Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bakken, Keystone, Lac-Megantic, oil transportation, shale oil, tight oil
Investigators say they’ve recovered the “black box” that should help determine what happened before a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in a Quebec town, killing at least five people.
The train with 72 carloads of crude oil crashed and burst into flames early Saturday near the center of Lac-Megantic, in the southeastern part of the province, forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people, police said. Forty people remain unaccounted for and a criminal investigation is under way.
via Black Box Recovered in Fatal Quebec Oil Train Explosion – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Greipel, Kittel, Mark Cavendish, new era, pro cycling, Scientology, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, totally clean now, Tour de France
He left his leadout
Like Mav’rick left the Iceman
Then took a hard left
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Dan Martin, doping, EPO, Garmin-Sharp, Tom Danielson, Tour de France, Vaughters
Two thousand seven
After which nobody doped
Before which all did
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bakken, Lac-Megantic, oil transportation, Quebec, train derailment
Okay, this makes a lot more sense. Sorry about the confusion. Still a mystery however.
The cause of the accident was believed to be a runaway train, the railway’s operator said. The president and CEO of Rail World Inc., the parent company of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, said the train had been parked uphill of Lac-Megantic. The tanker cars then sped downhill into the town before derailing.
“If brakes aren’t properly applied on a train, it’s going to run away,” said Edward Burkhardt. “But we think the brakes were properly applied on this train.”
Burkhardt, who was mystified by the disaster, said the train was parked because the engineer had finished his run.
“We’ve had a very good safety record for these 10 years,” he said of the decade-old railroad. “Well, I think we’ve blown it here.”
via Quebec police: 5 dead in oil train derailment – SFGate.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cadel Evans, Contador, Froome, Team Skye, Tour de France
the sky opened up
competition disappeared
the race died today
Anybody ever heard of a driverless train being used, loaded with hazardous materials? Several obvious problems with that scheme.
Rail company spokesman Christophe Journet said the train had been immobilised in a neighbouring village before a scheduled crew change, but for an unknown reason had then started rolling downhill into Lac-Megantic.
Eye witnesses said that by the time the driverless train reached the town it was travelling at considerable speed.
Local media reported 60 people missing, although police officials have not confirmed this.
via BBC News – Canada train blast: At least one dead in Lac-Megantic.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Daryl Funk, Lusaka West, micro-financing, Zambia, Zambikes, Zambulance
Today, as director of research and development for Zambikes, he has helped build and distribute more than 8,000 bikes throughout Zambia since 2007. Zambikes employs 42 locals at its 20-acre facility in Zambia’s Lusaka West, which serves as a warehouse, workplace and community center. Workers there make trailers, affordable bikes and pricier bamboo bikes that sell elsewhere. The durable Zambikes, which can be purchased through innovative micro-financing programs, are gateways to health and prosperity, enabling local villagers to get their kids to school, their sick to clinics and their farm produce and handmade goods to market.
“We think we have found the answer to poverty,” says Funk, who spends half his year in Zambia and more recently at Zambikes’ newest operation in Uganda. “We are not trying to make money, but we are not giving away our bikes. We didn’t go there because the margins are great. We went there primarily to create jobs.”
Plus, the Zambulance saves lives.
via Denver bike maker Daryl Funk designs affordable Zambikes for Zambians – The Denver Post.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: camera of shame, Cannondale, Cavendish, Sagan, shame, Tour de France
Camera of Shame
Following Mark Cavendish
Sagan sweeps the points
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2013 Tour de France, Greipel, Montpellier, Saving Private Ryan, Speilberg, Spielberg, Tour de France
Andre Greipel played
the soldier who pushed the knife
in Spielberg’s movie
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, Community Office for Resource Energy Efficiency, Mark Udall, Randy Udall, Wind River
A big loss for his family and everyone else.
Randy Udall had hiked the Wind River Range in Wyoming for more than 30 years, often going up once a month to fish and climb. His climbing exploits, along with many others, were chronicled in the book “Climb: Tales of Man Versus Boulder, Crag, Wall and Peak.” He always left his route details with family, and early indications are that he stuck to the plan on this hike as well.
A long-time advocate for renewable energy, Udall helped found the nonprofit Community Office for Resource Energy Efficiency, which promotes the use of renewable energy in western Colorado. He also was the co-founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas and was one of the oil experts interviewed by the National Petroleum Council when they researched their 2007 report called the “Hard Truths about Energy.”
via Body of Sen. Mark Udall's brother, Randy, recovered in Wyoming – The Denver Post.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycling, bike rides, biking around Boulder, biking around Denbver, cycling, Denver and Boulder bicycling, Flagstaff Mountain, Front Range bicycling, road rides Front Range, Robert Hurst
In stores now!!!!!!!! Amazon
Includes almost all the off-road rides in the vicinity and a lot of really cool road rides, mostly on the easy side.
On the cover: coasting down Flagstaff Mountain.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 100th Tour de France, 2013 Tour de France, Contador, peloton, pro cycling, Saxo Bank, Tour de France
I just now found out
Contador’s on Saxo Bank
Loading his finger
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2013 Tour de France, Corsica, Gerrents, Orica, Peter Sagan, Tour de France
Hilly Corsica
Sagan peers into the crowd
Second but still proud
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle racing, Biopace, Boasson Hagen, elliptical chainring, Froome, Tour de France
Elliptical ring?
That’s total Boasson Hagen.
Sprinters left behind.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: carbon credits, climate change, electric cars, EV, Honda Fit EV, PEV, Tesla, transportation
Honda is not selling the Fit EV with gas under 4$/gal. Lowered their lease price by one third.
Under a complicated formula that varies by state, automakers earn “zero emission vehicle” credits for each electric vehicle they sell or lease, and they’re expected to rack up a certain number of credits each year. Not all green cars are equal: All-electric models such as the Fit EV are worth more credits than plug-in hybrid models with gasoline engines like the Volt. The number of credits the carmakers must earn rises each year, and the companies face fines for falling short. (They can buy credits from other companies, such as electric-only Tesla Motors (TSLA), that sell too few cars to be subject to regulation yet still earn credits which they are allowed to sell. Tesla made $85 million selling California and federal credits in the first quarter of 2013.)
via Why Honda's Unloading Electric Cars for Cheap – Businessweek.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: battery, electric car, Elon Musk, EV, PEV, Tesla, transportation
For Tesla owners.
Tesla plans to install the battery-swap machinery at its network of charging stations. Each one costs about $500,000 and requires the company to dig a pit in the ground, which gets filled with the battery-swapping systems. Arms grab the battery pack, remove the liquid cooling systems, then place a new battery pack and screw it in with machines that measure every turn. Tesla customers will be charged $60 to $80 per battery-pack replacement and get automatically billed as their vehicle hits the station. “You don’t even have to step out of the car,” said Musk. Those who want to wait 30 minutes can still recharge for free at the charging stations and, of course, plug in at home or at stores.
via Gone in 90 Seconds: Tesla's Battery-Swapping Magic – Businessweek.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: denver, metered parking, parking, photography, transportation
Just a photo.
Filed under: maps | Tags: buffalo creek, forest fire map, forest fires, Gabbert, lime gulch, Lime Gulch Fire, USGS
Lime Gulch is the name of the latest Buff Creek fire. Funny thing, there is no Lime Gulch around there apparently.
Map via USGS via Bill Gabbert:
http://wildfiretoday.com/2013/06/19/lime-rock-fire-causing-evacuations-southwest-of-denver/
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: buffalo creek, Chair Rock, fire, forest fire, Foxton Road, Lime Creek, lime gulch, MTB, Pine
via http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/06/19/lime-gulch-fire-breaks-out-in-jefferson-county/
Buffalo Creek evacuated.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 