Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bici, bicycling, bicycling in the city, bike rental, bike share, Bike sharing, bikes, biking, Chris Holben, Citibike, city biking, District of Columbia, NYC, transportation, urban cycling, Washington, Washington D.C.
Whereas, if you look at the actual facts presented in this USA Today article, the bike share program in question is incredibly safe.
Washington’s Capital Bikeshare program began in September 2010, has grown to include more than 1,500 bicycles and recently recorded its 2 millionth ride. At the same time, bicycle-related accidents have increased on city D.C. roads.
Bicycle-related accidents have increased from 312 in 2009 to 601 in 2011, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Pedestrian-related accidents also rose from 657 in 2009 to 935 in 2011.
…
Chris Holben , a bicycle program specialist for the District Department of Transportation, says Washington has actually become safer since the number of people riding their bikes has increased. He said only 24 Bikeshare crashes have been reported to police since the program stated.
So that’s roughly 1 reported crash per 100,000 trips! And even those are likely to be minor crashes. Oooh, danger. Hope they’re all wearing their helmets…
Now check out the headline:
via Bike sharing stokes conflict between drivers, cyclists – USATODAY.com.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: construction, construction employment, employment, housing, housing bottom, jobs numbers, peak oil, suburban development, unemployment, urban, zero hedge
…skittering along down there…
click to enlarge
via http://www.zerohedge.com/news/point-out-housing-bottom-chart
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Al Jazeera, Arafat, Litvinenko, PLO, poison, polonium Francois Bochud, whodunnit
Whodunnit.
Al-Jazeera says the tests on his clothes, including his toothbrush and kaffiyeh, were conducted by the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” Francois Bochud, the director of the institute, tells Al-Jazeera.
Additional tests, conducted over a three-month period from March until June, concluded that most of that polonium found in samples of body fluids — sweat and urine — on Arafat’s clothes, was “unsupported,” meaning that it did not come from natural sources.
Al-Jazeera says there is little scientific consensus on the symptoms of polonium poisoning, mostly because it is so rare.
Litvinenko suffered severe diarrhea, weight loss and vomiting, as did Arafat, in the days and weeks before he fell ill.
Severe diarrhea and vomiting …. in the days and weeks before he fell ill. Must mean before he died. Ah well. The editor was probably working on a big chimp attack story.
via USA Today: Al-Jazeera: Tests suggest Arafat died of polonium poisoning.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chimp attack, chimpanzees, Fukushima, journalism, LIBOR, NBC, nightly news, reactor 4, spent fuel pool
UPDATE: SFP cooling restarted 307 PM per TEPCO via http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/06/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-reactor-4-spent.html
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Could make these Colorado fires look pretty insignificant.
Note that NBC’s top story tonight was about a college kid who got attacked by chimps in S. Africa. No mention of Fukushima or LIBOR. They’re not even pretending any more.
The cooling system of the spent-fuel pool in reactor 4 at the Fukushima No. 1 plant automatically suspended operations Saturday and the water temperature is starting to rise, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
The utility has been unable to activate a backup cooling system for the pool since operations halted at around 6.25 a.m., and is looking into the causes, Tepco officials said later in the day.
The pool’s water temperature stood at around 31 degrees Celsius when the cooling system ceased functioning and was increasing by 0.26 degree per hour late Saturday afternoon, according to the officials.
If Tepco remains unable to start up the system or its backup, the temperature could reach 65 degrees by Tuesday morning — the maximum limit specified by safety regulations.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Liege, Metz, route map, Switzerland, TDF, Tour de France
Filed under: maps | Tags: AGW, CH4, climate change, climate science, CO2, global warming, heat wave, meteorologist, nashville, politics, record heat
is on the street
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycling, bike racing, biking, cycling, dopers, EPO, Fabian Cancellara, PEDs, prologue time trial, stage racing, TDF, Tour de France, TT
…TDF IS ON… somewhere …
There were murmurs that Cancellara was no longer the powerhouse he used to be, his legs slowing as younger riders developed, and despite uncertainty within his team surrounding missed wages and in-fighting, the experience and most importantly the power were there for all to see in Liège.
via Tour De France 2012: Prologue Results | Cyclingnews.com.
Filed under: maps | Tags: Cedar Heights, climate, Colorado Springs, Crystola, fire map, fire perimeter, forest fire, Garden of the Gods, Garden of the Gods Fire, Green Mountain Falls, Manitou, Manitou Springs, Mountain Shadows, science, Waldo Canyon Fire, Woodland Park
Today’s Events:
Fire activity is expected to increase today and tomorrow, with higher temperatures and decreasing humidity. Possible afternoon thunderstorms could also bring strong, gusty winds. Temperatures are expected to reach at least 15 degrees above season normal.
On the west side of the fire, crews will hold and improve line from Rampart Ridge Road south to Highway 24, eliminating hotspots where required, extinguishing roll-out logs, and continuing structure protection, with the aim of re-opening the highway as soon as possible. Night crews successfully performed a burnout operation in this area overnight.
Smoke may again be visible from Colorado Springs, as a large island of fuel within the fire perimeter continues to burn, but poses no threat.
Aircraft will make retardant drops on the northern perimeter as firefighters attempt to hold the fire south of Monument Creek. Three spot fires northeast of Rampart Reservoir are being aggressively attacked by air, bulldozers and hand crews. Firefighters will also continue construction of a contingency bulldozer line along Mt. Herman Road north of the fire.
Air resources will continue to be used to suppress fire activity in Williams Canyon on the southern flank of the fire.
via http://inciweb.org/incident/article/2929/14645/
Yesterday’s perimeter map:
click to enlarge
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle safety, bicycling, bike, Bike accidents, bike commuting, Bike to Work Day, car versus bike, car-bike collisions, common sense, cycling, denver, energy, Linkhart, looked-but-failed-to-see errors, Mayor Hancock, transportation, urban cycling
He was my favorite mayoral candidate. He has almost no TV charisma, which is a major plus for a public official. He would have made a fine mayor. He liked libraries.
Fortunately, he’s fine, but the incident did prompt a conversation between council members and the mayor about road safety regulations and the interactions between cyclists and vehicles.
…During which, of course, scofflaw bicyclists somehow came out the villains, and education and/or reprogramming of scofflaw bicyclists was re-hurled to the tippy top of the bike safety priority list. This even though Linkhart’s crash (1) did not involve a scofflaw bicyclist and (2) car-bike crashes involving adult bicyclists typically do not. The most likely scenario for an adult bicyclist is to be caught out by another road user’s looked-but-failed-to-see error while riding lawfully. But hey, we’ve all seen bicyclists run lights right? People like Mayor Hancock make no attempt to understand the truth about urban cycling safety. Why bother — everyone knows it’s “common sense.” Common sense is good politics. Let’s not let any facts get in the way of our “common sense” about bicycle safety.
According to Linkhart, he was heading west on 23rd Avenue — on a bike route — approaching Downing Street when a pickup truck went to make a left turn and collided with him.
“I was going straight. He turned left in front of me, and…hit me across the side, and I fell down,” Linkhart recalls.
… Linkhart was scraped up badly, his bike got a bit bent and he had to get several stitches in his leg.
“I kinda went flying,” he said. “I kind of plowed into the sidewalk. I had a helmet, which didn’t help.”
Linkhart, going straight, had the right of way over the pickup truck, which was turning left.
23rd and Downing is classic left cross territory. I’ve been through that intersection a hundred times. Got to ‘keep your head on a swivel’ so to speak.
via Westword Doug Linkhart, ex-councilman, hit while cycling to Bike To Work Day event – Denver News – The Latest Word.
Filed under: maps | Tags: Anglestone, Blodgett Drive, Colorado Springs, fire fighting, forest fire, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs fire, Mount Saint Francis, Needlecone Lane, Rampart Reservoir, Sawback, Stanley Reservoir, USAFA, Waldo Canyon Fire, Woodland Park, Woodmen Road
I listened to the fire fight most of the day yesterday [Wednesday June 27, a day after 300-plus houses burned]. The fire made a bull rush on the houses above and west of Woodmen Road, around a street called Blodgett Drive and its associated cul-de-sacs, a little neighborhood placed to burn vigorously at the extreme northwest point of Colorado Springs.
The fire “flashed over” and many of the houses started to burn. Without quick action by multiple fire crews from all over the state, dexterously coordinated by radio and face-to-face meetings, the houses would have burned to their foundations.
After its big charge the fire kept up a cat-and-mouse game with the fire crews for the rest of the day, sneaking up on the houses through the brush. The situation was especially tense up on Angelstone, where five luxury homes sit in an exclusive little enclave hanging above the Blodgett Drive neighborhood. Fire smoldered on the hillside all day and into the night, and into the next day, as crews tended the houses with one easily blocked escape route.
The photo shows heavily wooded area behind Blodgett Drive and the houses perched on Angelstone. Woodmen Road is below.
At some point fire started in the open area west of Mount Saint Francis, below Woodmen Road. Fire fighters had already identified the nearby houses as a problem spot. The houses along Needlecone Lane and Sawback Trail were lined up along a gully that would “go up like a chimney” and so would be “very hard to defend,” according to radio traffic. But they jumped on it in the open area and put it out.
Screenshot shows the houses along Needlecone Lane and Sawback Trail below Woodmen Road. Mount Saint Francis is just off screen to the northeast.
If you live in this neighborhood, the fire fighters saved your house yesterday. Today is a different day.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Cedar Heights, Colorado fire, Colorado Springs fire, fire map, fire perimeter, forest fire, IR map, Manitou Springs fire, Mountain Shadows, Rampart Reservoir, Waldo Canyon, Waldo Canyon Fire, wildland fire, Woodland Park
As of 0600 6/28 June.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Colorado, Colorado Springs, forest fires, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, Mountain Shadows, Ormes Peak, Palmer Reservoir, Rampart Reservoir, Scar on the Mountain, Waldo Canyon Fire
Early AM 6/27, via http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20928988?nstrack=sid:4529940|met:300|cat:0|order:3
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Air Force Academy, Colorado fires, Colorado Springs, forest fires, Garden of the Gods, Green Mountain Falls, Mountain Shadows, Peregrine, Waldo Canyon Fire, wildfire, Woodland Park, Woodman Road
The latest iteration, Wednesday 27 June AM. It ate a good chunk of west CS yesterday.
via http://www3.gazette.com/fire/
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, exurbs, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, mountain homes, Mountain Shadows, Waldo Canyon Fire
Don’t have a good map, because the fire is way faster than the map-makers.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Colorado fires, Colorado wildfire, Garden of the Gods, human-caused environmental disaster, Hwy 24, infrared, Manitou Springs, Palmer Reservoir, Pikes Peak, Pikes Peak Toll Road, Rampart Reservoir, Ute Pass, Waldo Canyon, Waldo Canyon Fire, Woodland Park
According to the IR heat map from last night..
InciWeb the Incident Information System: Waldo Canyon Fire Large Map.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: April 2012, bicycling, cars, DOT, peak oil, transportation, urban cycling, USDOT, vehicle miles traveled, Vmt
The latest govt. numbers. April ’12 down a little over April ’11. 53 months and counting.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chesapeake, Chesapeake Energy, China, energy, energy independence, energy security, Natural gas, shale gas, shale oil, Sinopec Fu Chengyu, tight gas
All part of America’s new ‘energy security.’
Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec Corp, was in Oklahoma last week to explore the possibility of a bid for a shale gas project, which is owned by Chesapeake Energy, the second largest shale gas producer in the US, Reuters reported.
via China's Sinopec eyes shale gas assets in US | China Economic Review.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cedar Heights, Chipita Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado wildfires, Crystal Park, forest fires, Garden of the Gods, Inciweb, Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City, Ormes Peak, Queens Canyon, Scar on the Mountain, Waldo Canyon Fire, Williams Canyon, Woodland Park
As of roughly 5 p.m. Monday, June 25, 2012.
via Inciweb.org: http://inciweb.org/incident/2929/
Woodland Park on pre-evac standby.
Filed under: maps | Tags: Chipita Park, Colorado Springs, forest fire, Garden of the Gods, heat map, Hwy 24, Manitou Springs, Mountain Shadows, Rampart Range Road, The Mesa, Twitter, Waldo Canyon
Heat map about 12 hours old already…showing roughly 2500 acres burnt or burning.
via http://twitter.com/tommypez/status/216915772260352001/photo/1
click to enlarge
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, African athletes, altitude training, Colorado, high altitude, Iten, Kenya, Kenyan Riders, Kipchumba, Mount Evans, Tour de France
I call dibs on the movie rights.
We could all get together and sponsor a high-altitude training camp for these guys. I know a lot of people who would love to host these athletes in their homes as they train in the high mountains. We have uniquely high paved roads here in Colorado.
Since joining the team two years ago, Kipchumba, 26, has excelled. He says that running success translates smoothly to cycling, but that athletes in Iten remain reluctant to make the switch.
“When you come from running, the lungs are very big,” Kipchumba said. “When I started to train on a bike, I was breathing well. My legs were also used to pain. I had less pain than the others. The only problem is the fear of the sport of cycling. They don’t know much about the sport.”
via In Country of Runners, Kenyan Cycling Team Faces Uphill Climb – NYTimes.com.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 