Cycling

  • Cycling

    First ride of the year

    I did a fairly slow eight miles at a reasonable intensity.  Now to get my heart rate under 50 by the end of summer (which will probably take eliminating caffeine, which is time I do that anyway).  Caffeine is awareness on credit.

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  • Atlanta,  Cycling,  Police State

    The rare wise move from the APD

    Finally the Atlanta Police department cracks down on the idiotic critical mass rides.

    After years of looking the other way, Atlanta police recently cracked down on a monthly bicycle ride through the city streets that includes blocking cars and flouting traffic laws.

    At least 10 officers, eight on motorcycles and two in patrol cars, followed more than 300 bicyclists through downtown Atlanta, Little Five Points and Virginia-Highland on June 27 from about 6:30 to 8 p.m. Most of the bicyclists stopped for red lights they normally would have ignored. At least two bicyclists were ticketed for disobeying traffic laws.

    Highsmith, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, said Critical Mass would not be the same if the bicyclists followed the rules.

    “The little bit of disruptiveness and the civil disobedience is a part of raising awareness [about bicycles] in a more conspicuous way,” he said.

    The group wants both better infrastructure for bicycles, including bike racks and lanes, and to show drivers that they, too, can hop out of the car and onto a bike.

    Now honestly, if the cyclists are lobbying for better infrastructure, how does NOT using the infrastructure that’s already there help matters? Why should anyone pay for more bike lanes when the existing lanes aren’t being used and the people agitating for them are as boorish as possible?

    Not that many people will care about this, but it’s been a pet peeve of mine for years…

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  • Cycling,  Economics,  Immigration

    Finally, a problem we can blame on the Mexicans

    It’s not a major problem, but from some reason they (Mexicans) bicycle approaching traffic, which is the way it’s done in Mexico, but not in America. This endangers the cyclist as the amount of time between perception and action is dramatically reduced for both parties, which means that they have less time to avoid each other. It’s particularly bad at night. Also the Tullock Effect is reduced as avoidance is not the clear responsibility of either party.

    I saw three people doing it yesterday.

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  • Cycling,  History,  Links,  Photography,  Quotes

    Quick tab clearing round up

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  • Cycling,  History,  Movies,  Tech

    Short 2006 best of list

    • Best New Movie – The Departed
    • Best Book – Truth Imagined by Eric Hoffer
    • Best TV Show – The Shield
    • Best Old Movie Seen For the First Time – Tie – The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman) / The Testament of Dr Mabeuse (Fritz Lang) / The Big Sleep (Bogart/Bacall). Only The Big Sleep is in English, where as the other two are probably much better off being subtitled. All three are from the 30s and 40s.
    • Best New Gadget – Garmin Street Pilot – I never get lost anymore
    • Best New General Interest Site – DamnInteresting.com
    • Best Concert – Prince – though to be honest I didn’t see that many in 2006
    • Best New Band discovered – Freakwater – I have no idea how I managed to not know about them until this year, they’re perfect for me.
    • Biggest physical accomplishment – Biking the entire Silver Comet Trail – 126 miles – in one day with no rest and very few stops for water and such. It did take forever
    • Biggest professional accomplishment – staying in business for another year I suppose
    • Biggest artistic accomplishment – successfully finishing two whole songs, and actually doing open mic nights
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  • Cycling,  Economics,  Links,  Weirdness

    Still uploading

    Pesky large files. Anyway, here is some lovely reading material for you.

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  • Afghanistan,  Alt Energy,  Cycling,  Hybrids,  Tech

    Quick Monday rapid fire

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  • Biz,  Cycling

    Getting a dark monitor tan

    I’ve been working for a week solid, and here I am still sitting in front of a screen. On a gorgeous day when I should be riding. Humbug.

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