I have other blogs

This is my bicycling blog
This is a blog I use to keep in touch with a group of friends about bike rides and social events we have. My main geek blog is SJSU Tech on a Mission and there is a collaborative blog for the class I teach.

Big Pro Bike Race near SJSU

Stage Three Bike Race Finish by SJSU
Stage three of the Tour of California finished a block away from campus allowing me to take a late lunch and shoot the end of the race. It was very cool! It is neat seeing a stage of what is perhaps the biggest bike race in the US end so close to where I work.

Last weekend was great cycling club party

Sany Lober and company did a great job again
It was a fantastic ACTC Appreciation Night again. I think everybody had a good time, I know we did. It was really great seeing and partying with good friends.

Superbowl Party with Cyclists

Fun SuperBowl Party
Susie and I had a great time watching the game and hanging out with friends.

Editorial: Danger on the roads

Amid reports of another cyclist almost killed by another apparently negligent driver a cyclist wrote, “it be nice if all cyclists could file a class action suit against any drunks/aggressive drivers who we all face but are lucky enough to escape from.”

I think this would only be fair if the reverse would be true if good motorists could also collect from aggressive cyclists who create a dangerous situation with the possibility of causing an accident the good drivers are lucky enough to escape from.

Just as there are bad drivers there are also bad cyclists. A week ago my wife Sue and I were driving west on Shannon after a hike. We passed a cyclist who was going up hill. As we descended the road at the speed limit the cyclist pulled up behind us, inches from our rear bumper, filling up my rear view mirror. He was a big guy with a white beard who looked like Santa Claus and was riding what looked like a green Masi. There was no place for me to pull over to let him pass. Everytime the road pitched up he dropped back. When the road pitched down he was back in my mirror. I maintained the speed limit (as I always try to do) no matter the incline.

If a deer had pulled out in front of me I would have had to hit the deer or else, had I hit the brakes, have this idiot cyclist plastered all over the back of my Subaru. Had the idiot cyclist been driving a motorized vehicle his tailgating would have been clearly against the law. But, some cyclists seem to think it is okay to “draft” vehicles at any time without the drivers consent. Had I not been a cyclist myself this dangerous behavior might soured me on all cyclists.

I think we should prosecute all folks on the road who drive or ride dangerously and should be able to file appropriate suits. I wonder how we would identify this class though as it involves both motorists and cyclists as well? Perhaps we could call them “idiots on the road”?

As a driver/cyclist I am constantly amazed and frightened by what folks on the road do these days. I always try to leave at least four seconds between myself and whatever is on the road in front of me except when I pass. When cyclists draft cyclists, even when both are consenting and working together it is hazardous But, at least both parties are consenting. I crashed my bike a couple of years ago when I was on my way to work drafting another cyclist. A car pulled out of a side street, through a stop sign in front of my riding buddy. I broke three ribs when my buddy had to stop quickly and I hit his rear tire. The car that pulled out in front of my riding partner kept going without stopping. When cyclists draft cars that do not consent to being drafted, it can be frightening for the driver and add to road hostility.

I was almost hit twice within about 5 minutes last Friday by lunatic drivers; and I was in my car! I think there is a growing level of anger and selfishness that is manifesting itself on our roads. Cars are lethal weapons! Have you seen car ads on TV lately? They show people driving like lunatics and sell cars based on how they can be used aggressively!

In my opinion: Anything that can be done to lower the tension level on the road and increase civility among road users is a positive thing. I believe only by treating each other with respect, building change one user at a time, refusing to give in to anger, giving folks space and at times returning kindness for rudeness can we diffuse the mess our roads are. In my opinion it is not about car vs. bike, or even car vs. car. I think it goes deeper than that.

If you have time for a video, I wish we had this kind of patience and respect for each other and could manifest that in how we use the roads.

Too many innocents are dying, both cyclists and motorists!

We are back from Mexico

We are back from Mexico
We are back from our very relaxing trip to Mexico. We stayed at the El Dorado Royale Resort near Cancun. I will be chronicling some of the great experiences we had there on my family blog, located here!

My last post for 06

Have a very Merry Christmas
Yesterday we went to Viva’s in Los Gatos. We had a very nice dinner.

Going offline
Today Fran is flying east and we are going off the grid. I will be off the Internet until the new year!

Winter begins today

It is the first day of winter
The good news is from here on out the days get longer and Spring comes in mid-February.

My last newsletter, for now

My last issue of the bike club newsletter for now
Because we got our house burglarized last week and I had some of my equipment stolen this was an especially challenging issue to get this out. But, the old newspaperman in me could not miss an issue (especially my last one.) So, here it is! There was no time for corrections or edits due to my schedule. The final, finished and complete December 2006 newsletter is posted here in PDF.

This issue is done and it has been sent to the printer. This is the printer’s version in PDF. This is how it has gone to the printer.

The Rivendell is Back

The Riv is back!
My Rivendell is rideable again. Saturday morning I went to a techie event in San Francisco and then went to American Cyclery also in San Francisco. I had dropped off my bike a couple of weeks ago and it was ready! It was a good day. Sunday I went on a fun ACTC bike ride on the Rivendell. I rode a lot with Pam. Then, Sue and I went to Valarie’s house for soup. The rest of the day was spent gathering information for the Insurance company about our recent burglary.