January 28, 20151 Comment on The Platonic ideal of a bicycle
I recently was reminded of this drawing of a mamachari bicycle from a now defunct Japanese guide to bicycles. The text says “Mamachari bikes are usually what you think of when you think ‘bicycle’.”
The mamachari style of bikes are the wonderfully utilitarian and ubiquitious form of transportation for Japanese housewives. I wondered what type of bicycles come to mind for people around the world when people talk about bikes. What do you think when somebody says “bicycle”?
January 27, 20156 Comments on Torque kills
Last Friday, 24-year-old Kiran Pabla became the city of San Jose’s fourth pedestrian fatality of January, 2015 when she was struck down while jogging down Yerba Buena Road. The city of San Jose had a single pedestrian death in January 2014 in what would be a record breaking year for those killed while on foot.
December 16, 201410 Comments on Should I wash my bike?
December 15, 201412 Comments on Waze to create a better world for me and you. But mostly for me.
Modern disruptive innovations based around mobile technology applications implicitly promise a move towards the “pure” capitalism theorized by (paradoxically) 19th century economists. Informed consumers can theoretically compete more effectively on price.
But what happens when the commodity — in this case, road space — is free?
November 12, 20142 Comments on Bottom bracket gearbox on a touring bike?
September 19, 20141 Comment on Defensive riding
In my categorization of More Vulnerable Users, tractor trailers are more dangerous than delivery trucks, which are more dangerous than pickups and SUVs, which are more dangerous than cars, which in turn are more dangerous than motorcycles, which are more dangerous than bicycles, which are more dangerous than people on foot.
The higher you are on this totem pole of danger, the more care you should take in operating your conveyance.
Bikes are near the bottom, but we as cyclists are not absolved of responsibility in anticipating random movements from other people, especially in a busy city park. Any cyclist who yells for pedestrians to get out of his way is about equivalent to the road raging maniac honking his horn at cyclists “blocking” his way in traffic. That goes for all of you who brag about blasting your AirZounds at small children and grandmothers or who buzz quickly past walkers to punish them for not walking where you think they should go. Quit it, already.
I think the most succinct statement on this week’s Central Park collision in New York City came from Bike Snob NYC, who wrote in a comment:
Oh Come On,
I meant this specifically in the park, where people are at their most unpredictable. You know, because they’re wandering delighted in a beautiful oasis.
However, when I ride, I also KNOW I’m going to encounter people crossing against the light and I ride accordingly. If I’m reasonably attentive, even if someone steps out in front of me, odds are I’m not going to have too hard a time avoiding them — which is what you see in those images.
I have had ONE collision with a pedestrian many years ago, who ran out from between two parked cars mid-block to hail a cab. Fortunately nobody was hurt. She shouldn’t have done that, but I’m a schmuck if I don’t keep it in mind that this can happen.
By the way, I also keep this in mind when I drive. It’s not really that hard to avoid so-called “jaywalkers” if you’re driving at an APPROPRIATE speed.
–Wildcat Rock Machine
Follow the discussion here if you wish.
