• Re: Cyclecraft: North American Edition

    From Stephen Harding@smharding@verizon.net to rec.bicycles.misc on Fri Apr 25 08:19:12 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On 4/24/25 10:37 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Tuesday, 15 April 2025

    As I was crossing Center Street on Monday morning (ye cats,
    that seems years ago), I reflected that part of what I'd
    read in the night was a thorough debunking of the myth that
    it's safer to dismount and walk through intersections.

    (It seems to me that the out-of-it reading took place later
    than that. -- no, the third trip, I didn't read Cyclecraft
    at all, but dipped into snippets of a Hitchcock magazine.)

    My point here is that good advice doesn't always apply. I
    was leaving a parking lot, and would have needed to mount up
    to cross the street on the bike. Also, on foot I could start
    off promptly when matching holes appeared, and move in a
    predictable manner.

    There's an intersection where I always get off and use the
    crosswalk. When leaving the fairgrounds, I walk up the hill
    because it's steepest precisely where I have to stop for the
    sign, and I couldn't possibly start up again. (And I'd be
    quite certain to cripple myself if I tried.)

    Hmmm. . . that's another case of already walking,


    Wednesday, 16 April 2025

    At that point the fourth trip began, so we'll never know
    what was going to follow the comma.

    This time to Parkview, because Lutherin had released him
    with the problem unresolved, and they shipped him to Fort
    Wayne, where there is a urologist.

    I just got back from my fourth trip, thanks to Dave's nephew
    who drove me, but Dave is still on his third.

    I'm too tired to say . . . no, it wil get too long, but I'll
    wait to post it until it makes sense.

    Ah, after the comma, "but I would have riden up the hill if
    I hadn't needed to get off at the top."

    Or something like that. The farmers markets (one at the
    fairgroun) open again in two weeks.


    Thursday, 24 April 2025

    I'll find time to 'splain all this Real Soon Now, but I'm
    five minutes overdue to go to bed now.


    Color me confused!

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  • From Joy Beeson@jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid to rec.bicycles.misc on Fri Apr 25 22:39:25 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On Fri, 25 Apr 2025 08:19:12 -0400, Stephen Harding
    <smharding@verizon.net> wrote:

    Color me confused!

    Me too!

    I won't explain tonight. I spent the morning working in the
    garden and the afternoon making stir-fry ramen noodles, and
    tomorrow I get to go on a bicycle ride. (And I've promised
    steak for supper.)

    The next day is also booked. I sure hope I get the week
    unscrambled in time to send the April Beeson Banner on May
    1st.

    There was a transfusion in there somewhere. And Dave did
    have four trips -- I forgot the ambulance ride from Parkview
    Warsaw to Parkview Fort Wayne.
    --
    Joy Beeson
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/
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  • From Joy Beeson@jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid to rec.bicycles.misc on Sat May 3 22:04:54 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc


    Saturday, 3 May 2025

    Still no time to transcribe notes, but I learned something
    today.

    For twenty-four years I've been bugged by the transverse
    cracks on Park Avenue, which are bumpy enough to be annoying
    in a car. I suspect that the tarvia was laid on top of
    cracked concrete and the cracks propagate up through the
    asphalt.

    If I don't rise out of the saddle at every crack, the bike
    takes a bolt-loosening jolt, if I do rise out of the saddle,
    I lose speed just where it's very important to keep up with
    the motor traffic, and the cracks are close enough together
    to exhaust me quickly if I try to pedal while out of the
    saddle.

    Duh.

    Today, I stayed out of the saddle for the full length of the
    Avenue, coasting and pedalling with no regard for the
    location of the cracks.

    When I'm already out of the saddle, beginning to pedal
    doesn't take herculean effort.
    --
    Joy Beeson
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
    http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/
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  • From Stephen Harding@smharding@verizon.net to rec.bicycles.misc on Sun May 4 07:04:48 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On 5/3/25 10:04 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Saturday, 3 May 2025

    Still no time to transcribe notes, but I learned something
    today.

    For twenty-four years I've been bugged by the transverse
    cracks on Park Avenue, which are bumpy enough to be annoying
    in a car. I suspect that the tarvia was laid on top of
    cracked concrete and the cracks propagate up through the
    asphalt.

    If I don't rise out of the saddle at every crack, the bike
    takes a bolt-loosening jolt, if I do rise out of the saddle,
    I lose speed just where it's very important to keep up with
    the motor traffic, and the cracks are close enough together
    to exhaust me quickly if I try to pedal while out of the
    saddle.

    Duh.

    Today, I stayed out of the saddle for the full length of the
    Avenue, coasting and pedalling with no regard for the
    location of the cracks.

    When I'm already out of the saddle, beginning to pedal
    doesn't take herculean effort.

    During a cross country ride many years ago, crossing Michigan was a real chore. The road I was on was concrete and had cracks in the pavement at
    very regular intervals. Much of the cracking was simple expansion
    joints built into the road but many others were just wear and tear.

    A good part of the ride across the state was ka-klump, ka-klump, ad
    infinitum. Very hard on my hands and very exhausting riding. I was
    glad to get across the border into Canada.


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  • From pH@wNOSPAMp@gmail.org to rec.bicycles.misc on Wed May 7 02:41:55 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On 2025-05-04, Stephen Harding <smharding@verizon.net> wrote:
    On 5/3/25 10:04 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Saturday, 3 May 2025

    Still no time to transcribe notes, but I learned something
    today.

    For twenty-four years I've been bugged by the transverse
    cracks on Park Avenue, which are bumpy enough to be annoying
    in a car. I suspect that the tarvia was laid on top of
    cracked concrete and the cracks propagate up through the
    asphalt.

    If I don't rise out of the saddle at every crack, the bike
    takes a bolt-loosening jolt, if I do rise out of the saddle,
    I lose speed just where it's very important to keep up with
    the motor traffic, and the cracks are close enough together
    to exhaust me quickly if I try to pedal while out of the
    saddle.

    Duh.

    Today, I stayed out of the saddle for the full length of the
    Avenue, coasting and pedalling with no regard for the
    location of the cracks.

    When I'm already out of the saddle, beginning to pedal
    doesn't take herculean effort.

    During a cross country ride many years ago, crossing Michigan was a real chore. The road I was on was concrete and had cracks in the pavement at very regular intervals. Much of the cracking was simple expansion
    joints built into the road but many others were just wear and tear.

    A good part of the ride across the state was ka-klump, ka-klump, ad infinitum. Very hard on my hands and very exhausting riding. I was
    glad to get across the border into Canada.



    Wife and I had a similar unpleasant experience with "rumble squares" that
    were about every 1/20th of a mile when we were forced to use a section of freeway (no alternate route and labeled as "bikes ok").

    It was a miserable few miles until we could get back off and never did come
    up w/ a nice way to handle 'em.

    pH in Aptos
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  • From Frank Krygowski@frkrygow@gXXmail.com to rec.bicycles.misc on Wed May 14 23:22:08 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On 5/13/2025 12:02 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Tuesday, 13 May

    A few appoinments ago I read the chapter on country roads.
    Here it is very apparrent that the book was translatede from
    British. He expends many words and much detail on how to
    deal with roads that were ancient when they led to
    Doggerland.

    Well, even if you assume that nobody south of the Rio Grande
    would be interested in a book written in English, North
    America is a very large place. There must be such roads
    somewhere.

    I'm on vacation right now so I can't remind myself about what sort of
    roads you might be referring to.

    I do think John Franklin's book is valuable. I read the British edition
    and was one of the people who suggested he do an American edition. But I remember thinking that much of the advice was hyper-detailed. For a
    reader already familiar with ordinary traffic rules and interactions, I
    think it could have been greatly condensed. Remember "Reader's Digest Condensed Editions"?

    OTOH, I'm in an area with lots of bicyclists and bike lanes. Today I saw
    at least 3 people riding facing traffic.
    --
    - Frank Krygowski
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Radey Shouman@shouman@comcast.net to rec.bicycles.misc on Thu May 15 15:51:41 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com> writes:

    On 5/13/2025 12:02 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
    Tuesday, 13 May
    A few appoinments ago I read the chapter on country roads.
    Here it is very apparrent that the book was translatede from
    British. He expends many words and much detail on how to
    deal with roads that were ancient when they led to
    Doggerland.
    Well, even if you assume that nobody south of the Rio Grande
    would be interested in a book written in English, North
    America is a very large place. There must be such roads
    somewhere.

    I'm on vacation right now so I can't remind myself about what sort of
    roads you might be referring to.

    I do think John Franklin's book is valuable. I read the British
    edition and was one of the people who suggested he do an American
    edition. But I remember thinking that much of the advice was
    hyper-detailed. For a reader already familiar with ordinary traffic
    rules and interactions, I think it could have been greatly
    condensed. Remember "Reader's Digest Condensed Editions"?

    OTOH, I'm in an area with lots of bicyclists and bike lanes. Today I
    saw at least 3 people riding facing traffic.

    Perhaps they made the mistake of relying on the British edition.
    --

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Frank Krygowski@frkrygow@gXXmail.com to rec.bicycles.misc on Thu May 15 23:25:47 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    On 5/15/2025 3:51 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
    Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com> writes:

    On 5/13/2025 12:02 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
    Tuesday, 13 May
    A few appoinments ago I read the chapter on country roads.
    Here it is very apparrent that the book was translatede from
    British. He expends many words and much detail on how to
    deal with roads that were ancient when they led to
    Doggerland.
    Well, even if you assume that nobody south of the Rio Grande
    would be interested in a book written in English, North
    America is a very large place. There must be such roads
    somewhere.

    I'm on vacation right now so I can't remind myself about what sort of
    roads you might be referring to.

    I do think John Franklin's book is valuable. I read the British
    edition and was one of the people who suggested he do an American
    edition. But I remember thinking that much of the advice was
    hyper-detailed. For a reader already familiar with ordinary traffic
    rules and interactions, I think it could have been greatly
    condensed. Remember "Reader's Digest Condensed Editions"?

    OTOH, I'm in an area with lots of bicyclists and bike lanes. Today I
    saw at least 3 people riding facing traffic.

    Perhaps they made the mistake of relying on the British edition.

    :-) Could be! But they didn't look like folks who read a lot.
    --
    - Frank Krygowski
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Radey Shouman@shouman@comcast.net to rec.bicycles.misc on Sat May 17 21:27:45 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.misc

    Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com> writes:

    On 5/15/2025 3:51 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
    Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com> writes:

    On 5/13/2025 12:02 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
    Tuesday, 13 May
    A few appoinments ago I read the chapter on country roads.
    Here it is very apparrent that the book was translatede from
    British. He expends many words and much detail on how to
    deal with roads that were ancient when they led to
    Doggerland.
    Well, even if you assume that nobody south of the Rio Grande
    would be interested in a book written in English, North
    America is a very large place. There must be such roads
    somewhere.

    I'm on vacation right now so I can't remind myself about what sort of
    roads you might be referring to.

    I do think John Franklin's book is valuable. I read the British
    edition and was one of the people who suggested he do an American
    edition. But I remember thinking that much of the advice was
    hyper-detailed. For a reader already familiar with ordinary traffic
    rules and interactions, I think it could have been greatly
    condensed. Remember "Reader's Digest Condensed Editions"?

    OTOH, I'm in an area with lots of bicyclists and bike lanes. Today I
    saw at least 3 people riding facing traffic.
    Perhaps they made the mistake of relying on the British edition.

    :-) Could be! But they didn't look like folks who read a lot.

    Don't judge a book by its cover.
    --

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2