AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:

On 7/13/2017 11:32 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:


I've forgotten what other shifting patterns were popular. I do recall
that "alpine" came only on department-store bikes, and "half-step"
used two chainrings that differed by half as much as the cogs. I
suppose half-step might achieve a granny gear by adding a wee third
ring.

That "half step plus granny" was very popular on touring bikes back in
the days of five or six rear cogs. It's still being used on three of my
bikes.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Usual Saturday trip the farmer's markets. I decided to lengthen the
ride by going to The Farm (a farm stand on Fox Farm Road) and coming
back by the Chinworth Trail. Bought nothing at the fairgrounds market
or the Center Street market, but I got a couple of yellow squash at
The Farm. And on the way from Center Street to The Farm, I stopped at
Owen's (Kroger) for a couple of bananas because I'd forgotten to put
my emergency food bars into my pannier.

On 350 W, on my way to Tippy Park to eat a banana, I saw the car ahead
of me execute an Idaho stop before turning left onto Old 30.

That sort of thing happens all the time. I did it myself the last
time I drove the car. Perhaps we need a law making it legal for cars
to run stop signs when the visibility is good and the way is clear.

Just beyond the fence around the CCAC, there is a trench across the
Chinworth Bridge Trail -- it looks like a miniature of what you get
when a culvert collapses. I thought of a tree root rotting away, but
tree roots seldom run straight and square, and I'm not sure there were
*ever* trees anywhere near.

What was once a corn field is now a vast expanse of lawn -- all the
companies along Old 30 are way back off the road, with very long
driveways -- so it was easy to see that not one soul was on or near
the MUP, so I was travelling at a reckless speed for a walkway --
might have been five or ten miles per hour. Since the trench was
narrow and I hit it square, I could have simply kept going, had not a
secondary "thock!" told me that the empty water bottle in my right
pannier had flown out and hit the pavement. That may have been the
first time I dumped something out of a pannier without falling over.

"Off" a pannier is another matter. Just last week, I set my walking
shoes on top of my pannier while I was lacing up my riding shoes, then
rode off without putting them into the pannier. I don't like my new
walking shoes as well as the old ones, even though the old ones were
so badly worn that I'd already bought their replacement. Or perhaps
because they were worn; the stiff new straps catch on my toe clips.

Luckily the squash and remaining banana and my ice had been packed
firmly, then a bag of crumpled plastic bags had been bungeed down over
them. I saw no sign, when I unpacked at home, that they noticed the
thump. Didn't even bruise the banana.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

Rules that apply everywhere apply to riding in traffic.

Particularly applicable a

Thou shalt not kill a person without a good reason.

Thou shalt not injure or inconvenience another person without a good
reason.

Thou shalt not mess with another person's property without his
permission, and if you can't avoid doing so, apologize and offer
reparation.

If nobody else wants it, you may take it. (The stinker in this rule
is the difficulty in verifying that nobody else wants it.)

Responsibility must lie with a person who has the power to exercise
that responsibility. In traffic, this means that the person who can
see the other vehicle has a duty to avoid colliding with it.

(The person who *can't* see has the duty to be easy to avoid hitting;
this is also a special case of a general rule, but I can't formulate
it at the moment.)

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

Half an our before bedtime, with my suitcases packed, I realize that
I'm going to be disconnected when it's time for the next installment,
and I'm not just about to write something tonight.

I'm taking a laptop, but the drafts for potential posts aren't on it.
And I don't think Agent runs on FREEDOS anyway. Not to mention that
my time is scheduled.

I'm not taking the bike. I'm not even taking my walker.

Seriously considered the walker. If it didn't occupy the entire
trunk, and wasn't such a hassle to fit in, I would take it. Pushing a
walker is splendid exercise when I'd otherwise have to work at not
limping. The hotel has an exercise room, but that's BORING.
Fortunately, it also has staircases.

Yours incoherently,
Joy Beeson

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

There was no AG column last week because I spent the weekend driving
to Frankfort and back. I performed rather a lot of Idaho stops along
the way -- out in the bean fields, one can see for miles in every
direction.

I quite frequently see cars performing Idaho stops when I'm riding
around Kosciusko County.

I don't approve of legalizing Idaho stops for bikes because it
promulgates the myth that the rules for bicycles are different from
the rules for cars. Whenever two systems of rules co-exist, conflicts
happen.

Still, I've read that when it's safe to run a stop sign, running it is
safer than coming to a full stop, and that supposition makes a lot of
sense, if only because it reduces time spent in a danger zone.

But let's emphasize "when it is safe".

Whenever "right on red" is introduced, a lot of crashes are caused by
people who miss the "after stopping and carefully checking the
traffic" part of the permission. I don't want you to miss the
"approach the intersection prepared to stop, and check carefully for
other traffic" part when I encourage you to run stop signs.

Come to think of it, both "right on red" and "Idaho stop" are avatars
of "if nobody else wants it, you may take it" -- in this case, "it" is
the right of way.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

Post Script: in a car or on a bike, if you miss an entire police
cruiser when checking for traffic, you DESERVE a ticket.

On 8/5/2017 10:25 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:

There was no AG column last week because I spent the weekend driving
to Frankfort and back. I performed rather a lot of Idaho stops along
the way -- out in the bean fields, one can see for miles in every
direction.

I quite frequently see cars performing Idaho stops when I'm riding
around Kosciusko County.

I don't approve of legalizing Idaho stops for bikes because it
promulgates the myth that the rules for bicycles are different from
the rules for cars. Whenever two systems of rules co-exist, conflicts
happen.

Still, I've read that when it's safe to run a stop sign, running it is
safer than coming to a full stop, and that supposition makes a lot of
sense, if only because it reduces time spent in a danger zone.

But let's emphasize "when it is safe".

Whenever "right on red" is introduced, a lot of crashes are caused by
people who miss the "after stopping and carefully checking the
traffic" part of the permission. I don't want you to miss the
"approach the intersection prepared to stop, and check carefully for
other traffic" part when I encourage you to run stop signs.

Come to think of it, both "right on red" and "Idaho stop" are avatars
of "if nobody else wants it, you may take it" -- in this case, "it" is
the right of way.

The Idaho almost-stop is particularly sensible for tandem riders.
Stopping and starting a tandem is significantly more difficult than
stopping and starting a single bike.


--
- Frank Krygowski

What I say:

Take the first sip of water as you are rolling out the driveway.
It sets the proper rhythm, and lets you know you forgot to clean
your bottle while you can still go back and do something about it.

What I do:

Last Saturday I was well beyond the bridge before I learned that I had
to go back and swap half a bottle of very sour tea for a full bottle
of chilled water. (I drank the tea -- diluted with plain tea -- on
Thursday.)

I ain't abuyin' no more opaque water bottles.

In truth, the only opaque bottle that I actually bought -- the Sheriff
Goshert bottle the tea was in was given to me at a garage sale -- is
the black bottle that came with the bottle cage that I bought for the
walk-behind lawn mower. And that's stashed away for emergency use.

Said lawn mower is up for grabs now; I haven't done any trimming since
my spouse bought a zero-turn riding mower.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

On Sat, 12 Aug 2017 23:48:38 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote:

What I say:

Take the first sip of water as you are rolling out the driveway.
It sets the proper rhythm, and lets you know you forgot to clean
your bottle while you can still go back and do something about it.

What I do:

Last Saturday I was well beyond the bridge before I learned that I had
to go back and swap half a bottle of very sour tea for a full bottle
of chilled water. (I drank the tea -- diluted with plain tea -- on
Thursday.)

I ain't abuyin' no more opaque water bottles.

In truth, the only opaque bottle that I actually bought -- the Sheriff
Goshert bottle the tea was in was given to me at a garage sale -- is
the black bottle that came with the bottle cage that I bought for the
walk-behind lawn mower. And that's stashed away for emergency use.

Said lawn mower is up for grabs now; I haven't done any trimming since
my spouse bought a zero-turn riding mower.

What I do is the night before a ride I mix my drinks, in this weather
two 1/2 litre bottles, in the hot season, four, and put one in the
fridge and one in the freezer, in the hot season on in the in the
fridge and three in the freezer. Which gives me "coldish" drink over
about a four or five hour ride.

It isn't a perfect solution as the bottles do warm up a bit but is
better then nothing. In really hot weather I stop at 7-11 stores -
there is one at nearly every gas station - and buy bottles of cold
water and mix them with any leftover drink that I happen to have.

In a tropical climate I find that some sort of "sports drink"
containing at least salt is pretty well mandatory. Or, at least my
experience drinking bottled water on a 50 km ride in 95 - 100 degree
weather was very debilitating compared with the same ride using a
sports drink.
--
Cheers,

John B.

Joy Beeson wrote:
What I say:

Take the first sip of water as you are rolling out the driveway.
It sets the proper rhythm, and lets you know you forgot to clean
your bottle while you can still go back and do something about it.

What I do:

Last Saturday I was well beyond the bridge before I learned that I had
to go back and swap half a bottle of very sour tea for a full bottle
of chilled water. (I drank the tea -- diluted with plain tea -- on
Thursday.)

I ain't abuyin' no more opaque water bottles.

In truth, the only opaque bottle that I actually bought -- the Sheriff
Goshert bottle the tea was in was given to me at a garage sale -- is
the black bottle that came with the bottle cage that I bought for the
walk-behind lawn mower. And that's stashed away for emergency use.

Said lawn mower is up for grabs now; I haven't done any trimming since
my spouse bought a zero-turn riding mower.


Why? Did the new mower come with a bottle holder?

--
duane

On Sun, 13 Aug 2017 09:55:56 -0000 (UTC), Duane
wrote:

Why? Did the new mower come with a bottle holder?

The new mower can mow close enough to trees and the like that I no
longer need to clean up after the riding mower with a walk-behind.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/