Bike messengers take to track racing

Joe Riel wrote:
... 11 feet at 15mph is an acceleration of 0.68g, doable on a
standard road bike. I've measured the location of the center of mass
of the bike and rider (me) in two positions: on the the saddle and
hanging off the rear. The maximum steady state braking, limited by
pitchover, from these positions was computed at 0.63g and 0.83g
respectively. I've written a report on the measurements and computation,
I'll post it in a couple days after adding some more analysis.

Thanks, Robert, for pointing out that some of the commonly accepted
values for maximum braking didn't agree with your observations.
It motivated me to look into this a bit further.

Thank you Joe. I really appreciate that somebody
went out and tried this. I look forward to reading
your analysis.

Robert

wrote:

Benjamin Lewis wrote:

I'm afraid I still don't see the point of bringing up financial
concerns.

Because many people seem to think that messengers running lights has no
good reason behind it other than a mere scofflaw 'FU' attitude. So I
bring up financial motivations

These are not a "good reason". If it's not okay for you to break these
laws when you're not in a hurry, then it's not okay for you to break them
when you are, IMO. If it *is* okay, then financial motivations don't
enter into it.

--
Benjamin Lewis

"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips
over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
--Matt Groening

Benjamin Lewis wrote:

I'm afraid I still don't see the point of bringing up financial
concerns.

Because many people seem to think that messengers running lights has no
good reason behind it other than a mere scofflaw 'FU' attitude. So I
bring up financial motivations

These are not a "good reason". If it's not okay for you to break these
laws when you're not in a hurry, then it's not okay for you to break them
when you are, IMO. If it *is* okay, then financial motivations don't
enter into it.

By "financial motivations" (not good choice of phrase)
we refer not so much to the messengers themselves, but
to the customers of the messenger companies and the
owners, managers, and salesmen of the messenger companies.
And by "financial motivation" we are not so much talking
about going for the big bucks, but professional
obligation, that is, people fulfilling the minimum
requirements of their positions. Like a junior paralegal
trying to get a very important filing in by 5. That's
the kind of "financial motivation" you're talking about.
As I said, the
professional messenger actually acts as a tempering
force on this frenetic energy. It is not the
messengers' fault that his 'scofflaw' behavior is
in large part allowed and given some legitimacy in
big cities. It is to his credit that he can exploit
the grey areas of urban society and law and do it
in a safe and ethical, and thus sustainable, manner.

Whether running red lights is 'okay' or not I am
not prepared to decide. All kinds of cyclists do it
all the time. I think there are degrees of 'okay'.
And the 'law' may in fact have shifted since it was
written. The reality on the ground is that the 'law'
corresponds to what the enforcement arm and society
at large is willing to accept, and may not correspond
exactly to what's on the books. A messenger rolling
quietly through a red light, carefully rolling behind
a few pedestrians, is not likely to attract the
slightest bit of attention from nearby traffic cops
or other city dwellers. A rider jamming through the
same red light, cutting in front of peds and scaring
the crap out of them, is likely to get a ticket. Yet
both are equally 'against the law.' You will have to
define 'okay' and 'law' before you go too much
further.

Robert