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AG: Safety Equipment for Bicycles
Am 04.08.2015 um 18:10 schrieb Frank Krygowski:
I've read that for some folks, problems may be caused by extra-strong eye dominance. I'm right eye dominant, but have my mirror on my left glasses temple. I eventually realized I blink every time I turn my attention to the mirror. I'm also right-eye dominant with the mirror on the left eye. I started using the glasses mirror around age 25, and it took me a few hour of training / weeks of usage until I was fully utilizing the mirror. I guess the mirror even helped me to protect my good eyesight on the left eye (which was getting lazy compared to the excellent eye sight of the right eye at the time). Rolf "at 45, no need for glasses yet" Mantel |
AG: Washing gloves
Bleeding blacks have a variant of the Xanth zombie spell: No matter how many times you wash them, they have more dye. So if your poorly-dyed black garment hasn't bled completely white, keep on rinsing the sweat out of your clothes in two separate buckets. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Washing gloves
On Sat, 15 Aug 2015 22:58:30 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: Bleeding blacks have a variant of the Xanth zombie spell: No matter how many times you wash them, they have more dye. So if your poorly-dyed black garment hasn't bled completely white, keep on rinsing the sweat out of your clothes in two separate buckets. What I do is just shed the sweaty clothes in a pile and my wife takes care of all the details :-) In fact she thinks my efforts in either the kitchen or laundry is something to laugh about, and orders me "Out!" of both places. On the other hand she seems to feel that stopped up drains are well within my area of expertise :-) -- cheers, John B. |
AG: If you can't miss it, hit it square.
The sharper the angle at which you strike an obstacle, the more likely it is to steer the bicycle out from under you. Brushing against a curb that's almost parallel to your velocity is a guaranteed fall, if you aren't both very lucky and possessed of a track racer's supernatural balance. So if you see a flaw in the pavement and have no alternative to riding over it, come as close to hitting it at right angles as you can. A drop-off is less likely to steer the bike than a bump, so line up for the far edge of a hole and the near edge of a bump. Some, BUT NOT ALL, of the curbs that are used to block the entrances of driveways, alleys, and parking lots are sloped gently enough that you can treat them as short, sharp hills: striking one of these at a sharp angle is equivalent to switchbacking. But don't switchback a curb when there is another moving vehicle anywhere in the neighborhood unless you are absolutely, positootly certain that he can -- and will -- miss you if you fall. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
Joy Beeson wrote:
Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. I'm pretty emphatic on the idea that as a vehicle, a bicycle has all the rights *and* responsibilities of any other vehicle, including following the traffic code. A bicycle is not a pedestrian. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. Yep. I nearly hit a guy a few weeks ago. I was pulling out of a driveway of a shopping center, and there was a guy (probably teenager) on a small BMX bike. I was making a right turn, and he was coming from my right, on the sidewalk, and against the traffic. Plus, it was night, and he had no light. For me, as a motorist, if I'm making a right turn, I'm looking to my left, to look for oncoming traffic, and I'm not looking right, at at the sidewalk, for a bicycle that's going several times the speed of a pedestrian. There was no collision, but he clearly was upset that I had pulled in front of him. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. Yep. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. Depends on where you are. I live near a major university, and on some of the major boulevards near campus, on the backs of street signs that designate bike lanes, the backs have signs with the familiar red-slashed circle in front of a bicycle, and underneath, "wrong way". I don't remember for sure, but I think the "wrong way" signs are yellow background, rather than white background. One of the things we also have at some intersections around here is that if there's a designated right turn lane, and a motorist has to cross the bicycle lane to get to the right turn lane, the marking for the bike lane becomes a dashed line, and does a good job of communicating to the motorist that the bike lane continues, and that to get into the right turn lane, it requires crossing the bike lane. It wasn't until I'd seen this one a few times, that I realized one of the fundamental rules, regarding road striping (at least in the US -- I've never completely figured out all the striping in the UK). That one is that if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well. A lot of motorists tend not to know this one. Thus, it's not just handling of bike lanes, but other things, as well, including entering intersections, places where there's stop-and-go traffic, such as toll plazas and inspection stations, and in some places, diamond carpool lanes. I was just in Southern California a couple of weeks ago, and their carpool lanes are set up where there's a solid line (in this case, double-yellow) that separates the carpool lane from the next lane of traffic, and there are breaks only every couple of miles. When I drive there, I've rarely seen a motorist move in or out of a diamond lane by crossing over the double line, but waiting until the designated break spot. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. One of the things that often escapes urban planners (and for that matter, the public in general) is that there's more than one kind of "cyclist". For many, they tend to project their own experiences on a bicycle, either as a child, or as casual/occasional adult rider, where the speed of the rider is expected to be consistent with a pedestrian, and where the bicycle often is regarded as a "toy". From the perspective of the motorist, this kind of rider is essentially a standing object, and for policy purposes, something that should be isolated from motor traffic, as much as possible. And yes, this is where most of the expectation of design of "bike lanes", "bikeways", etc. Not only urban bikeways that are magnets for non-cyclists (walkers, runners, people on rollerblades, people pushing strollers, skate boarders, etc.), but also spaces around schools, where the "cyclists" are mostly children (with varying riding skills) that are going to and from school. A separate class of cyclist are the riders who really ride -- commuters, fast fitness riders etc., who are often going at considerably faster speeds, and longer distances than the casual riders. And far better skills at handling the bike, as well as riding in traffic. Not too far from where I live, there's an urban bikeway, and close by, a major arterial boulevard. The boulevard is three lanes of traffic in each direction, and I believe that the posted speed limit is 50 MPH, and there's no marking for bike lines, although there's adequate space for bicycles. It's pretty clear that the urban planners expect all bicycle traffic to use the bikeway. However, the bikeway is the typical magnet for foot traffic. Personally, I'm quite content to go out there on my rollerblades, but if I'm on my bike, I'm sticking to the street, because my activity (and speed) is far more consistent with motor vehicle traffic, than it is in trying to dodge the foot traffic that accumulates on the bikeway. For a cyclist, riding the bikeway is analogous to a motorist driving in a school zone -- it may get you to where you want to go, but expect frequent stops to allow for slower traffic. I should note that this for this particular situation, I'm not advocating that all cyclists use the street. It's one that takes experience, of good bike handling skills, and good skills in riding in traffic -- and where the cyclist knows that he/she is following all the rules of the Motor Vehicle Code, including red lights and stop signs. I know plenty of casual riders that have no business on that particular street, and should be using the bikeway. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. Absolutely, but at the same time, stay away from the sidewalks. The relationship between the bicycle and the sidewalk should perpendicular, where the bike is on a sidewalk only for crossing it, and access to a driveway. For the bikeways, if you need to be there, the bike is at the top of the figurative food chain, the fastest and most aggressive that is there. Thus, that means that you have to assume that *you* have a speed limit. Smith |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 9/5/2015 11:07 AM, NFN Smith wrote:
Joy Beeson wrote: Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. I'm pretty emphatic on the idea that as a vehicle, a bicycle has all the rights *and* responsibilities of any other vehicle, including following the traffic code. A bicycle is not a pedestrian. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. Yep. I nearly hit a guy a few weeks ago. I was pulling out of a driveway of a shopping center, and there was a guy (probably teenager) on a small BMX bike. I was making a right turn, and he was coming from my right, on the sidewalk, and against the traffic. Plus, it was night, and he had no light. For me, as a motorist, if I'm making a right turn, I'm looking to my left, to look for oncoming traffic, and I'm not looking right, at at the sidewalk, for a bicycle that's going several times the speed of a pedestrian. There was no collision, but he clearly was upset that I had pulled in front of him. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. Yep. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. Depends on where you are. I live near a major university, and on some of the major boulevards near campus, on the backs of street signs that designate bike lanes, the backs have signs with the familiar red-slashed circle in front of a bicycle, and underneath, "wrong way". I don't remember for sure, but I think the "wrong way" signs are yellow background, rather than white background. One of the things we also have at some intersections around here is that if there's a designated right turn lane, and a motorist has to cross the bicycle lane to get to the right turn lane, the marking for the bike lane becomes a dashed line, and does a good job of communicating to the motorist that the bike lane continues, and that to get into the right turn lane, it requires crossing the bike lane. It wasn't until I'd seen this one a few times, that I realized one of the fundamental rules, regarding road striping (at least in the US -- I've never completely figured out all the striping in the UK). That one is that if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well. A lot of motorists tend not to know this one. Thus, it's not just handling of bike lanes, but other things, as well, including entering intersections, places where there's stop-and-go traffic, such as toll plazas and inspection stations, and in some places, diamond carpool lanes. I was just in Southern California a couple of weeks ago, and their carpool lanes are set up where there's a solid line (in this case, double-yellow) that separates the carpool lane from the next lane of traffic, and there are breaks only every couple of miles. When I drive there, I've rarely seen a motorist move in or out of a diamond lane by crossing over the double line, but waiting until the designated break spot. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. One of the things that often escapes urban planners (and for that matter, the public in general) is that there's more than one kind of "cyclist". For many, they tend to project their own experiences on a bicycle, either as a child, or as casual/occasional adult rider, where the speed of the rider is expected to be consistent with a pedestrian, and where the bicycle often is regarded as a "toy". From the perspective of the motorist, this kind of rider is essentially a standing object, and for policy purposes, something that should be isolated from motor traffic, as much as possible. And yes, this is where most of the expectation of design of "bike lanes", "bikeways", etc. Not only urban bikeways that are magnets for non-cyclists (walkers, runners, people on rollerblades, people pushing strollers, skate boarders, etc.), but also spaces around schools, where the "cyclists" are mostly children (with varying riding skills) that are going to and from school. A separate class of cyclist are the riders who really ride -- commuters, fast fitness riders etc., who are often going at considerably faster speeds, and longer distances than the casual riders. And far better skills at handling the bike, as well as riding in traffic. Not too far from where I live, there's an urban bikeway, and close by, a major arterial boulevard. The boulevard is three lanes of traffic in each direction, and I believe that the posted speed limit is 50 MPH, and there's no marking for bike lines, although there's adequate space for bicycles. It's pretty clear that the urban planners expect all bicycle traffic to use the bikeway. However, the bikeway is the typical magnet for foot traffic. Personally, I'm quite content to go out there on my rollerblades, but if I'm on my bike, I'm sticking to the street, because my activity (and speed) is far more consistent with motor vehicle traffic, than it is in trying to dodge the foot traffic that accumulates on the bikeway. For a cyclist, riding the bikeway is analogous to a motorist driving in a school zone -- it may get you to where you want to go, but expect frequent stops to allow for slower traffic. I should note that this for this particular situation, I'm not advocating that all cyclists use the street. It's one that takes experience, of good bike handling skills, and good skills in riding in traffic -- and where the cyclist knows that he/she is following all the rules of the Motor Vehicle Code, including red lights and stop signs. I know plenty of casual riders that have no business on that particular street, and should be using the bikeway. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. Absolutely, but at the same time, stay away from the sidewalks. The relationship between the bicycle and the sidewalk should perpendicular, where the bike is on a sidewalk only for crossing it, and access to a driveway. For the bikeways, if you need to be there, the bike is at the top of the figurative food chain, the fastest and most aggressive that is there. Thus, that means that you have to assume that *you* have a speed limit. Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: A newspaper cooler
When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: A newspaper cooler
On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 01:05:47 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. I wonder, why not make a Styrofoam box to carry on the bike? I'm sure that you can buy sheet Styrofoam and either contact cement or epoxy glue will hold it together nicely. Admittedly it does take a little forethought to be sure that you have it when you need it, but with a little care it should last for years. -- cheers, John B. |
AG: A newspaper cooler
On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 17:54:24 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote: John B. considered Sun, 06 Sep 2015 18:12:54 +0700 the perfect time to write: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 01:05:47 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. I wonder, why not make a Styrofoam box to carry on the bike? I'm sure that you can buy sheet Styrofoam and either contact cement or epoxy glue will hold it together nicely. Admittedly it does take a little forethought to be sure that you have it when you need it, but with a little care it should last for years. All styrofoam can do is insulate, and it takes up space all the time, regardless of how useful it is at that time. Newspaper, by being simply wetted with water, will act as a refridgerator, as the water evaporates and cools the contents. On a moving cycle, this evaporation is enhanced, and the cooling effect is sufficient to keep milk fresh (and butter solid) on a tour, even without a Thermos flask. Of course, you can only use it once or twice in that way before it gets pretty disgusting, but as it's usually free, and using it will only delay it's entry into the recycling system, that doesn't matter. I wonder. Back in the "good old days" I took the "paper" daily and always had a stack of news paper for use when to paint something or clean the chain. Now I read the news on the computer and have to remember to buy a paper occasionally or I can't paint.. or clean the bike chain :-) -- cheers, John B. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
Frank Krygowski wrote:
Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Smith |
AG: Stoplights
On Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 5:42:50 PM UTC-7, Joy Beeson wrote:
I once witnessed an egregious example of not understanding the rules: A traffic light changed and a car stopped in the intersection to wait for it to turn green again. Though we call it a stop light, a red light doesn't mean "stop". It means "it is not your turn to use the intersection". Had the driver understood this, he wouldn't have remained in the intersection when it wasn't his turn. The most-common way to avoid entering an intersection is to stop, but it's also permitted to move slowly enough that the light turns green just as you reach it, or to turn off on a side road if one presents itself. Likewise, a green light isn't a command to shut your eyes and plow straight ahead. A green light grants permission to enter the intersection if it is, in your considered opinion, safe to enter the intersection. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. Well, I admit that's the best description of how lights should be treated I've seen. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 9/7/2015 6:31 PM, Phil W Lee wrote:
NFN Smith considered Mon, 7 Sep 2015 08:41:39 -0700 the perfect time to write: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. And will be completely different for countries following the Vienna conventions on road traffic (most of the world outside North America). Can you tell us what the rules are for passing slow-moving bicycles in those countries? -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 08/09/2015 3:14 PM, Phil W Lee wrote:
Duane considered Tue, 8 Sep 2015 09:15:33 -0400 the perfect time to write: On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... The trouble with a fixed passing distance is that what is safe depends on the size and speed of the passing vehicle, as well as things like crosswinds. Even if the mandatory distance is stated to be a minimum, once people have a figure, they tend to use it whatever the circumstances. I'll happily accept a small motorcycle passing at less than a metre if it is only going 10mph faster than I am, but a 44 tonne truck doing 50mph with a crosswind from the right (the passing side in the UK) is a whole different matter, and anything less than 2 metres is at least very unpleasant, and a metre is downright dangerous. But likely a 44 ton truck is not going to be able to pass me in the same lane with 1m to spare so he will be forced to move to the other lane. Well theoretically anyway. That's what they seem to do in places where the 1m min is in effect. At the moment here it's up to the driver to determine what a safe passing distance is. 1 meter minimum is better than that, I think. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On Tue, 8 Sep 2015 09:15:33 -0400, Duane
wrote: On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... Something that comes to mind with the 1 metre or 3 foot laws that seem to be coming into style. Essentially it appears to mean that it is not safe for an auto to pass a bicycle closer than 3 ft, or 1 metre. But does that equally mean that it is unsafe for a bicycle to pass an auto closer then the afore mentioned distance? Certainly if the law were to be interpreted in such a manner it would certainly do much to solve the "door" problem that some cyclists seem to encounter. -- cheers, John B. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 09/09/2015 1:32 AM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 8 Sep 2015 09:15:33 -0400, Duane wrote: On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... Something that comes to mind with the 1 metre or 3 foot laws that seem to be coming into style. Essentially it appears to mean that it is not safe for an auto to pass a bicycle closer than 3 ft, or 1 metre. But does that equally mean that it is unsafe for a bicycle to pass an auto closer then the afore mentioned distance? Certainly if the law were to be interpreted in such a manner it would certainly do much to solve the "door" problem that some cyclists seem to encounter. Not sure why you would need a law to tell you not to ride in a door zone. I guess we have lots of laws trying to prevent stupidity though. One of the main reasons for riders getting doored here is that the law is written in a way to imply that they should be in the door zone. There are even some bike lanes that are exactly in the door zone. Rather than a law requiring riders to not be in the door zone, I'd prefer a clear exclusion to the ride right law that allows riders to move to the left to avoid doorings. Better to legislate against behavior that's injurious to others and allow behavior that protects the individual in my opinion, if you see what I mean. I also think that increasing the fine from 35 bucks to 500-1000 bucks like Ontario is doing will go a long way to alert drivers to not be stupid. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On Wed, 9 Sep 2015 08:59:02 -0400, Duane
wrote: On 09/09/2015 1:32 AM, John B. wrote: On Tue, 8 Sep 2015 09:15:33 -0400, Duane wrote: On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... Something that comes to mind with the 1 metre or 3 foot laws that seem to be coming into style. Essentially it appears to mean that it is not safe for an auto to pass a bicycle closer than 3 ft, or 1 metre. But does that equally mean that it is unsafe for a bicycle to pass an auto closer then the afore mentioned distance? Certainly if the law were to be interpreted in such a manner it would certainly do much to solve the "door" problem that some cyclists seem to encounter. Not sure why you would need a law to tell you not to ride in a door zone. I guess we have lots of laws trying to prevent stupidity though. One of the main reasons for riders getting doored here is that the law is written in a way to imply that they should be in the door zone. There are even some bike lanes that are exactly in the door zone. Rather than a law requiring riders to not be in the door zone, I'd prefer a clear exclusion to the ride right law that allows riders to move to the left to avoid doorings. Better to legislate against behavior that's injurious to others and allow behavior that protects the individual in my opinion, if you see what I mean. I also think that increasing the fine from 35 bucks to 500-1000 bucks like Ontario is doing will go a long way to alert drivers to not be stupid. Singapore has always done that. Back when the average monthly wage was probably under $2,000 a month the fine for spitting on the sidewalk was $1,000. They did the same thing for talking on a hand phone without a hands free device. Needless to say, you very, very seldom see anyone spitting on the sidewalk or driving a car holding a phone up to their ear. They also hang dope dealers, usually about a month after conviction. Surprisingly, there is a relatively small drug problem in Singapore. -- cheers, John B. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 9/9/2015 1:32 AM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 8 Sep 2015 09:15:33 -0400, Duane wrote: On 07/09/2015 11:41 AM, NFN Smith wrote: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. Quebec not only allows crossing a solid line in this case but if it is not "safe" to pass the bicycle in the same lane, the passing vehicle must move into the other lane when safe to do so and wait behind the bicycle until it's safe to do so. There is supposed to be some legislation coming to tell a motorist when it's safe to pass a bike in the same lane. Some apparently think that as long as you don't hit the bike, it was safe. I expect a 1 meter minimum law to come. Not sure what they plan to do about the jerks that try passing in a blind turn by moving into the other lane... Something that comes to mind with the 1 metre or 3 foot laws that seem to be coming into style. Essentially it appears to mean that it is not safe for an auto to pass a bicycle closer than 3 ft, or 1 metre. But does that equally mean that it is unsafe for a bicycle to pass an auto closer then the afore mentioned distance? Certainly if the law were to be interpreted in such a manner it would certainly do much to solve the "door" problem that some cyclists seem to encounter. Judging from what I've read on various cycling advocacy forums, some U.S. state's minimum passing clearance laws do apply to bikes passing cars. I think those aspects of the laws are generally bad. Yes, cyclists should be out of the door zone. But on occasion, competent cyclists prefer to filter forward in heavy stopped traffic (even though it's only rarely needed in my case). I don't think a slow moving cyclist should be prevented from closely passing a stopped car. FWIW, I also don't think three feet is always adequate passing clearance. One NE state (Maine? New Hampshire? I forget) has a more complicated law, something like three feet up to 40 mph, plus an additional foot for every extra 10 mph. Trouble is, it's hard to get overly complicated laws passed. You usually have to settle for what's politically possible. -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On Monday, September 7, 2015 at 5:33:43 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/7/2015 6:31 PM, Phil W Lee wrote: NFN Smith considered Mon, 7 Sep 2015 08:41:39 -0700 the perfect time to write: Frank Krygowski wrote: Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. Good clarification. I had forgotten about scenario of temporary lane change for overtaking, although I suspect that there's probably a measure of variance from state to state. And will be completely different for countries following the Vienna conventions on road traffic (most of the world outside North America). Can you tell us what the rules are for passing slow-moving bicycles in those countries? -- - Frank Krygowski In France I didn't see people passing people other than casually. I also didn't see racers inside the city limits. That was in 2002 and things might have changed. Stress levels seem to be a LOT higher now. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
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AG: Legal isn't always smart
Duane wrote:
But likely a 44 ton truck is not going to be able to pass me in the same lane with 1m to spare so he will be forced to move to the other lane. Well theoretically anyway. That's what they seem to do in places where the 1m min is in effect. At the moment here it's up to the driver to determine what a safe passing distance is. 1 meter minimum is better than that, I think. Depends on the road. Many years ago, I got blown off the road by a passing truck. I don't remember for sure, but it may have given 2m of clearance, but certainly not more than that. In this particular situation, I was on a right-hand bend, the road had minimal paved shoulder, and a double-yellow center line. Because it was essentially a blind curve, the truck had near-zero incentive to give me anything more than the absolute minimum space. For me getting blown off the road, that was partly that I was really fatigued, and it probably wouldn't have happened, if I had been in better condition. Smith |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
Am 08.09.2015 um 21:05 schrieb Phil W Lee:
The difference between those types of dashed markings is advisory. Where there is a mandatory restriction of crossing the centre line, it will be doubled, with at least one of the lines being solid. If only one line is solid, the restriction applies if it is the one closest to you, and if they are both solid, you cannot cross from either side. The 'double solid lines' is not an agreed standard of the Vienna Concention but an optional extension. Germany uses double solid lines only on multi-lane roads to distinguish the difference between driving directions (where a single solid white line might be used to separate normal lanes from turning lanes). Also, the usage of yellow lines for edge-of-road markings is not defined in the convention. The solid lines first mean "no overtaking here" (where overtaking is defined to be overtaking a moving vehicle with more than one lane of tires, i.e. bicycles and motorbikes may be overtaken but motorbikes may not overtake cars), secondly the mean "do not cross the solid line in normal operation" and thirdly they mean "no parking". So with solid lines, car may overtake bicyles but they may not crosse the center line while overtaking (motor bikes may not legally overtake cars even if thes stay inside the lane which is generally ignored). Cars must stay behind moving horse-drawn carriages or agricultural vehicles - imagine a 60 mph road going over a blind hilltop where you do not see oncoming traffic. With solid lines, mail trucks must not stop at mail boxes (or contrarily, there must not be solid lines in areas where mail is delivered by truck - parcel deliveries are known to ignore all rules of the road on parking anyways) but if a parcel delivery stops in areas with solid lines, you are allowed to cross the solid line with exceptional care. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 09/09/2015 6:31 PM, NFN Smith wrote:
Duane wrote: But likely a 44 ton truck is not going to be able to pass me in the same lane with 1m to spare so he will be forced to move to the other lane. Well theoretically anyway. That's what they seem to do in places where the 1m min is in effect. At the moment here it's up to the driver to determine what a safe passing distance is. 1 meter minimum is better than that, I think. Depends on the road. Many years ago, I got blown off the road by a passing truck. I don't remember for sure, but it may have given 2m of clearance, but certainly not more than that. In this particular situation, I was on a right-hand bend, the road had minimal paved shoulder, and a double-yellow center line. Because it was essentially a blind curve, the truck had near-zero incentive to give me anything more than the absolute minimum space. For me getting blown off the road, that was partly that I was really fatigued, and it probably wouldn't have happened, if I had been in better condition. The "idea" here is that the truck would have had to cross the double yellow to pass if it couldn't pass safely. We currently don't have a minimum passing law, only the "pass safely" provision. There are some drivers that are not going to even think about waiting to pass until it's safe. I'm not sure what you can do about them. Even taking the lane, they're just going to switch lanes in a blind turn. I've had this happen with oncoming traffic and our whole group had to go into the brush to avoid the idiot when he moved back. I don't see how any law will prevent this from happening. But at least with a minimum passing law, a policeman can ticket someone in violation. I've NEVER heard of anyone getting ticketed for passing a bike too close here. |
AG: Legal isn't always smart
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AG: Fuel stops
A serving of the jam pudding called "fruit-flavored yogurt" is a good way to get a quick shot of sugar when you stop at a grocery store. Get full-fat "yogurt" if at all possible, and read the label carefully to be sure there is no non-nutritive sweetener in it. I wrap a clear-plastic disposable spoon in a paper towel and stash it in my tool kit; with that and my pocket knife, I'm pretty well set to eat anything I buy along the way. Once, when I didn't have a spoon with me, I bought a cup of yogurt and a box of crackers, and used the crackers to dip up the yogurt. Plain tortilla chips are also pretty good with sweet stuff, and corn is very glycemic. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Stoplights
On Mon, 7 Sep 2015 13:20:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
{Repost snipped] Well, I admit that's the best description of how lights should be treated I've seen. Thank you. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Fuel stops
On Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:37:55 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote: [snip] I like fruit flapjack, and if making it myself I use honey instead of golden syrup (although that doesn't give any nutritional benefit, it tastes nicer). With sugar (both the plain sort and in the form of syrup or honey), oats. and some kind of dried fruit in the mix (banana & date is my favourite), it makes almost a meal in a bar, and you don't need any utensils to eat it. You can make it by the large slab-load, cut it into whatever portion size you like, and store it in an airtight jar or tin until needed - It keeps extremely well. Just carry it in a sandwich bag, either in a pocket or whatever luggage you prefer. I used to make a "high-calorie muffin" of equal parts of sunflower seeds, raisins, and self-rising mixed edible powder, with mashed ripe banana or other sweet for the wet ingredient. Eventually I figured out how to make it into bars, which was a lot easier than dividing the dough into eighteen muffin tins. Nowadays, between reduced range and living in town, I count on buying food along the way, and carry Aldi's fruit-and-grain and "protein" bars for emergencies. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Fuel stops
On Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:48:40 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote: A lot of the commercially available fruit & cereal bars are pretty much the same as flapjacks, but at many times the cost. They are convenient though, which I suppose is what you are paying for. If I put food into a pannier with the serious intent of eating it, home-made is the way to go. But when it's just-in-case, I prefer something that can go on an indefinite number of trips before it's eaten. On tomorrow's trip, the first stop is a grocery, the second is a hospital with a very good cafeteria, the third stop is behind the Wong place, then I pass Panda express on my way to the bread outlet, the fifth stop is a grocery store next to a line of fast-food places. I'll probably bring my bag of food bars home again. Plus a box of fruit-and-grain bars. I just checked, and we're out. Plenty of "protein" bars, which we both like better. Aldi's bars are both cheaper and better than the bars in our town's other grocery stores, and Aldi is the object of tomorrow's tour. Goodwill etc. were thrown in for exercise. Alas, I'll be in Sprawlmart before four in the afternoon, but it's about three months too late to bring a bagel sandwich home for supper. Big Apple Bakery was thriving one day and gone the next. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Fuel stops
On 9/14/2015 9:13 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On tomorrow's trip, the first stop is a grocery, the second is a hospital with a very good cafeteria... Hospital food is often underrated. On one long tour, we rode into a small town and asked a guy about a good place to eat supper. He recommended the hospital cafeteria as having some of the best food in town. It was very good indeed, and quite inexpensive. The folks in the cafeteria seemed to think our cycling garb looked funny, but the eating was fine. I remember a group of teens openly snickering at us. As we left, I walked over to them and asked them some innocuous question, and eventually mentioned that we'd ridden over 60 miles that day. It was funny to watch the snickering get replaced by a sort of shyness, then a bit of respect. -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: Taking it Easy isn't Easy
The hills on one ride weren't as steep as I expected. As I climbed, I wondered: Is this a particularly easy route that I can recommend to others, or are my quads building up faster than I had hoped? I concluded that the main factor was that my two previous rides had been a little longer than I thought I was ready for, so I'd recently had a lot of intense practice in taking it easy on myself. ---------- Just going slow won't do it. You can ride so fast that you fall over in exhaustion before the end of the first mile -- and you can ride so slowly that you fall over in exhaustion before the end of the first mile. (Well, a track cyclist could ride that slow; most of us would fall over for other reasons.) Somewhere in between there is a sweet spot, and only experience can tell you what speed is least tiring. The optimum speed varies with time of day, terrain, current condition, what you've eaten lately, and everything else. Fortunately, once you have had experience, you can tell cruising speed from too fast and too slow continuously. ---------- One rule of taking it easy is don't strain, don't strain, don't strain. Shift down a little sooner than you absolutely have to, switchback when you could still keep climbing straight, rest when you come to a comfortable place. But sometimes a tiny bit of peak exertion can save a lot of low-level exertion. You have to learn to recognize those times, save the overdrive for when you need it, and space out the efforts so that you'll be recovered when you need to do it again. ---------- Since this essay is already too long, I'll make my comments on hills into a separate post. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Easy on the Hills
In rolling hills, you can use some of the energy spent climbing up one hill to help you climb the next hill. When you top a hill, keep turning the pedals, but don't push very hard. As you gain speed, tuck down in aerodynamic position. When you are going so fast that it's uncomfortable to pedal, coast. Watch for the moment when the next hill slows you enough to start pedalling gently again. Shift a tad sooner than needed, but not so soon that you spin uncomfortably. Odds are that you'll be more than halfway up before you run out of momentum. Don't use the above method on bad or unpredictable pavement, or places where visibility is poor. ---------------------- Riding is easier than walking, so most of the times that you get too tired to continue climbing, it's better to rest for a while than to walk up the hill. I was told to stand facing downhill while resting; what I actually do is to stay in the saddle, leaning heavily on the handlebars until I get my breath back. Well, I usually get bored, move off too soon, and end up resting again ten feet further along. The best way to rest is, of course, flat on your back -- ideally with your feet propped up on a wall or a tree. But places where you can do that without attracting ambulances are vanishingly rare. The top of one hill where I used to live featured a park with a wide flat-topped wall that was very high on the parking side, and easy to jump up on from the picnic-table side; I was never disturbed while resting there. For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery, and cemeteries usually have shade trees. (Check for poison ivy.) Passersby usually get the point when there is an entire racing team sprawled on the lawn. Continued next week -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Easy on the Hills
On 9/26/2015 10:46 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
In rolling hills, you can use some of the energy spent climbing up one hill to help you climb the next hill. When you top a hill, keep turning the pedals, but don't push very hard. As you gain speed, tuck down in aerodynamic position. When you are going so fast that it's uncomfortable to pedal, coast. Watch for the moment when the next hill slows you enough to start pedalling gently again. ... Especially true for us on our tandem! For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery... Especially on Halloween! -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: Easy on the Hills
On Sun, 27 Sep 2015 10:47:33 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote: For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery... Especially on Halloween! There are two cemeteries on the route to Larwill. Unfortunately, they are only a mile apart -- and less than seven miles from home. Seven miles from the end of a ride would be a good time to set a spell, but I never come back that way. The gas station in Larwill has a tiny table with two chairs; if I buy a newspaper, nobody notices me. They also serve made-on-the-premises pizza by the slice. (Now I'm eager for cool weather so that I can haul cheese fifteen miles without hauling ice thirty.) There's a cemetery on the road to Mentone, but I don't think that that is the road I plan to use the next time I go there. Checks Google Maps By George, it's right at the corner where I will turn west. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Easy on the Hills
On 9/27/2015 1:04 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Sun, 27 Sep 2015 10:47:33 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery... Especially on Halloween! There are two cemeteries on the route to Larwill. Unfortunately, they are only a mile apart -- and less than seven miles from home. Seven miles from the end of a ride would be a good time to set a spell, but I never come back that way. Hmm. Since we had mentioned Halloween, your phrase "set a spell" suggested a different meaning for a moment. (Witchcraft??? Oh, just a rest...) The gas station in Larwill has a tiny table with two chairs; if I buy a newspaper, nobody notices me. They also serve made-on-the-premises pizza by the slice. (Now I'm eager for cool weather so that I can haul cheese fifteen miles without hauling ice thirty.) There's a cemetery on the road to Mentone, but I don't think that that is the road I plan to use the next time I go there. Checks Google Maps By George, it's right at the corner where I will turn west. I've led many rides for my bike club over the decades. One I did several times was called "Tour de Tombs." We visited something like six or seven cemeteries, sometimes to see the graves of prominent local citizens, sometimes for some historic interest, but often just for the beautiful sculpture and architecture. I've read, and been told by a historian, that cemeteries functioned as parks in earlier America. They can be pleasant places indeed. One that I frequently ride through at night has a couple curious barred owls. They're surprisingly tame and friendly. -- - Frank Krygowski |
AG: Easy on the Hills
On Sun, 27 Sep 2015 16:28:51 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 9/27/2015 1:04 PM, Joy Beeson wrote: On Sun, 27 Sep 2015 10:47:33 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery... Especially on Halloween! There are two cemeteries on the route to Larwill. Unfortunately, they are only a mile apart -- and less than seven miles from home. Seven miles from the end of a ride would be a good time to set a spell, but I never come back that way. Hmm. Since we had mentioned Halloween, your phrase "set a spell" suggested a different meaning for a moment. (Witchcraft??? Oh, just a rest...) Well, one could "sit a spell" while one "set a spell" :-) The gas station in Larwill has a tiny table with two chairs; if I buy a newspaper, nobody notices me. They also serve made-on-the-premises pizza by the slice. (Now I'm eager for cool weather so that I can haul cheese fifteen miles without hauling ice thirty.) There's a cemetery on the road to Mentone, but I don't think that that is the road I plan to use the next time I go there. Checks Google Maps By George, it's right at the corner where I will turn west. I've led many rides for my bike club over the decades. One I did several times was called "Tour de Tombs." We visited something like six or seven cemeteries, sometimes to see the graves of prominent local citizens, sometimes for some historic interest, but often just for the beautiful sculpture and architecture. I've read, and been told by a historian, that cemeteries functioned as parks in earlier America. They can be pleasant places indeed. One that I frequently ride through at night has a couple curious barred owls. They're surprisingly tame and friendly. -- cheers, John B. |
AG: You can't hide from a crazy driver.
I set the clock radio last night. This morning it informed me that
during the night, two people who were fishing in the middle of a lake got run over by a reckless speedboat. You can't hide from a crazy driver. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: More Easy on the Hills
There are times when stopping to rest means walking the rest of the way. Out in the country, you can often wait for a time when nobody is around and re-start across the road, turning the start into a switchback as you gain speed. But in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Guilderland Avenue as I climbed out of the Mohawk valley, this solution never occurred to me. I knew that if I stopped, I walked, and it was miles to the top. (Leastways I remember it that way; I'm not going to ask Google Maps to measure the climb. They aren't top maps, so I doubt that I could even if I were so inclined,) So I shifted into my lowest gear -- which was pretty low; I left "choose good gears" out of the "Take it Easy" essay, but that's probably just as well, as I gather that modern clusters come pre-selected, which may explain the fad for absurd numbers of cogs. So I shifted my gears to granny and I shifted my attitude to "I am climbing this hill. I have always been climbing this hill. I always will be climbing this hill. Climbing this hill is the only possible state of affairs." When I got too tired to push, I concentrated on pulling the pedals up and let my feet fall of their own weight. Of course I pushed some, if only to keep my balance, but I didn't think of that; I thought only pull, pull, pull. And somehow I always made it out of the valley, and when I got to the top, it wasn't any harder to ride from Schenectady to New Salem than it had been to ride from New Salem to Schenectady. ------------------------- Don't look up and say "Oh, what a huge hill! I must shift down some more." If the gear you are in now is just fine for the slope you are on now, it will continue to be just fine as that slope goes on and on and on. ------------------------- Sometimes walking is easier. The driveway out of the fairgrounds (where there is a farmers' market every Saturday) rises sharply just before it meets the road. I must come to a full and complete stop exactly where it would be a terrible strain to start moving again. So I get off, use the crosswalk, and remount on the other side. I also get off to cross a road when I have to wait for a chance and the pavement is bad or I need to cross anti-bike curbs. Getting off also reassures motorists that I'm not going to dash out randomly, and it makes it easier to move out between parked cars for a better view. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Parking on a Pole
It has been brought to my attention that the art of parking on a pole is not hard-wired at birth, but must be learned. The process is very simple. Stop near the pole, a few inches away so that the bike will lean against the pole and its center of gravity has to be raised a bit before it can be knocked over. The curve of the saddle should rest against the pole. This prevents the bike from rolling forward. Nudge the pedal on your side with your foot until the pedal on the pole side rests firmly against the pole. This prevents the bike from rolling backward. So now it can't roll, the pole prevents it from falling to one side, and the lean prevents it from falling to the other side. The bike is stable. But sometimes a gust of wind (or a passing child) can give the bike enough of a push to overcome the weight pressing against the pole. Just to be sure, wind your cable lock around the pole and through the frame and both wheels. If the pole is one of a series intended for parking bikes -- wavy pipes that provide several poles for each pair of expensive anchor points are popular -- place your bike at right angles to the row of poles, so that you don't block other riders from using the other poles. If you want the bike locked, select a pole that is very tall, has something big at the top, or is a closed curve. (A post supporting a roof usually meets all three criteria.) -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
AG: Parking on a Pole
On 10/10/2015 10:24 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
It has been brought to my attention that the art of parking on a pole is not hard-wired at birth, but must be learned. The process is very simple. Stop near the pole, a few inches away so that the bike will lean against the pole and its center of gravity has to be raised a bit before it can be knocked over. The curve of the saddle should rest against the pole. This prevents the bike from rolling forward. Nudge the pedal on your side with your foot until the pedal on the pole side rests firmly against the pole. This prevents the bike from rolling backward. So now it can't roll, the pole prevents it from falling to one side, and the lean prevents it from falling to the other side. The bike is stable. But sometimes a gust of wind (or a passing child) can give the bike enough of a push to overcome the weight pressing against the pole. Just to be sure, wind your cable lock around the pole and through the frame and both wheels. If the pole is one of a series intended for parking bikes -- wavy pipes that provide several poles for each pair of expensive anchor points are popular -- place your bike at right angles to the row of poles, so that you don't block other riders from using the other poles. If you want the bike locked, select a pole that is very tall, has something big at the top, or is a closed curve. (A post supporting a roof usually meets all three criteria.) Your subject line confused me at first. http://www.who2.com/sites/default/fi...elly-up-28.png When I first started "adult" cycling, my older British friend expressed surprise about my kickstand. He said "there's always _something_ to lean your bike against." And he showed me the pedal-on-a-curb trick: put the curbside pedal just back of straight down, prop the pedal on the curb and turn the front wheel against the curb. The crank acts as a kickstand. It's not super-secure, but it works. Then another guy (at a LAW rally) showed me a sort of multi-step plastic wedge he'd cut out of plexiglass. He'd squeeze the front brake lever, then cram the wedge into the lever's opening to hold that brake on. The front wheel was then unable to roll and the parked bike was much more stable. Blackburn picked up the idea and sold them for a while. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/...71eb9ec3_o.jpg But they're easy to make. -- - Frank Krygowski |
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