Ride of the Century

Saw this come over the wire:

Coroner’s officials have identified a bicyclist killed in a hit-and-run accident Monday night in eastern New Orleans.

Ruben J. Soria, 56, died immediately after a motorist struck him as he pedaled a bike in the 12000 block of Chef Menteur Highway near Paris Road, coroner’s chief investigator John Gagliano said Tuesday.

The car didn’t stop after striking Soria, police said, and authorities are still looking for the motorist that killed him.

Source: Cyclist killed in hit-and-run in eastern New Orleans is identified - NOLA.com
Date Visited: Tue May 19 2009 15:57:28 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)

The passage of the Colin Goodier Protection Act, now HB 725, won’t stop these deaths, but the signage “encouraged” by the bill - for share the road signs - may help. The motorcycle people say visibility campaigns curbed motorcycle deaths.

Well, I didn’t get to ride my bike last week to work, during Ride to Work Week. I did, however, take the gorgiously cool weather this week as a cue to get back in the saddle. I rode my road bike to work this morning. Ugh.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Madone. It’s just not a commuter bike. I realized this first as I looked around for a bag big enough to carry extra shoes. Fisher: campus pedals; Trek: Looks.  While my bike shoes are stylish, they make for extremely slippery walking. And I’m NOT putting street pedals on my road bike.

Still, I probably need to be commuting on the road bike more. It handles so differently, it’s like learning to ride a bike again. I didn’t notice it on the wide curves and long straight-aways I usually take it on, carrying nothing but a couple water bottles and a cell phone.  I sure noticed it on the labyrinth of my stop-start route carrying a 10 lbs messenger bag and jockying to avoid the potholes, tin cans, and metal spikes along the way. “Soon,” the north boulevard overpass will be outfitted with a bike lane and guard rails, allowing me to circumvent most of the trecherous road. It’ll also put a climb in the middle of the route. I can rewrite that to be a good thing.

I do wish I knew how fast I was going this morning. One of the things taken was my Garmin Edge, I think because it was in a purse and looked like a cell phone. At least without it I can imagine I was going 20+ mph, breaking speed limits, and burning calories with ease. Or it was a windy day, my seat is too low, and I’m out of shape. Why won’t my imagination won’t play along?

There’s apparently a bike polo club in Baton Rouge,

And they’re organizing an Alley Cat race.

The hipsters have taken over. Just in time for the London Times to declare fixies over.

If someone takes the gears off my stolen MTB, I will cut them.

I haven’t posted about it, but I’ve been riding my bike to work (the mountain bike) lately, and I’ve been looking at improving my bike handling skills by learning the Bunny Hop. My plan was to get back on the road bike after Jazz Fest and train for some epic ride with an end-date of who-knows.

Yeah. Until I got home yesterday and found my house had been broken into.

I opened the garage and saw my road bike carefully placed (heh) where I usually put my car. I knew I put it up inside before I left, and I also knew it had flat tires. Guess the tires saved it. I left the dogs in the car and opened the now-unlocked door to my house, when the birds started going CRASY. I look at my bike rack…and nothing. Agent Orange was taken.

The kiddies/crackheads/both ransacked the place, took the TIVO, Cable Box, prescription*, and bike. I thought they took a computer and a GPS, but I’ve since found those in the mess. Stupid, stupid kiddies. Fortunately, I didn’t have much for them to take. Unfortunately, the one main thing they did take, I can’t replace. The bike has been with me since my mom shipped it to me as a gift my second year of college. I just spent $$ fixing it up last week at The Bicycle Shop. The cop said he’d likely get it back, as it stands out like a sore thumb. I hope he’s right.

If you see it, please call the cops. Don’t approach anyone as you might be wrong, or you might get hurt.

Here are the specs:

2001 Gary Fisher Paragon, Orange and White. Orange Judy front shocks. Bright orange grips (brand new-above picture altered to reflect change). Rat trap (rear rack).
Music and National Park stickers all over the frame. Campus pedals - for flats and SPDS. Women’s seat.
Reflective tape attached to every other spoke on front and back wheels, plus additional reflective tape on frame, crankset, pedals, etc. Orange gaffer’s tape used to cover some frame paint chips.

I just want the bike back, I don’t care who took it. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING AN EYE OUT.

* The only thing I had in the medicine cabinet was a prescription for an antibiotic. The’ll either OD on it or be the only kiddies from the Bottoms protected against Swine Flu and Anthrax.

**For page ranking goodness, here’s the cross posting on Craigslist. Here’s the one on Facebook.

A lesson to all engaging in public protest: make sure you have at least one videocamera on the police at all times.

A NYPD officer gets in the way of a cyclist, purposefully knocking him over:

http://www.youtube.com/v/oUkiyBVytRQ&hl=en&fs=1

via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/critical-mass-bicyclist-a_n_115390.html

I’m hoping all this bike-love won’t come crashing down in the near future in order to bring the universe into balance. I’m thinking it won’t, as bike love promotes balance in the universe with things like less vehicular traffic and more breathable air.

Some individuals in New Orleans have created a Bike Project - Plan B - that endevours to educate the community about fixing their bikes and to provide low-cost parts and bikes to residents.

More info here: http://bikeproject.org/

Pedals for Progress, a nonprofit that sends used bikes to developing communities, has taken old bikes, fixed them up, and sent them to people who really need them:

“A used woman’s mountain bicycle changed my life,” says Garcia, 54, a house cleaning supplies salesman in Nicaragua who works six days a week to support his six children and buy medicine for his wife, who suffers from cancer.

For 20 years, Garcia walked six to seven hours a day, hauling his merchandise in a wheelbarrow along a 6 mile route. This earned him $2-$3 a day.

“More than anything, I would always return home so tired from the walk,” Garcia recalls.

Little by little, Garcia saved his money and was able to buy a used bicycle six years ago from a Pedals for Progress partner agency in Jinotepe, Nicaragua.

“Because of a bicycle, I now earn about $4 a day,” says Garcia. “I sell more and I do my rounds quicker. I tell everyone to go buy a bicycle.”

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/23/heroes.schweidenback/index.html

How many old bikes are in your garage?

Related only because I found it while looking for a place to go bike camping this weekend, some great news for our forests and my sense of wellbeing. (By “wellbeing,” I mean that I might not have the urge to kill people when trespassed upon by a loud vehicle while primitive camping.)

Kisatchie National Forest to Implement New Travel Management Rules

PINEVILLE—The Kisatchie National Forest will implement the new travel management rules on August 1, 2008. The U.S. Forest Service conducted an environmental assessment with public participation concerning ATV and passenger vehicle travel within Kisatchie National Forest lands. As a result of the National Travel Management Rule and the Kisatchie National Forest Travel Management Environmental Assessment, Gretta Boley, Forest Supervisor, signed the decision to eliminate cross-country motorized travel. All motorized traffic will be confined to existing designated roads and trails. On July 18, 2008 all Kisatchie National Forest Offices will provide Motor Vehicle-Use Maps (MVUM) showing all designated routes. A very limited amount of cross-country travel for game retrieval will be provided during deer hunting season for the National Red Dirt and National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserves. This decision essentially eliminates large game retrieval and cross-country travel by motorized vehicles.

The National Travel Management Rule was put into place to reduce impacts to soil, water, and vegetation resources. “The Kisatchie National Forest is a wonderful place to visit. However, I have seen tremendous soil damage, erosion of creek banks, reduction in water quality and destruction of forest vegetation” said Gretta Boley, Forest Supervisor. “This unsightly damage was caused by misuse of off-road vehicles.” Regulations protecting forest resources will now be easier to enforce because if a four-wheeler, motorcycle or passenger vehicle leaves a designated route, the operator is now in violation. This decision comes about after regional and local public meetings and public comment periods. The Forest Service has attempted to provide ample designated roads and trails for forest visitors. Visitors can pick up the new Motor Vehicle-Use Maps (MVUM) at all U.S. Forest Service offices or request the maps by calling 318-473-7160.

GO HERE TO VIEW KISATCHIE MOTOR VEHICLE-USE MAPS

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/kisatchie

Cycling organizations like BRASS are working to make bike safety a priority. Martin said those agencies must be aware that rising gas prices could lead more people to bicycles.

In the meantime, cyclists will still ride their bikes to work, to school, for exercise or for fun. That means both drivers and cyclists have an equal responsibility for sharing the road — or cyclists could be forced to come together again in the aftermath of another fatality.

“Thankfully, we haven’t had many (cyclists killed),” Martin said. “But we’ve had enough. More than enough.”

Jared Janes - The Baton Rouge Advocate, July 11, 2008

First, a PSA from the Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets:

STOP THE KILLING

The recent death of Dr. Goodier while riding a bicycle on River Road
has forcibly illustrated the motoring public’s ongoing lack of
awareness of the dangers presented to bicyclists in the greater Baton
Rouge area. In the last several years there have been far too many
cyclists killed or injured by motorists on our city streets and on
River Road. As gas prices rise there will be more cyclists on the
streets and a greater risk of death and injury unless we act now to
counter this danger.

In honor and memory of those cyclists who have been killed and to
raise awareness of the law that cars and bicycles are both defined as
vehicles and must exist together on our streets and roads, BATON ROUGE
ADVOCATES FOR SAFE STREETS will sponsor a MEMORIAL RIDE starting at
9:00 AM, Saturday, July 12, 2008. Beginning at Farr Park (6400 River
Road) we will ride down River Road to downtown ending at the
Centroplex (275 River Road South- it’s actually called the River Center now, I think).

We will remember and honor those riders who have been killed and
injured and call on our local government leaders and our fellow
citizens to support increased safety education for motorists and
bicyclists, improvement of our transportation infrastructure by
including more bicycle facilities of every class, improved enforcement
of traffic laws for all vehicle operators, and greater awareness of
and within the bicycle community.

For Information call:

Mark Upton
BRASS (Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets)
(Leave a comment, and I’ll email the phone - I didn’t ask for permission to publish)

Aaron Broussard, Tim Cappo, Steve Seiden, and Colin Goodier are cyclists who have been killed on River Road in the past six years. This ride honors them.

WBRZ hosted members of BRASS today on 2une In. I was asleep at 5:45 am, but if any interesting developments come out, I’ll post. **the streaming video can be found here**

Also, WBRZ will be covering the Memorial Ride on Saturday, July 12th. Great news, and a potentially great service to BR.