Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
Allow me to describe a situation.
Kristin and I are walking in downtown Fremont, the time is about 10:45 at night. Traffic is light, maybe a couple cars a minute. Streets are well-lit.
We walk down the west side of Fremont Ave, towards the water. Ahead of us is the bridge, and a weird intersection where no left turn is allowed from our direction, although the opposing direction can turn right. The cross street on which no left turn is allowed is 34th. You can see the intersection on this satellite photo.
We decide to cross Fremont Ave at 34th, taking advantage of a "green" light (white person-walking light). I see two bicyclists approaching down Fremont, perpendicular to our new path, parallel to our old path. They're riding in the inner southbound lane. There's one car stopped in the outer lane, and no one coming the other direction. There's no cross traffic, although cross-traffic has the green light.
Biker #1 rides casually through the red light, and turns left against the no-left-turn sign. I call out, "I guess the red light doesn't mean much, huh?" and get no response. Louder, I jovially call out, "Thanks for obeying the law!" and see that bikers #2-4 have now traversed the intersection against the light and against the sign. Biker #3 calls back, "You're welcome!" without any positive or negative inflection in his voice.
I'm sure that their interpretation was that I harbored ill will towards bicyclists, and was one of the grumpy people who thinks they suck (this city is rife with them, if you believe some of the comments that come out on local articles). Of course, on the contrary, I'm glad they're riding, but I wish they'd stop breaking the law, particularly in front of other people -- it dilutes any sense that bikers deserve equal treatment on the road.
So, the question is, am I a jerk for calling them on their illegal and questionably responsible behavior? I've started doing this more and more, and actually ended up yelling at the top of my lungs at a group of cyclists I was coincidentally riding with, when all but me blew through a stop sign in front of a car which would have otherwise had right-of-way.
I'm yelling at them because I want them (and me) to get more respect on the road, not less. However, there's no simple way to say that, so I have to resort to calling out "Stop sign!" or "Red light!" I feel like a jerk, but at the same time, I feel that if no one says anything, it's going to keep going until fed up drivers pay us no mind at all. Once that threshold is reached, injuries and fatalities will climb precipitously, and we'll likely lose any political headway made on things like increased bike access from the city. The image of the selfish, smug, insensitive biker is already present in most car drivers' minds, so it seems foolish to feed it.
I guess that, even stronger than my sense I'm being a jerk is my sense that if I don't start calling bikers on their bullshit, no one else will.
Posted at 23:56 permanent link category: /bicycle
I've been buying stuff for a while, some of which may not be properly appreciated. So, I present my thoughts on a few of them.
Planet Bike Beamer 5 - Bicycle headlight. This is one of those lights which is intended to increase your visibility to other riders. It was hyped to me by a salesman at REI as being better than the CatEye HL-EL410 for two main reasons: it takes AA batteries instead of AAA, and it's got a better mounting system.
These differences are both true, plus his third point that the PB light doesn't blind you with its blinkiness (the CatEye has a ring all the way around to increase side visibility, but it also shines light into the rider's eyes). However, what he failed to mention is that the beam on the PB light sucks. Its main beam is very narrow, with these weird splotches of light created by the lens system. The resulting light is difficult to see unless straight-on. By contrast, the CatEye's lens-and-reflector system makes it more visible off-axis. The CatEye's beam is no larger than the PB's (at least, that of the HL-EL400, which is the previous model isn't), but it somehow manages to be a much more visible light.
I also find that, while riding along, I can't tell if the PB light is on or not. I have to move my hand in front of it to make sure, whereas with the CatEye, that's never a concern.
The Planet Bike light costs less, at $25 vs. $40, but if I had it to do over again, I'd get the newer CatEye. The PB light is a newer product, and it shows. Some features are better thought out, but the primary attribute -- how well it makes my presence known to other traffic -- is lacking.
R.E.Load Bags Civilian. I got this bag about 6 months ago, and have been loving it. R.E.Load will make a bag pretty much to order, including custom graphics and all. I opted for a simple burgundy and black bag, with grey edging, and I think it looks very classy. I also got the twin front pockets, and am very glad I did.
It's holding up well, and I feel that this bag compares very favorably with my older (and smaller) Timbuk2 bag. I highly recommend the R.E.Load bags, but be prepared for a few weeks' wait before your order is filled.
I'm not sure what else to say -- it's a shoulder bag. It seems to repel water. It holds stuff. I think it's very well designed, and is well-suited to use as a bicycle bag. The factories (well, rooms full of industrial sewing machines and tattoo'd hipsters, anyway) are located in Seattle and Philadelphia, and it's very much worth a trip in to see what they can do, if you're close enough.
Topeak Mini Morph small tire pump. I got this pump very soon after getting my new Gary Fisher bike. Very soon. It seems that the incompetent mechanic who installed my new tires (ie, me) screwed up the delicate, one-use-only rim tape supplied on the bike's rims, and started an epidemic of flat tires.
The first such flat, fortunately, happened near the REI flagship store, so I stopped in and bought tire-fixin' supplies -- of course, I had all this stuff at home, but I wasn't about to walk 5+ miles to get it. This pump was recommended to me over the others for one simple reason: it braces against the ground. Rather than mounting the end of the pump on the valve stem, you unfold a tiny foot, and brace the end of the pump on the ground. A short hose folds out, and attaches to the valve stem. The joy of this is that you can now use your weight, instead of your underdeveloped chest and arm muscles, to pump up the tire.
It works very well. I've been entirely pleased with this pump, and recommend it to anyone who needs a lightweight, carry-along pump. It takes a few minutes to re-inflate a tire due to the small pumped volume, but it works, and has no problem hitting the ~85 PSI I tend to keep my tires at. And, it's much easier to use than if I'd had to press against myself instead of the ground.
Posted at 19:33 permanent link category: /bicycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater