Tag Archives: Safety

Der blinkinlichten ist lookenpeepers goot!

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Wherein a little history, and new Blackburn Flea 2.0 USB lights are reviewed.

First, some history…

When I first built out my 2003 Kona Fire Mountain as a commuter way back in ’07, I mounted two Cat Eye TL-LD600′s on the front fork, one on each side pointing to the side, and two pointing towards the rear off the rear fender, and my Triple Shot rounding out as the bright headlight.
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This was a good setup, but I got tired of replacing batteries in the TL-LD600′s. They were also quite the protuberance on the fork up front. Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, the fork lights came off; one snapped off, and the other looked lopsided. Additionally, the Triple Shot, bright as it is, is heavy, and the separate battery is bulky, takes up valuable frame real-estate, and is not as convenient to recharge as I would have liked. I wasn’t really complaining though, and rode with just the headlight and taillight for a while. Then I didn’t ride for a while. Then I rode again, and nearly got plowed into twice in two days by people who clearly were not using their lookenpeepers.

That brings me to today. I’m back to my original setup, but this time with different lights. I still have an old TL-LD600 on the seat post. But on the fork I now have two Blackburn Flea 2.0 USB rear lights, each pointing out and to the side. For headlights I’ve replaced the heavy and bulky Triple Shot with two Blackburn Flea 2.0 USB front lights. I’ve gone the extra best-practice mile and mounted another on my helmet.

When they’re all set to blinkin, I am quite a sight to behold, and after all, that’s the point, isn’t it?

On to the review…

Construction

The lights are very small and light, which is a nice change of pace from my old Triple Shot. As far as construction goes, they feel moderately sturdy, but not quite as solid as I’d like. That goes double for the helmet mount. The base that sits against the helmet is metal, but the bracket that slides into the slot on the light itself is plastic, and I’m worried that it’ll snap off. I’m playing pretty careful with it to push that day out as long as I can. I’m a little disappointed with that piece, and would have expected only metal for the price of $15. Still, it’s possible they went plastic to save wear on the light chassis, which is itself plastic. I’ll entertain the possibility, though I’m pretty sure it was a cost thing.
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Lighting Modes

The four LED headlights have three modes: a rather bright standard, a much brighter overdrive and the standard blinking. I rode this morning in the dark with the headlights set to overdrive and the helmet light set to blinking. This afternoon I set them all to blinking. Run times are quoted as 3 hours on steady, and 5 hours for flash. It’s not stated whether steady is for standard or overdrive modes. I suspect overdrive to be less than 3 hours. I probably won’t time them to see, but that should provide a solid week of riding to and from work without recharges. If it’s less than that, I keep closer track, but otherwise I’m not worried about it.

The four LED rear lights (which I have on my fork) have three modes as well: all-on steady, flash (all lights blinking in unison), and chase (alternating blinking between two pairs). Run times are quoted at 6 hours steady, and 12 hours flash. I suspect 12 hours is for chase mode, and flash to be somewhere in between, but again, I’ll only keep close track if they’re obviously falling short of those times.

Brightness

Both front and rear lights are, as one would expect from LEDs, very bright. Rated at 40 lumens, the front lights aren’t anywhere near as bright as my 130 lumen Triple Shot, but two running in tandem illuminate the urban landscape aplenty for my purposes, and they’re nowhere near as bulky. I wouldn’t take them on singletracks at night, but for daily street use, they’re plenty sufficient.

Charging

They charge via a little USB dongle. The light sticks attach to the dongle via two magnets, which also serve as the charging contact points. I found the holding power of the magnets more than sufficient, and was able to charge three of them at once in my D-Link USB hub. The first charge took about half an hour per light before each was fully charged and the charge indicator went from blinking red to blinking green.
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I bought one set that came with a solar charger, but I’ve not tried it yet.

The button that serves as the USB charge indicator, and that you use to turn on and off the lights and switch modes, also serves as a running charge indicator. After you shut the light off, it’ll glow green to indicate a charge of 75% or more, orange to indicate a charge between 25% and 75%, and red to indicate a charge of 25% or less. That’s useful insofar as knowing about how much charge you have left, but not really useful in knowing how much time you have left. Still, it’s probably enough… red simply means charge as soon as you can.
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Price

At ~$25 per light, they’re cheaper than a lot of options out there, but if you want more than one, the $$’s add up. Still, the charging method definitely offsets the initial price.

Mounting

They mount to the frame via custom made Velcro straps, with protective strips on the non-sticky side to help protect the frame. The straps need to be completely removed in order to properly charge them, which means they have to be remounted after every charge. That’s not a big deal to me because they’re very easy to mount, though it might be to some. The ability to quickly move them around the frame, or share them with friends in need outweighs, at least for now, the inconvenience of having no permanent mounting bracket. That said, it shouldn’t be too tough to rig up a permanent mount (perhaps using the, albeit plastic, helmet mount) if one were so inclined.
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The rear lights have what look like belt straps on them that the Velcro frame mounts slide through. They also allow them to be strapped directly into loops, belts, or wherever else you can find that fits. They’re allegedly compatible with certain helmets. Unfortunately, mine isn’t one of them.

Conclusion

So, what’s my final take on them? Traffic was pretty light today, but those cars I did encounter showed every sign that they saw me. There were no close calls at all, and I certainly felt better having the directional light on my helmet. All the blinking made for a very cool and eerie strobe effect that lit up reflectors everywhere! In the dark of the morning, they were bright enough for me that I wasn’t worried about potholes, stray cats or zombie arms reaching out from sewer drains.
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I have to take some points off for the construction, though. Though I’m sure they’ll last as long as I want them to, the lights don’t feel quite as solid as I’d like,. The helmet mount feels like it could break at any time. I’m pretty sure I’ll be taking them up on their (limited) lifetime warranty for that piece. Until then, I’ll be handling them with kid gloves to put that day off as long as possible.

All in all, I’m going with 4 out of 5 der blinkinlichten after my first day with the lights. Points revoked for construction, but more points given for size, price, performance, convenience, ease of use and charging method.
Blackburn Flea 2.0 Front LightBlackburn Flea 2.0 Front LightBlackburn Flea 2.0 Front LightBlackburn Flea 2.0 Front LightBlackburn Flea 2.0 Front Light NeGaTiVe

Twice in Two Days

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That’s how many times I was nearly hit by a driver not paying attention. I don’t know that there’s any way to compare that to the average ride for the average rider, but for me, it’s twice the number of near misses I’ve had for the last three four years. My own memory is very likely faulty, but I only remember one other instance.

91st & Lowell Yesterday morning, I was heading south on Lowell and turning left onto 91st when a woman heading east on 91st Terrace went straight through the intersection towards 91st St after I was already well into my turn. She, in effect, wanted to share precious intersection space with me. I saw it happening, easily adjusted my course and we pulled into the eastbound lane side by side with me in the middle and her next to the curb. She sped ahead with a look of shock (reproach? distaste?) on her face and I moved to the right behind her. I tried to catch her at Foster – you know, for a friendly reminder about paying attention – but the light turned before I got there and she was gone. Oh well.

King's Cove & Brittany This morning, I was much closer to home at an intersection within an apartment complex. I was heading east on Kings Cove Dr, and the driver heading north on Brittany St and turning west into me. When I say “into me” that’s exactly what I mean. In spite of my rather crazy bright light (ok, only 140 lumens) and bright fluorescent windbreaker, the driver clearly didn’t see me and just pulled out. I saw it coming though, and easily engaged pulled into the oncoming lane with a rather loud, throaty and heart-felt “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!!” I’m sure they only heard “WAt wer yr gn…” I looked back and they were stopped (in the middle of the road). I can only hope they had to stop b/c their own inattentiveness lanced adrenalized terror through their chest. That might be too naïve though.

Rather than continue the focus on the well covered topic of driver inattention, I want to turn the focus away from what others are doing, and point out two things:

  1. I made it safely through both scenarios because I was paying attention, was planning ahead and was riding defensively. I can’t help whether drivers are paying attention, or if they’re reading, writing, putting on makeup, eating, using their mobile phone to text or talk, or any of the 10,000 other things people do instead of drive, but I can help whether I’m paying attention, and at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to keep me rubber side down.
  2. These back-to-back near incidents inspired me to do something I’ve needed to do for some time. In the first case, it’s entirely possible that, because of my bike’s position relative to the woman driving and the position of the lighting on my bike (front and rear only), she just didn’t see me. Additionally, it was that low visibility dusk/dawn period. I’ll give her that. So, I’ve ordered a helmet light I can flash in people’s eyes, and two rear lights I’ll attach to my fork pointing to the sides. I used to have that setup, but I let it slide through exchanging this bike for that, that light for this, etc., you know how it goes. I’m also looking into some highly-reflective tape for my pannier and frame (nod to CommuterDude for the tips on electrical tape and placement).
    Blackburn Flea 2.0 RearBlackburn Flea 2.0 RearBlackburn Flea 2.0 RearBlackburn Flea 2.0 Rear

So, there you have it. I’ve had two near-encounters with inattentive drivers in as many days, after zero encounters in years. I’m sure it’s a statistical anomaly, rather than an indication of things to come, but just to be sure, I’m ramping up my visibility.

Just do me a favor will you, don’t tell my wife about this. She worries enough as it is. :)

Baffled by Drivers, an Unapologetic Homage to Driving Safely

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I’ve mentioned before that riding my bike to work every day for a year taught me more about driving than driving for 20 years did. I may have even mentioned that I’ve mentioned it before, though I can’t find where now.

I recently read a post by Dave wherein he basically says he’s going to drive the speed limit and if you don’t like it, then that’s just tough.

I read another post by rainycamp over at Bike Noob wherein he marvels at the general looniness of drivers.

I’m right there on board with Dave. I drive the speed limit, give (or even take) a couple mph. Sometimes, when I’m passing I even drive the speed limit in the passing lane (note it’s called the “passing lane” and not the “speeding lane”). Yes. I’m that guy. *gasp* The horror! The aggravation obvious in the wild gesticulations, disgusted shaking of heads and clearly mouthed epithets of those behind me wishing to push the limits of officer tolerance do nothing to sway me. Believe me, you’ll get where you’re going, and not only will you do it with less risk of catastrophe, but you’re likely shaving more seconds off the end of your life from the stress of raging at me, than you’re losing due to my abhorrent adherence to the speed limit. So calm down, relax, and enjoy your extra life.

I also understand where rainycamp is coming from. There have been precious few trips I’ve made in my car where I didn’t witness someone doing something either remarkably stupid, or utterly ineffectual and inefficient.

We’ve all seen drivers peel away at stop lights only to have to stop at the next one a block or two away. What a sad waste of gas and increased wear & tear.

We’ve all seen drivers jockey for position with sudden and rapid repeated lane changes, only to find themselves stopped at the same light as we are, having gained all of a single car length advantage.

We’ve all seen drivers swerve across three lanes of 65+mph traffic to make the exit they weren’t paying attention to.

We’ve all seen drivers reading while they drive. Or putting on make-up. Or eating with both hands. Or texting. Or fully turned around to smack a kid up in the backseat.

We’ve all seen the driver pass us at +20mph on the highway, only to end up alongside us after an exit ramp, or the stop light when we reach town, or better yet, on the side of the road being ticketed for speeding, thus losing all their speed advantage, and some of their money to boot.

Witnessing those, and other completely pointless acts of idiocy never fails to completely baffle me. I know it shouldn’t. I know I should be cynical and jaded enough that such things no longer surprise me, but I can’t help it. I’m constantly amazed at what seems to be such criminally willful stupidity and a complete lack of situational and consequential awareness.

Furthermore, riding a bike makes obvious through my own physical efforts the physics of movement, momentum and speed, and the cost of acceleration. I carry those lessons over to my driving, and have, as a consequence, made conscious and concerted efforts to eliminate idiocy from my own driving. I’m sure there are a few things (more than a few, likely) that I still do that I’ll eventually correct… my education isn’t finished, but it’s on its way.

Some of the things I do in an attempt to create a safe, effective and efficient trip for myself (because all I can control is my own actions) include, but are not exclusive to:

  • Plan well ahead to minimize lane changes, thus reducing the risk of collision.
  • Use my turn signal. Yes. I really do. In fact, I take it one step further and use my turn signal to alert other drivers of my intention. That’s right. I use it to tell other drivers what I want to do, not what I am doing. Note the difference there. It’s subtle, I know, but it’s critical. I like to think people appreciate it, but I doubt it.
  • If I miss my turn, I don’t scream across three lanes to make it at the last possible second… I skip it, take the next turn, and back track. No big deal. I lose a few minutes, but I don’t present an undue threat, compound the already significant risks involved, or increase natural stress level inherent to the speeds at which we travel (no one gets road ragey with me when I make relaxed, gradual and advertised lane changes).
  • Set the cruise control at the speed limit to eliminate the risk of a ticket, and to remove the additional distraction of having to worry about my speed. Yes, I do this everywhere and at all times save inclement weather.
    • I’ve not found any documentation to say it increases wear on modern transmissions and engines at lower speeds as it used to.
    • I maintain my foot in position in case of the need to suddenly brake (which I’m more able to observe, given that I’m not worried about my speed).
    • I refuse to be intimidated by tailgating. If someone chooses to tailgate me, that’s their choice. I won’t speed for them, nor will I change lanes out of their way any faster or slower than were they not tailgating. This includes periods of time during which I’m passing other drivers in the passing lane. Folk are free to tailgate, but it’s not on me if there’s a collision and I’m behaving in an otherwise safe and law-abiding manner. Besides, I’m due for a new car anyway. I won’t make special arrangements for tailgaters one way or the other. Tailgating me increases the risk of collision without introducing a corresponding benefit. Were that more people opted not to capitulate to highway intimidation tactics (aka, bullying).
    • Driving the speed limit everywhere may give rise to the opinion that I’m an “Old Fogey”, or even an “A$$hole.” That’s fine. It’s just an opinion, and that particular one is meaningless to me.
  • Generally speaking, I’ve made attempts to start thinking of myself as part of a system, rather than an individual. Sure, I, like everyone else, have my own agenda and destination, but until I reach it, I’m just one small, relatively insignificant part of a much larger and incomprehensibly complex whole.

The other day I came up behind a minivan with a few odds and ends on the back that amused me. First, near the top was an obviously home printed sign taped to the inside of the rear window that read “What is the speed limit?”. Below that, and above the license plate was another sign that read “I’m retired.” Below the license plate was another that read “Go around me.” Finally, attached to the hitch was a hand held palm out and all fingers extended as if to say “Hold” or “Back off.”

It amused me. I laughed. And I followed at the speed limit at a safe distance.

Octoginta 2010

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I finished the Octoginta 2010 this past Sunday. I hadn’t ridden more than ~40 miles at one time, and only four rides over 30 miles since the ’09 Triple Bypass – over a year ago. Look for yourself. What I’m trying to say is I’ve been a right slacker when it comes to cycling. So it was with some trepidation that I attempted the 80+ mile Octoginta.

I needn’t have worried. My flat-inducing friend (who didn’t induce a flat) and I did just fine.

Here are my thoughts on the ride, in order of least favorite to most. I find it’s always a good idea to start with the bad news and end on a good note, so here ’tis.

The Ugly

Some of the worst group ride cyclist behavior in traffic I can remember witnessing. I hate to foster stereotypes, but the vast majority of cycling miscreancy was committed by our friends in full racing kit. Last week, Eric over at KCBike.info, himself via Ride Lawrence, let us in on the fact that a new Lawrence Bike Rideability Map [PDF] was released. I wish the scofflaws on the ride Sunday would have taken to heart the advice on the 2nd page of that flyer… primarily the “ride predictably” and “don’t pass cars on the right” bits. I don’t blame the folk what put together the Octoginta for this, though. It’s not their fault. However, I would have liked to hear something about playing nice with each other and cars at the starting line. Not that it would have mattered, but still…

The Bad

Gravel/chip roads. Can’t say I love them. There was only one, and it only stretched a couple of miles, but with a perfectly serviceable paved road with very wide shoulders as an alternate route, I’m having a hard time fathoming the choice. Maybe it was the 21% grade hill on that little jaunt that brought out the gleeful sadist in the route planners. Or maybe it was the steep downhill right afterwards that couldn’t be enjoyed because it culminated in a sharp gravel turn, forcing us to ride our brakes the whole time. Either way, I’m pretty sure The Devil had something to do with it.

No end of ride dinner. The last time I rode an Octoginta in 2007 (wow… was it really that long ago?!), there was a fantastic minestrone soup at the end. They seem to have ditched that in favor of soup at lunch. I’m not complaining, mind you. The sammiches and soup really hit the spot at 52 miles in, but the utter lack of a finish line was rather anti-climatic.

The Good

Group Riding. It wouldn’t be fair to mention the horrible behavior of some cyclists without mentioning the very friendly and communal behavior of others. For the first 30 miles or so of the ride, and before it spread out too thin, my friend and I found ourselves (mostly through his efforts) part of one decent sized two column peleton or another. It’s amazing how much difference that makes in terms of effort and energy expenditure. It’s significantly reduced. Riding 30 solo miles takes a lot more energy than riding 30 group miles, when that group knows what it’s doing. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy being part of something like that.

Energy level. Though I wouldn’t rate my fitness, and resultant post-ride energy at the same level as the ’07 Octoginta, I was better than I expected. Especially having run a 5K Saturday morning. My legs were really feeling that run, but once I hit the pedals on Sunday, I forgot about the pain, and enjoyed the ride. Around mile 30, I was starting to feel the effort, but the well-placed SAG stops and our judicious use of them allowed for a strong second wind at mile 52 after lunch, and continuing through the rest of the ride. The group riding definitely helped with that.

Well placed SAG stops. As with the ’07 ride, the SAGs were well placed. More space between them along stretches requiring less effort, and less space along stretches with leg busting hills or nasty surfaces. No evidence of sadism here.

Breakfast. The breakfast of eggs, french toast, and plenty of fluids may not have been quite as noteworthy as ’07 (if there was coffee and OJ, I missed it), but it was still pretty fantastic. I wasn’t hungry, having stuffed my face with pasta that morning, which may have colored my perception, but it was still pretty nice.

Lunch. The lunch stop with ham or turkey sammiches, bananas, their signature soup, and water was spot on target at 52 miles in, at the Vinland Airport.

Route choice included some familiar roads, as well as some new ones. This year, they took us northwest initially, then back around south of Lawrence to Clinton Lake Dam, and then up north before pulling us back into downtown. I know many of the roads we were on, but there were a few that I hadn’t tried yet. When next I pull my Shawnee to Lawrence and Back rides, I’ll have more choices, and I’ll use them.

Surprise visit by my wife! Though there was no dinner after the ride, and though there was no official finish line with screaming friends and family welcoming you in after a long day of riding (the Triple Bypass certainly spoiled me there), my gorgeous wife surprised me by being there in the parking lot waiting for me. I wasn’t expecting her at all, and she was a beautiful site to behold after pushing myself hard those last 10 miles.

All the photos and more, with captions, are available here.

Cycling Safety, Printing with Cups & HPLIP, and Vino

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All in all, not a bad weekend. I’d fixed our printing issues with Samba/Cups/HPLIP before 11, and I’d slept in until 9:30 (yes, I clearly needed sleep). It was, I think, a permissions issue, but it was a confusing issue.

Brokey:

lrw-rw---- 1 root cups 9 Sep 24 17:04 ugen0.2 -> usb/0.2.0
crw-rw-rw- 1 root cups 0, 128 Sep 24 17:01 0.2.0

Workey:

lrw-rw---- 1 root cups 9 Sep 24 17:04 ugen0.2 -> usb/0.2.0
crw-rw-rw- 1 root cups 0, 128 Sep 24 17:01 0.2.0

Yeah. I don’t see a difference either. Still, I was getting the following errors:

prnt/backend/hp.c 745: ERROR: open device failed stat=12: hp:/usb/photosmart_7350?serial=XXXXXXXXXXXXX

and

printer-state=5(stopped)
printer-state-message="/usr/local/libexec/cups/backend/hp failed"
printer-state-reasons=paused

whenever I tried to print (not the real serial number).

Then I chown root:lp both ugen0.2 and usb/0.2.0, and printing was magically working again. And yet, they still show as being root:cups. Go figure. Please. Go figure, because aside from some weird corruption in some place I don’t yet know exists, I can’t figure it out myself.

So, that done, I moved myself downtown to the KC Public Library for the first of two League of American Cyclists Smart Cycling KC: Traffic Skills 101 classes. Though there wasn’t anything in there that I didn’t already know, it was still a good time, and worth the time spent. Some really good discussion ensued around traffic law and cyclists place in it, and how to best defend ourselves out there. I’d be interested in the more advanced classes, so I’m going to keep my eyes open for those.

Now, I’m about to settle in for the evening with my beautiful wife, who’s been shopping nearly all day, with a bottle of wine and a weeks worth of DVR’d television stories.

Bike Week KC

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I’ve not been very good about riding my bike to work the last couple of weeks. I was gung-ho the first week, and rode every day. The last couple of weeks, though… I don’t know, I just didn’t have it in me. I caved to the pull of the seat vs. the saddle. I took the easier, more populated road. Can’t say I felt great about it, and though there were only a couple of days where I legitimately needed the car to either be somewhere far away quickly, or to carry something my bike just isn’t equipped to carry (lumber, for instance), I did it every day anyway.

Bike Week KC starts up next week, and I joined up on Brent Hugh’s MoBikeFed Wheel Wizards team, for no other reason than b/c I got a mass e’mail from him about it. I couldn’t pick the man out of a crowd, but if it keeps him from buying dinner for other people I don’t know, and helps me with the whole biking thing…

Well, why not?

So… I’m signed up, and though I’ll need my car at least one day next week, I don’t see why I can’t ride to work the rest…

See you out there. And Noah if I see you, I promise I’ll wave back.

Keep ridin’…

Predators On Facebook Tough To Track – Kansas City News Story – KMBC Kansas City

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Predators On Facebook Tough To Track – Kansas City News Story – KMBC Kansas City: “KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Your child could be talking to a sexual predator on Facebook and not even know it. Thursday, February 18, 2010.”

Just watched this on the television… more ridiculous scare mongering from self-important local news personalities. To be fair, the advice was good, such as “Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in real life.” and the tips for parents

However, they lost me with the bits about the sex offenders and the lack of police manpower and time to check them all was completely glossed over. They ignored the fact that the list is so polluted with people who have no business being there, that the police may miss the real threats

In the end, it was irrational fear mongering in the name of ratings without any real perspective on the level of danger.

But that’s what I expected to find, so that’s what I found.

Driver involved in [and causes] fatal accident faces jail time

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WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa – A man faces up to [a mere] 60 days in jail in connection with a November 2007 accident that killed a West Burlington man who was riding a bicycle.

A judge found Marvin Oberly guilty last week of driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway and passing a vehicle on the wrong side. Douglas Kenney died of [the tragic and needless] injuries he suffered in the accident on Nov. 9, 2007 [due to Oberly’s utterly irresponsible and reckless actions].

Oberly is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30. He faces [a paltry] 30 days in jail for each of the counts and up to a year suspension [rather than the far more just complete and permanent revocation] of his drivers license. [It is left as an exercise for the reader to rationalize how 60 days in jail and a year's suspension balances out the irresponsibility and recklessness that resulted in Kenney's death.]

Prosecutors argued that Oberly drove up behind Kenney in his pickup and collided with the bicycle Kenney, who was riding his bicycle in a manner consistent with safety and law.

Oberly testified provided the lame and weak excuse during his trial that glare from the sun prevented him from seeing Kenney[, which would have been inconsequential had be been driving on the correct side of the road and not passed another vehicle on the shoulder].

Original here.

Side Effects of Cycling to Work

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Though I be in Texas, far away from home and the bike that awaits me, new and unridden, with virgin saddle, as it were, my thoughts stray now and again, all the same, to the subject of cycling. I think on how nice it will be to once again sit astride the saddle, my arms outstretched holding brake levers and handlebars. I think on how nice it will be to see my waistline diminish once again, rather than continue it’s current trend of slow expansion. I think on how nice it will be to once again stride out the front doors with pride, knowing that I will be making it home on my own power, while at the same time clowning around like a fool for the cadre of lustful (though unfortunately married) women who have come to be a sort of 4:30pm Fan Club for yours truly (I take the ego boosts where I can get them). But lately, one thought presses forward as I spend minute after empty minute in the cabin of an automobile instead of the saddle of a bicycle… that thought is what I will share with you now.

And here it is, then.

That thought is patience.

More than a healthier body (and the unabashed admiration of womenfolk all across the lands), more than all those things I mentioned above, cycling has given me patience.

I tool about in my car, making my way steadily and surely to my destination, watching in bemused awe as drivers around me scream about (literally and figuratively both), forcibly changing lanes at the last minute, riding bumpers in unabashed displays of apparent superiority, verily burning valuable rubber off at stop signs and stop lights in a desperate attempt to get to the next stop sign or stop light that much sooner, and generally behaving like a group of angry baboons… all in the name of shaving valuable seconds off their commutes.

I used to be one of them. I used to scream at others who behaved in ways not to my liking. I used to drive as aggressively as defensively. I used to speed everywhere I went. I used to strain the engine and the brakes both starting and stopping. I used to be one of them. But I’ve spent a lot of time on the roads in a saddle this year. I’ve learned first hand the energy it takes to go uphill, to start from a stop and to increase to a higher speed. I’ve gained a sense of what my car must be experiencing when I demand of it the same. I’ve learned how it feels to be truly vulnerable on the roads, though my vulnerability has not (as of yet, thankfully) been tested. I no longer consider myself one of them.

I’ve also gained what I believe is a relatively rare sense of time as it relates to distance and traversing said distance.

And this is my point.

It takes a lot longer to get from point A to B on a bike than a car (assuming a distance of any significance and without a maze of stop lights). I’m used to taking that extra time, so now as I’ve found myself behind a wheel more than on a saddle lately, I’m far more patient being behind the wheel, knowing that I’ll get there if I relax, take my time, pay attention, and avoid daredevil behavior. I know what it’s like to take a long time to get home. Driving a car home takes no time at all.

A side benefit, in addition to the lower blood pressure and overall better demeanor is that the learned patience cycling has taught me gives me a better chance of getting where I’m going safely. Not bad as far as side benefits go.

The Fire Mountain’s Last Ride

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Well, I’m going to have to call it. Time of death: 06:58.

Now, a few words…

You were a good bike, and carried myself, as well as several others, through some lean times, some fantastic trails, and finally back into the wonderful world of commuting by bicycle. But, as with all things, both good and bad, it’s time to lay you to rest.

It’s for the best. You’re simply not safe to ride. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Every full stop is a moment of fear… will your chain slip again this time, throwing both feet, undignified and sloppy, to the ground? Will your cables finally snap with this change of gear? You’ve been fantastic, but your rings are shot, and your cogs are squeaky. Your cables frayed and your headset shows signs of rust.

But I don’t blame you. It’s not all your fault. I’ve been woefully lacking in taking care of you. I’ve not held up my end of the deal. You’ve given more than I ever had any right to ask of you, and only recently have you started complaining. I understand. You’re old. You’re tired. You’ve never asked for anything, and to my discredit, I’ve given you far less, for all your wonderful years of faithful service, than you deserve.

You’ve had a good run. Over 15 years and you’re still the same girl you were when I first bought you. New tires, a new seat and new bar ends are the only things I’ve changed. You’ve held up damn well, and I thank you.

But worry not. Like a Phoenix, you shall return. This weekend I will remove all those things that ail you, and take you down to your most essential… all that will remain is your frame. From there, I will rebuild you. I have the technology. I can make you better than you were. Better… stronger… faster.

Fear not, you will not be replaced. You will have your place. You won’t be discarded.

Rest in Peace, Oh Fire Mountain. You’ve lived well, and deserve a rest.