Bike Items that Have Little to Nothing to Do With DC

A town in the UK is cracking down on bad driving.

I think you should let the rider decide.

A left-wing party in Amsterdam is proposing that gay men replace the miniskirted women who traditionally kiss the winner of the first leg of the Giro d'Italia, one of Europe's premier bicycle races, which begins May 8.

"I don't even think the race participants want to be kissed by men,"

More turn signal jackets.

Fourth-generation bike sharing allows travelers to use the same card for bike sharing that they use for transit.

79 year old PA woman gets probation and community service for the hit and run death of an 11 year old boy from Baltimore. He reportedly ran a stop sign. "She was coming home from church that evening and thought she struck a bicycle in the roadway." She came forward when she realized what had happened. I think this is the right punishment.

Eugene, OR gets a grant from the EPA to encourage transit use, cycling and walking. And a region in North Carolina gets another larger one for Reading, Riding and Retrofitting to make schools greener, which includes smarter transportation.

Speaking of hit and run, here's a case where the question is what actually counts as "running." Stopping, giving your name, inquiring about the person's condition and having them tell you they're OK before leaving is not running as it turns out.

At a hotel in Antigua, every room comes with a bike, unlike the Marriott in New York (official lodging site of NYC's five boro ride). The latter doesn't even allow you to keep your bike in your room and then charges you $20 a day to store it - I'm doing the five boro ride if that isn't clear. I've also learned that Amtrak won't let you bring your bike on the train - I mean not even in a box - unless it is the 10:00pm train. I'm learning, and sharing, so much for the blog which is why this trip is tax deductible.

Comments

[Contrarian]

I'm learning, and sharing, so much for the blog which is why this trip is tax deductible.
Of course the deduction is limited to the amount of income you derive from the blog...

[Christopher]

Annoying about Amtrak, but may I suggest the BoltBus instead? Your bike goes in the baggage hold, admittedly, not exactly well protected, so don't bring the $$$ carbon fiber marvel this way, but the drivers don't make a big deal about it, and there's not extra charge. I have done this a few times between NYC and DC without any hassles.

[Scott F]

From the Weymouth article: “Human error is a factor in at least 90 percent of crashes,” said Robert Smith, the road safety manager for the Dorset County Council. “There’s no such thing as a dangerous road — only bad and dangerous road behavior.”

That second statement is so, so not true. Granted, this is across the pond, but I wonder if there are officials in our region who also think there's no such thing as a dangerous road. It would explain a lot about Fairfax County.

[washcycle]

Contrarian, it isn't even that much because I still have to pay self-employment tax. But last year was the first time that the minuscule income exceeded the minuscule expense of the blog.

Scott F, I agree. The insurance companies keep track of the most dangerous intersections and they have experts go out and identify low-cost changes (moving/adding lights, etc...) that can be made to make them safer. These changes usually reduce crashes by a lot, as I recall. That certainly seems indicative of bad design.

[Michael H.]

The turn signal jackets remind me of the speedometer jacket. I don't remember if I read about that here or somewhere else. The jacket has large LED numbers on the back. The inventor hooked up the jacket to a speed indicator on the bike so the jacket would light up and show the current speed of the cyclist in large lit-up numbers. I think the guy only made the one jacket. But if you look him up online, you might be able to commission him to make some more.

As for Giro d'Italia story, strange. Is that the way that party wants to promote their cause? By forcing physical contact on people who may not want it?

[Ron Alford]

wash: So do you have to count the butt powder as blog related income?

[O2]

RE: Weymouth

How dangerous is a road if no one is driving on it?

[washcycle]

Ron, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that was exempted by the landmark Coburn-Cantwell Butt Powder Act.