Border thoughts « Jim’s Bike Blog
by jimsbikeblog
Texas author Larry McMurtry frequently travels the border roads. In a 2000 book Roads: Driving America’s Great Highways, he wrote of a similar experience near Ajo, Ariz., where two exhausted teenagers had been run to ground by a Border …
Tasty Touring organizes trailer bicycle tour for February | Austin …
by elliott
Local food and eating blog Tasty Touring is at it again organizing what sounds like a really fun bicycle tour of some of the best trailer eateries that have become increasingly popular in Austin in the last few years. They’ll be organizing a self paced trailer tour on Saturday, February 6 from Noon- 6 PM…
Team San Angelo: Looking Ahead
by Bill Cullins
This time last winter I was finishing cyclocross season and starting base training for the upcoming year. The 2009 season didn’t work out the way I had planned, with health issues forcing me to miss most of the events I normally partcipate in. However, I’ve finished all of the cancer-related treatments, and I celebrated by racing the 2010 Texas Cyclocross Championships on January 16…
Campy 10sp or 11sp? – Women’s Cycling Discussion Forums
from www.teamestrogen.com
My SRAM chain didn’t even last a season and replaced it with Ultegra. And I don’t race. Just a casual weekend rider these days. For my casual riding and training on hills with 10% grade, I rarely use the top two cogs anyway. I only use 8 cogs in the rear. smilingcat is offline ….
Lonestar Cyclocross Festival: A Pro Roadie’s Perspective by Kelly …
by jliberles
Wow, Cyclocross is hard. And muddy. But talk about fun! Being from the undisputed cyclocross mecca of Portland, Oregon, I have seen my fair share of ‘cross races this season, but have only competed in one in my entire career. Now I know why: no drafting, no sitting in and no teammates to help you out make for a really hard effort.
I don’t know much about how a course should…
Rat Trap Press: Denim Ride and the Great Southwest Bike Swap
by Rat Trap Press
I can’t believe that I almost forgot to mention Bike Denton’s Denim Ride! If you’re anywhere in north Texas, break out your jeans and make your way out to Denton this Saturday, January 23rd for a leisurely ride around town. …
More protection for cyclists?
by San Antonio Express
“We’re very pleased,” said Robin Stallings, executive director of BikeTexas, the educational wing of the Texas Bicycle Coalition, which worked to pass the …
FtW CycEx: The positive side of averages
by rab
Statistics generally annoy me as they are often used by people with an agenda. Sometimes fairly, sometimes downright fraudulently, which might only be noted by a good statistician, a set that does not include me.
Averages are something I pay a lot of attention to, particularly this time of year, specifically, average temperatures.
The month of December was a good example. I spent…
Add to Google
I think that, on the one hand, this decision in San Antonio is a step in the right direction, but on the other hand I sometimes doubt if 3 feet are enough, considering how fast some cars and trucks zoom by. What matters most, and that is clear from some of the very irresponsible [to say the least] comments to the article in the SA Express-News, is education – on both sides, bicyclists included. But luckily it is only a small minority of drivers [an bicyclists, at that] who act irresponsibly. In all my years of riding my bike on the highways and byways of Karnes County I have always found the vast majority of drivers very considerate, giving me a wide berth whenever possible and sometimes even staying calmly behind me for some time when they could not safely overtake. Thanks to all these people!
Oh, and btw: this problem is just about the same in my native country, Germany.
Safe bicycling to y’all!
There have some instances when I have had an encounter that 12 feet wasn’t enough. But I have to say over the 30 years I have been riding the bad drivers have been very few. Now passengers in the vehicles might be a different matter. Education is a key factor. One instance I had with a driver turned completely around when I talked to him at traffic light we both were stopped at after he yelled that I should be on the sidewalk. I have wondered if this is a US problem but your comment shows that it could be where ever there are drivers and riders. Patience and manners are important for both parties.
In addition to my previous comment I’d like to add here two remarks I have recently found in the Road Bike Riders Newsletter about an anti-bicyclists site on Facebook:
“Nasty stuff: I would like to bring to your attention a Facebook group that promotes violent, hateful and illegal activities against road bikers,’ writes a subscriber named Igor R. ‘At the bottom of the homepage there is a button marked Report Page. Perhaps if enough people complain to Facebook it may be deleted. Thanks, and here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Theres-a-perfectly-good-path-right-next-to-the-road-you-stupid-cyclist/190080667052.’ According to Facebook, the page has more than 32,000 ‘fans.’”
But there’s a positive site, too, which actually campaigns against the above:
“The Facebook group that wishes harm to cyclists, mentioned here last week, is still functioning. In fact, it has grown to around 35,000 ‘fans’ (up by 3,000). Now a counter group has formed, asking cycling defenders to put pressure on Facebook to remove the ‘hate group.’ It points to Facebook’s terms of use, which says: ‘You will not post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.’ The anticyclists are at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Theres-a-perfectly-good-path-right-next-to-the-road-you-stupid-cyclist/190080667052. The group that wants Facebook to eliminate them is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=235515394023&ref=mf. You need to be a Facebook member (it’s free) to get past the home page of either group.”
I hope that many more people will complain to Facebook and that they will eventually have to remove that site, which, to my mind, advocates illegal actions. I have already written to Facebook in Germnan(y).
P.S.: Road Bike Riders are at http://roadbikerider.com/.
Today’s [Sunday, January 23, 2010] San Antonio Express-News has a feature on safe passing, bicycling and related matters which is well worth reading and might make you think twcie about the absolutely car-dominated mind set even of the SAPD. Well, to be fair, they’re only applying Texas Law. I for my part find it hard to believe, that, according to Texas State Law, a driver who runs a bicylist over and (severely) injures or even kills him/her will not even be given a ticket – let alone be prosecuted – unless an officer witnessed the incident. Prosecutors will only bring more serious charges if there is strong evidence of criminal behaviour, e.g. recklessness, drunkenness or leaving the scene.
cf. San Antonio Express-News, Sunday, January 23, 2010, p. 1A ff.
I do have first experience on how DPS handles bicycle/car incidents. In my case the driver was cited for no insurance by DPS. I do not remember any other charges and it took several weeks for the DPS trooper to file his report. Fortunately the driver paid my medical expenses and replaced my bike.
I would hope they are handled the same as a car on car incident but from what you state this is not the case at least in San Antonio.