Let’s us preserve the moment in pictures

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 5 Comments

Howler of the day: The infamous road-rager Dr. Christopher T. Thompson says he never slammed on his brakes in front of cyclists Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr — he merely stopped to take pictures of them.

This asshole’s lawyer must eat a lot of Chinese takeout, ’cause he appears to be basing his strategy on the advice of fortune cookies. Almost makes me wonder whether he’s written this one off in hopes of getting a conviction overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, I’ll tell you the pic I want to see — the one of the look on Thompson’s face as the cell door clangs shut behind him.

Speaking of clowns, check this out — and this — and consider whether you’re enough of a multitasker to walk and/or operate a motor vehicle while talking/texting on or trying to find your cell phone. Would you see the clown or the 6-foot orange rabbit on the pedicab?

Blast from the past (and present)

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 1 Comment

The FBI croaked what it described as the leader of a Muslim fundamentalist group today during a series of raids in Dearborn and Detroit, Michigan.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the late Luqman Ameen Abdullah was the leader of a group that calls itself “Ummah, a group of mostly African-American converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law-governed state within the United States.”

What caught my eye was that the Ummah is said to be ruled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, the former Black Panther leader who is serving big, bad time — as in life without — at the Supermax outside Florence, Colorado, for shooting two cops in Georgia, one of whom died.

You can scope out his New York Times rap sheet here, and his Wikipedia page here.

How long before Flush Limburger links him to Obama?

Boulder Cup relocated

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 8 Comments
Harlow Platts Park circa 2005, when it wasn't buried under a ton of snow.
Harlow Platts Park circa 2006, when it wasn't buried under a ton of snow.

Bummer — Brook Watts advises that this Sunday’s Boulder Cup cyclo-cross will be relocated to the Boulder Reservoir after heavy snow that made it impossible to use Harlow Platts Park.

Says race director Chris Grealish: “The racers love Harlow Platts because of the challenging nature of the grassy terrain, but we have an agreement with the city of Boulder to make a move if conditions there risk long-term damage to the park.”

Too bad. Harlow Platts is a fun venue, but there’s no point in chewing it the hell up. And I wasn’t going to be able to go anyway, as Sunday is one of my days in the Velo-barrel.

Here’s a bit I wrote about the last race I saw there. Well, as usual, there’s not much in there about the actual race, but what the hell, it’s either read this or get back to work, right?

Safety in numbers

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 17 Comments

Gretchen Reynolds at The New York Times notes a study by surgeons and ER docs at the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center in Denver that concluded a staggering increase in the number and severity of injuries sustained by cyclists may have its roots in an uptick in bicycle commuting.

“What we concluded was that a lot of these people were commuters,” Dr. (Jeffry) Kashuk said, adding, “If we keep promoting cycling without other actions to make it safer, we may face a perfect storm of injuries in the near future.”

The “perfect storm” cliché aside, the piece makes interesting reading. In Europe, Reynolds writes, the “safety in numbers” effect has led to a decline in cyclist injuries, and a California study suggests that “adaptation in motorist behavior” in response to an increase in walking and cycling contributes to a decreased likelihood of injury.

“In other words,” writes Reynolds, “when more cyclists show up on the roads, car drivers become used to them and respond appropriately.”

Reynolds notes the obvious Catch-22: If cycling is perceived as dangerous, then fewer people will take it up, even though more putting cyclists on the road — in time — will mean fewer accidents. While we await that happy day, she urges “individual responsibility,” saying cyclists must obey traffic laws, though I can find no similar admonition for motorists.

So there you have it. Get out there and make the streets safe for cycling. Just don’t expect to see me on a two-wheeler today. It’s 10 a.m. and still below freezing.