The Lounge of Terrestrial Wheelmen

[Cam]

I watched that a couple of months ago. It's pretty good.

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10102406119768715

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd9HClipDv0

[Yw-slayer]

That happens all the time.

[overpowered]

People speed and fail to signal all the time too. That doesn't make it right. Complaint and link to video sent to the bus company.

That particular bus company, NCTD has killed a few cyclists in the last few years due to bad driving around cyclists (proven by their own on board cameras). The SDCBC just ran a class for their drivers. Apparently this one didn't really get it.

[Yw-slayer]

Oh FFS, where did I suggest that it was right? You're a regular bundle of joy.

[Cam]

:lol:

[G'day Mate]

:lol:

[overpowered]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10923191_795757097138362_1836438207420644229_n.jpg ?oh=34788ffda92f6cb1d6ccff8022a40b3d&oe=5590D21E&__gda__=1431934630_b806363c35b2d861183e3755e47b2fc a

[Kchrpm]

That's not Australian enough.

[FaultyMario]

I am approaching a four-way stop on my roadie. Car on my right approaching and gets there way before me. I stop. Female driver is looking down at her lap. I am pretty sure she is texting, which is illegal while driving in SC. She notices me and waves, "Go ahead." I reply, "I have a stop sign and you were here first." She says, "Go ahead. I'm doing something." I say, "Oh, you're texting. Great!" and proceed. After a beat, she says, "You're a dick." :rolleyes:

1026

Yes, I've been looking at Shirley Manson's FB page

[Tom Servo]

Apropos buses, I had a run in with a Los Angeles Department of Transporation "Commuter Express" bus. Just two days prior, one of their commuter express buses managed to hit an older couple walking in a crosswalk at a four-way stop when the bus turned left right into them, killing one and hospitalizing the other. I was riding up a bike lane when one of their buses passed me with his right wheels completely over the line and in the bike lane with me. My best guess is that he was within 18 inches of me, at speed, on an incline. The road is relatively straight, the lanes are wide, and he did not appear to be reacting to anyone around him. I caught up to him at the next light (of course, he did all that only to end up being slower than me in the end) but he didn't seem inclined to talk. Took a picture of the bus with my phone (which again showed his right tire on the line between the right lane and the bike lane) and sent a nastygram to LADOT about it.

To their credit, they responded back that he has been suspended from driving duties until completing another round of training. This was without camera footage, I managed to break my helmet mount. Admittedly, it's also a little bit scary that you could get someone suspended without any real evidence, but I have to guess that they don't get enough false accusations to worry too much about it.

[overpowered]

Some bus departments take it very seriously. SDMTS takes it seriously. It's pretty rare that I have a problem with one of their drivers. NCTD has been bad. I had hope due to some recent bike education of NCTD drivers by SDCBC but maybe this driver missed the class.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, LA Metro bus drivers are some of the best drivers I've dealt with. Some of them have been so good I send commendation messages to them. LADOT has a really good bike program, but their commuter bus drivers tend not to be the best. What surprises me is that the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus drivers seem to be the worst. Santa Monica is a bike pro-biking town, but I have more problems with their bus drivers than any other transit line.

[G'day Mate]

Older busses can start to crab a little too, so although the front of the bus is going straight in the middle of the lane the back of it could be hanging out in one direction or the other.

[Tom Servo]

That is possible (though if it crabs so badly that it can't stay in a lane, I think it's time to consider retiring it), but most of the LA fleet is quite new. They've been moving to the low-floor buses to speed up ingress/egress and also help with accessibility, which has pretty much meant replacing the entire fleet.

[George]

28F / -2C, clear, and beautiful this morning. I wore two pairs of gloves and could have kept riding for another hour, I think. Maybe I should get a job farther away from home...

I did not encounter crabby buses (busses? both look wrong), snakes on a chain (I crack myself up), emus, road ragers, or icy patches in the shadows this morning. I just had fun.

Here's me during the off-road part of my commute:

http://i.imgur.com/JTZLQlr.gif

:D:up:

[SportWagon]

Uh, yeah. Right. Your wrists should be freezing.

http://www.thehubsa.co.za/forum/topic/102931-i-have-an-idea-for-a-new-thread/page-2840

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSFHsuNdYjA

[overpowered]

https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10429839_380006972179393_884132995363414535_n.png? oh=5f7b82bfe6aab9ad2d71787ff409ab1e&oe=55624E88

[Random]

10 lbs of shit in a 5 lb bag.

[Kchrpm]

I am approaching a four-way stop on my roadie. Car on my right approaching and gets there way before me. I stop. Female driver is looking down at her lap. I am pretty sure she is texting, which is illegal while driving in SC. She notices me and waves, "Go ahead." I reply, "I have a stop sign and you were here first." She says, "Go ahead. I'm doing something." I say, "Oh, you're texting. Great!" and proceed. After a beat, she says, "You're a dick." :rolleyes:
I would have said "Yes, yes I am," and felt zero guilt. Would you rather she have kept driving, or finished her text at the stop sign as she was doing?

People don't want you to text and drive, now they don't want you to be stopped and text either. Should she have gotten out and thrown her keys into the bushes before pulling her phone out, just to be safe?

[Cam]

:erm:

I would rather have her not text and drive at all.

I was more annoyed by the fact she called me a dick for not doing anything wrong. She was doing something wrong (illegal): operating her vehicle and texting at the same time. Do you not find that ironic? Can you not see that I feared for my safety in that situation?

[George]

People don't want you to text and drive, now they don't want you to be stopped and text either.

It sounds like she had just stopped at a stop sign, in the traffic lane. Wanna text? At least pull over, and not at a stop sign where it looks as if you're still participating in traffic.

Personally, whether in a car or on the bike or on foot, I find people who do not take the right of way when it is theirs to be as annoying (although less dangerous) as those who take the right of way when it's not theirs.

I had some time today at lunch, and no car, since I rode, so I walked over to my favorite LBS and looked around. I was the only customer and I got to talking with the guy who overhauled my Allez a year ago and ended up spending an hour in there looking at cyclocross bikes and cool "adventure" bikes like Salsa Vayas and Fargos. Prior to this visit, I had thought if I could go buy any bike without worrying about cost, I'd buy a Fargo with two sets of wheels and tires (road and mountain) and be done with it. Now I want one of these or something similar instead:

http://allcitycycles.com/images/bikes/BK4757.jpg

Yep. And this from the guy who had to get off and push his 24-speed MTB up a hill the first time I rode to work in 2013. I don't look like Joe Bodybuilder or anything, but I'm so much better shape now than then that I think anything is possible. And why not?

Something else I've learned: BAS (bike acquisition syndrome) is just as bad as GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome). This too shall pass.

Thankfully I had no interest in the $8000 Moots titanium fat bike they were prominently displaying.

[SportWagon]

So I went looking for some more details...

http://harriscyclery.net/product/all-city-nature-boy-complete-bike-55cm-purple-white-sku-bk4757-qc49.htm
http://www.bicyclewarehouse.com/product/all-city-nature-boy-complete-bike-55cm-purple-white-sku-bk4757-qc30.htm
http://www.bikeman.com/BK4757.html
http://allcitycycles.com/bikes/nature_boy
http://fairhavenbike.com/product/all-city-nature-boy-217848-1.htm
http://georgegarnercyclery.com/product/all-city-nature-boy-complete-bike-46cm-purple-white-sku-bk4754-qc64.htm

Going to single speed seems a little extreme. A single front chainring with a rear derailleur will prevent dropping the chain at the front, and is often all that's necessary. A seven-speed internal might work nicely, though I'm not sure how they stand up to muck and other abuse.

[G'day Mate]

Yep. And this from the guy who had to get off and push his 24-speed MTB up a hill the first time I rode to work in 2013. I don't look like Joe Bodybuilder or anything, but I'm so much better shape now than then that I think anything is possible. And why not?

Onya :cool: :up:

[overpowered]

NCTD responded to me. The driver is getting educated and will be monitored. Apparently they checked the bus's video as well as mine.

[Tom Servo]

NCTD responded to me. The driver is getting educated and will be monitored. Apparently they checked the bus's video as well as mine.

Awesome.

[Tom Servo]

Yep. And this from the guy who had to get off and push his 24-speed MTB up a hill the first time I rode to work in 2013. I don't look like Joe Bodybuilder or anything, but I'm so much better shape now than then that I think anything is possible. And why not?

Isn't it awesome? You get past that first hump and it's like the whole world just opens up.


Something else I've learned: BAS (bike acquisition syndrome) is just as bad as GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome). This too shall pass.

When I first started getting into messing around with e-drum kits, GAS (in our case, it was "Gear" not "Guitar") was an omnipresent danger. Thankfully, while it still exists for bikes, it's nowhere near as dangerous as thinking you just need that other drum brain to really be able to get the kit you want. Thankfully I never went deeper down the rabbit hole than the TD-9.

[G'day Mate]

Don't forget n+1

[Random]

The TD-12 was pretty awesome for the short time that I had it.

Just sayin'. ;)

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgJ3HTYiUE

On the one hand, this driver drove unsafely and caused the crash. Unsafe right turn, failing to yield to traffic in the bike lane they were crossing. The motorist should have slowed behind the bicyclists to make the turn. Motorist 100% at fault.

On the other hand, the bicyclist could have avoided it by braking as soon as he saw the brake lights/signal on the car or better yet, by being out in the middle of the travel lane in the first place. Better to brake when you shouldn't have to than be involved in a collision.

Bike lanes encourage these kinds of crashes to happen, especially to fast cyclists who ride in them.

[G'day Mate]

If I was that cyclist I'd be just as mad at myself for letting that happen.

[Freude am Fahren]

Does look like he slowed a bit as soon as he saw the car, but he must have though he was just changing lanes, and by the time he realized he was actually turning, it was too late. I also wonder if he had bad brakes or tires or something given how much the bike following seemed to slow better.

[George]

I watched that video several times. I say the cyclist is a fool for not being aware of his surroundings. I hate to see anyone go down - and I say this with healing scabs on one knee - but an aware cyclist with properly working brakes should have been able to avoid that...in my opinion, of course - safe behind my desk and not on two wheels in traffic.

And who was filming that? At the beginnng of the video, I thought maybe he had a "selfie-stick" (see, I'm not completely unaware of 21st century technology!) mounted on the back of his bike somehow. Who rides that close to another cyclist in traffic? A regular riding partner, I must assume.

But what do I know? I'm always the lone cyclist wherever I go.

Except at the BMX track.

My son and I were at the track on Sunday and were the only ones there for a while. For the amount of "please Dad!" begging he did to get there, I must say I wasn't impressed with his endurance. He has six-pack abs you could grate cheese on, but after maybe 30 minutes at the track he was ready to go. Meanwhile, this old man could have ridden his MTB with a rack on the back around that track and taken more sweet jumps for another hour. Oh well, that situation will reverse itself soon enough, I'm sure.

Near the end of our time there, I looked down from the start ramp into the parking lot and saw a guy had arrived and was wearing a full-face helmet. Big kid, he was, old enough to drive, apparently, but he was coming up the ramp with a little kids' BMX bike. He had on padded motocross trousers! Then I noticed his white road bike shoes - the kind that look punishing to walk in but I guess are really stiff for mo' powah!

He clipped in and hurled that bike down the starting ramp with the kind of momentum that ski racers leave the gate with. The kid absolutely flew over the track, and with the kind of exact precision that showed he had done it many times before. I couldn't believe his bike control. It was like racing against Cam's ghost in the XBox motorcycle game "Trials" - just unbeliveably fast. I was stunned.

Soon enough, this tall, lanky kid took off his helmet to reveal a full beard and moustache, with a touch of grey here and there! He had to have been 40, at least. We talked for a while, and while I don't see myself on a bike with 20" wheels anytime soon, I must say I'm impressed. The only thing I can compare this to is an expert skier crossing a field of moguls and doing it seemingly faster than anyone else could ski the same terrain if flat.

Wow. And to think I doubted a neighbor down the street who said he races BMX with his kids - not in the same events, but on the same day. Well, I didn't doubt he rode a BMX bike, but I just couldn't imagine it. It turns out they have races for adults on BMX bikes - the guy I saw must surely be a regular racer - and they also a "run-what-you-brung" class where people ride mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes, cruisers, whatever. Tom Servo, bring your Long Haul Trucker!

The season for both kids and grups (obscure Star Trek reference, there) is from April to November. Maybe I'll have more BMX stories later in the year.

[overpowered]

The rider who videoed that was likely a riding partner. Yes, they ride that close all the time. Yes, the rider who got hit should have been more aware but ultimately the driver is responsible to not make unsafe pass/turns like that. Of course, this probably doesn't happen if the riders are using the full travel lane.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca1IHSXv-BE

[G'day Mate]

I had great uninterrupted runs of 10 minutes each way yesterday afternoon and this morning, right in and out of the city. Check it out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-gMv8J844I

[George]

Whoa! That video was so fast at first I thought you slammed into the other cyclist at the end. :eek:

Nice to see so much of where you ride.

[Kchrpm]

:erm:

I would rather have her not text and drive at all.

I was more annoyed by the fact she called me a dick for not doing anything wrong. She was doing something wrong (illegal): operating her vehicle and texting at the same time. Do you not find that ironic? Can you not see that I feared for my safety in that situation?
You didn't do anything wrong, you were just being passive aggressive. She was stationary and texting, and noticed you were there, there's no danger for you. If she waves you on, finishes her text and then proceeds on, how is there an issue?

[Kchrpm]

It sounds like she had just stopped at a stop sign, in the traffic lane. Wanna text? At least pull over, and not at a stop sign where it looks as if you're still participating in traffic.
If there's not a car behind you that can't get by, this changes nothing.

[overpowered]

Today I got honked at on Genesee going down the hill in the 52 canyon. I was doing 44mph when he honked at me (45mph zone).

Doing practically the speed limit is no excuse for causing a motorist to have to change lanes to pass on a multi-lane road.

The left lane is broken. Changing lanes to pass a bicycle is practically impossible.

[Cam]

You didn't do anything wrong, you were just being passive aggressive. She was stationary and texting, and noticed you were there, there's no danger for you. If she waves you on, finishes her text and then proceeds on, how is there an issue?
I'm going to have to disagree with you, sir. I was not being passive aggressive. I directly confronted her and called her on her actions. This made her mad. As for being no danger to me, I disagree with you there too. Moving or stopped, she was operating her vehicle. She was texting at the same time. She was not paying attention to operating her vehicle, therefore she was not in active control of it. I would guess it's a safe bet that she did not put her car in park or put on the parking brake if it's a manual. It's much more likely it was auto. Any auto I ever drove moved forward if it was in drive if I took my foot off the brake, even a little. Even if she did not intend to move, her car might move because she is not paying attention to controlling it. I didn't know if she was going to see me or not, until she acknowledged I was there. In hindsight, it was a bad move for me to aggravate her because there have been countless examples posted in this thread as to what can happen to cyclists when they aggravate drivers. I once had a person intentionally try to run me over with their car after they waved me across the street. Luckily, I was able to jump out of the way.

I maintain that my safety was at risk.

[Tom Servo]

We got a new protected bike lane in Marina del Rey. It actually is part of the Marvin Braude Bike Path, what's supposed to be a dedicated bike path 22 miles up and down the coast (though sections like this are on the roadway). Used to be an unprotected bike lane on each side, now they put up the bollards and made it a two-way path on one side of the road.

I've ridden it three times since they did it, twice I ran into cars driving down it. One time I got it on video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_uHnQfqdA&feature=youtu.be

[G'day Mate]

Those things take a while for people to get used to. There was a lot of this when we got our separated lane ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nva_ND1PjLQ

... but it's much better now

[overpowered]

We got a new protected bike lane in Marina del Rey. It actually is part of the Marvin Braude Bike Path, what's supposed to be a dedicated bike path 22 miles up and down the coast (though sections like this are on the roadway). Used to be an unprotected bike lane on each side, now they put up the bollards and made it a two-way path on one side of the road.

I've ridden it three times since they did it, twice I ran into cars driving down it. One time I got it on video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_uHnQfqdA&feature=youtu.be2 way narrow path, shared with pedestrians. Motorists using it illegally. (face palm)

This is going to be a nightmare. At every intersection and driveway you're going to have problems with drivers not looking for bicyclists riding against traffic in the adjacent travel lane.

Those plastic bollards don't protect shit. This thing is a nightmare.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, I contacted the department of public works. The pedestrian thing is a given, joggers are always on the bike path. The cars they might be able to do something about.

This section of the bike path has been problematic but for no discernible reason to me. You come off a dedicated, separated path onto this short stretch of Fiji Way in Marina del Rey. There's very little traffic on it, but it was two lanes each way with a bike lane on either side. For a while, the city had stenciled "Bikes Ride Single File" in the bike lane, but finally they relented on that. Then they recently made the bike lanes wider and buffered on one side, removing a traffic lane (as seen here: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.975672,-118.441951,3a,75y,67.38h,80.6t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6wpyyIQDd5ofJ_Ttsj2x2g!2e0).

There's a driveway to make the transition from the dedicated path to Fiji. When heading southbound it's easy, just a quick right turn into the bike lane. When heading northbound it's only slightly harder, transition from bike lane to a protected left turn pocket that *only* serves the bike path, so no cars ever use it. Traffic is almost non-existent, it's a very easy transition. Now that they've added this "protected" lane, they decided to extend it all the way to Admiralty, and the incomprehensible signage appears to say that you're supposed to stop, get off and up onto the sidewalk, then use the walk signal to walk your bike across Fiji, up onto the sidewalk, through the bushes, and onto the path. Then they put "bike path closed" signs right near where that driveway is. It appears to be entirely to get rid of that left turn transition and is significantly worse than it was previously. Even when I was a beginner riding out there that left was not hard to handle at all.

At any rate, since they made this change to the bollard-ed lane, I've ridden it three times. Twice I've seen people driving down it, so it's not having a great success rate with me right now.

Oh, also - about two blocks past where that truck U-turned into the bike path, the road essentially dead-ends in a big roundabout so people can turn around easily.

[Kchrpm]

I maintain that my safety was at risk.
Agree to disagree, then. It does not take concentration to maintain sufficient, constant pressure on a brake pedal while already stopped. I think you were overreacting. You were putting yourself in more danger by biking than she was by texting while stopped.

[Tom Servo]

Heh, the amount of people I see unable to control that at various lights/stop signs would tend to contradict that.

As far as that protected lane, I've been told now that it is because they're replacing a water main on the other side of the street, and have that side down to one lane, so at least it's a temporary solution, I suppose.

[George]

I'll sign up for the opposing team too, K. What I disagree with about the girl in the car and with your defense of her is the idea that texting while driving is acceptable in some situations.


She was stationary and texting, and noticed you were there, there's no danger for you. If she waves you on, finishes her text and then proceeds on, how is there an issue?

If she's texting at stop signs on what I pictured as a quiet street from Cam's original post, she's probably also texting at red lights at busier intersection and probably while the vehicle is moving, too.

My opposition to operating phones while driving has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a born-again cyclist. It’s probably more because I’m the father of young kids who run and play and ride bikes and who don’t deserve to be hurt or killed by selfish drivers who would rather read Facebook than pay attention to driving.


I think you were overreacting.

I probably am, too. I've had little confrontations like Cam describes and forgotten them five minutes later. No big deal. But to me there's a difference between people trying and not succeeding in places like roundabouts and four-way-stops, such as "Oh no! I don't know who has the right of way here. Is it you? Is it me?”

They’re dangerous too, but at least they’re trying, and hopefully learning. But there’s simply no excuse for people who try to operate a motor vehicle while texting or web-surfing or whatever people are doing on them. Playing Tetris, maybe? Whatever it is, they’re endangering others, and I object to the notion that it’s okay at a stop sign as long as no one is behind them. It’s not.

I might not care so much, except I see people doing stupid and dangerous things while staring at phones every day. They scare me.

Signed,

Mr. Smart Phone Hatah

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/675x380/2015/02/crosswalk_sign.jpg

[Kchrpm]

I see people doing stupid/dangerous things while not texting, have since before texting was a thing. Stupid/dangerous people do stupid/dangerous things.

Saying "well if she's texting while stopped on a quiet street, then she's probably texting while the car is moving, too" is a bit like saying "well if she's going 10 over on a highway on a sunny day, she's probably going 10 over on a surface street in a snowstorm, too." It may very well be true, but those venn diagrams do not completely overlap. Just like anything else, people observe their environment and do what they think is safe in it. Some people are shitty at judging that, but it doesn't mean everyone that takes a small risk is a wild man.

And the people who creep forward at a stop sign or light are doing it on purpose, they're willing to risk getting t-boned to save at most a couple seconds. That's completely independent of focus.

[neanderthal]

If your attention isn't 100% on your driving, whether stopped or moving, you shouldn't be driving. Period. That's my take.

I get in the car, change radio stations, adjust climate control etc, then I take off. On the road, I am not futzing with this or that.

I do eat in my car, but rarely. My car doesn't have cupholders.

Driving is a priviledge, and if you aren't going to treat it as such i reckon you shouldn't have it.

[Kchrpm]

If your attention isn't 100% on your driving, whether stopped or moving, you shouldn't be driving. Period. That's my take.

...

I do eat in my car, but rarely.
When you're eating in your car, are you driving? Are you a dangerous driver when you do so?

[overpowered]

Perception vs. safety.

https://cherokeeschill.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/perception-vs-safety/

[Tom Servo]

Cyclist hit by distracted driver during anti-distracted driving awareness ride: http://ciclavalley.org/definition-irony-hit-distracted-driving-milt-olin-ride/

Notably, considering the recent conversation, sounds like the driver was using her phone at a red light, then just drove into the back of a cyclist she was waiting behind when the light turned green.

[Kchrpm]

“When a situation feels dangerous to you, it’s probably more safe than you know; when a situation feels safe, that is precisely when you should feel on guard.”
Ha. I love circular logic. Feel in danger? YOU SHOULDN'T! Feel safe? YOU SHOULDN'T!

And the driver in Swervo's link could have been using her phone, or could have been talking to her friends in the car. "Female teenage driver is in minor road accident while talking to friends" is not something that started with the popularity of cellphones.

[Cam]

Cyclist hit by distracted driver during anti-distracted driving awareness ride: http://ciclavalley.org/definition-irony-hit-distracted-driving-milt-olin-ride/

Notably, considering the recent conversation, sounds like the driver was using her phone at a red light, then just drove into the back of a cyclist she was waiting behind when the light turned green.

That's impossible. Kchrpm says so!

[George]

Because people are already eating, shaving, applying makeup, drinking, smoking, chewing gum/tobacco, listening to the radio, flipping cassette tapes at the end of a side, putting in eye drops, shifting gears, hitting the Program button on the 8-track, inserting an audio CD/USB stick/mp3 player cable, adjusting the air conditioning or heat, pushing in the choke, turning on a DVD for the kids in the back seat, talking to the kids in the rear view mirror, turning around to help adjust kids' seat belts, handing them food and drink, thinking about Excel formulas, stopping boxing matches between siblings, operating windshield wipers, reading books, spraying windshield cleaner, opening/closing the convertible top/sunroof/glass limousine partition, engaging four wheel drive, talking on the CB, yelling at cyclists, head-bobbing like those Night At The Roxy guys on SNL, fishing around under the seat for a dropped dill pickle and hoping it hasn't picked up too much carpet lint and mud and snow, searching the 'tween seats console for the hairbrush/makeup kit/handgun/Dapper Dan hair pomade, pulling out their wallet to see if they can afford a Squishy at the drive-through window, tossing Big Mac wrappers out the window, adjusting their mirrors/seats/undergarments, steering with one knee while bent over tying shoes, toking on a number, filing fingernails, enjoying Salty/Spicy Snacks, donning sunglasses, tying neckties, darning socks, changing contact lenses, and rolling through/refusing to move at stops signs, they should not also use a cell phone while driving in addition to everything else.

That’s all I have to say about that.

[neanderthal]

When you're eating in your car, are you driving? Are you a dangerous driver when you do so?

I eat stuff that doesn't require much attention. i don't need to look at it. Stuff like jerky and trail mix. It sits in my lap. I eat.

I basically only eat in my car when i'm driving my car to my mums in Phoenix. So usually i'm on a long deserted stretch of freeway.

So no, i'm not being a dangerous driver, because my attention is still focused on the road.

[overpowered]

Video: Cyclists are their own worst enemy. They deserve to die! (http://road.cc/content/blog/143651-video-cyclists-are-their-own-worst-enemy-they-deserve-die)

The audio's bit tough to make out. The person who made the video posted a transcript in the description of the video on Youtube.


Him: Here, do you wanna hear a good joke?
Me: Go on …
Him: What’s the connection between cyclists and Freddie Mercury from Queen?
Me: Go on …
Him: Another one bites the dust
Me: I’m not going to laugh at that
Him: Don’t you think that’s good?
Me: I’m not going to laugh at that
Him: Yeah I did a blog on cyclists, and. It’s called ‘in the 100s’ and I have to pay £125 a year for a ‘road tax disc’ ...
Me: You don’t pay Road Tax. Road Tax doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed since the late 80s*, so if you’re paying ‘road tax’ someone is fleecing you.
[*oops, I mess up here - meant to say 'about 80 years' - it was abolished in 1937!]
Him: But don’t you think, um, cyclists should pass their cycling proficiency?
Me: But you know what, I see drivers who have apparently passed their test and they’re still reckless. And also, don’t you think that a lot of cyclists are also car users? Not that *anyone* pays ‘road tax’ tho
Him: Well cyclists are their own worst enemy. They deserve to die! they are incompetent!
Me: No! Can I take your name please?
Him: No!
Me: Why not? Do you just like throwing out abuse at people?
Him: Yeah
Me: Oh you do? That’s interesting
Him: Cyclists are their own worst enemy
Me: So it’s not that cars are speeding?
Him: No
Me: Turning into them without signalling?
Him: No
Me: Driving on their phones?
Him: No, I think cyclists jump the lights
Me: Funny, I’ve seen cars, in fact I’ve just got on my camera about 5 cars jumping red lights today
Him: Ah
Me: So that’s interesting
Him: Well I got run down by a cyclist ...
Me: I’ve been hit by a car …
Him: Oh well
Me: See, it goes both ways, you can’t just use broad brush strokes
Him: Boris Johnson
Me: Is an idiot
Him: Needs to be put up against a wall and shot in the head
Me: Yeah for many other reasons but not for ‘encouraging’ cycling.
I think you’re a very hateful person that really needs to take a wide look around you ...And this is in London, where they don't hate cyclists. :rolleyes:

[Yw-slayer]

Yes, one video of a moron talking shit on the internet (where people usually only post about bad behaviour) gives you the right to pontificate on general attitudes toward cycling and cyclists in London. :rolleyes:

Did you know that apparently everyone in Columbia University hates Jews? http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/02/23/columbia-leads-list-of-americas-top-10-colleges-with-most-antisemitic-activity/

I rode down to work today. No drivers broke any rules that I could see, and everyone treated me with general respect. That means everyone in Hong Kong is fine with cyclists, AMIRITE?

I appreciate that you probably risk your life when you cycle to work. But you seriously need to calm the fuck down and stop talking shit. London (and the UK) is a big place. There are lots of morons in London (and England), some of whom are car drivers who hate cyclists, and some of whom are probably even cyclists who hate cars. This guy is clearly one of them.

Your misguided attempts at judging people in a town and country which you've never even been to and cycled in are far more irritating than, and are as pathetic as, the unsolicited hateful opinions of this clown. :down:

[overpowered]

That's not what I'm doing at all. That may be your perception.

Even here, it's a tiny minority of people who hate bicyclists. It's not just one guy. Stories like this come up on road.cc on a regular basis. The U.K. has plenty of anti-bike people whining about bicyclists and making the same lame ignorant dishonest excuses as the people here do.

[Yw-slayer]

I understood your post as being a sarcastic attack on the point of view that people in London "don't hate cyclists", rather than a being comment that this happens in London despite it being a place where people really "don't hate cyclists". If I was wrong in interpreting it in the former manner, then I am sorry and apologise.

[Kchrpm]

All the things George listed should be made illegal.

[Tom Servo]

The dancing you're doing around wanting to justify texting while driving is pretty impressive.

[Kchrpm]

I've openly supported before, and will again.

[LHutton]

You may as well just drive shit-faced if you text whilst driving, because it's no more dangerous and a drunk person is at least looking at the road.

[Kchrpm]

Except if you're shit faced, you're shit faced the whole time. You can't just get yourself shit-faced while stopped at a red light, and then immediately be completely sober a few seconds later.

[G'day Mate]

10 days until my big ride ...

[Tom Servo]

Can't wait to see your Strava track when you do that, G'day!

Anybody had any experience with Mavic A319 rims? Yet again, the hubs are shot on the wheels that came with my LHT and I'm looking to just upgrade the whole thing. I see lots of recommendations for the A319s, and can get a set of 36 hole ones with Tiagra hubs for about $280. I'm a little hesitant after my issues with the Ksyriums and cracks at the spoke nipples, though.

[G'day Mate]

I just watched a video from someone that filmed the start in 2013 - it begins with 45 minutes of downhill!!

[Kchrpm]

I just watched a video from someone that filmed the start in 2013 - it begins with 45 minutes of downhill!!

But...but...do your brakes burn out or something?

[Tom Servo]

You can overheat the rim depending on how long/steep the descent is and how much you're using the brakes. Chances are you won't need to brake that much, you can assist the brakes by sitting upright when slowing to increase drag, and you can alternate between the front and rear brakes to let the rims cool. I've heard third-hand stories of tires blowing out due to heat, but I've never heard a first hand story of it or had it happen to myself.

Obviously this is a non-issue if you're using disc brakes, but those aren't common on road bikes, at least not yet.

[LHutton]

Except if you're shit faced, you're shit faced the whole time. You can't just get yourself shit-faced while stopped at a red light, and then immediately be completely sober a few seconds later.
But sadly texting drivers do not only text whilst stopped.

[Kchrpm]

I guess if it's 45 minutes of downhill, it can't have that extreme of a descent angle.

I would want to test one of those electric-assist bikes with regenerative braking on there. Start with an empty battery, charge it up going downhill and see how far it would take me at the end. Can't use that in the race, obviously, but I'm always curious just how efficient those things are.

[Kchrpm]

But sadly texting drivers do not only text whilst stopped.
Nope, and drivers don't just speed when they have to pass someone. They make a judgment call based on the situation they're in. Sometimes that judgment is wrong. But when you're shitfaced, your shitfaced the whole time.

[LHutton]

Nope, and drivers don't just speed when they have to pass someone. They make a judgment call based on the situation they're in. Sometimes that judgment is wrong. But when you're shitfaced, your shitfaced the whole time.
If you think you have to text whilst driving, that judgement call is always wrong.

[George]

Tee hee hee. And the dogpile on our friend Kchprm continues! :p

Tom, can't hub bearings be repacked? Or is there a limit on how many times that can be done? Sorry, dumb newb questions, I know, and I should go see what Sheldon has to say about it.

I don't know what an experienced cyclist like you would do about your wheel situation, but I would go to my favorite LBS and tell the guy I weigh 350 pounds, wear a 75-pound rucksack while riding, carry a 12-back of beer in each pannier bag and a smallblock V8 engine block on a pizza rack in front, and love to jump off curbs and smash through potholes, and would he please build me a manly-man set of wheels post-haste!

And speaking of re-using hubs, I still have my taco'd rear wheel from last spring. It's a 26" MTB wheel that takes a Shimano 8-speed cassette. The cassette is gone and the rim is twisted a bit, but the hub looks fine. Anyone know if a used bike shop/repair shop would want it? I can't see trying to sell it on craigslist for peanuts, but I'd drop off off somewhere if someone could rebuilt it. One way or another, it needs to leave my garage. I guess I should just put it in my car's trunk for the next time I'm up in Denver where I know some funky little bike shops that sell used bikes and see if they'll take it.

Looks like there's no cycling in my near future. We had a mild January and early Februrary, but lately it's been snow, snow, and more snow.

I saw the 7-day forecast this morning and it looked like this:

Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow

I need to get some time off and go enjoy some gnarly 45-minute downhills of my own, on skis!

Here's today's craigslist retro-ride of interest to me and probably nobody else. Back when I was into bikes the last time GTs seemed to be the bike to have. This one has a nice high stem that might be ideal for a drop-bar conversion.

1995 GT Talera Mountain Bike - $145 (http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/4882699242.html)

http://images.craigslist.org/00H0H_6uL58b4ir2j_600x450.jpg

[Cam]

I don't know what an experienced cyclist like you would do about your wheel situation, but I would go to my favorite LBS and tell the guy I weigh 350 pounds, wear a 75-pound rucksack while riding, carry a 12-back of beer in each pannier bag and a smallblock V8 engine block on a pizza rack in front, and love to jump off curbs and smash through potholes, and would he please build me a manly-man set of wheels post-haste!

:lol: :up:

[Kchrpm]

If you think you have to text whilst driving, that judgement call is always wrong.
Have to? No. Just like you never have to speed.

[Tom Servo]

Tee hee hee. And the dogpile on our friend Kchprm continues! :p

Well, when your argument about why you should be able to do something is "I know this is dangerous, but there are other dangerous things, so then I should totally be able to do it", it's sorta inevitable.



Tom, can't hub bearings be repacked? Or is there a limit on how many times that can be done? Sorry, dumb newb questions, I know, and I should go see what Sheldon has to say about it.


They can. The hub that came with this wheel (I believe it's a Deore LX) seems to do a tremendous job of eating bearings. Also, the freehub I've got seems prone to getting all goofed up and isn't designed to be repaired. I've basically had to replace the freehub once a year, I'm hoping to get something a little more robust.

[Kchrpm]

Tee hee hee. And the dogpile on our friend Kchprm continues! :p
I'm not surprised or insulted by it.


Well, when your argument about why you should be able to do something is "I know this is dangerous, but there are other dangerous things, so then I should totally be able to do it", it's sorta inevitable.
While similar, my argument is that people are vilifying it despite all the other similar things drivers have been doing for decades. It is an easy scapegoat to say that the reason a person does something dangerous is because they had a cellphone (just as speeds over 55 mph were the scapegoat for a long time, and some claim it's the fault of automatic transmissions and similar simplification of driving), rather than they're driving dangerously because they're a dangerous driver. I wonder how much uproar there was when radios were first put in cars about how dangerous it was for there to be something in the car distracting the driver.

If you look at crash statistics for cars with coupe and sedan versions, the coupes tend to get in far more accidents than the sedans. Is it because the coupes are more dangerous, or because more of the people driving coupes are more dangerous?

[LHutton]

Have to? No. Just like you never have to speed.
Exactly.

[George]

They can. The hub that came with this wheel (I believe it's a Deore LX) seems to do a tremendous job of eating bearings. Also, the freehub I've got seems prone to getting all goofed up and isn't designed to be repaired. I've basically had to replace the freehub once a year, I'm hoping to get something a little more robust.

Thanks. Just curious and enthusiastic about learning more about bike maintenance. I can see why you'd upgrade parts that have worn out or continue to cause problems.

Here's where the plot thickens.

I have two front wheels for my 26" MTB. The hub on the one that's currently installed is a black Deore LX hub.

:sing: Da da dum dum! Da da dum dum DA! :sing:

(thanks to SportWagon for the stirring musical fanfare foreshadowing suspense and intrigue. I stole it from his post in another thread)

[SportWagon]

Er, yeah.

It was supposed to be the music starting the Dragnet intro.

For a while I thought I might have meant it to be the initial chords of the the Marlboro Man theme, but that doesn't really fit.

[George]

Yes, Dragnet!

I was in between audio books from the library at work the other day, and with a big stack of boring data entry to do, I downloaded a couple old time radio Dragnet episodes to help pass the time. Now I'm hooked again, as I was a few years back when I listened to the entire radio series. That took a LONG time!

I was thinking of how Dragnet on the radio would often go to commercial. Sgt. Joe Friday and partner (he had a few over the years) would have been pounding the pavement and interviewing possible witnesses, chasing leads, checking on last known addresses and so forth, and other tedium to illustrate the daily life of detectives. Then they would get a big break sometimes, right before the commercial. It might have gone something like this:

Friday, narrating:

We had been working the bicycle theft case for weeks but had gotten no closer to catching the ringleader of the gang, when we stopped into a local diner for sandwiches and milk. As we sat at the lunch counter, we saw a man who matched the description of the man we wanted. He was tall, with a surly expression on his face, and we could see black marks on the inside of his right trouser leg that could have come from a dirty bicycle chain. He was on the pay phone near the front door and rummaging through his pockets as if reaching for a pencil and paper, when something fell from his pocket and landed on the tiled floor.

My partner Ben looked at me. We got up and walked over to the man.

"You Tom Servo?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Friday and Romero. Burglary division. We'd like to talk to you downtown."

(Friday, narrating again) The man hung up the phone and turned to face us, as Ben picked up the item the man had dropped.

"You got nothin' on me, cops!"

(Sgt. Ben Romero now) "Then how do you explain this Deore LX hub that we saw fall out of your pocket?!"

:sing: Da da dum dum! Da da dum dum DA! :sing:

(Insert cigarette commercial here)

Yeah, I know, I should get a life. But I need something to break up the dull drudgery of my daily routine, and I rely on you guys for a lot of that. :up:

[Tom Servo]

Man, I'd like to think I stole something a little better than that :/

[Tom Servo]

I think someone on Reddit put it best: "It's like someone halfway through 7 sex changes..."

http://i.imgur.com/VBaGN8X.jpg

[Cam]

:erm:

:lol:

[George]

Man, I'd like to think I stole something a little better than that :/


We can talk about it downtown. Come on. Let's go. Get your coat and hat.

(they always let a suspect get his coat and hat before getting busted back in 1951)

Okay, I'll stop now.

[SportWagon]

I was going to post a sample intro, probably about the suspicious activities of George Uglyavatar. (After all, what's he doing with two front wheels?). But you did much better than I would have.

[George]

^^^ I think you should, at least until one of those mean ol' admins comes in here and bans us for off-topic discussion.

Meanwhile...




It was Friday, February 27. It was windy in Los Angeles.

My partner and I were interrogating the suspect known as Tom Servo.

"Spill it, Servo. How come you have so many of these hubs in your possession?"

"They keep wearing out, I tell ya! And these freehubs! They get all goofed up. Say, you can check with my internet buddies if you don't think I'm squaring with ya!"

"We just might do that, mister."

"You guys are wasting your time talking to me. You need to be out catching the guys who lifted my last road bike, right outta my garage!"

"Word on the street is you masterminded that caper, just to bilk your insurance company for a new Schwinn!"

"That ain't how it went down, cop. I'm on the level, I tell ya!"


https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Dragnet

[Kchrpm]

Two things:
1) Is that bike weird because it has a storage rack and racing wheels, or because it has mismatched racing wheels, or is there more nuance that I don't understand?

2) Did people wear coats and hats even in hot states in the summer, like they show cowboys in the desert in a bunch of layers? I'm not saying you're so old that you were there and know first hand, George, but...shoe fitting and such ;)

[Tom Servo]

It's weird because it's got a lightweight composite frame, then a heavy mountain bike suspension fork, then crabon track bike wheels (aerospoke back, spinergy front), an aero triathalon/time trial set of handlebars while the saddle is as low as it can possibly be making for a non-aero, upright position, and then a rack. Oh, and then platform pedals to top it all off. It's parts time-trial/triathlon bike, road bike, mountain bike, commuter/tourer, and cruiser - master of none, mediocre at all.

Maybe a good way is to translate it to a car. Imagine someone took the body of, say, a Scion FR-S, put F1 wheels on it but somehow mounted the tires from an old Wrangler on them, a trailer hitch and wagon behind it, a detachable racing steering wheel, put in a lifted suspension kit from a monster truck, and it's an automatic.

[overpowered]

Two things:
1) Is that bike weird because it has a storage rack and racing wheels, or because it has mismatched racing wheels, or is there more nuisance that I don't understand?I don't know that I'd say "nuanced" but it if you don't know bikes, you might not know a few things that don't really go together.

To start with, that's an early 1990's carbon-aluminum frame. They were expensive and not all that durable and certainly not something you would use as a commuter as the rack implies.

You don't use aero spoke wheels on a commuter either. Again, they are not as durable as normal wheels. Those types of wheels are only used on race days and maybe a few training rides before a race to make sure you're used to them.

You don't put a suspension fork on a road bike -- ever, much less a time trial bike.

Aero bull horn bars are generally only used on time trial bikes, and generally accompanied by aero center bars for a proper TT position and the bar end shifters would normally be on those, not the bull horns.

Speaking of TT bikes, the seat is way too low. This frame is probably way too big for the person who was riding it.

If you're going to only have one bottle cage, you'd put it in the down tube mount, not the seat tube mount, for easier access.

You don't put block pedals on a carbon racing bike.

Triple cranks are not put on time trial bikes.

[Kchrpm]

Maybe a good way is to translate it to a car. Imagine someone took the body of, say, a Scion FR-S, put F1 wheels on it but somehow mounted the tires from an old Wrangler on them, a trailer hitch and wagon behind it, a detachable racing steering wheel, put in a lifted suspension kit from a monster truck, and it's an automatic.
Good lord. Understood.

[Cam]

Jeez, George, you crack me up. :lol: :up:

[Kchrpm]

Speaking of old time radio, George you might like the Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast. (http://www.nerdist.com/podcast_channel/thrilling-adventure-hour-channel/) They don't have a Dragnet-style show, but they do attempt to recreate serial radio shows, except almost exclusively with comedians/comic actors in front of a live audience.

[overpowered]

Another California petition. This one is to allow bicyclists to attend "bicycle traffic school" in exchange for reduced ticket fines, just as motorists can do:

https://www.change.org/p/california-state-legislature-amend-the-california-vehicle-code-to-allow-for-bicyclist-ticket-diversion-programs

[Kchrpm]

Sounds reasonable and smart :up:

[G'day Mate]

Well, my training is complete. Finished it off with a 110km, 3,500m ride today. Got to more rides to Mt Lofty planned in the next two days, but those are with much slower people so it'll be a walk in the park for me, and then I rest.

[overpowered]

Another California petition. This one is to allow bicyclists to attend "bicycle traffic school" in exchange for reduced ticket fines, just as motorists can do:

https://www.change.org/p/california-state-legislature-amend-the-california-vehicle-code-to-allow-for-bicyclist-ticket-diversion-programs


Sounds reasonable and smart :up:I'm just hoping that it gets administered through League of American Bicyclists or Cycling Savvy certified instructors. It would be bad if it was taught by cops who are usually not properly trained in bike safety. Cops don't teach regular traffic school anymore so I'm hopeful about that.

[FaultyMario]

A few things that don't really go together.

There seems to be a positive rise stem there, too. A higher angle relative to the axis of steer favors maneuverability, not something track bikes are known for.

[overpowered]

https://vimeo.com/119811521

[Tom Servo]

Eh, I've ridden that stretch with the bike lanes many, many times. It's pretty wide, and quite easy to ride in without being in the door zone. I get his point, but I do think he's being overly dramatic about the bike lane in the video.

[overpowered]

The issue is that when you're on the left edge to avoid doors, you tend to get a lot of close passes from the travel lane. It's basically a choice between risking a door and risking getting clipped by a mirror or worse. You're threading a needle and that can be a bit stressful. Using the full lane, you're both out of the door zone and not getting close passes. It's a lot less stressful.

[Tom Servo]

I think the issue is that certain people find certain things stressful. For instance, I'd find the jackass in the Hyundai a lot more stressful than I've found it riding in that bike lane. Personally, I've also found that most drivers give me tons of room when passing me when I'm in that very bike lane. For me, that is one of the least stressful places riding in this city, I'm a big fan of that bike lane.

[G'day Mate]

Five days ...

https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/media/vanilla_content/images/Peaks%20Challenge%20ride%20plan.png

[overpowered]

http://i.imgur.com/LgXsJ4b.jpg

[G'day Mate]

It turns out that 200km in to the ride you hit this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBJSkVbN1ao

[overpowered]

This video contains content from SME, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.:down:

[G'day Mate]

Oh really? How about this one ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_rGunqHdzQ

It's similar, but doesn't show the grade (which goes straight up to 15% around that corner and stays around the 10% mark almost the whole way)

[overpowered]

That one worked.

[SportWagon]

Exhausting just watching it. Accelerating to 12 to 14 km/hr and passing others like they're standing still.

[George]

Mighty impressive!

[George]

I don't know that I'd say "nuanced" but it if you don't know bikes, you might not know a few things that don't really go together.

To start with, that's an early 1990's carbon-aluminum frame. They were expensive and not all that durable and certainly not something you would use as a commuter as the rack implies.

[other stuff deleted by George]

Aero bull horn bars are generally only used on time trial bikes, and generally accompanied by aero center bars for a proper TT position and the bar end shifters would normally be on those, not the bull horns.

Found this on craigslist today - what looks to me like an older carbon frame with a rack on the back, and aero handlebars with down tube shifters?! That's gotta be quite a reach!

Specialized Allez Epic - Road Bike - $475 (http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/4875473087.html)

http://images.craigslist.org/01414_jC5HWhjBf6o_600x450.jpg

[overpowered]

Those are old style aero clip-ons (clamp-ons?). They didn't normally put shifters on those. But yeah, another carbon aluminum frame with a rack (facepalm). Also, that's a heinous saddle for a racing bike.

At least it doesn't have the aerospoke wheels or the suspension fork.

[overpowered]

http://i.imgur.com/H0qKzxg.gif

[G'day Mate]

Just read that team Astana might have their license revoked (http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/27/uci-licence-revoke-vincenzo-nibali-tiur-de-france).

[FaultyMario]

OP's .gif.

That fucking sucks, I fell in a water cover pothole once midcorner. It would have been nasty, except i managed to throw the inner leg out and just had the bike slide under me. I doubt I keep the same reflexes nowadays.

[Tom Servo]

Good reminder that if you can't see the surface of the road under the water, it's probably best not to try to ride through it.

[Tom Servo]

Must have been some effort to get that fork around that hub...

http://imgur.com/nAepMvn.jpg

[George]

Wow.

Dig the rear brakes and right pedal, too.

[Tom Servo]

Thanks to this bike (and my looking up of hub widths), I now know that the Tiagra hub I was looking at is 130mm wide and the LHT dropout is 135mm. Thanks, stolen Frankenbike!

[Tom Servo]

Volunteered with the LACBC the past couple of nights handing out free bike lights to people riding at night without them. Most of the people were just dopey, but there were a few you could tell that probably couldn't afford much and were really grateful for the lights. Notably, a guy who worked as a chef at a downtown restaurant who came out from an alley to find us, just after he'd found that someone had stolen his lights. In his words, "You guys saved my life tonight".

Very happy I did that, even after some riders gave me the finger when I asked them if they wanted free lights.

[G'day Mate]

Well, my bike and I have made it to Falls Creek :)

[G'day Mate]

Bedtime

[Tom Servo]

Good luck out there!

[George]

Congrats, G'day!


...some riders gave me the finger when I asked them if they wanted free lights.

I would have been the guy coming through the line two or three times to see how many lights I could get! :rawk:

And speaking of lights, Daylight Savings Time starts in most of the USA this Saturday night/Sunday morning, so it will be light an hour later in the evenings.

[KillerB]

I know, I've been waiting for it... Now I'll have time to get a good ride in most nights after work.

[overpowered]

Salmon tries to go up a driveway to get onto the sidewalk. He hits it at too steep an angle and the little lip on the driveway for the gutter is enough to take him down:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYg4pLF8DBo

I stopped and talked to him. He was OK. I recommended the free safety class in Oceanside. I gave him advice on a few things including an alternate route that doesn't require him to salmon. Hopefully he'll take the advice and the class.

[G'day Mate]

10hrs, 20mins. Bloody hard

[G'day Mate]

And that last climb! What a monster. 200kms in and it just goes UP and doesn't quit

[Tom Servo]

Nice job! I know I couldn't pull that shit off.

[G'day Mate]

I couldn't have a year ago. It was training and determination (and an understanding partner) that got me there

[overpowered]

Tom, you could definitely do it with sufficient training. Even I could probably do it with sufficient training, though almost certainly not as fast no matter how hard I trained. It's just about whether or not you want it bad enough to do that level of preparation. Good job G'day. I know that you worked very hard to get to the fitness level to do this. The average speed is very impressive given the amount of climbing.

[Yw-slayer]

Super congrats, BRO. I wish I had the time to even think about doing that!

[overpowered]

Why am the only one on Strava from this group that gave him kudos for this ride? If any ride deserves kudos, it's this one.

[Yw-slayer]

Because I haven't logged into Strava for months, even to register my commute home or my MTB ride from earlier this year.

[G'day Mate]

:lol:

[G'day Mate]

Here's a still from my footage:

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/hothamlookinawesome.jpg

This is where I used to go skiing, back in the uni days:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZamyIONXs

More to come ...

[Tom Servo]

Ahh, because it appears that I have never had my request to follow granted, so the ride wasn't in my feed. Sent another request.

[G'day Mate]

Video time


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhoJRJ3Wzk

[overpowered]

What and how much did you eat and drink during the ride?

What video editing software do you use?

I assume that you turned the camera on and off a lot? I don't know of a camera that has a battery that can do 10hrs20min

[G'day Mate]

I drank probably ... 6 litres of water, which isn't that much. Ate about 10 bananas, three gels, two "winners" bars, a crappy fruit scone and a veggie wrap thing for lunch.

I just use the GoPro software - it's downloadable on their website. And yup, I switch it on and off a fair bit.

[Yw-slayer]

Sweet. Now you should do a 2-week recovery (active recovery, not lying around watching TV and eating junk food).

[G'day Mate]

Actually, it's only been two days but somehow my legs felt awesome on the ride to work today! I recover really quickly at the moment - it's great :)

[overpowered]

I miss being that young.

[G'day Mate]

Non-boring version of the above video ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEKZiwxTCDE

[Cam]

Wow, lots of cyclists in London.

[George]

:sing: I saw a cyclist with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's
Going to get a big dish of beef chow mein...

...and 10 bananas! :eek:

[Tom Servo]

Has anyone else noticed some weirdness with moving time measurements on Strava lately? Suddenly, its reporting moving time and average speeds are off compared to what my Garmin says and what Garmin Connect and Endomondo say. E.g., my last ride had a moving time of about 16:30, and everyone agrees except for Strava which has it up at 17:05. Just wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if everyone is seeing this.

[overpowered]

It's always been a chronic problem with Strava.

[G'day Mate]

Final corner ...

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/Finish%20Corner%20small.jpg

[Tom Servo]

Had a particularly quick ride this morning, Garmin says I averaged 19.1 over the 5.25 miles or so from my house to the office. Headed downstairs after work and while waiting for the light to turn green, a McLaren MP4-12C went past on Wilshire, opening up the throttle and making plenty of racket.

I covered 3.5/4 miles or so when I reached the point where South and North Santa Monica Blvds. join up. I'm waiting at the light when that same McLaren goes by. I get my green and by the time I get to Beverly Glen he's gone. Then I see him up ahead, cutting in and out of the frontage roads (and running the stop signs) to try to get around traffic on Santa Monica. I catch him and pass him at Manning, a couple of blocks from my house.

It was a good day.

[G'day Mate]

Satisfying ;) :up:

[George]

Neat. Were you on your Fast Bike or your Slow Bike?

I enjoy the contrast between my two and I'm hoping to hear that you dusted the McLaren on your Trucker.

[Tom Servo]

Hah, no, it was the Madone.

Something is seriously wrong with the Trucker. I haven't been able to diagnose it and think it's getting close to when it'll have to be taken in for major surgery for someone who actually knows what they're doing. I just have to find a shop that doesn't totally suck.

[Yw-slayer]

It's always fun dusting exotics on a bike.

[SportWagon]

With that jersey, G'day reminds me of Derek Sanderson.

http://www.customthrowbackjerseys.com/derek-sanderson-boston-bruins-1974-ccm-vintage-throwback-away-hockey-jersey/

What was the temperature like? I'd be worried the jersey would absorb too much sun and heat me up too much.

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1075&d=1426091958

[G'day Mate]

Cold at the start (just 6°) but warming up to almost 30 by the start of the final climb. Was still cold on those mountains though

[SportWagon]

Next year, maybe opt for the home-team version of the jersey.

http://www.windsorstar.com/Photos+Great+moustaches+past+present/5650691/story.html

(needed to check in wikipedia that, yes, in the 1970's, the home team wore white).

(I also thought Sanderson had a more full beard at least at one time).

[George]

Speaking of the home team wearing white jerseys, I read somewhere on the 'net the alleged reason the Dallas Cowboys wear white at home. Apparently back in the old days of teams riding in buses and fans driving to the stadium instead of sitting home to watch the game on color TV, the team owner figured fans would enjoy seeing visiting teams wearing different colors each week and that couldn't hurt ticket sales.

I guess it doesn't matter these days when all NFL games are always sold out but maybe filling the stands was more difficult a few decades ago.

[G'day Mate]

It's a Cancer Council "Ride for a Reason" kit that I got for raising a couple of grand for them for a different ride. They actually just gave me Facebook kudos (https://www.facebook.com/CancerCouncilSA/posts/10153149171848582:0) for it too, and Patrick Jonker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Jonker) seems to have given me a thumbs up as well :)

[G'day Mate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH7HeBpPbQA

[Tom Servo]

Now I must hang my head in shame. My wife owns more bikes than me after she bought a Trek 7.7 today.

[George]

Congrats to Mrs. Servo. And now you're next in line for n+1, right?

:sing: I saw a guy riding a cyclocross bike at the BMX track today.
His hair was perfect.

Then, that guy's son, apparently, flew down the starting ramp and just up and over the first jump or berm, stopped and didn't fall over. He got hoots and hollers and applause from all the fathers and sons and a couple mothers who where there. It's well before the season starts but today it hit 70 degrees F for the first time in 2015 and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE who owns a bike was or is out riding today, and the BMX track was mobbed. I'm getting ready to go out again on bikes with my kids down to a local park to play on the swings and slides and monkey bars and so forth.

Why did everyone stop, watch, and then burst into loud applause for the boy who conquered the first big hill at the track? He was riding a Strider bike!

It's a tiny bike with no pedals for toddlers! The kid was about as old as this guy:

http://www.velosterturbo.org/forum/attachments/off-topic/24785d1393617275-girls-only-bike-blog.jpg

He's gonna be a good rider someday, methinks.

[Tom Servo]

That. is. awesome.

Here's the Mrs. with her new ride (we've since removed things like the dork disc).

https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11071768_10152615427090855_2526120090613969794_n.j pg?oh=3f2334eb381a0f09c5c20733f5874b54&oe=557E6126

[Fast As Possible]

:cool: where's the bike?

[overpowered]

Notice the driver at about the 3 minute point, taking a few swigs from a flask:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MYjtUMZW-g

[Yw-slayer]

I started watching, then realised that I should not watch the stuff that you post first thing in the morning.

[Cam]

Video
Just watched this now. Deplorable behavior by spectator. :smh:

[overpowered]

Crap. I watched the initial crash and didn't notice the spectator's hand and didn't watch the slow-mo so I didn't realize that's how it happened. That spectator should be facing jail time if they aren't already.

Douchebag is claiming it was an accident. I'm more than a little skeptical.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/spectator-responsible-for-loren-rowney-crash-says-it-was-an-accident-20150315-1lzyke.html

[Tom Servo]

Loving this shot from this morning's LA Marathon Crash Ride on Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills. Wish my wife had been in it, but she was behind me at the time.

http://i.imgur.com/r3TXOsz.jpg

[G'day Mate]

What was that ride?

[Yw-slayer]

Sweet. It would be cool if someone in HKG could set that up, but it was unlikely before. It's even less likely now, since it would also probably be hijacked by "UMBRELLA REVOLUTION RIDE FOR FREEDOM" libtards who would do all they could to attract unwanted and unnecessary Police attention to get "press" for their "cause" (i.e. stupid cloying twitter posts from fellow libtards).

[SportWagon]

[picture of Tom's wife]

Shoelaces nicely match bottle cages.

[Fast As Possible]

[picture of Tom's wife]

Shoelaces nicely match bottle cages.

I noticed that :cool:

I replaced my dead front tube and de/re-greased my chain this morning. :) Tires all properly inflated. I had to go through with pliers and make sure all the links in the chain were free too, it was skipping a lot :/

[Tom Servo]

What was that ride?

The LA Marathon "Crash Ride". Short version of the story - the old marathon route had an official bike ride before it, but when they moved to the new one (and a new owner), the bike ride was abandoned. A group organized a ride/race along the route just as the closures were happening, around 4am usually, "crashing" the event. Last year riders were threatened with arrest just prior to the event after the city overreacted to the Boston marathon bombings, but this year it was almost semi-official with the mayor helping coordinate, bumping the start time to 5:30am (so the route would actually be closed to traffic). The downside at least for this year - no race, only a ride, but people seem optimistic that since the ride went so well this year that the race will be back on in future years.

This year I'd guess there were around 3,000 riders...not bad for an event essentially organized via a Facebook group that says "Meet at the corner of Sunset and Fountain, we roll at 5:30."

[G'day Mate]

Ooh, I've got an interesting question! Panniers or backpack?

My new commute is going to involve a decently fast descent in the mornings, which of course translates to a decently hard climb in the afternoons. I know that with a backpack I'll end up a sweaty mess so panniers seem like a good idea for the climb, but will they screw up the bike's handling for the descent?

[overpowered]

Panniers.

[Freude am Fahren]

I would say panniers too. Backpack sweat sucks. I think as long as you balance the panniers you'll be better off. Backpack does have the advantage of being able to be used for other things, and you can just carry it in, rather than having to unload and carry your stuff.

[G'day Mate]

Well I've already got the backpack so I won't be losing it. Other than that I usually just need to take a shirt, lunchbox and laptop in each day.

I've kind of decided against a cross bike for now too. Looking at my Giant (which is a flat-bar) I think it'll happily take bigger tyres, so if I get some of those and new gears I should be good. At the moment I've got a triple crankset (42/32/22 I think) and 11-25 8-speed cassette. 22:25 will be good for the ride home (should I choose to take the route I did last night which has a killer 20% pinch), but I'll spin the 42:11 out at about 50kmh which won't be good.

[overpowered]

There is a third option, a messenger bag, but everyone will think that you're a stupid hipster douche bag if you go that route.

[Cam]

Panniers.

[Tom Servo]

I vastly prefer panniers, but commuted for a while with a backpack. The backpack was fine, but with panniers I get all the mentioned benefits plus the ability to carry a lot more stuff. I can fit a shocking amount of groceries in the Ortlieb Backrollers I've got on my Surly.

[George]

Newb question: how does one pronounce pannier and panniers? Is it French, like pahn-YEY, or it is like it's spelled: PANNY-er(s)?

Either way, I vote panniers too, and I've never tried them. Anything is better than a backpack!

I have a small and large rack-top bags, or rack trunks, as some on the internet call them. I like those a lot but I don't think even my larger one would hold a tall/wide laptop.

Then there's this:

http://www.thefootdown.com/blog/images/2013/09/2013-09-02-wald-giant-basket-review-01.jpg

[Random]

1112
;)

[Freude am Fahren]

My only exposure to people saying the word is brits and aussies from motorcycle videos like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqvRhe1foMM

So I pronounce it like them :lol:

[Random]

I hear an Americanized version mostly: "paa-NEERS." :)

[Tom Servo]

I think officially it's "pan-yays", but I've never heard anyone actually say anything other than "pa-neers", and that's what I usually say lest anyone think I'm a pretentious douche. I mean, I am, but I don't want people to think that.

[Fast As Possible]

When you live in Canada, pronouncing a french word wrong makes you seem like a trailer park loser trash.

I replaced the front tube on my hybrid and degreased/re-greased the chain. I haven't ridden it in a year :o

[overpowered]

I pronounce it pretty much like those guys in that video, which is pretty much how it's spelled. Panniers. It's almost "pan-years".

[G'day Mate]

Panni-y'z (Australian accent version)

[overpowered]

So this is me (the one in the middle of the lane):

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=33.064353~-117.302224&lvl=20&sty=x~lat~33.064353~lon~-117.302224~alt~-15.503~z~30~h~149.6~p~-5.2~cz~1~pid~5082&app=5082&FORM=LMLTSN

[SportWagon]

My computer isn't supported.

[George]

/tries on iOS/Safari:



Your computer isn’t supported
Bing maps doesn’t work on your computer
You can use Bing Maps on computers running Windows XP and later or Intel-based Mac OS X 10.4.8 and later.

/tries on Ubuntu/Firefox:



Your computer isn’t supported
Bing maps doesn’t work on your computer
You can use Bing Maps on computers running Windows XP and later or Intel-based Mac OS X 10.4.8 and later.

:angry:

[George]

Panni-y'z (Australian accent version)

Ha! I can hear that.

Thoinks, mite!

And everyone else, too.

[George]

/tries on Win8/IE:

1118

[SportWagon]

So which number is OP? (And is another one Sheriff Taylor?)

[overpowered]

This is why Silverlight sucks. Lots of people don't have it.

Bing StreetSide (Microsoft's version of Google Maps Street View) requires Silverlight to be installed on your system and enabled in your browser.

It is available for MacOS and Linux, but is probably a bit more of a pain to get going than with Windows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Silverlight#Desktop_computers

[G'day Mate]

18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea (http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/on-your-bike/18-reasons-why-registering-bicycles-is-a-bad-idea-20150318-1m23gh.html)

[SportWagon]

So this me (the one in the middle of the lane):

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=33.064353~-117.302224&lvl=20&sty=x~lat~33.064353~lon~-117.302224~alt~-15.503~z~30~h~149.6~p~-5.2~cz~1~pid~5082&app=5082&FORM=LMLTSN

After following...
http://pipelight.net/cms/install/installation-ubuntu.html

Above seems to work except for the "&app=5082" part.

OTOH, I'm not sure how much worked before.

OTOOH, Firefox does seem to running a wine on startup now. Or at least, did once.

[Tom Servo]

Point 15. That's the one that gets me every time. I've got *video* of some truly shitty driving that endangers not just me but others around me and the cops won't do anything about it because they didn't witness it themselves. As far as I can tell, license plates only help with amber alerts when someone abducts a child, and it's pretty tough to do that on a bike without being noticed.

As it is, Los Angeles gave up on the required registration years ago because it cost way more to run than it brought in for basically no tangible benefit.

[G'day Mate]

Exactly. People are often held accountable, but it's because a policeman sees them do something and stops them, not because he writes down their registration. I often ask people "I see cyclists stopped by police all the time - haven't you ever noticed it?"

[G'day Mate]

So speaking wanting to get a trailer to take a dog for a ride ... how would they go down hills? Too hard to stop and therefore dangerous?

[Random]

We've got a kids trailer (the ubiquitous-in-Davis two-seat Burley) that I've towed around town. I didn't think it added *that* much to the braking, but I don't ride at your speed, either.

[overpowered]

You'll probably want to use the mountain bike for that. If you've got some wide road tires on it, it will brake a lot better than the road bike between the increased traction and typically stronger brakes.

It will also depend upon the hill. You probably should allow for more stopping distance when you're heavier.

[Tom Servo]

Haven't been able to ride since Sunday, I managed to step on a ready-to-cook-on charcoal briquette Sunday evening and burn a couple of my toes pretty badly. Hoping to be able to ride again by this Sunday since it'll be the first San Fernando Valley Ciclavia.

[Cam]

Yikes! I hope it heals fast.

[Yw-slayer]

Damn, that sucks, bro.

[overpowered]

Making a case for middle-of-the-road safety for cyclists (http://beaches.tampabay.com/news/health/making-a-case-for-middle-of-the-road-safety-for-cyclists/2222085)

Mighk Wilson, who is cited in the article, is also a co-founder of Cycling Savvy.

[overpowered]

https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11081174_10153109058453955_7988811940079585450_n.j pg?oh=33ae624fad3b3af8dc9b0a96e7e40d00&oe=557462EE

[overpowered]

So I see. Shame - this year Voeckler was set to be one of the characters and crowd favourites of the Tour Down Under (along with Jens Voight, of course) but on the day he arrived here he crashed into the back of a car and broke his collarbone. I was looking forward to having a laugh at his facials next year:

http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnyna6oq2O1qh304bo1_500.jpgDon't worry. You don't necessarily have to have a WorldTour license to be in the TdF. Europcar is on the list of teams for the 2015 TdF. I suspect that Voekler being on that team played no small part in them being one of the pro continental teams selected.

[Tom Servo]

Woot, was able to take my first ride without pain yesterday. Foot's not fully healed, but it seems fine for riding, so I still get to go to Ciclavia!

[Tom Servo]

Was able to do it. Saw that G'Day shamed all of us, but I'm still excited that I managed to make it from the west side to the valley for the first time, and enjoyed Ciclavia while I was over there to boot.

I'm seeing a change - we still have people bitching about the roads being closed to motorized traffic. A few years ago, it was just that, but now it's mostly people telling those people to just shut up and either walk or take their own bikes out. People's attitudes are shifting for the better. That, and this Ciclavia was absolutely jammed packed with families walking, riding bikes, roller skating, whatever, by 11am. I can't even imagine how many people were out there today in the afternoon, enjoying their community rather than traveling through it. It was a pretty beautiful sight out there today, and I can't wait for the next one.

[G'day Mate]

Got panniers, but I hate them, which is really disappointing.

The bike is so heavy now It's hard to even lift. I can't accelerate, can't stop, can't corner and I feel like a total sitting duck in traffic. Tried coming down the hill and I've got no confidence in anything, and I tried going up the fire-trail I want to use and couldn't. It sucks.

I hope I can return them.

[Yw-slayer]

Or just start doing bicep curls, then you'll be able to lift the bike, BRO.

[Cam]

Or maybe you could just give them a chance? You will get used to them. I was off-put by the weight at first too. I have difficulty believing that you can't accellerate or go up hills. ;) What did you put in them, lead ingots?

[G'day Mate]

Normally I would give something a chance, but in this case every little thing sucks. And yeah, I've got a laptop in one of them and standing on the pedals and swaying the bike even slightly causes the bag to hit my rear wheel. I think I have short chainstays ... apparently that's bad, and if I moved them any further forward they'd be hitting my heels.

Also, starting Monday I have a choice of technical descents every morning. Here's the easiest (but fastest) one:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIh5vZ9KDZ8

Not with those panniers, no thank you.

[Cam]

Perhaps a different style/higher quality might work better?

[G'day Mate]

Yeah, nah, I just can't see it working. Not for me that is. Oh well

[Tom Servo]

Well, if I needed evidence that Ciclavia is catching on, our morning news was a good sign. There's one guy on there (the entertainment reporter) who's a regular cyclist, but the rest of the news was all about "the traffic nightmare" and whether or not it was going to hurt businesses along the route (despite this concern coming up each time and then the businesses that choose to stay open during the event all report significantly better business, especially for a Sunday). This morning, all of the people on there were talking about the event, many clearly having gone to their first one, and gushing about how amazing it was, saying the same things we've been saying all along. Like how it connects you to the neighborhood, you see stores and shops that you never see at driving speed, and things like "I'm pretty sure I made it up and down Ventura faster on my bike than I would on a normal afternoon drive". I'm so used to the news focusing on the potential negatives, it was pretty cool seeing a bunch of non-regular cyclists discover just how great it can be, and maybe they'll start riding outside of events like that more often.

[overpowered]

Normally I would give something a chance, but in this case every little thing sucks. And yeah, I've got a laptop in one of them and standing on the pedals and swaying the bike even slightly causes the bag to hit my rear wheel. I think I have short chainstays ... apparently that's bad, and if I moved them any further forward they'd be hitting my heels.A proper pannier would never hit the wheel ever. It is indeed very bad for that to happen.

What kind of rack and panniers are you using? Pictures of it on the bike?


The weight thing is something that you have to deal with with a backpack as well, but the weight ends up higher, which is actually worse.

[George]

Is the rack on the racing bike? If so, maybe that's causing all the handling problems? If I can bring home a gallon of milk on the rack of my MTB and not even notice the difference, surely a guy who can ride 10+ hours at a time can pedal home from work with some extra weight. Maybe the weight is on a bike so light that it feels like it's going to fold up while riding or tip over while cornering or whatever else it's doing to ruin the ride?

In other news, I was surfing some bike stuff this weekend and one link led to another and I noticed this guy at the All-City bikes website. He kinda looks familiar, doesn't he?

1124

Source: http://allcitycycles.com/bikes/nature_boy, then scroll down to Gallery. I couldn't figure out how to link that picture to this post)

[G'day Mate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_9HRtzg5NM

[overpowered]

Are you using one of those seat post racks on the racing bike that don't actually attach to the dropouts? That's the only thing I can imagine would allow the panniers to touch the wheel.

You might want to use a proper rack on a hard tail mountain bike or touring bike or some such that is set up for a proper rack that attaches to at least 3 if not 4 points on your bike.

Racing bikes are terrible for carrying things.

Seat post racks are really just meant to hold a rack trunk, though some have hangers to allow panniers. I don't see how that can work well without attaching the hangers to the frame.

[George]

After watching G'day's latest video, I wonder if we should:

1. joke about how even little yappy rat-dogs will try to kill you in Australia

2. take guesses as to what was in that guy's backpack that made the little ankle-biter chase him so hard

3. suggest that G'day mount a polo mallet on his rack so he can help protect his mates from these menacing mini-mutts

Either way, :lol:

[G'day Mate]

Here's my commuting bike, with and without the panniers. Don't know exactly what ones they are but they weren't cheap.

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/bike1.jpg
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/insaneogram81/bike2.jpg

I dunno, I just don't like them.

[overpowered]

Looks like a proper rack then. If those are moving into the wheel from a proper rack, then they suck and you should return them, but that doesn't mean that all panniers suck. Most panniers have some sort of hard backing or framing on the bike side that keeps them from deforming on that side.

[SportWagon]

Panniers work better if the triangle of the rack is behind the middle of them, whereas the triangles in your case seem to be only behind the front part of them. Of course, if you moved the bags to be centred over the triangles, they would hit your ankles. You'd be better off with smaller (less tall) bags so they wouldn't be so near the rear axle. Perhaps use a small back pack for only your lap top?

Also, yes, you want a solid backing on the inside of the panniers, but even then they need to be positioned properly so they stay away from the spokes.

Oh. And a full rear fender would add stays which would help keep the bags out of the wheel, but that shouldn't be necessary.

[George]

A rack with more support in the rear might keep the panniers off the tire. Here's an example from google:

http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/8862223/Ibera-Bike-PAKRAK-Touring-Carrier-Plus-Rack-Frame-Mounted-for-Heavier-Loads-IB-RA4-4fa4fcbd-b80a-4c1a-989f-cc77c2201ccf_320.jpg

[G'day Mate]

... Of course, if you moved the bags to be centred over the triangles, they would hit your ankles...

Also, yes, you want a solid backing on the inside of the panniers, but even then they need to be positioned properly so they stay away from the spokes.

That's right, and the bags do have a stiff insert in the back of them - I really don't think it's the bags (they're good quality - they've got their own high-vis raincoats and everything) it's the overall setup. I've been looking at other people's racks (like what George posted) and noticed that some sit further back and might solve that one problem, but that aside I still just don't like it. The bike is just so heavy! One thing I do in a few places is make a right-hand turn (remembering that we drive on the left) by riding straight across the intersection, stopping in front of traffic on the other side and waiting for the green light to go with them. I turn my bike by just picking it up and twisting it 90 degrees, or even just putting the front brake on, lifting the back and swinging it around. I much prefer a nimble bike.

[Cam]

You know it's a trade-off, right? You can't haul a load AND be lightweight. Like OP said, if you use a backpack instead, you'll still be carrying the same weight. It will be on your back instead of on your bike, however. This rider knows where it's at.


Hardcore dude riding the Dalton Highway spotted taking a break. :eek:
760


One of a couple. If a girl can do it. You can do it, right? :p

[G'day Mate]

Yeah, I understand that it's still the same stuff I'm carrying. I simply don't like the panniers - for me they've created more problems than they've solved.

[G'day Mate]

Also, this morning it seemed like everyone was out to get me :(


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTVVAkfIs98

[George]

Hardcore dude riding the Dalton Highway spotted taking a break.
Attachment 760

Whoa...touring on flat bars? Yikes, I hate riding five miles to work on mine. But bars aside, I keep thinking that bicycle camping, or at least day-tripping with the family might be a fun thing to do as the kids get bigger and we ride more together. I love to see those heavily loaded bikes. This past summer we went to Steamboat Springs for a weekend and on the drive from Denver we saw several bike tourists on two-lane rural highways as cars and trucks blew past. I thought I'd like to do that, only not so far out in the middle of nowhere. These folks at times were hours away from the next town.


I turn my bike by just picking it up and twisting it 90 degrees, or even just putting the front brake on, lifting the back and swinging it around.

When I first started commuting on my road bike in 2014 - yes, I know you guys have been doing this for years/decades/since the last century/etc. - I remember being amazed at a stop light, waiting for the light to change, and sort of absentmindedly leaning forward on the bike while standing over it and holding the front brake lever. Of course the rear tire came right up off the ground, and I thought, wow, that has never happened to me on a bicycle before.

I got some chain grease on my leg when that happened, and thought it might enhance my street cred, but I saw no evidence of that during the subsequent commute.

One of these might make G'day's commuter bike easier to pivot on the front wheel:

www.cetmacargo.com/pages/cetma-racks-info


I can outride G'day Mate every day of the week, and twice on Sunday! :lol:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0168/2148/files/tumblr_n97u3fFo4p1rdeo1uo1_500_large.jpg?428792121 3363138522

[G'day Mate]

:lol:

So, to throw another spanner in the works, coming down that descent on my flat-bar is scary as hell.

I think what I'll do is just start commuting on my roadie. Don't know what else I can do. Oh well.

[overpowered]

Weight happens on commutes. You get over it. Seriously.

[G'day Mate]

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/015/orly.jpg

Pardon me for being excited about my new house and trying to work out the best option for a commute that involves carrying a heavy load with a descent amount of climbing and fast descending with the occasional dirt track and 20% pinch thrown in.

[Yw-slayer]

You call that weight?

1125

(original source James Bell via Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingjim/8499545699/)

[SportWagon]

Is there some reason G'day needs to carry more now than he did before?

It looks like the panniers chosen are themselves heavy; made of heavy traditional tent-canvas type material. They look like they are designed for a leisurely camping trip of arbitrary length.

Light nylon panniers can work well; perhaps pre-emptively reinforce obvious problem places inside with duck tape. You shouldn't need as much volume as is offered by the giant panniers shown. Basically you're carrying a change of clothes plus the laptop, right?

The type of rack George found should solve one of the problems.

For many years I used a pair of cheap panniers, joined at the top, modified by adding springs found at a hardware store, to allow me to quickly take them on and off the rack. Webbing straps held them on the rack at the top, too. And some bungee arrangement helped hold everything in place, on top of the U-lock which fitted nicely on the top shelf of the rack. I didn't carry much more than pants and shirt, but also a light rain jacket, and a leg-light for night-time, and spare batteries. And I might need room for cool morning clothes, but tights and sweaters don't generally take up much room. Hmm. I actually tended to wear yellow sweat pants in cool weather in those days, so they were a little bulkier, but manageable.

I didn't make heavy use of the "drive clothes in by car" technique, but I tended to have a passable spare set of clothes at work in case I forgot something some day, and my dress shoes did live permanently at work. My commute was about 10 miles each way. Long enough that such preparation wasn't really a waste. But somewhat on the minimal side of that, I guess.

But I really would worry about carrying a laptop in such a bag. It must be subject to quite a lot of shocks.

[Yw-slayer]

In before OP posts it!!!

http://iamtraffic.org/advocacy-focus-areas/evaluation/i-am-traffic-bicyclist-lane-control-survey/

[G'day Mate]

... how the hell am I supposed to know when I learnt lane-control??

[Tom Servo]

I know I learned it within 6 months of starting to ride regularly (I nearly got doored my first week riding), so I just went with zero years of riding without knowing it.

[overpowered]

For me learning lane control was a process that took time. It's hard to say when I truly understood lane control. It was combination of education and experience. The more I did lane control, the more convinced I became that it was highly effective and should be the default, not the exception.

[overpowered]

556 miles in 24 hours:

http://www.outsideonline.com/news-from-the-field/New-Cycling-Record-556-Miles-in-24-Hours.html

[Yw-slayer]

I only heard about it when I spoke to people from the HK Cycling Alliance, and read OP's posts.

[overpowered]

Hong Kong Magistrate blames killed cyclist for being on the road

http://www.baikbike.com/hong-kong-magistrate-blames-killed-cyclist-for-being-on-the-road/

[Cam]

:smh: