Mitch really thought about it, but I noped out when I saw the ducks casually swim across. Fortunately it wasn't too far to turn around and go a different way.



Splish splash we ain't takin' a bath

Has anybody seen one of these? Says Door Dash on the side. Seeing a few during my commutes. He's in the bike lane.

Looks kind of like the food delivery bots I've seen crawling all over the campus of NAU

https://news.nau.edu/starship-robots/

A wheelbarrow...
...right in the bike lane:

Police sent "to have a li'l chat with them" as the dispatcher put it. Do you like how they parked RIGHT next to the NO PARKING sign?!


Just like the food delivery 'bot, it's not a bike; doesn't belong there.

Is it so bad for the bot to use the bike lane? If so, please explain. If it behaves predictably, I might see it as a good thing.

I could see them increasing in quantity to the point where they would clog the bike lanes. Do they go 15 mph like bikes, or are they more like walking speed?

Also, to make them so that they won't hurt people no matter what is going to be tricky. (not as tricky if they move at walking speed)

The ones I saw at NAU were walking speed, and very paranoid/conservative about obstacles, so if you were to ride past one it would probably freak out. Hopefully in either a "stop and wait until it's all clear" or "move as quick as possible AWAY from the obstacle", which would honestly be better than most squirrels and rabbits I run into, whose instincts seem to be "ok I see something big coming, the right time to cross in front of it is, wait for it, wait for it, NOW"

I'm not happy about self-driving cars but I'm willing to give these bots a try. Here in NYC, we have little micro-trucks for Amazon deliveries. They are pedal-assist, legally, which is to say that when the driver pedals, it switches the motor on. The pedaling requirement is a legal one so it can be classified as a bicycle. They are very narrow and are less subject to congestion. They also cause less congestion than full size trucks. I'm in favor, given that deliveries are numerous. So if we have to have all these deliveries, I prefer them in the smallest possible vehicles.

Are those allowed in the bike lanes, noglider?

I think so. And I'm cool with it. So far, the drivers have behaved very well. Mind you, if you haven't spent much time on the east coast, you may not know that we're generally more disorderly than the midwest and the west. Lots of people break the rules all the time. You have to let it run off your back because if you get irritated every time, you'll raise your blood pressure.

How would it work on a two-way bike path? Is it narrow enough that it could only occupy one lane of a bike path?

Yes, they look to be about 4 feet wide.

I came across another (car) brake pad the other day. It's scary. What state of repair must that car be in, for brake pads to literally be falling out?!

Yes! I have seen this many times and always think about that. And what happened down the road when they had to stop?

Meh... that's why you have three other wheels.

On my commute, there is a set of clothes, complete with boots, draped over a low wall. The mind reels.

A pocket knife
$100 bill
Screwdrivers
Dirty Polaroids
A long lost glove
Anxious skunks that I talked out of spraying me.
Etc.

If it doesn't run me over I'm OK with it. So far they haven't gotten close to me. Not avoiding them but don't see them often. Just curious if people are seeing them elsewhere.

Here we already have ebikes, scooters, gas powered bikes, skateboards, etc in the bike lane. On the MUPs I'm seeing "motorcycle gangs" on their cute little 50cc bikes. Autobots in the bike lane are just one more thing to watch for.

2 weeks ago on the highway I saw some pieces of plywood about 12 x 18" in the grass ditch.
And I kept seeing them for 4 miles and another 2 after turning onto the next highway. Must have been over 30 pieces. LOL.
Then 2 days ago I saw what looked like a dead wolf. The spring sweeper picked up the latest tools likely. LOL

Maybe a homeless person stripped down to go take a bath or shower somewhere? Or he hung them there to dry?

The imagination could take this many places. I don't know where the nearest shower is. There are many high school and college buildings nearby.

The rapture happened, and it was just that one guy

I saw him at that spot today on the way to work, sitting on a lawn chair. Well it may not have been the owner of those clothes I saw. The clothes are gone. Or maybe he was wearing them.

Mothra!

Beautiful. White Lined Sphinx Moth. The caterpillars are beautiful!