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Originally Posted by SpedFast
(Post 23646576)
I take mine off in the spring and then wonder when I get caught in the rain why I was being so vain because I know the only reason I remove them is because of looks. :)
Maybe next year they stay on... A little vanity is OK. You can get handsome fenders if that helps. When I was young, I wanted only the best I could afford in bikes. Then when my bike -- my pride and joy -- got stolen, I learned to enjoy having a beater bike. After a while, I built one that worked great and rode great and looked pretty bad. It had straight bars which were slightly swept back, a rear rack with a milk crate on back, and fenders. I remember going through a scary neighborhood and some teenagers (about my age) were on a corner, and one of them yelled out to me, "Cheap bike!" Haha, you can always find someone in NYC who cares about bike style. But I felt like I had a secret they didn't know. They didn't know how nice my bike really was, and it had been inexpensive to build. One of my bikes is a fixed gear, and I like how light it is. It was also pretty inexpensive to build, so I take it when I have a short ride. Now I'm thinking of putting fenders on it. If I put too many accessories on it, it won't be light anymore. It's pretty handy to have something I can carry up stairs easily. Today I thought about a dynamo hub, but oops, that's going too far. I have a dynamo hub on my main commuter bike, and I love it. Maybe I will do the fenders, though. I still have a couple of racy bikes without fenders. I try to avoid rain when I ride them. I am a little vain. I hope I never have to ride a women's style bike. It just feels wrong to me. |
A 5/8 spark plug socket, brand FT. May become tail weight for kiddo’s Pinewood Derby car in a few weeks
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...25236943c.jpeg |
Matching bungee cord
I found this bungee in the road that just so happens to match my bike’s paint.
Not that I will CARRY it on that bike, but it’s kind of fun. The hook on one side is pretty tough and missing some paint. I’ll see if I can find a use for it. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4289c1063.jpeg |
Originally Posted by noglider
(Post 23580210)
I have one of those, too. I don't remember where I got it. Maybe I found it, and maybe I got it at a garage sale. I find it doesn't work on anything. Maybe it's worn? For some reason, I still keep it.
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
(Post 23681992)
wonder if it can be sharpened
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Spotted this afternoon. Wreckage from a traffic accident this morning.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...874c06080.jpeg |
Jinkies! I hope no one was hurt!
BTW, they're not "accidents"; accident implies that it just sort of happened and couldn't have been avoided when 99.9% of the time someone did something stupid. It's "crash" or "collision" now. I still catch the a-word coming out of my mouth now and then.
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
(Post 23690935)
Spotted this afternoon. Wreckage from a traffic accident this morning.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...874c06080.jpeg |
BTW, they're not "accidents"; accident implies that it just sort of happened and couldn't have been avoided when 99.9% of the time someone did something stupid. It's "crash" or "collision" now. I still catch the a-word coming out of my mouth now and then. |
Originally Posted by RubeRad
(Post 23691799)
Interesting that you say that. I hear the same messaging a lot from the War On Cars podcast. Their point is the term "accident" is (unconsciously) used by the public and the media to minimize liability/responsibility of car drivers, to the detriment of the rights of pedestrians and cyclists to equal/fair use of public infrastructure.
I've been encouraging a couple of local news outlets to drop the a-word, and it's worked. I'm pleased to see that our local law enforcement agencies have also started using "crash" in their reports. The War on Cars didn't start the movement; I don't know who did. But you can send your local news folks here. https://crashnotaccident.com/ |
very interesting, thanks for linking that resource
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Originally Posted by Korina
(Post 23691794)
Jinkies! I hope no one was hurt!
BTW, they're not "accidents"; accident implies that it just sort of happened and couldn't have been avoided... There were few details provided by the police and no news stories since. But they did say the ambulance took him off to the hospital with major injuries, so presumably they did not get a statement at the time. The car was torn in half and the engine was sitting on the road. Here's the Folsom Times photo of the tree, and the car, earlier in the morning. It may not be clear but some of the branches above the car in this photo are parts of the car frame. I don't feel like throwing carefully worded shade at whoever was in here. https://folsomtimes.com/serious-acci...int-wednesday/ https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c80fbe6b82.png |
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
(Post 23692035)
I don't feel like throwing carefully worded shade at whoever was in here.
The article says "at least two vehicles" -- was somebody drunk or texting and caused (<-- not accidented) the crash? Whichever people were the victims in the car(s) that did not cause this crash, surely would appreciate the tragedy of the crash that was thrust upon them not being minimised as merely a Whoopsie |
There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster―Who Profits and Who Pays the Price
Good book. I listened to the audio book. A journalist recounts the surprising history of accidents and reveals how they’ve come to define all that’s wrong with America. We hear it all the time: “Sorry, it was just an accident.” And we’ve been deeply conditioned to just accept that explanation and move on. But as Jessie Singer argues convincingly: There are no such things as accidents. The vast majority of mishaps are not random but predictable and preventable. Singer uncovers just how the term “accident” itself protects those in power and leaves the most vulnerable in harm’s way, preventing investigations, pushing off debts, blaming the victims, diluting anger, and even sparking empathy for the perpetrators. As the rate of accidental death skyrockets in America, the poor and people of color end up bearing the brunt of the violence and blame, while the powerful use the excuse of the “accident” to avoid consequences for their actions. Born of the death of her best friend, and the killer who insisted it was an accident, this book is a moving investigation of the sort of tragedies that are all too common, and all too commonly ignored. In this revelatory book, Singer tracks accidental death in America from turn of the century factories and coal mines to today’s urban highways, rural hospitals, and Superfund sites. Drawing connections between traffic accidents, accidental opioid overdoses, and accidental oil spills, Singer proves that what we call accidents are hardly random. Rather, who lives and dies by an accident in America is defined by money and power. She also presents a variety of actions we can take as individuals and as a society to stem the tide of “accidents”—saving lives and holding the guilty to account. |
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
(Post 23692035)
No, you can't cow me to police myself about that. Our standard in this country is presumption of innocence, not court of public opinion.
There were few details provided by the police and no news stories since. But they did say the ambulance took him off to the hospital with major injuries, so presumably they did not get a statement at the time. The car was torn in half and the engine was sitting on the road. Here's the Folsom Times photo of the tree, and the car, earlier in the morning. It may not be clear but some of the branches above the car in this photo are parts of the car frame. I don't feel like throwing carefully worded shade at whoever was in here. https://folsomtimes.com/serious-acci...int-wednesday/ |
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Originally Posted by Ti473
(Post 23702205)
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The most unusual item I've found was a large chainsaw. I was in the middle of a century ride and certainly wasn't going to try and carry it. So I hid it under some shrubbery and drove back for it that evening. Wound up giving it to a friend.
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found today,
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Originally Posted by RoderWrench
(Post 18006718)
Yesterday on my return city commute, I found an 18v Bosch impact screwdriver. It was obviously kicked to the side by a car tire and the battery was cracked, but it still worked. It got me to wondering. As cyclists, we have a pretty good view of the road, I'll bet people have found some interesting things lying in the street.
What are some of the things you have found while riding? |
Originally Posted by galcyclist
(Post 23712582)
The most memorable thing I've found while riding was a corpse. I was a bit more i introspective than usual for a couple of days. Also many wallets and strewn IDs. We find whatever the criminal leaves behind.
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This morning I rode up on what looked like a warm black-on-white plaid scarf all jumbled up.
I stopped to investigate, picked it up and started to unravel it to discover it was actually a small blanket, like 3x4' I saw a brown stain in the middle, and then I noticed what had rolled out of the wad onto the street... ...a baseball sized lump of **** I'm envisioning some overstressed housewife in a minivan full of screaming kids, and the 4-year old HAS TO POOP NNNNOOOOWWWW!!!! So just poop on the blanket, roll it up and throw it out the window |
Yuck. That’s the chance we take investigating discarded stuff on the road.
i found another rubber tarp strap the other day. It was still flexible. I left it out on the “free stuff table” at work and it was gone in an hour, up-cycled to a colleague. Very satisfying. |
I have too many bungees, never thought about leaving them on the 'free stuff table' (we have one too). Although most of mine have moderately mangled hooks, and the ones I leave on the road are even worse.
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I picked up a chef's knife that was 99% identical to one I have, but beaten up from being in the road.
TLC with a stone would fix it, but I was first thinking of pranking my kids with it on April fools' day. However, this doesn't seem particularly very funny. One year I told them that there was a fire at our local Walmart and that all the partially burnt and melted Lego sets were on sale for $0.10 each. I showed them Google pictures of Walmart fires. All Walmarts look the same, so they bought it hook, line, and sinker. |
I thought this was a toy missile and I was already planning a joke for this thread about EOD when I picked it up and it was a golf tee. Still, I could see it puncturing a tire. I threw it off the fairway into the rough.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...65e4e5722.jpeg |
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