Bicycle thread

[Photog]

Originally Posted by knary

Talked to people some more. Looks like it was intentional on the part of the driver (red truck towing a boat). A car behind the incident saw them throw something at the woman as they struck her. This is all hearsay run through a couple people. Whatever happened, it sucks. I'm manning the phones for a spell before heading over to the hospital.

Oh, shit.

I'm sorry to hear that.

We had a rash of intentional stuff like that here--SMWBO and I went back to mtn biking for about a year. One woman killed (witnessed by her daughter), others badly hurt.

We also had the joy of the local clear channel station morning crew doing the "throw bottles at bicyclists" schtick a few years back, like they did in other markets.

Hope the DA takes a large dump on the person/persons when their worthless asses are apprehended.

[knary]

Originally Posted by pierce

a big reason I prefer mountain biking and trail riding to road biking these days. only time I ride on roads is to get somewhere, and then I use all back roads, and I'm not in a pack.

Considering the number of cyclists we have in the portland area (maybe the most in the country?), we don't have that many incidents. In a well behaved group - single file and communicating the presence of other vehicles - they're exceedingly rare. The vast majority of accidents are single rider accidents, often involving a driver not seeing the bicycle, usually commuters riding at the end of the day. It's hard to miss a group of spandex and flourescent clad cyclists riding in a line. If you drive in the PDX area, you're can't help but be aware of cyclists on the road.

[Ray of Sunshine]

My prayers are with her. The worst thing bout bicycling is the cagers.

[Photog]

Originally Posted by knary

Considering the number of cyclists we have in the portland area (maybe the most in the country?), we don't have that many incidents. In a well behaved group - single file and communicating the presence of other vehicles - they're exceedingly rare. The vast majority of accidents are single rider accidents, often involving a driver not seeing the bicycle, usually commuters riding at the end of the day. It's hard to miss a group of spandex and flourescent clad cyclists riding in a line.

Same here.

There's a few routes around here common to bicyclists and motorcyclists (for similar reasons...) and frequently I run up on recreational riders straddling the lane, sorta weaving, talking to one another and oblivious to people coming up behind them. I guess they haven't been mentored---most of the cyclists are single file or the uberroadie pelotons en masse. The n00b 2-abreast guys are sorta dangerous, IMHO, to themselves. Not talking about the 2-somes that collapse into single file as needed.

We occasionally get the college biker creamed when he/she runs a red light. Sad, but one of those "not paying attention" things.

The intentional hits are absolutely worthy of capital punishment IMHO.

I hope your buddy is still with us and healing up.

[knary]

Originally Posted by Photog

Same here.

There's a few routes around here common to bicyclists and motorcyclists (for similar reasons...) and frequently I run up on recreational riders straddling the lane, sorta weaving, talking to one another and oblivious to people coming up behind them. I guess they haven't been mentored---most of the cyclists are single file or the uberroadie pelotons en masse. The n00b 2-abreast guys are sorta dangerous, IMHO, to themselves. Not talking about the 2-somes that collapse into single file as needed.

We occasionally get the college biker creamed when he/she runs a red light. Sad, but one of those "not paying attention" things.

The intentional hits are absolutely worthy of capital punishment IMHO.

I hope your buddy is still with us and healing up.

I just don't get it. Have humans ever been an honorable ape? From tourists cutting in line to see the Vatican to politicians blatantly lying to the country for their own gain to rednecks forcing bicyclists off the road, the sediment of humanity does way too fucking much to mess with the rest of us.

The woman struck is an OBGYN and mother of 2 year old triplets. The good news: her brain appears to be fine. The bad news: one of her arms is very badly broken with shards of bone floating and knifing their way up through the soft tissue and the shoulder badly dislocated. She'll be having surgery tomorrow, probably just the first one, and will have a long long road to recovery.

Sorry for the downer. Be careful out there. Enjoy your bikes. Ride well. Ride fast. Get healthy. And never forget that for every asshole, there are far far more good and decent people.

[elchulopadre]

Originally Posted by knary

I just don't get it. Have humans ever been an honorable ape? From tourists cutting in line to see the Vatican to politicians blatantly lying to the country for their own gain to rednecks forcing bicyclists off the road, the sediment of humanity does way too fucking much to mess with the rest of us.

The woman struck is an OBGYN and mother of 2 year old triplets. The good news: her brain appears to be fine. The bad news: one of her arms is very badly broken with shards of bone floating and knifing their way up through the soft tissue and the shoulder badly dislocated. She'll be having surgery tomorrow, probably just the first one, and will have a long long road to recovery.

Sorry for the downer. Be careful out there. Enjoy your bikes. Ride well. Ride fast. Get healthy. And never forget that for every asshole, there are far far more good and decent people.

Yeesh. Sucks, but I guess it's not as bad as it could have been.

Here's wishing her a quick and full recovery.

And I hope they find that fucker...

[Ray of Sunshine]

Originally Posted by knary

I just don't get it. Have humans ever been an honorable ape? From tourists cutting in line to see the Vatican to politicians blatantly lying to the country for their own gain to rednecks forcing bicyclists off the road, the sediment of humanity does way too fucking much to mess with the rest of us.

The woman struck is an OBGYN and mother of 2 year old triplets. The good news: her brain appears to be fine. The bad news: one of her arms is very badly broken with shards of bone floating and knifing their way up through the soft tissue and the shoulder badly dislocated. She'll be having surgery tomorrow, probably just the first one, and will have a long long road to recovery.

Sorry for the downer. Be careful out there. Enjoy your bikes. Ride well. Ride fast. Get healthy. And never forget that for every asshole, there are far far more good and decent people.

Fucking shit piss fuck. And people wonder why I go all road rage on them. Fuck.
Shit, Scott, this really gets to me.

[terry.mc]

Originally Posted by Perry

Anyone cycling today?

check in.


I'm gonna take a short after lunch nap and get out there for another 15 miler.

Raced an adventure in downtown Denver today (And the frickin suburbs too I might add) 38 miles of riding, 20 in the rain.

Ran up 28 flights of stairs, Kayaked down the platte river, rode a rollercoaster, rollerbladed about 5 miles and ran about 7.5. There was some other shite but I can't remember now.

I feel like hammered pig shit, but I think we finished upper-mid pack in a time of just over 6.5 hours.

[BeeCeeGS]

Damnit, now you folks have got me looking at cyclocross bikes.

[knary]

Originally Posted by BeeCeeGS

Damnit, now you folks have got me looking at cyclocross bikes.

If you want a super super sweet cross bike, you can't do much better than a Mountain Cycle Stumptown cyclocross bike. A frame and forks, at a much reduced price, can be had for around $675 from the cyclepath (cyclepathnw.com). That's a great shop and the bike was fantastic. Seven new frames remain at last count and are fully warranteed. Mountain Cycle, a portland based shop making beautiful bikes and frames in portland, was shut down, indirectly, by the fuckwads at Specialized, the reigning cycling anti-christ. They leaned on Kinesis, the corporation that owned Mountain Cycle, because they felt "Stumptown" was too close to "Stump Jumper". Fuckwads.

If I had $675....(never mind the additional pile of cash for the rest of the bike)

[knary]

Light and very strong. Zero warranty issues at all with the frames to date.

[knary]

Originally Posted by Ray of Sunshine

Fucking shit piss fuck. And people wonder why I go all road rage on them. Fuck.
Shit, Scott, this really gets to me.

They may have caught the guy. It was clearly intentional. I've got a call in to the officer handling the case.

[terry.mc]

Originally Posted by knary

They may have caught the guy. It was clearly intentional. I've got a call in to the officer handling the case.

I hope he serves hard time and I feel badly for your friend.

[Photog]

Originally Posted by knary

They may have caught the guy. It was clearly intentional. I've got a call in to the officer handling the case.

Don't forget to get a call in to the local media and get them on it.

It would be nice to see that asshat's mugshot and the story of the intentional hit all over the paper and TV.

[BeeCeeGS]

Originally Posted by knary

If you want a super super sweet cross bike, you can't do much better than a Mountain Cycle Stumptown cyclocross bike. A frame and forks, at a much reduced price, can be had for around $675 from the cyclepath (cyclepathnw.com). That's a great shop and the bike was fantastic. Seven new frames remain at last count and are fully warranteed. Mountain Cycle, a portland based shop making beautiful bikes and frames in portland, was shut down, indirectly, by the fuckwads at Specialized, the reigning cycling anti-christ. They leaned on Kinesis, the corporation that owned Mountain Cycle, because they felt "Stumptown" was too close to "Stump Jumper". Fuckwads.

If I had $675....(never mind the additional pile of cash for the rest of the bike)

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not ready to buy yet. I think that I'll go for a complete bike from someone local (if I can find a shop that seems to know what they're doing wrt fitting, etc.)