Long time no posting

Well  riding has really been boring and mostly uneventful . Then Tuesday June14th 2016 came along. On my way hoe from work I had a car drive right into me from behind. I will post video after all the court dates have passed and it is all settled. But let's say I was hit from behind on a straight road with no cars but the one around me. It was a three-lane road during daylight. I have suffered a broken shoulder blade, 3 fractured ribs, a collarbone broken in two places, a bruised lung, and road rash all up and down my left side. Good thing I ride with two GoPro camera's it was all recorded quite nicely. It will leave no room for a lapse in memory on the drivers part. Since I was hit from behind I had no clue it was about to happen till I found myself on the ground in intense pain. It may well be more than a year before the video is posted anywhere. Meanwhile, do not go and tell a cyclist that has been hit it is time to give up cycling. It is how I get around it is equivalent to telling someone not to drive a car anymore simply because people get into crashes.

It has been a while since I have posted

It is simply because the riding has been uneventful and nice. Well that all came to screeching end tonight! I had someone come so close to me I am still amazed when I watch the video clip that this person did not hit me. I mean no excuse for what happened. This person could have moved to the right behind me and entered the turn lane. But no they have to literally pass an inch or so from me. I guess they figured to scare me off the road. After 40 years of riding on the roads I don't think that is going to happen buddy. It is a shame that my bike lights are so bright that it completely washes out the license plate. It is just barely visible as the rear begins to pass me but then between this idiot's brake lights and my 2500 lumens of light the plate is just a whitewash. I wish NC plates were some other color than white!

More Deer

There were more deer on late Friday morning. I was working the late shift and going in for the noon start when I came upon a deer at about 11 am. What I initially missed in this encounter was that was mom and her fawn out. I saw the one deer and slowed down since the deer was being hesitant so I waited then the deer finally moved on. Then as I went to go again I spotted movement on the other side of the road and it was the fawn moving. I have circled both in this video then took a snapshot and enhanced it as best I could to show the fawn. It was rather hard to see from a distance. But once I was closer I was able to see it. But my video only saves video in 2Gig chucks and wouldn't you know it I was right at the 2Gig mark at this time and it takes a couple of seconds to close the file and open the next so we miss what happened as I noticed the fawn. But at least on this road it is generally very quite as far as cars go.

Cyclists and stop signs why do they feel the need to run them?

This is what drives me nuts about cyclists. They have this tendency to run stop signs. Giving us law abiding cyclists a bad name. I would say every single cyclist wants respect out on the road. They want car drivers to give them more room. But when you act like this how is that going to happen? I have to pay for these type of incidents from drivers everyday of my life. I might have scared the one you see pull to the curb and stop. I was moving along a really good clip. Fully loaded on my way home from work carrying at least 30 lbs of stuff. Not bad for an old man. Oh and you can see I came to a full stop in the beginning of this clip.

Amazing

Interesting ride home. This one section was extremely busy with cars. I have a right turn lane having cars passing me on the right. And cars are moving over and passing on the left. So I have cars on both sides. Then I get to the end of the right turn lane and they have cement divider to prevent turns. Well one car decides I am not going to wait and drives on the other side of the cement divider going the wrong way. Right behind that one is a truck that just lays on the horn to I guess scare me off the road? That is not going to work with me not after doing this for 40+ years. Just an amazing section. Other things happened on this ride but not  really video showing worth.

Tuesday Morning

Well I saw this car run a stop sign this morning. So I figured what the heck lets post the runner. This car did not even slow down or do a rolling stop. It looked to me like they just drove right thru it. This road has no outlet the only car coming from that direction is comming from a person that lives down that road. So they can't say  I did not know there was a stop sign there. No excuses!! People will always say cyclists never stop well here is the proof that cars also don't stop. It is very simple there are a large number of people that don't feel the need to follow the laws it is not limited to cyclists but drivers of motorized vehicles have the same issue. I bet this person rides a bike and does the same dumb thing!

Thursday Morning

Well I had 2 deer and a fawn come into the video on my ride into work. It is a busier street then I normally ride but when I am behind schedule I use it. I much prefer to go the longer way which uses less traveled streets. After all I am out there to enjoy the ride to work. But anyway onto the video. As I am passing the Post Office in Morrisville NC on 54 I suddenly spot a deer coming out and then the fawn. the fawn decided it was not safe I don't know if it as me that spooked it or not. We will never know but it turned once it was on the pavement and lost it's footing and went down. For a brief period I thought it had enough speed that it was going to slide right into me but it did not.

I still wonder if when it was back on its feet did it continue across the road? Also what did the other two deer do did they stop and wait? All these questions I have with no answers. I need a rear facing camera to see what is going on behind me!

The video:

Monday

Well Well Well lookie here! I caught one of those occasions when a car runs a stop sign. Cars run stops signs all the time. I bet he even runs them if he rides a bicycle. But I bet if I did the same thing he would let me know how illegal it is to run a stop sign like that.

This was not even close to stopping. This was most blatant running of a stop sign ever!

You be the judge do you think this was a legal stop? Just watch the video!

Wednesday July 24th

Well riding home tonight and as I am crossing the road and heading down it. I hear SURLY! Someone in a car recognized the brand of bicycle I am riding. I hadn't had the kind of reaction to any bicycle I have ever owned. It just goes to show that Surly is a brand that when you like it you really like it. From the decals to the disc brakes on it. Everything on it screams Surly. For the past 6 years or so I have been attracted to the Surly brand simply because they are one of the few companies that make a really good Touring style bicycle. I just bought this bicycle about a month ago after my wonderful Trek 520 was stolen. I was pleasantly surprised to find a dealer of the Surly brand in Raleigh NC by the name of All Star Bike Shop. Which if you are ever in a bicycle buying mood I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to buy a bicycle. I was an easy sell but they were still able to tell me things about the bike I was not aware of so they know what they sell. As always when buying a bicycle you want a shop that will listen to what you needs are and then shows you what you are looking for not some other bicycle that is not what you need. Hear that Performance Bike? I do not recommend buying a bicycle at Performance Bike simply because when you say you are daily commuter and need fenders and racks then they take you to a carbon fiber frame bicycle and those tiny small brakes that keep you from having fenders! No eyelets for racks or fenders. You just have to shake your head in wonder and move on. Well here is the clip. If you listen carefully you can hear SURLY! being yelled after I am moving.

Way too close

I was on my way home riding in the road and staying away from a work van/truck while this SUV makes a turn and just heads straight at me. This driver fully intended to hit me. I mean it was less the two inches from me when passing me! I mean I was already there. It was basically a single lane and this SUV just plows right on thru even though I was already there.

Just plain insane. This is why I have a video camera to prove who did what.

Wednesday

This what happens when people talk about a right hook when riding. It is when a person driving a car gets next to you and then turns right across your path. I mean what was this person thinking. Oh there is a cyclist next to me but I DON'T CARE I AM TURNING ANYWAY!

I will give credit that they did hear me yell and did not complete the turn. But I should not have to YELL to make you realize there is a living person that you are about to hit.

Wow

I was heading home from work tonight going the short way. It is amazing how many people will just do stupid things along this route. In the clip I show you someone who decides he wants to pass me. He goes almost completely into the other lane. Which under normal circumstances I would appreciate. But I really don't think a person should do this on a two lane road with cars coming the other way. I thought there was going to be an accident and I was going to be collateral damage! The car going the other way I think actually left the road to avoid the collision. People amaze me daily!

Google Street View!

 Yes after 278 Days google street view of me riding my bicycle to work has been posted! I have checked everyday for 278 days payoff finally.

It was getting to the point I even doubted it took place!

The link to the map

Well now what am I going to look for on google?

Back on the road

My first day of riding after replacing my stolen bicycle and I catch a cyclist running a red light! This type of activity should be ticketed. This is against the law. Why do cyclists feel they are above the law? I will never know why this thought process takes place. These people drive cars and they would not even think about doing this type of blatant law breaking as in this video. Most car drivers break laws we all know this they blow off red lights when they have just changed, they are pink after all right? They tend to not stop at stop signs. They even make turns into oncoming traffic lanes. But this one was just so bad. It wasn't even close to green. The left turning light was red by the time he went thru the red light. You can't talk your way out of this.

The Video

New Ride

Well I picked up the new wheels Saturday! It was a sad way to get a new bicycle. This the the fourth bicycle I have bought in the past 20+ years and not once did I buy it because I wanted a new bicycle. The last time I bought a bicycle just to buy a bicycle was in 1989 24 years ago! That was a Trek 520. Which was stolen in 1995 when I bought a Mongoose Mountain Bike which was never really what I wanted but... Then that was hit by a car with me on it and destroyed in 2002. At which point I bought another Trek 520 which was stolen last week on June 20th. So now I bought a Surley Disc Trucker in 2013. So 1989 was the very last time I bought a bicycle just to buy a bicycle. Every Time since then my bicycle was stolen or destroyed in an accident.

Here are some pics of the new ride. It is not complete yet I am still waiting on the headlights and taillights to come from Amazon.

So the first ride is tomorrow. I have been lazy about locking the bike up at home. That will now end. Being as it is near impossible to secure it properly I will be using the small room outside that we have a freezer in. I'll be hanging it on the wall and keeping that door locked. It is amazing how much more money the bicycle cost after 11 years. Granted this is not the Trek 520 but the Trek 520 price was the same as this one. So the bicycle cost 50% more than what I paid for it in 2002. With basically no changes. Looking forward to the next 100,000 miles on this bike I only had 64,192 on the previous Trek 520 I plan on making 100,000 on this Surley.

Finding a new ride

Well since my steed was stolen I have begun the search for a new bike. It is down to three models. The Surley Disc Trucker, Charge Filter Hi Cyclocross Bike, and the GT Wheels4Life Peace Tour Commuter.

These are in order of what I want and also in price range. Sad to say but the Trek 520 lost out. Not only is the thing more expensive then all these bikes it lacks something I decided I needed on the new bicycle. that is Disc brakes.

I really like the Surley here is a picture of it.

What is shocking is that on a casual look it looks so much like the Trek 520 I had. It's color is very similar. Here is a picture of my stolen ride

So it will be hard for the casual user to that sees me to even realize I have a different bike. Of course once I get my new panniers they will not be the same. Nothing about panniers remains the same after 11 years.

As far as I am concerned once I have made my decision and I hope I get enough from the insurance company to buy the Surley!

My bicycle was stolen!

Well my bicycle was stolen last night sometime between the hours of Midnight and 7am.

Above is my stolen bicycle. It had 64,193 miles and I spent about 4,100 hours riding it over the last 11 years. It was a good bike and it will be missed. Needless to say until I get a replacement I will not be posting to this blog for a while.

Driver passes me too close then slows down

Well it happened again where I had to deal with a driver that felt they just had to pass me. Pass me in a way the broke the law. Then once in front they slow down. So I sped up and caught this person and passed them back. I was just 1 MPH over the speed limit after getting around them. I never saw them again.

Here is the video

Cyclist runs red light

One thing that really irks me is when cyclist breaks the law. I hear every cyclist complain how cars don't respect us. Cars yell at me. Cars tell me I don't belong. Well if you want respect you need to go above and beyond to earn that respect. Ask any car driver about a cyclist and this is what they will say.

They run red lights.
They run stop signs.
They pass at lights.
They don't obey any laws.

Why do they say these things?? Well lets start with the cyclist in this video. He blows off the red light. I mean When I get there it takes about 8 seconds for the light to sense me and turn green so why did he have to run the light??

Maybe he just doesn't understand how light signals work and how to trip them. After all most people think the sensors sense weight. Well they don't sense weight the most common technique is the inductive loop. An inductive loop is simply a coil of wire embedded in the road's surface. To install the loop, they lay the asphalt and then come back and cut a groove in the asphalt with a saw. The wire is placed in the groove and sealed with a rubbery compound. You can often see these big rectangular loops cut in the pavement because the compound is obvious.

Inductive loops work by detecting a change of inductance.

So... Let's say you take a coil of wire perhaps 5 feet in diameter, containing five or six loops of wire. You cut some grooves in a road and place the coil in the grooves. You attach an inductance meter to the coil and see what the inductance of the coil is. Now you park a car over the coil and check the inductance again. The inductance will be much larger because of the large steel object positioned in the loop's magnetic field. The car parked over the coil is acting like the core of the inductor, and its presence changes the inductance of the coil.

A traffic light sensor uses the loop in that same way. It constantly tests the inductance of the loop in the road, and when the inductance rises, it knows there is a something waiting! The best type is the double loop two circles that overlap in the middle. If you put your bike right over the center it has an easier time sensing you. Oh no I said get in the middle of the road!


The video of the red light runner

Tuesday fun on the bike

Coming home from the dentist this morning I was able to hit 38MPH on the small down hill after I leave there. The rocking you seeing the video is not because I can't ride straight. I was pedaling trying to get the speed up high. Once I say that's good enough is smooths right out while I am coasting.

But right after that light some bozo decided he was going to lay on the horn to let me know something. I have no clue what the issue was. I am legally entitled to the road your not even in my lane so why?????

Anyway here is the video enjoy!