The 'Ville Voice: "Bill the Bike Bully."

I'm glad I don't waste valuable drinking time watching local news broadcasts.

With the topic being "my car as shriveled phallus extension," The 'Ville Voice's Rick Redding comes in right on cue following yesterday's venomous NAC exchange on bicycling, automotive traffic, and which one makes us more American in the eyes of our patriotic countrymen.

Pleasingly, I rode 50 km through the Knobs yesterday. The only problem I had with automotive traffic was on Scottsvile Road, where two Got Junk trucks traveling about 55 m.p.h. in tandem were in a hurry to make their next pickup. They were going too fast for me to catch their "how's my driving" numbers, so I'll say it here: Reckless, but probably just as good as Viagra for what ails ya.

Bill the Bike Bully, by Rick Redding (The Ville Voice blog)

Bill Lamb is always asking for feedback on his on-air editorials. So here’s some.

The other day Lamb was advocating that police start ticketing bicyclists, all because he happens to see some going the wrong way on one-way streets or blowing through stop signs or darting into traffic off sidewalks.

Now, this thinking goes against the general idea of making Louisville a bike-friendly city, but Lamb must have had a near-miss or something that kind of ticked him off about bikers. He claims only to want to do something about the bad bikers, that all of us law-abiding riders would have nothing to worry about. (Just kidding, I’m a dart-into-traffic champ).

Still, Lamb’s anti-biking rant doesn’t sit well with us. But what it really did was give viewers a reason to pop off with some vitriolic anti-bike hatred that shows they’re misinformed, unaware of the law and generally intolerant.

With this kind of mentality, it’s no wonder more people haven’t been killed by cars. The station aired six responses, all exhibiting a deep-seated hatred for bikes in traffic.

Here’s my favorite — “Roads were not designed for bicyclists, they should stay off.”

Then there’s — “Bikes should stay on the sidewalk where they belong (and where it’s illegal to ride)”

Another called wants to require special bike insurance for riders, and one was advocating a required license plate.

Lamb’s little rant elicited the kind of reaction that shows that city leaders — with all their talk about education about bike safety for motorists — have their work cut out for them with the big new safety campaign.

By the way, the Mayor’s Hike & Bike event, which is growing every year, is set for Labor Day morning. This time, we’re off from downtown to Iroquois Park.

Corydon Pike pavement.

Roughly a half-mile stretch of Corydon Pike has been paved. It provided a pleasant surprise during today's 50 km Knobs run -- up CP, down Moser Knob and coffee at HobbKnob along the way. Yesterday was a 42 km day, and with Thursday's mileage, I'm almost over 600 km for August. Note to self: Riding at 244 lbs is waaaay easier than riding at 275 lbs.

Jackie Green in LEO: "Quit blaming cyclists."

While we're on the topic of foreshadowing, last week's LEO contained an excellent commentary by Louisville cycling advocate Jackie Green. It's valuable information for those who have undertaken the daily struggle to co-exist with America's "my car as extension of my phallus" mentality.

Just yesterday, I came close to an encounter that perfectly illustrates Jackie's point. I was riding through Coffeyville northbound on West 7th, and stopped at the Spring Street four-way. Two pickups were headed west. The first stopped as required ahead of me, and rolled on through. The second followed close behind with his blinker (how rare is that?) indicating a turn onto northbound 7th, and I could see from my vantage point that the driver was looking down and to his right (north), without once looking south to see if anyone else (me) was stopped at the intersection.

There were no other cars, so I eased slowly into the intersection. There was never a chance of contact because I was fully aware, but just the same, he never once looked up, and never once came to a full stop until he was within a few feet of me, at which point he finally glanced, slammed on the brakes and motioned at me to go ahead.

Duh.

I could see immediately that (a) he had been talking on the phone using some manner of headphones, and (b) his attention had been distracted by the gyrations of a miniscule dog. As I moved on, I said aloud, "I know," in the sense of yes, it certainly is my turn if you'd bother paying attention. Had I been another vehicle, he'd have known.

Of course, that couldn't be the end of it. He roared a few yards ahead of me, stopped, and began yelling: "You have a problem? I didn't see you! I told you to go on! What's your problem? People make mistakes!"

(yap yap yap, went the little dog/rat)

To Jackie's list of tips for survival on local roads, I'd add this: Learn to use a rearview mirror. I use one that clips onto my eyeglasses, and there are models for attaching to the helmet (wear one!) and the handlebars.

Bicycling safety and the law

Recent cyclist deaths and the newly launched “Street Sense” campaign — a city-backed program promoting road awareness — demand an alternative perspective.

Cyclists are threatened, injured and killed because:

1) Drivers drink; 2) car brakes fail; 3) roads are not always dry; 4) passengers, food, phones and on-board electronics distract drivers; 5) drivers are blinded by sunlight, car lights, and dirty, wet or icy windshields; 6) drivers lose control of their vehicles; 7) the medicated, the angry, the infirm and the stupid all drive cars.

None of the above is dependent upon “respect” commanded by the behavior of cyclists. Quit blaming cyclists.

Drafting

Way, way back, before we were even married, my hubby and I used to jog together. This is really hilarious if you could see us. He's a 6 ft 1 ex football player and I'm 5ft 5 with much shorter leg span of course. It had to be soooo hard for him to just slog along next to me, but I guess that's what he had to do for 'courtin' purposes. :)

Anyway, this is one reason I love biking, it's much easier for people of different sizes and fitness levels to just ride along together and have fun. And the distance we can cover sort of makes up for him having to go at a speed less than he is able.

However, lately, we've been experimenting with drafting, where I get behind him and follow closely while he provides a barrier to the wind. Supposedly this save 30% of the energy for the person in the back. It's working quite well and so far we've found we can increase our average speed by 2mph and I think I can get even better with more practice. So now he can get a better fitness workout this way rather than only going the speed I can handle.

Plus, it makes me feel like a professional tour de france biker. :)

UPDATE ON MY SURVEY:

The score before our ride today was 14 to 6 but now I have a dilemma. I did a stupid move at the top of a hill today and caused minor trouble for a car so what should I do? I thought maybe I should subtract one from each side so that the number of car idiots goes down since today I was the idiot. What do you think?

Bum Scrum--Wednesday A.M.

It's so nice to hear people out on their wheels (sorry about the fracture, Tommy) and expressing enthusiasm.

Last week on Wednesday morning, I got out with Roger and Tim for the 16 mile New Albany loop Ed Parrish posted years back and both pace and camaraderie were good. So was the humor about spandex snobbery and how plain T-shirts instead of billboard jerseys for sure make one less of target for rage-crazed drivers. The beginning of the "Bum Theory" (I mean that affectionately since I still don't get why cyclists have claimed the dubious position that dressing in worse taste than a golfer is somehow cool.) Still, abundant corollaries will flow.

We're going to roll again this Wednesday, August 19, starting 9:30 a.m. from in front of the NABC Bank Street Brewhouse. We feel like going for a coffee at Perkfection in Jeffersonville (Maple & Spring Sts.) and back. No big altitude adjustments, just good miles in about 2 hours, max. (Roger hasn't yet mentioned what day he likes to do the Corydon Pike climb.)

Lightning will probably deter us if its storming.

Time for an update: Mileage up, pounds down.

My average mileage for June and July was around 530 km, and I'm on track to beat that in August. My approach hasn't changed. I try to ride every day, and ride more when time allows. I'm down almost 30 lbs since June 1, and whereas I gained it back the last time (2007), this time I'm feeling better about my chances to keep it off. Don't worry: I'm still enjoying my beer and the food I like, the latter in smaller doses, and the former with a better view of what choices cost. I'm not unhappy at all about making a few minor sacrifices along the way.

Having the YMCA open for cooler, rainier weather will help. Last evening we both went and were schooled by the trainer as to using the weights. I'll slowly transition toward toning as we draw closer to winter, but I plan to return to the year-round outdoor bicycling even if it's just short distances. My butt's coming back, and I don't want to lose it by giving up saddle time.

The real joy for me was a day like yesterday, because the variable that has changed in the fitness program is the biking itself. In 2007, I shed the weight by dieting and walking, because I couldn't ride owing to my rotator cuff problem and the surgery to repair it. By the time I got back on the bike, I was lighter but regaining the weight.

This time, I'm shedding the weight as I ride, and being 30 lbs lighter is making it demonstrably easier to climb Corydon Pike once a week. Yesterday I didn't do the hill profile, but I felt strong doing a series of urban loops totaling 35 km.

For me, there's nothing like that bike to induce exhilaration. The weight loss dynamic this time around is equally pleasing. By next June, I should be in top shape for Danish beercycling.