#bikenite — Public Fediverse posts

#BikeNite A1: I'm back in #WaterlooRegion now, but was in #Burlington, Ontario on BikeNite.

I've got one bright blinky white light on the handlebars (that, thanks to the advice on BikeNite, only blinks in daytime) and a blinky red light on the seatpost. There's reflective tape on all the forks and the rear fender, and I wear a reflective vest and ankle band. There are mounts on the handlebars for two more lights that I rarely use.

@ascentale
@grammasaurus @bikenite

@arestelle @ascentale @geonz @bikenite

To walk on. They're not bikewalks.

I mean you can walk your bike on them, but sidewalks are usually far more dangerous to bicycle on at higher speeds than kids usually do. Especially with driveways being intersections.

#BikeNite

#BikeNite A8: I'm cheating: I took these pictures Saturday. BikeNite+1 so to speak.

It's nice to see some curb protected bike lanes in front of the school, but that, and two small islands about 100 metres to either side of the school, is all the protected bike lane there is. The cars don't stop being dangerous after 100 metres past the school, though.

@ascentale
@bikenite

@meganL @ascentale @rand @bikenite

There was someone before Phil who started it here, but much thanks to him for keeping it going!

#BikeNite

@rasterweb @ascentale @bikenite

Neat picture of lightning.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @bikenite

A8. This is the Root River. I love bicycling near it for most of the Root River Trail.

#BikeNite #RootRiver

@ascentale @pete @bikenite

A7. I never notice things soon enough. Took a bike shop employee and my Spouse to point out the green parts coming through my rear tire. I could not see it until they pointed it out.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @geonz @bikenite

A5. Bikeman! For a couple of years before a lot of other people started commuting by bicycle.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @rand @bikenite

A3. The consistency of when the questions are asked, even if I'm unable to answer them at that time. That it reaches beyond the United States. That it came originally from BikeSchool on the old bird place before it was destroyed. I like the hashtag.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @uxMark @bikenite

A2. Getting my bicycles worked on even when its financially difficult because I adapt too well to problems instead of noticing and fixing them.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite

A1a. Rushford, Minnesota. Leaves dislodged from trees by wind are starting to *fall* on me...I've got my Sprite, I've got my Orange Crush*.

A1b. I front handlebar light, 1 rear red "pulse" light on my rear rack, and one red "blinking" light I use at night in busier and/or faster areas on the back of my bicycle helmet.

*Spring Grove Creamy Orange in SouthEast Minnesota.

#BikeNite

@bikenite A8. FINALLY got to ride to school with my kid this week because they were running late. I was glad to have the opportunity. #BikeNite

@pete @bikenite A7. Some changes are so nice. Like riding with a freshly lubed chain and nicely inflated tires, where all you hear from your cycle is the rolling of your tires.

I try to ride a different bike once in a while, partly to justify having so many 😅 and that helps things not feel too weird if something's changed.

#BikeNite

@bobjonkman @uxMark @bikenite A6 cont'd. I forgot, the Mayor of Alameda has also been supportive, and I've gone on a ride where she joined. Lots of great new infrastructure has been built in recent years in Alameda.

The award-winning Cross-Alameda Trail: https://bikewalkalameda.org/advocacy-2/cross-alameda-trail/ via @BikeWalkAlameda

Berkeley's new-ish lanes: https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/our-work/capital-projects/southside-complete-streets-project

#BikeNite

@bobjonkman @uxMark @bikenite A6. I've been on a couple, though more with elected officials rather than candidates.. Mayor of Emeryville, Mayor of Berkeley, city council members.. Most of them were supportive of bike advocacy before the ride. It was great to have them join.

Both the former Mayor of Emeryville and current of Berkeley (Bauters, Ishii) are really great safe-street advocates and have helped push forward a lot of progress. We're lucky.

I haven't yet been on a ride with politicians who don't sympathize with the cycling & safety issues or worse.

Speaking of Ontario, I'd love to see Doug Ford go on a bike ride...

#BikeNite

@geonz @bikenite A5 cont'd:

Most positive: I was riding with some kids, arriving at an intersection on the way to school. I was directing them on how to change lanes, signal, etc. Someone rolled up next to us, and rolled down their window. I was a little scared about what they were going to say. They were very complimentary, said they loved that we were teaching kids how to ride. I told them to join us sometime, and they said they haven't ridden a bike in many years.

I hope they got out on a ride.

#BikeNite

@geonz @bikenite A5. I've had some notable ones over the years, but it's been a while.

Most recent: When I met Jerry. Someone driving a pickup truck honked and was yelling at my kid and me, I assumed for riding a little bit in the car lane because we were avoiding cars that were partially parked in the painted bike lane.

I was in an ornery mood, so I pretended that I knew the guy. In response to his indiscriminate yelling, I yelled back, "Oh hi! It's been a long time! It's great to see you! What was your name again? What was your name?"

He had passed us, but slowed down and rolled down his passenger side window. "Oh no, I thought to myself" but I kept up the game. "What was your name again!?"

"Jerry. Get out of the street."

"Why?"

"Get in that bike lane, so I don't hit you"

"Well, why are you trying to hit us?! That's messed up! You shouldn't try to hit us. That's messed up!"

Then he drove away. I have it on video but feel weird posting it.

#BikeNite

@rasterweb @bikenite A4. Like others, my guess would be that they self-reset a little bit. I had no idea it was a thing until it happened to me when I was trying to put a front wheel back on. The pads were touching, and I couldn't fit the rotor inside. I read somewhere that they just need to be pried apart again. Probably not best to use a screwdriver, but that's what I did.

It happened again a few weeks ago.. while patching a flat, my kid must have pulled on the brake lever. Glad I knew what to do this time around, and I used the screwdriver to pry them apart and we were good to go.

#BikeNite

@rand @bikenite A3. I enjoy learning from the questions and answers, and learning more about cycling globally. It's nice to read lots of different ways people use cycles - recreation, sport, transport, utility, etc. And to hear from nice people! It feels nice to be part of a positive online community and a great alternative to hate-scrolling or doom-scrolling.

#Bikenite

@uxMark @bikenite A2. This is a good question and nothing comes to mind immediately! I guess any new bike, for sure. Recently, there's a change in commute patterns with my child's change in school, which means fewer bike trips for all of us.

A new protected lane in Oakland dramatically improved feelings of calmness when commuting home from work. Lots of parked cars and potential right hooks were agitating, and it's remarkable how much nicer it feels with those risks reduced or removed. Repeated stress makes people grumpy, and the absence of that is nice!

#BikeNite

#BikeNite

@grammasaurus @bikenite A1. I am in Oakland, CA, posting a little late. Our family is new to having a kitten and the kitten is taking a lot of time for various reasons.

No pics at the moment, but I have been using a no-name front headlight (sometimes I use the Cygolite or Cateye, but the no-name one is good enough for short commutes) and I have been playing around with using a house outdoor accent light as a tail light.

My "normal" tail light is a Portland Design Works rechargeable blinky.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @pete @bikenite I'm finiky about tire pressure and when I forget to regularly tighten up my grips and they start to move on the handle bars. #bikenite

@ascentale @bikenite Walking dogs this morning and saw this bike has been parked for a long time this summer. #bikenite

@ascentale @uxMark @bikenite Haven't made any changes this year, but reading all of the thread has added to my feeling that I should seriously look at investing in a 2nd bike, maybe lighter and easier to push around. #bikenite

@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite Joining on a humid and gloomy Saturday afternoon from south central Minnesota. My main bike has a dynamo in front lighting a "be seen" white light in front and a very dim red in back. I use a PDW rechargeable rear light mounted on my rack. I need to upgrade and get a real front light, but I rarely ride here after dusk, the roads are far too dangerous. #bikenite #MNastodon

@meganL @ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite the larger ferries that go to SF/Vallejo/etc even have trading cards!

@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite

No such thing as too many lights, indeed! The parts list is in the video description 🤙

https://youtu.be/6In3hQ_oWfY

#BikeNite
#BikeTooter

@fullywoolly The original battery packs are all pretty dead now, but fortunately, in my case (four packs so far), it's been 100% the battery itself and the electronics have been fine. So if you see them again, you'll need to be able to disassemble the battery pack, desolder the original battery from the board, find a match (or at least something compatible), and solder in the new one. Happily, there are no surprises inside, and it's all screws until it's time to solder.

eta: I'm talking four different packs, not one pack four times. I haven't had to re-repair any pack yet. xD

#BikeNite #MonkeyLights

@ascentale @bikenite A8 #BikeNite Four pics from four rides this week: a couple of fattie rides, one on the ‘cross bike, and one from a long gravel bike outing.

@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A1 #BikeNite posting from Liverpool, UK today. And A1b, I’ve near as many lighting options as I have bikes but with the nights getting darker now have an old Hope R4+ front light affixed to my regular gravel bike. Threw an Exposure Tracer rather than the matching District on the rear for now, but will switch out at some point.
Prior to expecting to be out, I’d carry an Exposure joystick with a Redeye rear I could use on a helmet mount if caught out late.

@ascentale @bikenite A8 I saw rain and lightning and a storm on my ride to work this week… and I got soaked!

#bikeNite

@ascentale @bikenite
A8
I live in a very hilly city and all Uber Eats/Deliveroo people ride illegal (for the UK) throttled high-power ebikes and of course they're all men. But the other day I saw someone delivering on an acoustic folder; and she was wearing a hijab.
#BikeNite

@ascentale @rand @bikenite
A3:
That it's chill. I miss few bikenites or just read them and then sometimes join and answer all of the questions. Just as I feel.

And I can ask something and usually get really nice answers from lot of different points of view.

#bikenite #biketooter

@ascentale @geonz @bikenite

A5:
I get a lot of attention on my recumbent bike - usually from kids.

One of my favourites is nearly speechless kid who got out of him only "Mom, mom... that... that guy."

Also one girl really proudly announcing to me "Hello, I'm riding my bike for the firs time!" Didn't even bothered to think about the recumbent.

One time letting some kids try it and their parents saw them - "Get down, don't touch it! .... Ahh so you are the owner, that's OK continue." Thinking that their kids just randomly trying bike outside.

#bikeTooter #bikenite

@ascentale @bikenite Expanding on my own #BikeNite question, this is the change that has done it for me: I’ve run an 11–42 (or 11–36) with a 38t chainring on my ‘cross and gravel bikes for as maybe a dozen years. Switched to a bling Garbaruk 11–50 which I had in the parts bin with 40t up front and think it’s the mismatch of the old 15/17/19 range I’m struggling with. Interestingly, when on a group ride I don’t really have a problem so think it could be my solo tempo pace that’s the issue. 🤷‍♂️

@ascentale @bikenite
A8: Unfortunately what I see this year more and more is the lack of water everywhere. This photo was taken few days ago at local pond where bunch of people go for quick swim everyday. Currently 1,5m of water is missing, worst I remember is less than 50cm under the normal water level. It won't take long to cross it by foot.

#bikeTooter #bikenite

A8.
Biking by lake with my wife on a windy day we found those who celebrate such winds. One of them may have overly done so and needed a little help righting their sailboat.

@ascentale @bikenite
#BikeNite #BikeTooter

@uxMark Nice! #BikeNite

@ascentale @uxMark #bikenite Getting a cargo bike has been transformational for us. https://www.mattpedals.bike/i-joined-a-cargo-cult/?gift=DbPvJMy7Cqul_s6MKP_FwMoOvLDZsxVf

@puppethead @ascentale @bikenite How many cycles do you estimate were parked there compared to cars? #CycleParkingAudit #BikeNite

@MartyCormack @ascentale @bikenite I loved Freiburg when I was there for Spezi. I didn't have enough time to look around. Hopefully I can afford to get to Spezi again this spring.

Glad you got to enjoy it.

#BikeNite

@ascentale @bobjonkman @uxMark @bikenite
A6: I think the persons more involved than me in the local cycling advocacy groups are making such offers but not much success. Maybe councilors are afraid of the infra the offer (or judge sufficient)

I am more involved on road safety issues with bus drivers. I have offered many rides to commissioners and bus company executives. Never got any takers. They know how dangerous their fleets are

#BikeNite

@ascentale @pete @bikenite I would say I am not very sensitive to things and then again it was a game changer when I did the bike fit
#BikeNite

@ascentale
@bikenite A8: came back home from our holiday at my parents yesterday by train.
2 high speed trains, 1 metro, 1 commuter train and a small car trip at each end.
We went through Gare du Nord which is apparently one of the busiest stations in Europe (photo below does not show even half of the platforms (I think they have platforms on 3 levels)
#BikeNite

@ascentale @pete @bikenite

#BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes

Got told I was just plain weird for having my two main bikes setup with brakes on different hands.

My gravel which I built is UK setup (front brake right hand)

My road bike built up by Italian-based Kazak-owned proteam and American-bought has continental setup (front brake left hand).

I switch things all the time without noticing - everything apart from saddle height which must be correct

@ascentale @pete @bikenite

#BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes

Got told I was just plain weird for having my two main bikes setup with brakes on different hands.

My gravel which I built is UK setup (front brake right hand)

My road bike built up by Italian-based Kazak-owned proteam and American-bought has continental setup (front brake left hand).

I switch things all the time without noticing - everything apart from saddle height which must be correct

@ascentale @pete @bikenite

#BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes

Got told I was just plain weird for having my two main bikes setup with brakes on different hands.

My gravel which I built is UK setup (front brake right hand)

My road bike built up by Italian-based Kazak-owned proteam and American-bought has continental setup (front brake left hand).

I switch things all the time without noticing - everything apart from saddle height which must be correct

@ascentale @pete @bikenite

#BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes

Got told I was just plain weird for having my two main bikes setup with brakes on different hands.

My gravel which I built is UK setup (front brake right hand)

My road bike built up by Italian-based Kazak-owned proteam and American-bought has continental setup (front brake left hand).

I switch things all the time without noticing - everything apart from saddle height which must be correct

@ascentale @bikenite A8. As usual, I missed some amazing shots for not having my regular camera with me or not getting it out in time. However, it was an amazing surprise for me that one of the cargo trikes here in Tirana had a bag on it with the embroidered phrase "Nothing About Us Without Us", which is a motto of the disability rights movement.

Upon closer inspection, the bag was from the European Disability Forum. I assume the bag was just free swag as Albania is not in the EU and there's not a lot of disability activism here, but I felt like it was a sign.

https://www.edf-feph.org/ #BikeNite #Disability #Ableism #Europe

@ascentale @bobjonkman @uxMark @bikenite A6a. I've ridden with a politician, but not a candidate yet. The Mayor of Beverly Hills hosted a ride and though I did not live there (duh), I thought it would be a good opportunity to see the place. They were handing out free t-shirts and the mayor really was there riding. BH did have better than average bike policy for a couple years there, but something changed politically and that was all it took.

The details of the good and bad can be viewed on BikingInLA, which is a very good archive of cycle policy in LA and all over.

https://bikinginla.com/tag/beverly-hills/ #BikeNite

Another example is that when Antonio Villaraigosa was LA's Mayor, he did a ride and a driver made him fall over and break his wrist. He also became a cycle-friendly mayor for a good while and LA was making progress.

However, as what has happened in democracies generally shows, YOU HAVE TO STAY ACTIVE because the rw will.

https://bikinginla.com/2010/08/17/l-a-mayor-villaraigosa-meets-with-cyclists-the-world-does-not-come-to-an-end/

#BikeNite #Cycling #LosAngeles