Thursday, September 30, 2010

Deathwatch - 9-30

Photo Credit: Chefranden

I set up a Google Alert for the terms "Cyclist Killed" so each day when I get home I get email reminding me that we as cyclists will never be taken seriously.

Two riders die in crashes
Brisbane Times
Meanwhile, a cyclist died after a collision with a truck in Cairns yesterday afternoon. Initial investigations suggest the bike and truck collided after ...

Cyclist's death prompts safety review at busy road junction
Yorkshire Post
By Simon Bristow A SAFETY review is to be carried out at one of Hull's busiest junctions, a month after a cyclist was killed when a lorry shed its load. ...

Top "Volunteer City" Comes To Aid of Injured Cyclist
FOX2now.com
LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - A hit-and-run accident could have killed him just last week. Wednesday night, an injured bike rider got a big boost on the ...

Save a Cyclist...Stop Distracted Driving
Treehugger
She was 30 years old, a Green Party candidate for Senator in Maryland, and killed this month in the early morning hours by being struck from behind by a ...

Cyclist critically hurt after 'blackspot' crash
Lancashire Evening Post
And in March 2008 Sameer Vohra, 34, was killed and four other people were injured when a Peugeot and HGV collided on a bend on the A59 Whalley Road. ...

Fatal crash blocks freeway
The Age
A woman cyclist died in a collision with a semi-trailer in West Melbourne on Tuesday morning. Police said the woman was riding towards the city on Footscray ...

'Ghost bikes' stand in memory of fallen cyclists
Los Angeles Times
... number of bicyclists killed. "I'm never confident that there will be a last fight," Todd said. Police, meanwhile, announced the death of another cyclist ...

How many of these articles will you have to read before you decide enough is enough?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Death Watch - 9-29-10

Photo Credit: Chefranden

I set up a Google Alert for the terms "Cyclist Killed" so each day when I get home I get email reminding me that we as cyclists will never be taken seriously.

9-29-10

Cyclist killed in Leesburg traffic accident
Orlando Sentinel
By Arelis Hernandez, Orlando Sentinel A 53-year-old Leesburg cyclist was struck and killed by an elderly motorist in a Leesburg traffic accident Tuesday ...

Reward Offered in Death of Hit-and-Run Cyclist
My Fox 8
LIBERTY, NC (WGHP) - A Florida-based advocacy group is offering a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever killed a bicyclist in a hit-and-run ...

Tributes are paid to three local people killed on county roads
This Is Boston
Cyclist Keith Carr, 60, from Coles Lane, Swineshead, died at Pilgrim Hospital from injuries he suffered during a collision with a Vauxhall van near the ...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Deathwatch 9-27 - 9-28

Photo Credit: Chefranden

I set up a Google Alert for the terms "Cyclist Killed" so each day when I get home I get email reminding me that we as cyclists will never be taken seriously.

There are way to many items on this list for things to be right.

9-28-10

Cyclist killed after being hit by truck at Docklands
Melbourne Leader
A FEMALE cyclist has died after being hit by a truck in Footscray Rd, West Melbourne. The accident happened about 9.30am in the outbound lanes near the City ...

Cyclist Kristopher “Spermy” Chuc, 17, dies in road accident
Amandala
One of Belize's up-and-coming cyclists, Kristopher “Spermy” Chuc, 17, a member of the Cayo High Road Cycling Team, was knocked down and killed on Thursday, ...

Teen girl's iPod death
New Zealand Herald
It is believed to be the third case in the past year in which a pedestrian or cyclist listening to an iPod has been distracted and killed. ...

Female cyclist killed by truck
3AW (blog)

Legal board issues McGee statement
ABC Online
Mr McGee hit and killed her partner, cyclist Ian Humphrey, on the Kapunda Road north of Adelaide in 2003, then left the scene. In its statement, the board ...

Bereaved dad's plea over death road
Chorley Guardian
A father of a teenage cyclist says more traffic calming measures are needed on the road where he died after the latest accident. ...

Cyclists think safety after fatal hit and run
News14.com
Cyclists want folks behind the wheel to keep in mind there's a person out there on the bicycle, who can be seriously hurt or even killed. ...

Men killed in separate road crashes on same day are named
This is Lincolnshire
Police have also named a cyclist killed on the A17 at Bicker Bar roundabout near Swineshead last Friday. Keith Edwin Carr, of Coles Lane, Swineshead, ...

Breakdown deaths arrests
Blacktown Sun
In the second incident, a male cyclist was hit and killed by a truck while he was riding with three others in the breakdown lane of the M4 on April 10. ...

Decision On Charges In Fatal Bike Accident Weeks Away
WIBW
Topeka (WIBW) - A decision on charges in the death of a Topeka cyclist won't be made until toxicology reports are back. Dakota Loomis, spokesperson for ...

9-27-10

Cyclist killed after being struck by two vehicles
CTV.ca
(Tom Stefanac / CTV News) A cyclist died Sunday night after being struck by two vehicles in Toronto's west end. Police say the cyclist was travelling south ...

Cyclist killed in hit-and-run
Orangeville Banner
At about 1:30 am a lone cyclist was riding east on Highway 89 in East Luther Grand Valley township when he was struck and killed. ...

Cyclist killed on Durban road
East Coast Radio
By Thrishni Subramoney A cyclist has died after being hit by a truck on Durban's Francois Road this morning. Emergency services say the 40-year-old man ...

Police Search for Truck Involved in Cyclist's Death
My Fox 8
LIBERTY, NC (WGHP) - Investigators are searching for a Ford pickup truck that allegedly struck and killed a cyclist on Highway 421 in Liberty this weekend. ...

Updated: 2009 road casualty stats show UK cycling deaths continuing to fall
road.cc
More than 80% of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) last year were male, compared with around 60% of pedestrians and car occupants and 90% of ...

Two dead in overnight collisions
Toronto Sun
He was the first cyclist to be killed on a Toronto street this year, Smith said. Anyone with information about either collision was asked to contact police ...

Rossi promises separated bike lanes
Toronto Star
The policy statement also came hours after a cyclist was killed Sunday night when he was hit by two cars while trying to cross busy Lake Shore Blvd. W. at ...

Widow's last chance for justice: Xenophon
ABC Online
It has been made against lawyer Eugene McGee by the widow of cyclist Ian Humphrey who was killed in 2003. The Senator says it could be Di Gilcrist's last ...

No tickets on cars defying Beach Rd park ban
Bayside Leader
“The Coroner's report into the death of James Gould, who was killed by a training cyclist on an endurance run, outlines why these sports cyclists compromise ...

Unacceptable

Photo Credit: ME

That is what the front tire of my bike looked like when I was run off the road in the early weeks of May. Its no big deal it has all been fixed, new tire, new tube and liner. A few weeks of antibacterial spray for the road rash and for the most part I'm Ok as well.

'For the most part'. Four very tricky words.

You see one of the longer lasting effects of my crash (aside from the ache in my shoulder and a kicking Tattoo) is that I have become sensitive to the context of being a cyclist. Perhaps "sensitized" is a better term.   Before the crash I never gave to much thought to other cyclist out there, I was in my own little world.

That has changed.

Right after the crash while I was telling my family what happened another person (someone I never knew) was struck and killed while riding his bike. Three months later I rode in the Don Parker Memorial Ride into town to ask the DA (insert name) why no charges had been filed against the driver who admitted that he was at fault.

Mike Manko lied to our faces.

This was the beginning of the end of my trust.

Time after time I have read, and seen as cyclists are forced off the road, hit, run down and killed. over and over I have heard the same thing. NO Charges, All summer long, the closest thing I have seen to charges has been a 500$ distracted driving charge.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Bamboo Bike

Photo Credit: Make:Online

Found this online over at Make:
Find the whole link here

Rebar Bike

Photo Credit: Matt

Found this online. hit up the link for more photos.

Also found on ThereIfixedit.com

PlyCycle

Photo Credit: Make:Online

Found this on Make a bent birch bike frame. Made in a similar way as the birch strip canoe. You can read the whole Instructable here.

Doug Hinderliter sent me a link to the wonderful wooden bike over at ratrod.com

Photo Credit:dpbrown3000

Check out the link to see the whole build from the ground up.

Thanks Doug!

Friday, September 24, 2010

A running Joke

Photo Credit: www.desktopedia.com

Well it seems I have found the problem in the ongoing saga of Bike Frame Painting. After several attempts, some more successful than others but all failures in the end I have learned an important lesson.

I have found the Weak Link.

"Hello Weak link" I say to myself.

I suffer from the pitiful combonation of exacting vision and total lack of patience.  I not only know just how I want the bike to look but I also know (in my mind) just how to achieve this. I am somewhat hampered by the small matter that I have the attention span of red bull addicted 4 year old and the patience to match.

Still as G.I Joe says "Knowing is half the Battle"  So once again I found myself brushing scraping and sanding, only to head back out to the dustbowl of a work area to put the first coat of Red paint on the frame. Yeah Yeah I know the bike is going to be orange but the red paint is also a rust proofing so it is going to make up the first coat.

Now I just need someone to come over and take the frame away from me for a few days so I cant play with it until I can put the next coat of paint on.  I have to admit I am starting to feel pressured since I have to get the paint on the bike before the weather gets to bad to work outside. My plan is to get the paint done and over the winter get the rest of the bike put together for its unveiling in spring.

Is it wrong for the weight of the paint to be greater than the weight of the steel in the bike?

That's pretty much normal right?

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Knife Sharpening Bike

Photo Credit: Make:Online

So I found this in my Google Reader today. Always amazes me at how little we think of own bodies as engines, when for thousands of years our bodies were the most common engine in use.

Read the whole story over at BikeHacks

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Dr Albert Varacallo - Ghost Bike



Sunday Sept 19 - 2010

Ride of Silence in DuBois Pa and placing of a yet another Ghost Bike. Yet again it seems as if the default position of the police is that the cyclist is at fault and no charges or investigation is expected.

Things like this upset me more than I can say.

I am upset because a man was killed and the powers that be put so little value on his life.
(The person who killed Don Parker was fined 500$)

I am upset because what happened here is NOT the exception but the rule. The more I hear about these accidents the more I see the same story over and over.

I just noticed this on the Bike PGH forums as I was writing this.
MD Senate candidate is struck and killed by SUV (Read Forum Posting Here)

Here is an excerpt from the forum posting (Thanks Mick)
Interesting article

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=112106&catid=175

Some excerps:
"Police say initial reports had not found any reflective clothing or materials near the crime scene or on Pettigrew."

*AND*

"9NEWS NOW found pieces of reflective plastic just a few feet from the accident scene as well as a reflective sneaker which Pettigrew's mother identified as the victim's."

Way to do your job, Police...

 I am upset by this not just because of them, but also because of US (Cyclists)
We want to work 'within the system'
We want to show a 'positive face'
We want to be 'respectful'

Personally I am getting tired of being 'Respectful' to people who don't respect me. I am tired of showing a 'Positive Face' in the face of verbal abuse, and dangerous actions. The past has shown us that we are not 'Within the system'.

What am I saying, Am I calling for ULock Justice?

NO.

Am I calling for groups of cyclist in black taking down the drivers who are a danger to us

NO (but it is a thought)

What I am saying is that until we as cyclists need to be more vocal and more visible. This may mean crossing the line from 'Memorial Ride' to 'Protest'. This may mean dropping the Positive Face and letting people know that we aren't going to just sit back and take it anymore.

If it means I don't have to write about another cyclist run down and then blamed for it, then I can live with that.

World Car Free Day

Today is World Car Free Day and I would urge you all to take a little time today to just think about how you could use your car a little less today.

Think about what being a little less car dependent would mean to you.

Think about walking to the store instead of driving.

What kind of change would that mean?

Would you have to decide what is really important to buy?

Would you have a new outlook on your purchases?
(weight instead of price)
(need over want)

Would you consume less if you knew that taking the last slices of bread meant either a bike ride to the store at night or no toast with breakfast?

Would you understand that a car as a tool is a great and wonderful thing.
but
A Car as a master is cruel and that handicaps you and teaches you "I Can't"

Leave the car at home, take the extra time to think

Take the extra time to learn "I CAN"

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

No really Progress this time

Photo Credit: Me

Well After the last post (Somedays you win) I took some serious time to consider what I needed to do. The first thing I decided was that I needed to start fresh. So I will repeat this and consider a new part of the Bible (Fatguy's Painting Bible) from the book of Primer Chapter 3 Verse 4 (Primer 3:4) Primer covers a multitude of sins. So I put on 3 coats of Rust resistant Primer and (the red) and two coats of filler primer (the gray) after a good hour of wet sanding I headed back outside to put a couple coats of black on the top tube.

This is the other thing I decided - This bike is going to be the new FatguyOrangebike Bike. So I placed the vinyl letters on as you see them there.  I did this on both sides of the Top Tube and tomorrow I will add several coats of orange to the upper part of the bike.

Once the Orange is on I will place the rest of the letters and then add a over layer of white on the top tube and hopefully people will be astounded at just how cool the custom FatGuyOrangeBike will look. 

So until the next layer I'll leave you with these photos and let me know what you think.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Somedays you win

And others you lose. Today was such a day (as far as the bike goes) I picked up some pretty cool looking purple to use as an accent color. with the bike taped off I painted it.

Two Words

Massive Fail.

As you can tell from my lack of photo here (I dont even want to take a picture of what the frame looks like let alone post one here.) so starting next week it is back to the wire wheel as I work to take the paint off the bike and begin again.  Anyone know how much it would cost to have my bike bead blasted back down to bare metal?)

I will still go with the orange, I like the orange, I like it alot, it is just everything else about the bike that was all wrong. Gonna need to rethink this whole thing.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Fork U - and other things

Photo Credit:Me

Well, Its been a busy week so far. I did manage to get the forks for the Ventura primed and one coat of orange on them. Looks like I will be stopping by the Autoparts Store tomorrow and picking up another can of paint (or two) since The orange is pretty much empty. I have several coats of Orange left to put on the forks and Truth be told I still haven't decided if I want to use Black as the Accent Color. Im going to throw the question up on the Bike-PGH Forums and see what the fine folks there have to say.

I did mention a Busy Week Right? I thought so.  Over the Past two days I have been spending my evenings sitting at intersections counting Bikes (and everything else) as they rode past as part of some Bike transportation census.

It has been an educational couple of days.

I have learned that,
Almost no girls ride bikes (yes I know this is false but My data says it)
Less than half of you wear a helmet! (however almost all the girls did)
More of you ride on the Sidewalk in Pittsburgh than the Street.

And we wonder why cars think we don't belong on the street?

Tommorrow I will be counting Bikes at the 9th st Bridge so after that I will post my numbers for the three bridges.

Before
Finally this week I managed to strip the old nasty Fiber Tape off the handlebars of the Ventura. However I am struck with the rather awkward position on putting all the work into getting the crap off of them and then not being sure I want to put this style of Handlebars back on the Bike. I have several different sets of handlebars on hand (so to speak) and I did manage to get the stem un-stuck (all it took was every bit of my strength and almost every swear word I knew.) so I think I will try out several different styles before I decide on drops.
After

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Ventura - Painting Continues

Photo Credit: Me

Painting continues. I spent my free time yesterday taping up the lugs on the bike and my free time today after counting cyclist downtown taking a razor to the tape and getting things ready for the next layer of paint. Granted I haven't decided what color to use as the next color. Part of me is thinking black but another part is leaning towards white. I think the black will make a stronger contrast but the white will make for a more visible bike.

I also noticed several spots that need another coat of orange paint or seven. Finally got the stem freed from the forks and put the first coat of primer on them. Several more coats of primer and I will be able to add color. The question is, Do I want the forks to be orange or the accent color.

Let me know what you think.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Contour 1080p Helmet cam

Photo Credit Engadget

So the guys over at Engadget have reviewed the Contour GPS 1080p Helmet cam and you can read the whole review over at their site. The Embedded GPS allows your videos to also have a Google Maps based interface that will show position, altitude and speed next to the video.

From the review it is said that these 349$ cams will be popping up in some of the higher end helmets soon.

Link to Engadget Article
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/13/contour-announces-1080p-contourgps-helmetcam-lets-friends-locat/

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ventura - Head Badge

Photo Credit: ME

Here is the head Badge, after I managed to get it off the head tube and spray it with black paint. Parts of this will be filled in with orange paint. Just not sure which parts yet. Here is a photo of the what it looked like before.

So you can judge what changes have been made.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ventura - First color coat

Photo Credit: ME

Well I managed to get the first coat of paint on the frame. (Alas the forks still need drilled out or replaced.) You can see the difference in the shade of the orange on the frame as opposed to the color of the Big Orange Beast. This is just the base coat and I still haven't decided if this is going to be the final color. I am even toying with a two-tone of dark and light orange that I am going to be playing with.

I have already decided that the lugs and Drops are going to be black. Since it is simple science that Black and orange bikes Kick Much Ass! and all the girls go Swoon Swoon Swoon. (Yeah I'm a rapper at heart.)


You can see all the pictures of the Build from beginning to whatever progress I have made at my flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtindie/sets/72157624779897375/ I will be uploading pictures as I go and will be putting a link in the posts whenever I have new images to show.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Ventura - Progress

Photo Credit: ME

Well it seems that eventually I do make progress. Here is the frame of the Ventura Stripped and sanded. things went pretty easy once I made the appropriate sacrifice to the cycling Gods (that being my only pair of glasses) so I bit the bullet and took the 4 1/2" angle grinder with wire wheel (which has previously tried to disembowel me)

That was last night, this morning I put the first few coats of primer. Primer I have found is like love, it covers a multitude of sins.

Photo Credit: ME

So now that the frame has the first few coats of primer I am starting to get excited to see what the bike will look like when it is finished. This week I will head off to the art store and order the cans of Montana Paint that I will need. (while I hope that they will have the colors I need in stock I'm not going to bet that just the color of orange I want will be in stock)

unfortunately I still need to take the forks to the bike shop to get the stem drilled out of them so I can strip them and paint them as well. (I may try to just find a different set of forks.) after that it is just new wheels cranks, and bottom bracket. 

glad that it is all coming along just fine.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ventura - Powertools

Photo Credit:Google Image Search "powertools"

Yeah I know that picture is sexist. It's worth it.  I pulled out the power tools over the last two days of work on the Ventura Frame. Used the satanic angle grinder to cut the stem and the crank so i could remove the forks and Bottom bracket. then proceeded to go to town with wire wheels and sand paper on the frame.

I even picked up some rust protecting primer that I intend to use as the first few coats to help protect the frame from rust and corrosion.  I  learned that no deed goes unpunished as the vibrations were simply to much for my glasses (RIP) as they actually crumbled into pieces. So no work on the bike tomorrow as I have an Appointment after work to get new glasses and get fitted for contacts.

Since I can barely see the monitor I am going to go now and feel my into the kitchen and try to make some food without catching myself aflame.