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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
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 Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:23 am |
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| RumiDude wrote: | | Randito wrote: | | treeswarper wrote: | | The scary part that spelled the end of my highway bike commute was the RV traffic. |
100% agree, I rode a loop around the Olympic Peninsula a few years ago. The log truck drivers were careful to give me good clearance, but the 1-800-RV4-RENT rigs were the worst in terms of close calls. |
Washington is full of roads without shoulders, and THAT is often the scariest thing for me. The Olympic Peninsula specializes in shoulderless roads. Hell, there are some places it is just downright a deathwish to walk or ride the roads.
Rumi |
To my surprise, highway 20, with many long stretches of no shoulder, is an official state bike route. Saw a very close call to a cyclist on the east side of the Loup in the area of sharp curves and no shoulder. The truck was able to slow down quickly, but the idiot behind the truck almost didn't and almost got me as I was driving up in the west bound lane. The highway gets scary again on the section between Tonasket and Republic.
You'd think that after all this time being an official route, improvements would have been made.
Official Bike Route 10
I'd love to ride over the Loup to the Methow but it is too scary. Maybe, with another battery, the roads through the woods could be feasible.
Randito, drivers around here, like in so many places, seem to have gotten progressively ruder as the pandemic goes on. Speed limits are not enforced so anything goes. If I can make it through a sketchy bit of heavily traveled town road, my ride is usually going to be OK. It's a narrow stretch with a curve and if you crowd the edge too much, you'll go off the pavement into an eroded drop off and tip over. I've talked to town road people about it but they don't want to do anything. It's one of those places that will take a serious injury or death before any action is taken. It's only about 100 yards too. A simple solution would be to enforce the 25mph speed limit but that seems to be too hard to do also. More houses are being built and more use of that road is going to occur.
The other scary bit is smelling the pot smoke coming out the windows as cars go by and seeing heads down while texting is going on. One woman yelled at me to get off the Fing road and use the sidewalk, while I was riding home from a grocery trip. That was in an area that actually had a sidewalk. I ride too fast to use the sidewalk.
I ride a lot where there is no cell coverage but have faith that if I break down I will be rescued by a local driving by. Often, when I am stopped for a butt rest and water break, a local will pull up and ask if I need any help.
Gotta ride up to Salmon Meadows again. I love the surprised looks on the ATV user's faces when I am on that road. It is a battery sucker route going up. Coming down, no problem.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Randito
Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Posts: 9512 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:40 am |
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| treeswarper wrote: | | If I can make it through a sketchy bit of heavily traveled town road, my ride is usually going to be OK. It's a narrow stretch with a curve and if you crowd the edge too much, you'll go off the pavement into an eroded drop off and tip over |
My strategy when riding sketchy bits like that is to take the lane, typically riding in the right tire wheel rut, but when it's really sketchy in the left wheel rut -- being in the left rut discourages people from attempting "the squeeze play" where they try to squeeze past without fully moving into the left lane. This can piss some people off, but they were probably pissd anyway.
I have worn an ANSI Class 2 reflective "Construction Worker" vest while cycling for the last 20 years. I have found this to be of significant benefit. I speculate that most people have a subconscious understanding that they aren't supposed to strike construction workers with their car. Unfortunately there seems to be a subset of the population that believes that harassing cyclists makes them more manly, but the vest tricks them momentarily and by the time they realize it is a cyclist they have already past the point where they can try to brush your elbow with their mirror.
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
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Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:38 am |
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I am well versed in the take the lane strategy, but the closest call I had on that stretch happened when I was practicing that. I swear, that jeep was going to run me down. Sunny day, full visibility and I probably had on a construction color T-shirt. And, had she not injured me, the three cars tailgating her would have likely run over me as they had no room to stop.
I've just come back from walking that stretch. I found myself walking out into the road a bit due to the snow berm and orneryness.
In my talk with the road guy, he said to me "people actually walk in the roadway." I answered back, "Where else is there to walk along here?" He didn't get it.
Wait until a new housing development goes in. Traffic of all kinds should increase. The way things go, no improvements will be made to the infrastructure, except they might make them put wide streets with sidewalks in the new housing development and to hell with the feeder route. That's how it works here.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009
Posts: 3589 | TRs | Pics
Location: Port Angeles |
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
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Thu Dec 16, 2021 2:23 pm |
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As treeswarper has suggested, the real need is bike infrastructure. Auto drivers are never going to consistently respect the safety of bicycle riders. And it's not just yahoo's wanting to scare a cyclist or roll coal on them, it's also old women and soccer moms. Really it's every segment of society that has shown themselves to disregard the safety of cyclists, some out of neglect and some deliberate.
Bike infrastructure either separates autos and bikes or forces drivers to operate more safely. We are a long way from that in the US and may never get there. Transportation is auto centric, maximizing auto travel, often at the sacrifice of safety of all concerned including drivers.
Rumi
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
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Thu Dec 16, 2021 5:00 pm |
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The Dutch started out by mothers blocking roads in protest. They wanted safe streets for their kids. Off the top of my head, I think the protest started around 1970.
There are before, after, and now photos showing neighborhoods before autos, then after roads were widened, and then after roads were narrowed and made bike friendly. It's a bit of back to the future.
Around here you'll get people saying that we can't copy the Dutch because they don't have steep hills to deal with. E bikes can kibosh that argument.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
 RumiDude
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
RumiDude
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11276 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here |
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
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Thu Dec 16, 2021 5:32 pm |
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This video, on youtube today, is excellent.
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
RumiDude
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
RumiDude
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
Well, after ten months waiting my Watt Wagons Hydra showed up. Pretty impressive bike.
 Watt Wagon Hydra
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
Chief Joseph
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
Chief Joseph
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neek
Member
Joined: 12 Sep 2011
Posts: 2337 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle, WA |
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neek
Member
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Sat Dec 25, 2021 1:31 pm |
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I looked it up and am now highly envious. Nice Christmas present!
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Tom
Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 17851 | TRs | Pics
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Tom
Admin
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Sat Dec 25, 2021 2:10 pm |
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Congrats but looks like Santa forgot the battery.
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
Leave it to Tom to catch that. Ya, I was charging it.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Riverside Laker
Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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Looks like fat tires, Backpacker Tom, er, Joe. How wide are they?
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
They are normal Mtn bike ttires. I didnt want the super fat jobs. They drain batteries pretty fast.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Chief Joseph
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 7703 | TRs | Pics
Location: Verlot-Priest Lake |
I am going to order one of those next week, just after I win the lottery. 
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
Ya, it was expensive. 
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Chief Joseph
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 7703 | TRs | Pics
Location: Verlot-Priest Lake |
I do want an E-bike and that one looks amazing, but no way I could justify that over my dream bike, a Husqvarna dual sport motorbike and I could get a good used one for about the same price.
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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