Civil Obedience

There's this other blog and online friend of mine called ChipSeal. Other than blog comments and the odd email, ChipSeal and I don't really know each other. ChipSeal has always been very kind in his comments on this blog and civil in every way otherwise. Anyway, ChipSeal rides a bike everywhere - no car for him.

This dude knows Texas traffic law backwards and forwards, particularly when it comes to bicycles. He chooses to ride in the left hand tire track of country highways because he deems it the safest place to be. He has every right to do so under the law. Motorists don't like it, and lately the police have been backing them up, despite the fact that ChipSeal has broken no law. Some might say that ChipSeal has been asking for it... in some ways I think he has in that he has remained steadfast in asserting his road rights fully in the face of much antagonism. The question is how or why obeying all laws can be considered "asking for it" in the first place, I guess.

ChipSeal seems to be without fear when it comes to police officers since he knows that he is on solid legal ground. He's been posting on some of his recent adventures with police officers from two counties. In every instance he praises officers for their kindness and consideration while they proceed to jail him for riding his bike. I don't know how he manages to remain so civil in recounting episodes that would leave most of us screaming blue bloody murder.

Hats off to you ChipSeal, you madman. I know I wouldn't have the stones to do what you do. I would do as I was told in the interest of making my life easier despite the fact that I would be facing greater risk on the road and failing to stand up for my rights and those of cyclists everywhere. I sincerely hope that the letter of the law prevails for you and for all of us.

If you want to read a little about ChipSeal's recent encounters with the law, you should probably start with this.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Chip In for ChipSeal

I recently posted something about being and staying a "lightweight" when it comes to bike advocacy on this blog. That remains my intention. I just ride the way I think best knowing that I have a legal right to do so and leave it at that.


When I heard that my online friend ChipSeal was being denied that same right in Texas despite the fact that he is entitled to it under the law, it made me angry. For me, this isn't about cycling advocacy. It is about a friend getting screwed over. My friend wants to fight for his legal rights by appealing recent court decisions. When I put myself in his place I would want to fight too, but I wouldn't have the money to mount a good defense and neither does he. I want my friend to be able to effectively fight for his (and every other cyclist's) right to travel on the road, and that is going to cost a fair chunk of money.

It is hard for me to help out directly from way up here in Canada, but that doesn't mean I can't help. I have posted the Donate button you can see on the right side of this page.
You can use it to contribute to something that I think is worthy of every cyclist's attention. If you have a blog or website where you would like to display the same widget, please email me for the code.
The way it works is that people can use it to securely contribute using PayPal or a credit card. That money goes into a PayPal account that is linked to a bank account set up specifically for ChipSeal's legal expenses. Please note that contributions are not tax-deductible.
There are lots of places online that people are talking about what's been going on with ChipSeal and his local law enforcement community. Visit some of the links below to find out more about this wrong situation:
For the short version try, In a Nutshell
ChipSeal's blog.
DFW point-to-point.
Commute Orlando


Be sure to read the comments... there is a lot to be found in them.


If you can't afford or don't want to chip in, that's cool too. You can help by raising this topic with the people you know online or off, cyclists or not. I want news of this piece of badness to spread as far and as wide as possible. If you have media connections, use 'em! With some luck it will get so much attention that grassroots fundraising will no longer be required.

Thanks for Reading This,

R A N T W I C K

18 Days in Jail for Taking the Lane

This is the story of my man ChipSeal from Texas. No offense to all my nice Texan cyclist readers (of which there are a few), but if I ever visit Texas, I'll fly there on a plane and drive a car. I pretty much never swear on this blog, but Holy Shit! 18 days in jail, springing from the simple fact that you pissed off some drivers and cops by taking the lane somewhere they didn't figure you should?

Use my donate button. Bail was originally set at $5,000! It was for some form of not attending court charge (I think) that is nonsense because my man ChipSeal craves his day(s) in court. Thank goodness it was dropped to $300 and some good people who know ChipSeal made a trip and got him the **** out of there.

Right now, details are scarce, (latest here) but the big court date is July 29. I will publish more details as I am able. I have passed from disdain to disbelief to speechless consternation on this one. What the hell is going on when a dude like this can get treated this way for riding his bike "wrong"? Grrr.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Hey, Thanks! Now Do More.

Check out the donation meter at let-him-ride.com. People who have used my donate button and other donation buttons sprinkled around the web have raised just over two grand for ChipSeal's legal costs. I just wanted to thank everybody who clicked from here, and ask everybody else to do the same, because the way things are going there is every chance that the target of 5K may not be enough.

If you want the donate button code for your web site, shoot me an email.

I also wanted to re-ask everybody to keep talking, emailing and generally circulating the news of what's going on in Ennis and the county of Ellis in Texas. I mean, multiple trips to jail for riding in the lane? Huh? If this dude was some local rich guy you can bet he wouldn't be getting hauled in by the cops for riding on the road. Tell your friends. And strangers. And web geeks like me. And politicians. You get the idea.

Speaking of how things are going, let-him-ride.com was created by people who care about ChipSeal and cycling in Texas as a central place for news and information. Check it out if you get a second, link to it yourself in emails and web pages, all that good stuff.

I'll be off my soap box and on something else next time, I promise.

R A N T W I C K

Ennis Texas - What Are You Playin' At?

Go here for some detail, but my man ChipSeal has been held in jail again for riding in the lane by Ennis police. They held him for 27 hours, and this isn't the first time he's been jailed. Since when does a fake traffic violation, let alone a real one, warrant jail time? This place blows my mind.

It seems to me that this small town is aiming to run this poor guy right out of town, come hell or high water. I've never even been to Texas and I am developing a deep dislike for Ennis. For once, I'm speechless! I can't believe this is happening anywhere in North America, let alone the Land of the Free.

Please donate to ChipSeal's legal fund. This is getting much worse.

Sheesh!

R A N T W I C K

5 Ottawa Cyclists Mown Down - So Don't Ride A Bike Unless You Are Insane.

A group of 5 cyclists were run over in our nation's capitol over the weekend. Tragedies like this happen from time to time, all over the world. What I want to comment upon is the news coverage I saw last night on CTV.

News clip #1

Half of the coverage is about how dangerous it is to ride your bike. As bad as this single incident is, cycling is not a dangerous activity.

News Clip #2

This time there is at least some focus on car speed. But what burns is the "despite there being a bike lane" reference. Bike lanes rarely make cyclists more safe. Follow these links to see what I mean:

http://www.wright.edu/~jeffrey.hiles/essays/listening/home.html
http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/bikelanes.html
http://www.labreform.org/miseducation.html


Many thanks to ChipSeal for providing me with these links. He also wrote some stuff in an email to me that I am confident he would be OK with me posting in public:

In the USA, we have about 800 people on bicycles killed every year, and naturally the majority of them happen in the warmer months when there are more cyclists out. Given that, we ought to expect at least two bicycle deaths a day, on average. And they all make the news because it is unusual. The 43,000 (117 a day) deaths of motorists is so common it rarely makes news unless there is a celebrity or scandal involved. Kids are no longer allowed outside to play because of hysteria over child abductions, which are extremely rare. Every year we are warned to avoid receiving fruit in Halloween excursions for fear of razor-blade sabotage..... an event that has never (That is; Not even once.) been officially recorded by any law enforcement agency in the whole of the United States. These are media generated hysteria! We are losing freedoms because of irresponsible media outlets breathless headlines to garner a bigger audience. Just turn them off and you will be a lot happier!

I thought that was pretty well said. Thanks again ChipSeal.

Stuff like this is awful. Please use it as a reason to keep riding safely. Do not let it make you ride fearfully or not at all. That would be a terrible shame.

R A N T W I C K

PS - I tried to find out how the cyclists were doing here.
PPS - Ocotber 2011 Driver Pleads Not Guilty here.

Ennis, Texas: Shame On You

Early reports seem to indicate that our man ChipSeal AKA Ennis the Menace has lost his first court case. It would seem that if you are slow, you lose. Wait a sec, you have to be on a bicycle. Then you lose. Otherwise you're good.

I wanted to write something clever and angry, but all I've got is a kind of sullen disappointment going on. Way to go, Ennis Texas. Lookin' good.

Hey ChipSeal: Chin Up, Man. We know you were in the right. Which is why this sucks.

R A N T W I C K

The Best Cycling Retirement Idea Ever, Or Pure Stupidity. One of Those.

As my spotty-at-best posting might suggest, life and work are continuing to conspire against my blogging efforts. The life stuff is good, I'm doing a little coaching for the first time this year and my free time is pretty much soccer soccer soccer.

Work, however, has also been crazy, which has led me to start thinking about retirement although it is a far off, unreal condition for me. Nonetheless, I have had an idea and I would like to hear from people about its potential flaws or how it might be refined.

Every cyclist loves a tailwind. What if you could take a trip that was nothing but tailwinds, every day? So here's my idea. I pick a spot somewhere smack in the middle of the US. I have a fully loaded tourer and maybe even a trailer. I have camping stuff, a few nicer things to wear and some vacation money. Each day I get up and ride in whatever direction the wind blows me. If the winds shifts, I shift with it. I stop if I'm blown into a town I want to see more of, maybe stay in a motel. If I'm blown into the middle of nowhere I find a spot to camp. In my mind's eye the first time I try this it is for a couple of weeks. The next time, lessons learned, a month or more, and so on...

Hey, I could write a travel book about it, or since I take so much video, make a short film! See ya later; dream time is over and I've got to get back to work.

Tailwinds*,

R A N T W I C K

*"Tailwinds" salutation stolen from ChipSeal.

WTF Strikes Again.

I was reading a spirited blog comment discussion about how Orlando might proceed in improving a street I've never seen and will likely never ride the other day. I don't know why I do that. It would seem that I have been sucked into the vortex of commuter cyclist discussion online, and in some cases where you live just doesn't matter. Many of the questions are kind of universal, since most of North America's cities share similar design characteristics in one neighbourhood or another. Still, Orlando is an awful long way from here...

Anyway, I was reading those comments when a frequent visitor and commenter on this blog, Chipseal, said this in one of his entries regarding cement trucks: "whatever helps keep casual people on bikes from getting gummed up in the wheels can’t be too negative".

I laughed about it in the comments, suggesting it could be turned into a Public Service Announcement (PSA). That's when WHAM! I was struck once again with WTF, or Word-To-Form syndrome. When this happened last time, I likened it to an earworm, which is when a song gets stuck in your head and won't get out, except this is a mental image that won't go away. Comments on the post featuring my first bout of WTF, Captain Jack Sharrow, were very educational, and put a name to the strange thing I was experiencing. It was such a comfort to know that I was not alone in my affliction.

Anyway, a PSA poster-style image sprang to mind, and I know already that it is something that will not let me be until I let it out. It is well known that the only known cure/relief for WTF is actually creating the image and, ideally, posting it on the Internet. As with that stupid sharrow thing, I'm asking your forgiveness for what follows.

I am becoming more realistic about my struggle with WTF. It may happen again. If you are the kind of person who might follow this blog, please know that WTF may occur. I don't welcome it, but I must accept and deal with it.

As always, thank you for joining me on my journey. Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

I Am Unprepared. And Naturally Hi-Vis!

I was caught off guard by the unseasonably warm weather last week. While the morning was cool, the trip home from work was in a balmy 14 C. See, I'm not one of those who celebrates the return of Spring prematurely. I don't switch back to my summer commuter bike until there is almost zero chance of snow or ice. Mutant Winter seems downright sporty ever since I put air in her tires after running for months in deflated mode, so that's good enough for me. I feel confident that winter will take one more kick at it at least, and I hate switching back and forth.

The thing is, I have not prepared myself to ride in warmer weather clothing-wise either. My fair weather cycling shoes are MIA somewhere around the house. I have been too busy or lazy (the former if you are me and the latter if you are some external observer of me) to find them yet. So, like I said, I was caught off guard last week, which left me trying to look normal while wearing cold weather cycling boots and long socks with my cycling shorts since I didn't want to wear my cold weather pants and roast like a turkey.

It has been a while since I posted pictures of any part of myself online... if any of you sick perverted freaks have been anxiously awaiting some Rantwick Action, today is your day. Please never ever ever contact me and for the love of God seek some counselling in this matter. Here's the process I went through that warm afternoon:

click pic to enlarge

Now, one result of this sad situation was that I discovered something good. There is something about brazenly untanned, pigmentless human skin that catches the eye like almost nothing else. Since I almost never go shirtless in summer, I am that guy at the beach with a farmer (or in my case, cycling) tan whose blazing whiteness makes you wish you didn't have eyes. I am not alone in this, so in this respect I am about as Hi-Vis in the leg department as every other uber-white cyclist who is coming off the trainer, out of the basement or out of their cold weather gear and riding in shorts again. When I was taking the pictures, I thought to myself, "well at least those white socks make my legs look less terrifyingly white..."

The pictures above were taken in my office, which thank goodness has windows and receives some natural light. When I take pictures of stuff, including my limbs, I usually do some with the flash and some without. When the flash was used, those socks didn't stand a chance in the Hi-Vis category. Along with my summer cycling shoes, I have also misplaced some reflective ankle bands I usually wear, but as you can see, I have absolutely nothing to worry about:

You would think the leg hair would cut the glare a little, but no joy. Lots of cyclists shave their legs, especially the racer types. Not me. I ain't no racer, plus if things keep going the way they have started to, my legs will eventually be the only way I'll be able to enjoy the breeze blowing through my hair on a bike ride... maybe I should get some rogaine for them! I bet riding around with Chewbacca legs would feel fantastic! I would have to find my reflective ankle straps though. Hmmm. Decisions.

If you see me riding, please don't drive your car into the light. There's nothing divine going on, believe me.

R A N T W I C K

PS - Check out ChipSeal's latest post here. Then donate to help defend him using the button on this page.