown, I call for SAG support from the wife. She comes and takes me and my bike to the train.

The first part of the morning at work was spent repairing the tube from the first flat, and determining why the second tube also went flat (there was another sliver of metal in the tire, also it looked like an existing patch has failed), and lunch included a trip to the local downtown bike shop for a new patch kit and a new tube (just in case...).

After work, I rode to the class down a particularly ugly road. Aside from one lady honking because I was "in her way", no incidents to report from that, fortunately.

After the class, I come out to find that my front tire is now flat (goathead). Fortunately, I had a friend in the class who coordinates all of the SAG support for pretty much every group ride in the valley, and who always has his truck stocked with tubes, pumps, etc... We quickly changed the tube - only to pinch flat the tube while reseating the tire on the rim. The next tube held air, so I made my journey home.

I am happy to report that I made it home without any incident.

About 30 minutes after getting home, the wife and I heard a loud bang - like someone slamming a cupboard. I checked in the garage, because it sounded like something falling out there to me. Nothing was out of place, except when I looked at my bike, I found this:

 

The front tire blew, and blew hard enough to unseat the tire bead from the rim!

 

Let's take a count...

 

Two flats on the rear tire. Two flats on the front tire, and a blowout.

 

All of this on the first day of Bike Month, no less!

Click on the picture for a list of all the activites happening here in Utah

 

Somehow, I have offended the Gods of cycling, and they are angry with me.

 

The only way to appease the Gods is to offer a sacrifice, therefore, I am taking applications.

 

 

I am happy to report that there were no flats so far today.

Monday is out to get Me

You ever have one of those days where every little thing seems to go wrong? Today is apparently my day, and - fittingly - it is a Monday.

There hasn't been any tragdies, just annoyingly bothersome little things just to make you question why, exactly, you got out of bed.

To start off, my alarm went off at the correct time, and I hit the snooze button. Never a good way to start the week.

Then, our wi-fi was down, and my tablet was saying that the temperature was 15 degrees warmer than it actually was. After a bracingly chilly ride to the train, and a peaceful ride downtown, I disembarked the train to discover that I had a flat rear tire. Fortunately, the train station is only two and a half blocks from my office.

Changing a flat at my office isn't a big deal, I've done it before. What is a big deal is realizing that you don't have all the necessary tools to change your flat.

What's missing from this picture?

Yep, somehow my tire lever I keep in my saddle bag is no longer in there. I know that there are some people who will say that you don't need a lever, but depending on the tire I usually can't get the tire off without a lever to start it.

QUICK TIP: You can use your QR skewer lever as a makeshift tire lever!

At least the culprit was easy enough to find, there was a shard of glass embedded in my tire.

Next little problem, well, I'll let you see if you can find the problem in this next picture:

for those of you who couldn't see the problem, my spare tube had a 36mm valve stem, instead of a 48mm stem. My rim is too tall for a 36mm stem.

I have no idea where I got a 36mm stem tube from, I know it won't fit my rims, so I don't buy them. How then did one get in my seatbag?

Fortunately, the hole in the tube was easy to find, and I was able to patch it (I did still have my patch kit in the seatbag). A quick trip across the street to the bike shop for some air, and I'm good to go for the ride home.

Minor rant over. Have a great week everyone!

Perfect Example of What's Wrong with Cycling in America

Stop the Presses (or whatever you would say in today's world of digital media)!!!

LeBron James rode his bike from his mansion to the arena on Sunday, then (shock!) rode back home after the game! A 40 minute trip each way!

The simple fact that this is considered news is stupid. He rode a bike. Big deal. People all over the world (most of them in Amsterdam) do this on a daily basis, and the world doesn't come to a screaching halt to report it.

One thing that I did notice about the article, is they made a point to mention that he was wearing a "giant helmet". This is America, after all, where any story about a cyclist has to include wether or not they were wearing a helmet - and if they weren't, and were struck by a car, it is automatically their fault.

Let's all give a well-meaning golf clap to LeBron, and get back to our lives. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that he rides a bike, but I don't think it qualifies as news.

My "Encounter" with a Car this Morning

Today I had an “encounter” with a car on my commute to work.

I’ve mentioned my commute before, but just to summarize: Bike to bus. Bus to downtown. Bike to office. The last leg is only about 4 blocks long, on wide, multi-lane streets, with only one right-hand turn. The street I turn on to (200 S, for those of you who are familiar with Salt Lake City), has a bike lane, and for a couple of blocks, has the outside lane marked with a green sharrow, All of this means – from my perspective – that there should be no reason for anyone to feel that I am “in their way”.

Today, the ride from the bus stop started off as normal, I rode up State St., signaled my turn (this is important, and comes into play later), and turned onto 200 S. less than half a block down 200 S., a car all of a sudden comes up past me on my left side, and makes a right turn into a parking garage. Right in front of me! I grab the brakes, and am able to narrowly avoid running into the side of her car. As I swerve around behind her, I give the trunk/rear quarter panel of her car a thump with my fist.

Yes, I probably shouldn’t have done that, but at that time, my heart rate was through the roof, and the adrenaline was pumping. I didn’t do it to damage her car. At the time, I was thinking I just wanted to let her know how close she came to hitting me.

As I went past, she started cursing at me. I should have let it go, but like I said, the heart rate was racing, and I was in confrontation mode. I spun around on the sidewalk to have “words” with her. She parked and got out of her car. She was still yelling at me, telling me that if I am going to ride on the roads, I should follow the “rules”, and that I should have been over on the green sharrow lane, not further to the right. I pointed out to her that she came around me and cut me off. I also pointed out to her that her actions could have killed me. At this time, a guy – he may have been in the booth at the parking garage, or just on the sidewalk – joined in, on her side no less, saying that he saw the whole thing and I was at fault! At this point, I saw that this wasn’t going to get better, but had the possibility of getting much worse, so I left.

First off, aside from running the occasional stop sign (sign, not light, and only when I am absolutely certain that nothing is coming), I follow the rules of the road. I waited in the right hand lane on State St, with traffic for the light so I could make my right turn. I signaled my turn, and stayed to the right of the lane, and was heading straight for the bike lane which started up just down the street from where this occurred. I wasn’t weaving in and out of the lane, I was doing exactly what I would have done if I was in a car. I couldn’t have been following the rules any more at that time

She was right on one thing, I wasn’t in the sharrow lane, because I just made a right turn, into the wide section of the lane that is to be used for vehicles turning right. At the point where I was, the sharrow lane was about 10 feet to my left, and it also ended right where she cut me off, as you can see in the Google Maps satellite image that I drew on below.

Blue line is me, red line is her, green line is the sharrow lane painted on the road.

street view of the parking garage.

What it all comes down to, is that people in cars either 1) don’t see cyclists, or 2) don’t care about cyclists and think that we are in their way. What is your opinion? Obviously the above is my side of the story. Was I in the wrong? Was she? I will admit that I shouldn’t have touched her car, and I should have just kept on riding instead of confronting her. I could of handled the situation differently.
So, how is your morning so far?

Rant of the Day

I wasn’t planning on posting today, but a Facebook thread that was brought to my attention by my wife made me want to express my feelings on the subject in a venue where I wouldn’t be getting into a war.

The question was posted by one of our neighbors about why cyclists “insist on riding right on the white line… when you have plenty of room to your right?” I understand this is a perfectly valid question, especially for a “non-cyclist” Most of the responses were constructive and informative – especially from those who are cyclists. They explained that we actually have a legal right to ride in the lane (Utah Traffic Code 41-6a-1105), and that all of the road debris ends up on the right side of the white line, and much of that has the potential to cause flats for us cyclists.

Then you have those people who have to post comments which are neither helpful or constructive. Comments such as how cyclists give them a dirty look when they pass too close, or how they feel like “reaching out the window and getting there attention by smacking em on the but…”

Comments like that are what cause my blood pressure to spike, and foster the urge to write not nice things.

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but seriously?!? Are people that stupid? You wonder why we shoot you a dirty look when you pass us with mere inches between the mirror to your soccer-mom-mobile, or your oversized "I'm compesating for something" redneck truck and our shoulders? You do realize who will win in a confrontation between your mobile zoo and us on our bicycles? Is a scratch in your paint worth more than our lives?

And do I need to even say how extremely pissed I will be if I am *EVER* touched by someone in a passing car while I am out riding. If I don’t go down because of the ass-smacking – which is very possible and likely, you better hope I never, ever find you. Aside from being extremely dangerous, unless you have unnaturally long arms, you’re violating the 3-foot-law, and my personal space.

I spent the weekend up in Cache county riding 11+ hours over 175 miles between two states with approximately 2500 of my closest friends and I only heard a car horn once – and that wasn’t even in anger, it was more to say “hey, I’m here and you are about to do something potentially dumb” (towards another cyclist, not me). And, yes, I do admit that we as cyclists are not above doing stupid things.

I sincerely hope the originator of the Facebook post came away from the conversation with a better understanding, and I hope he, and everyone else realizes that the 30 seconds of delay that we may cause you isn’t worth our lives. We’re not obstacles between you and wherever you feel you need to be in such a hurry, and we’re not bicycles. We’re people.

A Minor Rant and Bluster

Today’s post is somewhat of a rant. Apologies in advance.

Wednesday was the last planning meeting for the Tour de Cure committee before the ride on June 11th. We talked about the final preparations for the ride. The person who is over the food went over the final food arrangements: Pasta at the lunch stop and BBQ from a local restaurant at the finish.

I asked if there were going to be any vegan options available for dinner. A flat-out no was his reply, not a “not really”, but a no. He did say that there would be gluten-free options available.

I don’t expect the world to alter itself to me just because I have chosen to avoid animal products, and I’m not asking them to make the entire meal vegan friendly, but having a vegan or vegetarian friendly option would be nice. I can’t be the only vegan or vegetarian who is going to be riding his bicycle on the 11th, can I?

I think part of my questioning of their not offering any non-meat options came after I read about Steve-O of Jackass fame. He was slated to appear at an ADA charity event, but left in protest after he learned that meat was to be served. 

I can understand Steve-O’s reasons, but I don’t think the better good was served by him storming out. I think he could have used it better as an opportunity to reinforce the benefits of a plant-based diet for diabetics.

I’m not planning on staging a protest of the ride, or storming out because they are serving meat, but I question their food choices somewhat, especially considering that this ride is in support of the ADA, and a large number of participants are diabetic.

So, I guess that I’ll be filling up at the lunch stop on pasta and marinara (I hope they have marinara), and going somewhere after to get some food.

The irony of this is that the committee meetings are catered, and the event manager always makes sure that I have something vegan-friendly to eat at the meetings.

Rant of the Day

I will apologize in advance for this rant.

Most days, I go down to the sub-basement-dungeon below the parking garage at my office to the so-called "fitness center" during my breaks to escape - however briefly - from the hell called work.

Most of the time - I would say about 85-90% of the time - I am completely alone when I go down there. I prefer it that way. I don't turn on any music, instead I use the time to think. It's rather nice. I enjoy the silence.

The rest of the time, someone else is down there. More often that not, they have the radio blaring away. On those days, I will try my best to ignore the music - and the people down there.

On rare occasions, someone will come in while I am already there.

Here's where the rant comes in.

Without fail, they will walk over to the radio and turn it on. That is what happened today. Three ladies came in while I was doing some sit-ups and immediately turned on the radio. I think that is extremely rude! It would be like me walking in on them, and either turning it off, or changing the station/CD because I don't like what they are listening to.

They see me in there, and they hear that there is no music playing. They have to possess the mental capacity to put 1+1 together and come up with the logical answer that the person currently occupying the space would rather not have music on at the moment. It ticks me off to no end, and completely ruins my mood. It shows a complete lack of respect for other people, and their personal space. Are you so wrapped up in your own little personal problems that you fail to use any common courtesy, or is it that you just don't care.

What the hell!?!

It would be different if they asked me if I minded that they wanted to turn on the radio - I would of course tell them to go ahead - but not once has anyone asked me that question.

Am I in the wrong? Please comment and let me know if you agree with me or not that it's completely rude and insensitive for someone to come in and turn on the radio without first asking the person in there if they mind.