|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#61
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 5:30:17 AM UTC-8, sms wrote:
On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote: snip Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail? -- cheers, John B. Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said that it was "robbery by intimidation." The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47, that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247. Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones, we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen, sometimes even candy. It's locked up https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/. Well, they went from a jackass "three strikes you're out" to "who cares what you do except your victims". When they were showing that guy on TV being taken into the police station and laughing the entire time and saying "THANKS DEMOCRATS" and he had been arrested for 157 felonies someone should have gotten the idea that no bail might have been a bad idea. I thought it was BS that they would arrest someone for minor felonies such as possession of an amount large enough to qualify as being a dealer and then giving him life in prison. But simply looking the other way doesn't work either as a four-fold increase in murders shows. They said that when they stop someone for jumping the BART fare gates that over 90% of them have felony warrants out for them. Jay is no doubt against all of this since no one needs a lawyer anymore. Just be hauled into the jail and walk right out again. |
Ads |
#62
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On 2/20/2020 5:03 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:15:03 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone wrote: John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:59:47 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich wrote: On Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 1:12:52 PM UTC-8, wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 6:56:38 PM UTC-6, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 15:23:30 -0800 (PST), " wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:41:10 PM UTC-6, Tom Kunich wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 1:22:44 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Tuesday, 18 February 2020 16:12:43 UTC-5, wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 8:36:32 PM UTC+1, Frank Krygowski wrote: “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/b...sin-roads.html As I've mentioned, Ohio has 88 counties. Some, like mine, have many more miles of county roads than do others. But the state's funds distributed for county road maintenence gives each county 1/88 of the total instead of giving on a per-mile basis. I frequently see the effects when riding from one county into another. I can't complain about the condition of our country roads. They are well maintained compared to Germany and Belgium were I ride also frequently especially Germany. The roads in Belgium are awful. There are no borders anymore but as soon as you cross the invisible Belgium border you now immidiately you are in Belgium. Your fillings are rattling out of your teeth. Lou -- - Frank Krygowski That's exactly what Duane says about riding from Quebec to Ontario Canada. Cheers This is interesting. Why do you suppose they went from very good roads during the Presidency of Eisenhower to the slow degradation of roads since? ????? Eisenhower was in office about 70 years ago. He started the national Interstate road system. Based upon the road network he observed in Germany during World War 2. In the 1950s there was not two cars for every single human being. There was not as many roads. The car culture had not become the meaning of the USA yet. There were also less people. Now there are 330 million people in the USA. People who consume stuff. People who buy stuff. People who need stores to sell them stuff. Stores that need roads to haul all the stuff to the store. Stores that need heavy semi trucks to haul the stuff. Heavy semis that destroy the roads. 70 years of heavy trucks on roads destroy the roads and eventually they need to be replaced. How many cars built during Eisenhower's reign do you see being driven today? None. They all wore out. And the roads have to be replaced too. But yet roads built in the days of the Roman empire are still in use today albeit with another layer of surfacing although I believe that there are sections of the Via Appia and possibly the Via Aurelia where the original paving is still used. To be a bit pedantic a semi truck don't necessarily destroy roads, it is the tire loading is the determining factor and it is quite possible for a small, heavily loaded, truck to have a higher tire loading and thus do more damage to a road than a large truck, with more wheels and wider tires and thus having a lighter tire loading., I once did a study of wheel loading and potential road damage for the Indonesian National Highway Department demonstrating that 50 ton Oilfield trucks actually caused less damage to the highway than the small, grossly overloaded, 3 ton trucks commonly used by small freight companies. -- cheers, John B. True, it is the pounds per square inch that is the decider. But big trucks, or the small freight trucks you describe, or gravel dump trucks, have the highest pounds per square inch. And do all the damage to roads. In the USA 80,000 pounds is the maximum weight of an 18 wheel semi truck. That is 4,444 pounds per tire. A Toyota Camry weighs 3500 pounds. Or 875 pounds per tire. For these two vehicles to be equal for weight per square inch on the road, the semi tire would have to be 5 TIMES more surface area touching the road. I have looked at tires on semi trucks and Camrys. The semi tire does not have 5 times more surface area. Semi tire has about 2 or 3 times more surface area. The surface pressure of semi's is so high that in some places it causes the road to melt and run under the tires. That is why concrete should be used on commercial roads. Whatever are you smoking. The pressure exerted by each large truck's tire (11R24.5 for example) is in the neighborhood of 40 psi. -- cheers, John B. It would seem to me that to a first approximation, the road loading of a tire would be in the vicinity of the inflation pressure of the tire. My subcompact runs 32 psi, my minivan runs 35 psi, and large truck tires tend to be inflated around 110 psi. Yes tire pressure is related to vehicle weight but the amount(area) of tire actually in contact with the ground is the final determining factor. -- cheers, John B. Uh, for force per area both are equally important. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#63
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:10:48 -0600, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/19/2020 11:40 PM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 06:44:06 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 7:27:28 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:29:23 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:47:53 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote: On 2/18/2020 5:08 PM, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 14:36:28 -0500, Frank Krygowski wrote: “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/b...sin-roads.html As I've mentioned, Ohio has 88 counties. Some, like mine, have many more miles of county roads than do others. But the state's funds distributed for county road maintenence gives each county 1/88 of the total instead of giving on a per-mile basis. I frequently see the effects when riding from one county into another. Are roads in the U.S. really as bad as described here? I grew up in New England, went to school in Florida, lived in a number of states including Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, California and Maine, drove coast to coast a couple of times and while I wouldn't say that all the roads were as smooth as a billiard table I would say that they were pretty damned good. Granted I left the U.S. in 1972 but have U.S. roads deteriorate from "pretty damned good" to the wilderness of chuck holes that I see described here? -- cheers, John B. I'm also of the glass-half-full school on that. Are there roads in poor repair? Sure. But there are long term replacement schedules which can be reviewed at your State DOT web site. Example- WI Hwy 19 from Springfield Corners to Mazomanie, a road I use weekly, was about 1/4 literally AWOL. With an oncoming milk truck, the best technique was to pull over where possible and stop because two vehicles couldn't pass in large sections. That was rebuilt in 2018 and is now an absolute joy. #2- WI Hwy 60 in front of our building is being replaced this year. Sure it needs help, but I'm much less excited because this will involve an assessment and months of dust. #3- The loudest bitching about the Governor and road maintenance usually centers on condition of city streets and township roads which are not his problem. I don't much care for The Current Occupant in the statehouse either but let's hang him for his own sins. And then there are bridges. I go over this one to see my brother. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVSTcKLJ5gw From above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOmnC05Ou7w It's scary narrow, and its scheduled to be replaced as soon as the bridge toll piggy bank is full. Looks like a normal two lane bridge built for trucks and automobiles, one lane each way. What more could one want? Well, I could want lanes that were not scaled for Model Ts and could do without a metal deck that steers the car (particularly with the usual high wind), and I could want a bridge that allows bicycles, but apart from that, nothing. -- Jay Beattie. But the bridge, the second oldest road bridge across the Columbia between Washington and Oregon, was built by the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company and opened on December 9, 1924, when the Model T sold for 265 gold backed dollars. Of course, you could advocate tearing it down and building a new bridge... didn't San Francisco do something like that :-? -- cheers, John B. Perfectly normal: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...-idUSKCN1SS1DE Hate to have to tell a guy named "Muzi" but: The Pons Fabricius, in Rome, built in 62 B.C to replace a bridge that had fallen down. The Ponte Vecchio, in Florance, built in 1345 to replace a wooden bridge. The Ponte Di Rialto, built in 1591 to replace a wooden bridge, in Venice. Then, of course, there is the Arkadiko Bridge. the oldest surviving arch bridge still in use. Believed to have been built during the Greek Bronze Age, around 1300 BC. But of course that is in Greece :-( All still in use :-) -- cheers, John B. |
#64
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 05:30:10 -0800, sms
wrote: On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote: snip Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail? -- cheers, John B. Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said that it was "robbery by intimidation." The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47, that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247. Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones, we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen, sometimes even candy. It's locked up https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/. England, in the 1800's, and I'm sure other countries, have tried to solve the problems of habitual criminals. England, at least partially solved the problem, by shipping the miscreants off to Australia, but what can be done today? One might try branding a big "T" or "R" on the evildoer's cheek or forehead but that might start a new fashion trend like the ripped jeans and the four day growth of beard, Or perhaps the "Prison Farm" solution as was used in Mississippi, among other states. That could, if managed properly, turn out to be a profit making establishment. Or is working now deemed to be a cruel and unusual punishment? -- cheers, John B. |
#65
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 17:56:47 -0600, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/20/2020 5:03 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 16:15:03 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone wrote: John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:59:47 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich wrote: On Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 1:12:52 PM UTC-8, wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 6:56:38 PM UTC-6, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 15:23:30 -0800 (PST), " wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:41:10 PM UTC-6, Tom Kunich wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 1:22:44 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Tuesday, 18 February 2020 16:12:43 UTC-5, wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 8:36:32 PM UTC+1, Frank Krygowski wrote: “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/b...sin-roads.html As I've mentioned, Ohio has 88 counties. Some, like mine, have many more miles of county roads than do others. But the state's funds distributed for county road maintenence gives each county 1/88 of the total instead of giving on a per-mile basis. I frequently see the effects when riding from one county into another. I can't complain about the condition of our country roads. They are well maintained compared to Germany and Belgium were I ride also frequently especially Germany. The roads in Belgium are awful. There are no borders anymore but as soon as you cross the invisible Belgium border you now immidiately you are in Belgium. Your fillings are rattling out of your teeth. Lou -- - Frank Krygowski That's exactly what Duane says about riding from Quebec to Ontario Canada. Cheers This is interesting. Why do you suppose they went from very good roads during the Presidency of Eisenhower to the slow degradation of roads since? ????? Eisenhower was in office about 70 years ago. He started the national Interstate road system. Based upon the road network he observed in Germany during World War 2. In the 1950s there was not two cars for every single human being. There was not as many roads. The car culture had not become the meaning of the USA yet. There were also less people. Now there are 330 million people in the USA. People who consume stuff. People who buy stuff. People who need stores to sell them stuff. Stores that need roads to haul all the stuff to the store. Stores that need heavy semi trucks to haul the stuff. Heavy semis that destroy the roads. 70 years of heavy trucks on roads destroy the roads and eventually they need to be replaced. How many cars built during Eisenhower's reign do you see being driven today? None. They all wore out. And the roads have to be replaced too. But yet roads built in the days of the Roman empire are still in use today albeit with another layer of surfacing although I believe that there are sections of the Via Appia and possibly the Via Aurelia where the original paving is still used. To be a bit pedantic a semi truck don't necessarily destroy roads, it is the tire loading is the determining factor and it is quite possible for a small, heavily loaded, truck to have a higher tire loading and thus do more damage to a road than a large truck, with more wheels and wider tires and thus having a lighter tire loading., I once did a study of wheel loading and potential road damage for the Indonesian National Highway Department demonstrating that 50 ton Oilfield trucks actually caused less damage to the highway than the small, grossly overloaded, 3 ton trucks commonly used by small freight companies. -- cheers, John B. True, it is the pounds per square inch that is the decider. But big trucks, or the small freight trucks you describe, or gravel dump trucks, have the highest pounds per square inch. And do all the damage to roads. In the USA 80,000 pounds is the maximum weight of an 18 wheel semi truck. That is 4,444 pounds per tire. A Toyota Camry weighs 3500 pounds. Or 875 pounds per tire. For these two vehicles to be equal for weight per square inch on the road, the semi tire would have to be 5 TIMES more surface area touching the road. I have looked at tires on semi trucks and Camrys. The semi tire does not have 5 times more surface area. Semi tire has about 2 or 3 times more surface area. The surface pressure of semi's is so high that in some places it causes the road to melt and run under the tires. That is why concrete should be used on commercial roads. Whatever are you smoking. The pressure exerted by each large truck's tire (11R24.5 for example) is in the neighborhood of 40 psi. -- cheers, John B. It would seem to me that to a first approximation, the road loading of a tire would be in the vicinity of the inflation pressure of the tire. My subcompact runs 32 psi, my minivan runs 35 psi, and large truck tires tend to be inflated around 110 psi. Yes tire pressure is related to vehicle weight but the amount(area) of tire actually in contact with the ground is the final determining factor. -- cheers, John B. Uh, for force per area both are equally important. Well, yes :-) Hard to get the proper contact area without the proper tire pressure :-) -- cheers, John B. |
#66
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On 2/20/2020 6:27 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:10:48 -0600, AMuzi wrote: On 2/19/2020 11:40 PM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 06:44:06 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 7:27:28 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:29:23 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:47:53 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote: On 2/18/2020 5:08 PM, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 14:36:28 -0500, Frank Krygowski wrote: “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/b...sin-roads.html As I've mentioned, Ohio has 88 counties. Some, like mine, have many more miles of county roads than do others. But the state's funds distributed for county road maintenence gives each county 1/88 of the total instead of giving on a per-mile basis. I frequently see the effects when riding from one county into another. Are roads in the U.S. really as bad as described here? I grew up in New England, went to school in Florida, lived in a number of states including Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, California and Maine, drove coast to coast a couple of times and while I wouldn't say that all the roads were as smooth as a billiard table I would say that they were pretty damned good. Granted I left the U.S. in 1972 but have U.S. roads deteriorate from "pretty damned good" to the wilderness of chuck holes that I see described here? -- cheers, John B. I'm also of the glass-half-full school on that. Are there roads in poor repair? Sure. But there are long term replacement schedules which can be reviewed at your State DOT web site. Example- WI Hwy 19 from Springfield Corners to Mazomanie, a road I use weekly, was about 1/4 literally AWOL. With an oncoming milk truck, the best technique was to pull over where possible and stop because two vehicles couldn't pass in large sections. That was rebuilt in 2018 and is now an absolute joy. #2- WI Hwy 60 in front of our building is being replaced this year. Sure it needs help, but I'm much less excited because this will involve an assessment and months of dust. #3- The loudest bitching about the Governor and road maintenance usually centers on condition of city streets and township roads which are not his problem. I don't much care for The Current Occupant in the statehouse either but let's hang him for his own sins. And then there are bridges. I go over this one to see my brother. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVSTcKLJ5gw From above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOmnC05Ou7w It's scary narrow, and its scheduled to be replaced as soon as the bridge toll piggy bank is full. Looks like a normal two lane bridge built for trucks and automobiles, one lane each way. What more could one want? Well, I could want lanes that were not scaled for Model Ts and could do without a metal deck that steers the car (particularly with the usual high wind), and I could want a bridge that allows bicycles, but apart from that, nothing. -- Jay Beattie. But the bridge, the second oldest road bridge across the Columbia between Washington and Oregon, was built by the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company and opened on December 9, 1924, when the Model T sold for 265 gold backed dollars. Of course, you could advocate tearing it down and building a new bridge... didn't San Francisco do something like that :-? -- cheers, John B. Perfectly normal: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...-idUSKCN1SS1DE Hate to have to tell a guy named "Muzi" but: The Pons Fabricius, in Rome, built in 62 B.C to replace a bridge that had fallen down. The Ponte Vecchio, in Florance, built in 1345 to replace a wooden bridge. The Ponte Di Rialto, built in 1591 to replace a wooden bridge, in Venice. Then, of course, there is the Arkadiko Bridge. the oldest surviving arch bridge still in use. Believed to have been built during the Greek Bronze Age, around 1300 BC. But of course that is in Greece :-( All still in use :-) Just like everything humans do, there are successes (as you noted, with a tip of the hat to my ancestors) and there are failures: https://timeline.com/the-deadliest-b...p-ca5404c4dffa -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#67
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On 2/20/2020 6:55 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 05:30:10 -0800, sms wrote: On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote: snip Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail? -- cheers, John B. Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said that it was "robbery by intimidation." The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47, that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247. Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones, we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen, sometimes even candy. It's locked up https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/. England, in the 1800's, and I'm sure other countries, have tried to solve the problems of habitual criminals. England, at least partially solved the problem, by shipping the miscreants off to Australia, but what can be done today? One might try branding a big "T" or "R" on the evildoer's cheek or forehead but that might start a new fashion trend like the ripped jeans and the four day growth of beard, Or perhaps the "Prison Farm" solution as was used in Mississippi, among other states. That could, if managed properly, turn out to be a profit making establishment. Or is working now deemed to be a cruel and unusual punishment? The precedent is a branded face with an "F" for "fugitus", which was effective because giving food or shelter to a branded fugitive was a capital crime. We're not ready for that here. Yet. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#68
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
AMuzi wrote:
On 2/20/2020 6:27 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:10:48 -0600, AMuzi wrote: On 2/19/2020 11:40 PM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 06:44:06 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 7:27:28 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:29:23 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:47:53 PM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote: On 2/18/2020 5:08 PM, John B. wrote: On Tue, 18 Feb 2020 14:36:28 -0500, Frank Krygowski wrote: “In 10 years, we’re going to start turning roads back into gravel” if nothing changes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/b...sin-roads.html As I've mentioned, Ohio has 88 counties. Some, like mine, have many more miles of county roads than do others. But the state's funds distributed for county road maintenence gives each county 1/88 of the total instead of giving on a per-mile basis. I frequently see the effects when riding from one county into another. Are roads in the U.S. really as bad as described here? I grew up in New England, went to school in Florida, lived in a number of states including Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, California and Maine, drove coast to coast a couple of times and while I wouldn't say that all the roads were as smooth as a billiard table I would say that they were pretty damned good. Granted I left the U.S. in 1972 but have U.S. roads deteriorate from "pretty damned good" to the wilderness of chuck holes that I see described here? -- cheers, John B. I'm also of the glass-half-full school on that. Are there roads in poor repair? Sure. But there are long term replacement schedules which can be reviewed at your State DOT web site. Example- WI Hwy 19 from Springfield Corners to Mazomanie, a road I use weekly, was about 1/4 literally AWOL. With an oncoming milk truck, the best technique was to pull over where possible and stop because two vehicles couldn't pass in large sections. That was rebuilt in 2018 and is now an absolute joy. #2- WI Hwy 60 in front of our building is being replaced this year. Sure it needs help, but I'm much less excited because this will involve an assessment and months of dust. #3- The loudest bitching about the Governor and road maintenance usually centers on condition of city streets and township roads which are not his problem. I don't much care for The Current Occupant in the statehouse either but let's hang him for his own sins. And then there are bridges. I go over this one to see my brother. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVSTcKLJ5gw From above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOmnC05Ou7w It's scary narrow, and its scheduled to be replaced as soon as the bridge toll piggy bank is full. Looks like a normal two lane bridge built for trucks and automobiles, one lane each way. What more could one want? Well, I could want lanes that were not scaled for Model Ts and could do without a metal deck that steers the car (particularly with the usual high wind), and I could want a bridge that allows bicycles, but apart from that, nothing. -- Jay Beattie. But the bridge, the second oldest road bridge across the Columbia between Washington and Oregon, was built by the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company and opened on December 9, 1924, when the Model T sold for 265 gold backed dollars. Of course, you could advocate tearing it down and building a new bridge... didn't San Francisco do something like that :-? -- cheers, John B. Perfectly normal: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...-idUSKCN1SS1DE Hate to have to tell a guy named "Muzi" but: The Pons Fabricius, in Rome, built in 62 B.C to replace a bridge that had fallen down. The Ponte Vecchio, in Florance, built in 1345 to replace a wooden bridge. The Ponte Di Rialto, built in 1591 to replace a wooden bridge, in Venice. Then, of course, there is the Arkadiko Bridge. the oldest surviving arch bridge still in use. Believed to have been built during the Greek Bronze Age, around 1300 BC. But of course that is in Greece :-( All still in use :-) Just like everything humans do, there are successes (as you noted, with a tip of the hat to my ancestors) and there are failures: https://timeline.com/the-deadliest-b...p-ca5404c4dffa Hmmm... A chain failure precipitated by a crack in a chain link (just to bring this back to bike tech talk). |
#69
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 20:16:32 -0600, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/20/2020 6:55 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 05:30:10 -0800, sms wrote: On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote: snip Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail? -- cheers, John B. Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said that it was "robbery by intimidation." The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47, that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247. Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones, we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen, sometimes even candy. It's locked up https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/. England, in the 1800's, and I'm sure other countries, have tried to solve the problems of habitual criminals. England, at least partially solved the problem, by shipping the miscreants off to Australia, but what can be done today? One might try branding a big "T" or "R" on the evildoer's cheek or forehead but that might start a new fashion trend like the ripped jeans and the four day growth of beard, Or perhaps the "Prison Farm" solution as was used in Mississippi, among other states. That could, if managed properly, turn out to be a profit making establishment. Or is working now deemed to be a cruel and unusual punishment? The precedent is a branded face with an "F" for "fugitus", which was effective because giving food or shelter to a branded fugitive was a capital crime. We're not ready for that here. Yet. While of course there are exceptions I do read that a rather large percentage of those imprisoned commit further felonies after being released, as many as 70% in some instances. It would seem that a certain percent of the population are criminally inclined and unfortunately this percentage appears to be increasing as in 1976 incarcerated amounted to some 232/100,000 in the U.S. while in 2018 it was 655/100,000, an increase of 280% in 42 years (unless I got my numbers wrong). Scary! -- cheers, John B. |
#70
|
|||
|
|||
A real reason for gravel bikes?
On 2/20/2020 9:16 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 20:16:32 -0600, AMuzi wrote: On 2/20/2020 6:55 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 20 Feb 2020 05:30:10 -0800, sms wrote: On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote: snip Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail? -- cheers, John B. Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said that it was "robbery by intimidation." The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47, that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247. Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones, we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen, sometimes even candy. It's locked up https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/. England, in the 1800's, and I'm sure other countries, have tried to solve the problems of habitual criminals. England, at least partially solved the problem, by shipping the miscreants off to Australia, but what can be done today? One might try branding a big "T" or "R" on the evildoer's cheek or forehead but that might start a new fashion trend like the ripped jeans and the four day growth of beard, Or perhaps the "Prison Farm" solution as was used in Mississippi, among other states. That could, if managed properly, turn out to be a profit making establishment. Or is working now deemed to be a cruel and unusual punishment? The precedent is a branded face with an "F" for "fugitus", which was effective because giving food or shelter to a branded fugitive was a capital crime. We're not ready for that here. Yet. While of course there are exceptions I do read that a rather large percentage of those imprisoned commit further felonies after being released, as many as 70% in some instances. It would seem that a certain percent of the population are criminally inclined and unfortunately this percentage appears to be increasing as in 1976 incarcerated amounted to some 232/100,000 in the U.S. while in 2018 it was 655/100,000, an increase of 280% in 42 years (unless I got my numbers wrong). Scary! -- cheers, John B. Many aspects of our culture have changed over that time, not the least being the demise of casual (cash) labor and draconian barriers to entry (minimum wage, reporting, ID cards, endless capricious liability resulting in 'background checks' and such) into labor markets. This is pernicious as regards young and unskilled since no 'first job' often means no job whatsoever. But it's fatal to the formerly incarcerated. When I was young, one might easily travel the country, always confident of finding a day or two of work everywhere and anywhere (As I did. Everywhere.) . This is no longer true, to the greater loss of the nation's wealth and productivity, no more painfully felt than at the bottom of society, those who suffer most. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
The depressing real reason police have stopped cracking down onaggressive morons on bikes | MrCheerful | UK | 11 | March 15th 17 09:34 AM |
The real reason Tyler was on DHEA? | bar | Racing | 12 | April 26th 10 09:50 PM |
The real reason Hoste lost | Kurgan Gringioni | Racing | 24 | April 11th 07 01:07 AM |
Why do some walk their bikes across gravel? | Mike Reed | Techniques | 80 | June 12th 06 02:20 PM |
The REAL Reason for license fee increases | crit pro | Racing | 0 | November 10th 04 08:31 AM |