Bike trips in the United States have 听since 2019鈥攁nd fatalities have along with them. In New York City, where I live, 2023 is shaping up to be for cyclists. Yet when it comes to messages about bike safety, most of what you鈥檒l hear tends to fall under one of the following two categories:

1) We Need To Fight For Better Bike Infrastructure

or

2) Wear A Helmet

None of this is necessarily bad advice; however, it is woefully inadequate. The problem with the first item is that bike infrastructure projects take years if not generations, and if your town doesn鈥檛 have any then it does nothing for you right now. The problem with the second thing is that wearing a helmet doesn鈥檛 do anything for you if you get run over by a truck. So here鈥檚 some advice to fill the wide gulf between changing the world and strapping some foam to your head and hoping for the best:

You鈥檙e Going Too Fast

The word velocitation refers to when you become accustomed to speed when you鈥檙e driving on the highway, so you keep speeding up until you get pulled over or you drive off a cliff. Similarly, because we鈥檙e so car-centric, our entire country has essentially become velocitized鈥攚e think car speed is normal speed, whether we鈥檙e driving or not. Since bicycles go nowhere near as fast as cars, we just take it for granted that it鈥檚 impossible to speed on our bikes.

But it鈥檚 easy to go too fast on your bike, and just like driving, 鈥渢oo fast鈥� is a matter of context. When you鈥檙e driving, 50 miles per hour is too slow for the Interstate yet way too fast for neighborhood streets. (鈥�) Similarly, 20 mph isn鈥檛 exactly warp speed when you鈥檙e out on your road bike, but it鈥檚 quite fast on a city street. The faster you go, the less time you have to react to drivers pulling out of driveways, their passengers flinging their doors open in your path, pedestrians stepping into the street right in front of you, and all the other stuff that happens on your commute. This is especially true in bike lanes, where you might feel a false sense of security鈥攁fter all, bike lanes belong to us (), and some of them are even 鈥�,鈥� but protected lanes are keep you in a more confined space with less room to maneuver and react.

Also, You鈥檙e Going Too Fast

There鈥檚 going too fast just because you can, or because you think you should, and then there鈥檚 also going too fast because you鈥檙e running late, or you just don鈥檛 feel like waiting. But whether it鈥檚 preparing a lavish meal or riding your bike, rushing is how you make a complete mess of it. Yes, there are some valid reasons to run a red light on your bike, but being in a hurry is never one of them, and the moment you find yourself taking risks just to save a handful of seconds is when you put yourself on a potential collision course with all the other risk-takers out there with whom you supposedly 鈥渟hare鈥� the road.

Above all, safe cycling is a matter of reducing risk whenever possible, and the only place it鈥檚 (relatively) safe to be in a rush is in an actual bike race where everyone鈥檚 got the same agenda; otherwise if you鈥檙e in a rush to get to work on your bike you鈥檙e that much more likely to get hit by someone else who鈥檚 in听 rush to get to work in their car. Would you rather be a little late, or a little dead?

Don鈥檛 Worry About What People Should Be Doing; Worry About What They Actually Do

Yes, drivers really should signal before they turn. They shouldn鈥檛 turn in front of you in intersections. They shouldn鈥檛 open their doors without looking. But they do all of these things, and more, all the time.

Given the fact that you can pretty much count on drivers to do the wrong thing, as a cyclist you have two choices: anticipate it, thereby reducing your own risk of injury or death, or just charge directly at it in a suicidal fit of righteousness like . Granted, in the age of social media there is no greater currency than capturing injustice on video, so the latter may be tempting. However, being right is only worth so much when your bicycle is destroyed and you鈥檙e splayed across the hood of a Hyundai Elantra.

Don鈥檛 worry, anticipating bad driver behavior and acting accordingly isn鈥檛 a form of surrender; it鈥檚 self-preservation. Your number one goal as a cyclist should be to get to where you鈥檙e going and live to ride another day. You will never change anyone鈥檚 mind out there on the road. Once you鈥檝e arrived safely you can go ahead and fight the evils of motordom all day long.

Oh, and pedestrians don鈥檛 always do what they鈥檙e supposed to do, either. So expect it and cut them some slack. Yelling at pedestrians is the cycling equivalent of rolling coal.

Equipment Matters

• Use lights鈥攁 red one on the rear, a white one in the front.
• Wider tires offer better traction, and are less susceptible to road imperfections.
• An upright position not only gives you better visibility but makes it less likely you鈥檒l go over the bars in a crash.
• Is it wet where you live? Fenders help keep you dry; being dry keeps you comfortable; being comfortable means you can focus more on the ride and less on how miserable you feel.
• Is it hot where you live? Get your bag off your body and put it on your bike instead. This will help keep you cool; being cool keeps you comfortable, and so forth. (See above.)
• You don鈥檛 need foot retention to be a 鈥渞eal cyclist.鈥� For certain types of cycling clipless pedals might enhance your experience, but most of the time flat pedals arguably superior. Also, plenty of novice cyclists still think you should use toe clips.听 Toe clips are pointless. All they do is create yet another opportunity to fall down. .

Remember Who鈥檚 in Control (Hint: It鈥檚 You)

Riders on social media will often complain that the assholes parked in the bike lanes are forcing cyclists into traffic. Remember: you鈥檙e a cyclist. Nobody can force you to do anything. Yes, you are more vulnerable in the sense that you鈥檙e not in a steel box full of air bags, but thanks to the fact that you鈥檙e riding a light, nimble, and efficient machine you also have more freedom than pretty much anyone else out there on the road. Freedom is power. Is the asshole in the bike lane creating a potentially dangerous situation? Is the traffic outside of the bike lane too dangerous? Just hop off the bike, get on the sidewalk, and walk around it. No, the driver hasn鈥檛 won in this case. Would you rather be right or鈥� well, you get it.

This holds true beyond the bike lane as well. Exercise your control when planning your route, and apply all of the above when you do so. Don鈥檛 pick the shortest route because you鈥檙e in a rush; choose the safest route because you want to enjoy the ride in comfort. And remember you鈥檝e got nothing to prove to anybody: if riding in the rain or the dark or the cold makes you uncomfortable then make alternate arrangements and save the ride for another day.

Ultimately, you can鈥檛 control the behaviors of others, but you have complete control over your own behavior. You鈥檝e also got the power to avoid conflicts instead of engaging in them, and to avoid potentially dangerous situations, and to choose being a happy cyclist instead over being an angry one. The key to enjoying the ride is enjoying the ride. Figure out how to do that and the rest has a way of taking care of itself.

The post Five Bike-Safety Tips That Are More Important than Wearing a Helmet appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

There are some things people never get over, even after the rest of the world moved on long ago: the Alamo; the Dodgers moving to Los Angeles; even the disappearance of the McRib. If you鈥檙e the sort of cyclist who favors simple, serviceable, and durable equipment, then I bet your Alamo, like mine, is the bicycle industry鈥檚 abandonment of rim brakes in favor of discs. Alas, unlike the McRib, mainstream bike companies have no intention of bringing rim brakes back periodically just to humor you. Rim brakes are gone forever, never to be seen on 鈥渟erious鈥� bikes again.

The rim-brake-versus-disc-brake 鈥渁rgument,鈥� if there ever was one, ended years ago. Rim brakes lost, disc brakes won. While discs have been the standard on mountain bikes since the nineties, the decisive moment came in 2018, when the UCI, the world governing body of cycling, finally allowed them on road bikes. Roadies were the last line of defense for rim brakes on performance bicycles. After that, they quickly began to vanish from the big companies鈥� offerings across all categories, and today, no matter what kind of bike you鈥檙e buying, disc brakes are more or less the standard. Consumers simply expect them, and experts dismiss anyone who continues to look askance at disc brakes, usually labeling them a 鈥渞etrogrouch.鈥�

I鈥檓 one of those so-called retrogrouches, and with the war over I鈥檝e got nothing left to lose. Here鈥檚 why I say putting disc brakes on everything is a net loss for humanity.

Nobody Asked For Them

When you look around you today and see all these disc brakes you鈥檇 just assume that cyclists were fed up with rim brakes’ poor braking power and demanded something better. This isn鈥檛 the case; most people were perfectly happy with the stopping power of rim brakes because they work. Cantilever brakes posed some challenges to mountain bikers, almost all of which were solved with the V-brake. Roadies were not only satisfied with their rim brakes but were horrified at the prospect of discs supplanting them. That is until they finally rolled over when the pros (who ride whatever they鈥檙e paid to ride) accepted them. Meanwhile nobody who raced cyclocross听 asked for disc brakes, which is why the cantilever brake was the standard in the sport for years, even after the V-brake had succeeded it in mountain biking.

Then Why Did We Get Them?

Mountain bikes got disc brakes because as they evolved into pedal-powered motocross bikes with front and rear suspension. The overly complex frame designs required hydraulic hoses and relocation of the calipers. (Yeah, that鈥檚 right, I don鈥檛 like suspension either.) Road bikes got them because the carbon rims that took over in the pro ranks make for a lousy braking surface. Cyclocross bikes got them because cyclocross bikes became popular with laypeople, and by then the average consumer was told to believe any bike with knobby tires needed to have disc brakes鈥攁 rare example of amateurs determining what equipment the pros rode and not the other way around.

If Disc Brakes Allow You To Use Stuff Like Full Suspension And Carbon Rims, Then Clearly They鈥檙e Better. Right?

Sure, they鈥檙e better if you want that stuff, but a lot of riders don鈥檛 need it, or realize they鈥檇 be happier without it. I believe in the free market, so if you want to buy a complex and expensive mountain bike that you shuttle back and forth to the trail in the back of a pickup then go for it. But that doesn鈥檛 mean riding a simple bike can鈥檛 be just as fun, or even more fun, which lots of people are rediscovering. There鈥檚 now even a term for it: . Although I’d posit most people are just overbiking.

Mountain biking had come into its own well before disc brakes and even front suspension took over. A bike designed for repeated crash landings that spends most of its time either in a motor vehicle or up in the air has less in common with other bicycles than it does with wild extreme sports equipment like paragliding rigs and wingsuits.

As for road bikes and carbon rims, disc brakes are certainly a better solution there. But if you鈥檙e not a sponsored professional, might I ask why you are wasting money on carbon rims? Most new reasonably-priced road bikes don鈥檛 even come with carbon rims anyway, so all you鈥檙e getting is a heavier, more complicated braking system that requires bleeding and proprietary levers.

What About One-Finger Braking?

The idea that we all need one-finger braking makes about as much sense as saying we all need one-legged pedaling. Anyway, I must have my rim-brake bikes set up wrong, because I can stop most of them with one finger just fine.

What About When It Rains?

No doubt some people regularly ride in such foul conditions that they do benefit from disc brakes, which move the braking surface to a rotor and in so doing spare the rim from accelerated wear. But for the most part, there are few rim-brake wet-weather issues that can鈥檛 be solved with a good set of brake pads. Also, here鈥檚 a fact: 99% of roadies who say you need disc brakes because of superior wet-wether performance also retreat to Zwift at the very first sign of precipitation. As for the ones who don鈥檛, I don鈥檛 know how they can stand the sound of their disc brakes howling as soon as they get wet, because I sure can鈥檛. I鈥檇 rather crash into a tree than have to listen to that.

Rim Brakes Are Better For Most Riders Most Of The Time

It鈥檚 true that if you get on a very old bike you might be shocked at the relative lack of braking performance. But by the nineties, between V-brakes for mountain bikes and dual-pivot calipers for road bikes, the rim brake system had reached something close to perfection. Rim brakes offer ample power and modulation in most situations and are simultaneously simple and serviceable. They’re foolproof. Moreover, they are cheap and deliver minimal difference in weight or performance between entry-level models and their ultra-high-end counterparts. How could anyone sell anything new? Well, enter a new system intended for motor vehicles that requires fluids, frame reinforcements, and cumbersome axle fasteners and professional servicing for all but the most determined home mechanics.

Yes, disc brakes are better in certain situations. The same is true of aerobars, disc wheels, and 5-inch wide fat bike tires. But we don鈥檛 use those in all conditions, and in a sane world, the disc brake would remain a specialty tool as well. Disc brakes do indeed allow for one-finger braking, but if you value the simple elegance of the bicycle above all else, the only finger they鈥檙e giving you is the middle one.

The post Disc Brakes Took Over the Cycling World. Here’s Why That Was a Mistake. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Cycling is the leading cause of sports-related head injuries in the United States. It has been estimated that head injuries related to cycling accidents caused approximately 80,000 emergency department visits in 2015. 13,000 of these visits included a diagnosis of concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Moreover, a recent study found that only 22% of cyclists who sustained head and neck injuries were wearing helmets during the accident.

Of all the gear you buy for triathlon, the helmet might just be the most important. Your bike helmet is the main (and most) effective strategy to prevent traumatic brain injury in cycling accidents. Cyclists are vulnerable road users, and therefore, the necessity of wearing protective equipment cannot be overemphasized. More often than not, the sequelae from a severe collision are permanent.

搁贰尝础罢贰顿:听

Traditional Bike Helmet Design

Traditional helmets are designed to dampen the impact and reduce head impact force. A typical bicycle helmet consists of the shell, the liner, and the straps. The liner is used to absorb most of the impact energy and reduce the wearer鈥檚 risks of sustaining head injuries.

Helmets have routinely used a rigid shell of EPS (expanded polystyrene foam), which diminishes the impact force and mitigates the impact. Basic cycling helmets have been designed in a way that during an impact, they crush and rupture, absorbing the shock so your skull doesn鈥檛 have to.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standard is mandatory for bicycle helmets in the United States, and dictates that helmets must limit peak linear acceleration (PLA) to less than 300g鈥攁 level associated with greater than 50% risk of skull fracture or severe brain injury.听

搁贰尝础罢贰顿:听

Testing the Effectiveness of Bike Helmet Protection

Before, scientists studied the effectiveness of helmets using only the vertical drop of some sort of mannequin head (head form) against a rigid surface. However, thanks to scientists in the lab, new tests are taking into consideration head rotational kinematics.

Why? Because bike accidents and impacts rarely occur in a full vertical manner, and it has been proven that real life impacts occur mostly at oblique angles of about 30 to 60 degrees. Oblique impacts induce head rotation, which is known to be a key mechanism of several distinct types of head injury, such as听, or the tearing of the connecting nerve fibers in the brain.

Studies using this new and improved multi-directional testing strategy have demonstrated that new helmet technologies can provide better protection under oblique impacts than conventional helmets. These new technologies are aimed towards mitigating the head鈥檚 kinematics through rotation-damping systems.

What Is MIPS?

As we鈥檝e established, rotational forces are a dominant factor causing brain injury in cycling accidents. Because of this, modern cycling helmet designs now include 鈥渁nti-rotational technologies.鈥�

Multi-Directional Impact Protection System, or MIPS, consists of a thin slip liner that covers the inside of the helmet. This technology seeks to reduce rotational acceleration of the head by permitting sliding between the helmet and head during impact.

In fact, as expert scientists have stated, MIPS aims to reduce rotational head acceleration caused by an oblique impact in order to further improve protection from rotational traumatic brain injury. So basically, MIPS is oriented towards reducing rotational head kinematics by enabling sliding between the helmet and the head during a given impact.

As of 2019, MIPS technology helmets have been used by over 100 brands. There are other new technologies to address rotational protection in bike helmets, such as WaveCel and Koroyd, which utilize a collapsible cellular structure that absorbs the force of impact and minimizes the energy transferred to the cyclist鈥檚 head. Shearing Pad Inside, or SPIN for short, is another rotation damping system used by some cycling helmet manufacturers.

Is a MIPS Bike Helmet Safer?

Experts in the field of biomedical engineering听听in order to evaluate the effects of MIPS on peak head form kinematics. They evaluated 3 head form conditions: bare, stocking-covered, and human hair, in three impact orientations over a range of impact speeds. They conducted a total of 72 freefall drop tests of a single helmet model, with and without MIPS, onto a 45掳 angled anvil and measured many variables, such as peak linear (PLA) and angular acceleration (PAA), as well as the brain injury criterion. Conclusively, MIPS reduced peak angular kinematics across 3 head form conditions, 3 impact orientations, and 4 impact speeds.

But the lab is not the real world. It鈥檚 important to objectively interpret these findings and extrapolate the results in the context of real-world head impacts. How substantial would a difference be between a long-haired cyclist versus a bald one?

For that matter,听听have proposed that head forms used in the lab should be better designed by incorporating artificial skin layers that can better resemble scalp鈥檚 behavior, that way, a much more reliable insight could be obtained from the design of helmet technologies against rotational acceleration.

RELATED:听

Studying Spin, WaveCel, and More

MIPS and SPIN rotation damping systems demonstrated significant improvement in mitigating rotational head kinematics and in consequence, brain injury risk. For instance,听was conducted in the UK and Sweden in order to assess the brain injury prevention effects of 27 bicycle helmets in oblique impacts, including helmets fitted with MIPS, SPIN, WaveCel (a wavy cellular liner), H枚vding (an airbag helmet) and a number of conventional helmets.

For each bike helmet technology, a detailed computational model of TBI was used to determine strain distribution across the brain and in key anatomical regions, namely the corpus callosum and sulci. The Corpus callosum is the largest white matter tract in the human brain and a common location of axonal injury after severe traumatic brain injury.

The assessment of 27 commercially-available helmets showed that the vast majority of helmets with new technologies like MIPS or SPIN do have the potential to reduce peak rotational acceleration and velocity, and maximal strain in corpus callosum in oblique impacts.

This is further confirmed with听, where two helmet technologies were evaluated to determine the ability to on decrease peak rotational acceleration in cycling helmets.

The findings of this study demonstrated significant reductions, compared to a traditional helmet, for peak rotational acceleration for MIPS technology and thermoplastic urethane bladders containing a low-viscosity fluid. The former showed significant reductions in rotational acceleration for the front and side impact sites, while the latter showed听 significant reductions in rotational acceleration for the front, side and crown impact sites. As stated by the scientists, each technology demonstrated unique performance characteristics depending on the impact condition.

Is It Worth Investing in a MIPS or SPIN Helmet?

Yes. We are not talking here about aero helmets or technology to make you faster here. Instead, we鈥檙e talking about the most fundamental job of the bike helmet 鈥� something that will actually protect your head during an accident on the road.

New helmet technologies cost more, but investing in your health means you care about yourself, your significant other, your family and your sports community.

How to Wear a Bike Helmet (the Right Way)

If you want to get the most out of your bike helmet, you鈥檝e got to wear it the correct way 鈥� and many are making helmet mistakes without even realizing it. Let鈥檚 review the basics:

• Buy the correct size by measuring your head circumference before purchasing. Then use the ratchet system to fine-tune the fit. When a helmet fits well, it does not move much when you shake your head (but it shouldn鈥檛 be so tight that it causes headaches or discomfort, either).
• The front of the helmet should rest just above your brow. If you see a significant amount of forehead skin, your bike helmet is higher than it should be.
• When the helmet is on your head, the straps should be snug, but not tight enough to distract. You should not be able to fit more than two fingers between your skin and the chin strap. The strap dividers (the 鈥淵鈥� straps on your bike helmet) should sit just below your earlobe.
• Based on听current evidence, it is not advisable to wear thick layers between your hair (or your scalp for that matter), and the inner surface of any given helmet. For instance, a very thin and traditional cycling cap would probably not have a detrimental effect during an accident, but wearing thick layers (such as a beanie or a winter toque) is definitely discouraged, as they might alter the beneficial and protective effects of a regular cycling helmet.

RELATED:听

Can I Still Wear My Bike Helmet After a Crash? It Looks Fine.

Some cyclists continue to use a helmet even after the helmet has been involved in collisions, falls or road accidents. Why? For starters, the helmet 鈥渓ooks fine.鈥� Besides, helmets can be expensive and most cyclists simply like the helmet they already have and don鈥檛 want to go through the process of fitting a new one.

But guess what? Science has demonstrated that effectiveness of head protection might be compromised even after one collision. A study was conducted in order to investigate this. Researchers used 2 types of helmets (both without MIPS technology). After several experiments (involving drop tests with different accelerations and impacts), they concluded that although macroscopic (visible) damage was not observed after the first tests, the helmet structure might have been irreversibly changed, lowering the effectiveness of the head protection in the second tests. Thus, helmets may not be safe after a collision or a fall, even if there is no visible damage.

So yes, in real-life situations, helmets subjected to an impact should be discarded. It is a matter of safety.

RELATED:听

听is a board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and an enthusiastic amateur triathlete

The post Do You Need a MIPS Helmet? A Craniofacial Trauma Surgeon Shares What Cyclists Need to Know. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On January 31, 2021, 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir climbed aboard a behind an 11-year-old friend, and together they rode up a hill in Pacific Palisades, California. Both wore helmets, and Steinsapir was riding on the rear rack. As they descended, Steinsapir鈥檚 friend lost control of the bike and they crashed. The wreck resulted in a few scrapes and bruises for her; she got up and tried to wake up Steinsapir, who lay unconscious in the street. Then, she ran for help. Steinsapir suffered a traumatic brain injury, and, after several surgeries, died on February 15.

On August 1, Molly鈥檚 parents, Kaye and Jonathan Steinsapir, filed a wrongful death suit in Los Angeles County against Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, one of the country鈥檚 largest manufacturers of electric bicycles.

Both parents are also lawyers; Jonathan is a trial lawyer who has represented Michael Jackson鈥檚 estate for more than a decade. Among other things, they鈥檙e seeking damages against Rad for selling an allegedly defective product and for death caused by negligence. The suit claims that the bike鈥檚 design made it hard for the girls to control their speed as they sped downhill, specifically because of where the steering axis is placed in relation to the front wheel.听 As the听 suit lays out, the bike in question鈥攖he RadRunner鈥攈as 鈥渄isc brakes in conjunction with a quick-release mechanism for detaching the front wheel.鈥� This setup is common on a wide range of bikes, and the Steinsapirs claim that it is 鈥渁 known safety hazard in the industry.鈥� The suit goes on to argue that the quick release came loose as Steinsapir鈥檚 friend was applying the front brake, which allegedly caused the wheel to wobble and ultimately caused the crash. The plaintiffs also say that the surviving girl鈥攚ho we鈥檙e not naming because she鈥檚 a minor鈥攁ttempted to turn off the bike, but that the electrical power failed to shut down. It鈥檚 not made clear how turning off the power would have slowed a heavy bike moving downhill, and one notable aspect of this suit is that the blame is placed entirely on the equipment.

In addition, the suit claims that Rad practiced 鈥渋nappropriate marketing of e-bikes to children鈥� and did not 鈥渁dequately warn about the dangers of children operating e-bikes.鈥� The owner鈥檚 manual that comes with the bike states (on page 49 out of 57) that the bike is designed for use by people 18 and up. The bike Steinsapir was riding belonged to her friend鈥檚 13-year-old sister.

One of the arguments the case makes is that, without the motor, the girls wouldn鈥檛 have been on the top of the hill in the first place. 鈥淧art of their appeal is they take you places you wouldn鈥檛 normally be able to go, which includes uphill,鈥� Olivier Taillieu, one of the lawyers听 who filed suit for the Steinsapirs, told the Los Angeles Times.

The suit asks for damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. The lawsuit also names the helmet-maker Giro Sport Design Inc., arguing that the helmet Molly wore was defective. The defendants have not filed a reply as of this writing.

Losing a child is the most horrible thing I can imagine. I have two kids, ages one and three, and without a doubt they, and my wife, are the most precious things in my life. Not a day goes by that I don鈥檛 have thoughts of what it would be like if one of them was suddenly gone.

Despite my anxiety about these possibilities, my wife and I are determined to give our kids the freedom that we believe was critical to our childhoods鈥攁nd that includes riding bikes, both with us and alone.

My family uses a Rad Power Bike RadWagon 4, a longer, more cargo-oriented bike than the RadRunner. Both kids fit in Thule seats on the back, and, yes, you can ride up to 20 miles per hour on this rig, even faster when you鈥檙e fully loaded and going downhill. You can, of course, also go this fast on a fully loaded conventional bike while going downhill. What changes with an e-bike is that you can travel farther, and up steeper inclines, at faster clips.

Are there nicer e-bikes on the market than the ones Rad makes? Certainly. As part of my job as gear director at 国产吃瓜黑料, I鈥檝e tested many of them. Rad鈥檚 bikes are better than an entry-level option, but they are far from the lightest, fastest, or most heavy-duty on the market. And quality correlates to safety. On more expensive bikes, the acceleration is smoother, the components are more functional, and the brakes are generally better. My main complaint about the RadWagon is that it doesn鈥檛 have hydraulic disc brakes, instead using a less effective mechanical version, which don鈥檛 have the stopping power that their more complicated counterparts do. As a result, it can take too long to stop, especially with two kids on board. But my wife and I know that鈥檚 an issue, and we ride more cautiously because of it. If this was a dealbreaker for us, we would get rid of the bike, but it鈥檚 not. I like riding with my family too much, and I simply can鈥檛 afford a nicer e-bike, so we use the $2,000 RadWagon.

I鈥檝e been testing bikes for years, and I鈥檓 equipped to assess the dangers. Entry-level cyclists鈥擱ad鈥檚 target audience鈥攕hould certainly be careful. Since the bikes are sold direct-to-consumer, and come boxed up to your door, the company recommends that if you aren鈥檛 experienced working on bikes, you should go to a shop to have the bike assembled. I agree with that recommendation, and I鈥檇 suggest that, while you鈥檙e there, you should ask the mechanics for any advice about riding safely.

But the fact is that any time you step on a bike鈥攅-bike or human-powered鈥攜ou put yourself in danger, and many of us aren鈥檛 careful enough day to day. For example, how often do serious cyclists actually give their bike the recommended mechanical once-over before they ride? Many times, I鈥檝e taken off only to realize that the skewer on my front wheel was loose, or that my brakes weren鈥檛 working properly, or that I hadn鈥檛 tightened all my bolts to the correct torque specifications after fixing something. If I had crashed, any of those issues should be on me, not the company that made the bike.

It鈥檚 obvious that e-bikes, like regular bikes, have the potential to cause accidents. And more speed, whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle, or on foot, can mean more serious injury. As a kid, my brothers, friends, and I always searched out the steepest hills to bomb down, riding in zigzag patterns on our single-speed BMX bikes to gain elevation, or getting off and pushing if we needed to. There were no motors involved, and no parental supervision. I can鈥檛 remember how many times I rode behind a friend on a BMX bike, my feet on the rear axle pegs and hands on their shoulders, speeding down hills. Any one of us could have wrecked and ended up in the hospital, or worse. But instead all I have are scars and good memories to go with them. Molly Steinsapir was making one of those memories when things went wrong.

You could argue that the two girls shouldn鈥檛 have been on an e-bike in the first place, but how many kids end up where they shouldn鈥檛 be? Pushing limits is part of growing up. It鈥檚 how children learn self-preservation, resiliency, and personal boundaries. As a parent, you can only partially draw that line, and the child will do the rest.听 If they鈥檙e anything like I was, or my offspring appear to be, they will push past those lines and learn some lessons. As parents, all we can do is educate, encourage good decision-making, and hope that our children are lucky enough to grow old relatively unscathed.

The Steinsapirs are heartbroken, rightfully so, and they have the right to take a company to court. But as someone who works with outdoor brands every day, I can鈥檛 help but think about what kind of effects this could have on the people who work there, as well as the consumers that use their products. This brand is making e-bikes accessible to people across the country and getting them out of their cars and onto bikes, with real environmental benefits.

Whatever Rad Power Bikes does in response to the suit, now or in the future, they will never be able to make a bike that鈥檚 completely safe, no matter how much they spend on components. Riding any kind of bike is perilous; no听 lawsuit is going to change that.

The post A 12-Year-Old Died on an E-bike. Is the Manufacturer to Blame? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

We ask a lot of our mountain bike helmets. They need to be comfortable, lightweight, widely adjustable, and at least moderately fashionable. Oh, and they need to save our lives. But still, even that isn鈥檛 enough. Today鈥檚 helmets are made to limit the long-term impacts of minor crashes on bike rides. As science teaches us more about head injuries, helmet designers are listening and learning. These four helmets prove that we鈥檙e safer than we鈥檝e ever been. But hopefully, all we’ll ever notice is the comfort 鈥� and the fashion.

Giro Merit Spherical ($220)

Giro鈥檚 new Merit helmet boasts the brand鈥檚 Spherical Technology: a rotational impact protection system that employs MIPS, but without a plastic disc next to your scalp. Instead, Giro built the Merit using two distinct foam layers (dense EPS foam on the outside and softer EPS foam on the inside to mitigate low-speed impacts). The interior surface of each layer is coated in MIPS plastic compound, which allows them to rotate against one another to disperse rotational forces. The fit is comfortable on a wide range of head shapes, the retention system offers a depth adjustment, and the visor tilts high enough to offer goggle-storage space. Ventilation is ample.

Specialized Gambit ($300)

The park rats (their term, not ours) in our testing crew couldn鈥檛 believe that the 640-gram Gambit full-face meets the same safety standards as their downhill helmets. But don鈥檛 be confused: this is not a downhill helmet. Aimed squarely at trail and enduro riders, the Gambit has ventilation in spades and a fit dial similar to those on standard trail helmets. Its MIPS system is pared down enough that even MIPS-hating testers didn鈥檛 mind it. Three massive vents on the chin bar basically make it disappear, providing ample airflow on even the slowest, hottest climbs. We found it to be a new level of full-face protection but with a half-shell feel鈥攁 gambit indeed.

Troy Lee Designs A3 ($220)

Though it鈥檚 not as complex as Giro鈥檚 Merit, Troy Lee Designs packed the A3 with enough details and features to justify its price tag. A combination of traditional EPS foam on top and softer, higher-rebound EPP foam underneath helps disperse energy from a wider variety of impact types. The A3 also uses the streamlined MIPS B-32 system, which testers found helped the A3 fit more heads more comfortably than older MIPS configurations. Speaking of comfort, it was hard to top the A3: the coverage is deep, but not too deep, the straps sit nice and flat, and testers in warmer climates appreciated the gutter system that directed sweat harmlessly down their temples.

Bell 4Forty Air MIPS ($140)

None of this year鈥檚 new helmets packs as much punch per penny as the 4Forty Air. At 360 grams in a size medium, it鈥檚 in the same fighting class as many pricier options, including the Troy Lee Designs A3. It also has MIPS rotational impact protection integrated with the retention system, and an easy-to-use Fidlock buckle, both of which are usually reserved for much pricier lids. And the 4Forty Air MIPS doesn鈥檛 skimp on wearability. Helmet fit is subjective and often hard to agree on, but testers were universally comfortable in the 4Forty. The large, ample vents helped, as did the quick-drying foam pads. There are also luxurious features like built-in grippers for goggle straps and sunglass storage that uses the visor to lock the arms in place.

The post The Best Mountain Bike Helmets of 2022 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On May 28, 2021, I finally felt like I belonged somewhere. Ten months earlier, my husband, Steve, and I had relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona, in the middle of the pandemic so he could attend grad school at Northern Arizona University. We hardly knew anyone there and were growing lonely, so we were thrilled when a new friend invited us to an event one evening called the Flagstaff Bike Party, a monthly group ride in celebration of bikes and community. It was our first opportunity to gather with new people since our move. When we arrived at a park outside the city鈥檚 library, nearly 100 people were there, mounting fixies, mountain bikes, and commuters. A little blond girl giggled on the handlebars of her dad鈥檚 bike as he did figure eights in the grass. Some riders wore construction vests and strapped fluorescent orange traffic cones to their helmets to signify the night鈥檚 theme: safety.

We were unmissable and buzzing with energy as we started riding around neighborhoods, in circles on the tennis courts, and through downtown. Pedestrians waved and cheered enthusiastically for the return of the beloved event after its COVID-19 hiatus. 鈥淏ike party!鈥� we all howled into the cool summer air. An hour into the night, I knew that these were people I wanted to surround myself with. Maybe I鈥檇 even get to know some of them better over drinks once the ride ended.

A little after 7 P.M., we reached the intersection of Beaver Street and Butler Avenue, a highly trafficked stretch that separates downtown from the NAU campus. When our light switched听from red to green, those of us in the middle of the pack inched forward as the front row slowly pushed into the intersection. I glanced down at my pedal to steady my foot and looked back up, ready to ride.

Then in a matter of seconds, moving into view from the left, a tow truck hauling a Budget box truck careened through its red light. Bicycle wheels rotated under the truck鈥檚 flatbed, and there was shouting and honking and someone鈥檚 bicycle bell dinging and metal dragging against the asphalt. It was hard to tell how many people had been struck, but I knew immediately it was going to be catastrophic.

About 50 feet away, I stood frozen on my bike with my hands clapped over my mouth in horror. Time seemed to slow. Riders around me ditched their bikes to rush to their friends in the road, but all I could do was full-body shake. Someone eventually shouted for us to get out of the way to allow emergency vehicles through. Sirens screamed. Cyclists panicked. That鈥檚 when I grabbed my husband and our friends into hugs. In a daze, we formed a huddle on the sidewalk one block away. We didn鈥檛 leave the scene for almost two hours, waiting for any news and wanting to be together. A 12-year-old boy with his new mountain bike joined us to wait for his mom to get him. In tears, he told us he didn鈥檛 feel safe to ride home and wasn鈥檛 sure if he ever would again.

In the months after, I watched and re-watched two videos from that night, trying to make sense of what happened, wishing I could rewind in real life. The first video, which I filmed at 6:23 P.M., is of riders on the tennis courts, people laughing, and hip-hop music playing from speakers mounted on a bike trailer. My friend is talking about Frisbee golf in the background. The second video is much harder to watch. A driver behind us in traffic had started filming us at 7:04 P.M.鈥攈e was in awe of the size of the Bike Party group and only happened to capture the moment of crash. He sent me the video to make sure the police collected it as evidence. It鈥檚 only two seconds long, but it shows me and Steve in a sea of other cyclists. It shows the green light and the tow truck. And then there鈥檚 the excruciating sound of us yelling 鈥淣o!鈥� in unison.

That night, . Her name was Joanna Wheaton. Joanna was 29 and a triplet. She went by Jo for short. She devoted her whole life to helping others, especially underrepresented and neglected people. She passed out warm coats to people experiencing homelessness when it was snowing. She served on the Flagstaff Housing Commission to advocate for housing fairness. She started , an independent, data-driven project analyzing social issues in Flagstaff. I could go on. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really beautiful and inspiring to see how she chose to use her gifts,鈥� Jenna Wheaton, the youngest of the triplets, told me months later. She said Joanna was bold in a way that was off-putting to some people, but her intentions were always rooted in empathy for humanity. 鈥淪he created community wherever she went.鈥�

I had never felt so heavy with grief before. At first, I thought it was weird for me to cry so much about someone I had never met. I couldn鈥檛 even mention her name without getting a lump in my throat. But the more I learned about Joanna from news articles and Jenna, the more I realized just how amazing she was. And I couldn鈥檛 help but think that we would鈥檝e been friends. She grew up in San Diego, where I was born almost exactly two years after her. She loved the mountains and nature and biking too, and ended up in Flagstaff, just like I did. Why did it have to be her?

I used to work the crime beat at newspapers, so I鈥檝e covered crashes, shootings, bomb threats, deaths, and gnarly court cases. I deal with anxiety and secondary trauma from some of those stories, and I鈥檝e been going to therapy since 2018 to learn how to cope, heal, and regulate my emotions. But I didn鈥檛 know what witnessing something so violent would do to my mental health long-term; nor did I know how my body would process the trauma in the days that followed. Nothing I was going through could compare to the wounds suffered by the victims. I requested the investigation reports (which included Steve鈥檚 and my testimony and named us as witnesses) and learned the injuries of three of the five cyclists: one person suffered critical injuries to his right leg and pelvis, another person had numerous broken bones, and a third person was scraped and bruised. Yet for the sake of my own healing, I wanted to find out how best to navigate what I witnessed by talking to my therapist and other experts about the healthiest ways to recover and care for myself. I wanted to be OK again.

I didn鈥檛 have to look far. In the first few days after the crash, I scrolled through the almost hourly combing for information. I came across a comment from a trauma therapist and licensed counselor in Flagstaff named Dunya Cope. Not only does she have specific training in Somatic Experiencing鈥攁 therapy model that focuses on body sensations to relieve trauma鈥攂ut she was also at the ride that night. 鈥淎 moment of collective joy turned so quickly into collective horror,鈥� she wrote, before sharing a long list of tips for taking care of ourselves. 鈥淎llow your body to find safety when it can, whether around friends and loved ones or just getting to notice your home or an outdoor space,鈥� was one. 鈥淟et yourself be in the space with your senses, and check in to see if there is any way that your body notices safety.鈥�

She added that if we鈥檙e in shock, there鈥檚 no need to try and push ourselves out of it. 鈥淎llow yourself to be safe, allow yourself to be held. If you notice any trembling, or any emotional or body impulses, allow yourself the safety to know that your body has wisdom to process and move through what is happening.鈥� If any of us were still seeing horrific images鈥攚hich I was, whether my eyes were open or closed鈥攕he suggested widening our frame to try to remember a tree, a friend, or something else that was neutral at the scene.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no wrong way to be with this,鈥� Cope told me when we met up in September. We both brought tissues to the downtown coffee shop. 鈥淛ust let what鈥檚 coming out come out. We don鈥檛 have to judge it. We don鈥檛 have to make it different.鈥�

I tried not to. I cried alone and in front of people without holding back or feeling ashamed. I screamed into pillows until I lost my voice. I spent days curled up in bed in my dark apartment, and I cleared my schedule of plans and chores because it felt impossible to do simple things like eat and shower. While I experienced big emotions, Steve said he felt more numb, like moving through the motions as a zombie. Once we finally had the energy to run errands, we drove through the crash site on the way to the store. Being there again cued more hot, wet tears.

It also prompted outrage鈥攁t the tow-truck driver and at other careless drivers. I noticed myself yelling at cars more often and more aggressively. The other weekend on a ride back from the farmers鈥� market downtown, a 4Runner tried to cut in front of Steve and me as we entered the crosswalk. The driver had a green light, but the pedestrian walk signal was also blinking. Steve gave the driver a sarcastic thumbs up, while I screamed, 鈥淎re you fucking kidding me, bro?鈥� Then I flashed him my tallest finger.

I mentioned these outbursts to my therapist when we met for the first time after the crash, and she was curious to know how it felt to yell. I told her it made me feel like I had a voice, like I could change someone鈥檚 behavior. If they recognized the close call, maybe they鈥檇 be more cautious the next time. My therapist told me that anger and yelling in the presence of threat or harm is an appropriate response. I plan to keep yelling.

When it came to writing this essay, I struggled. It felt uncomfortable to hurt so deeply every time I sat at my desk. I kept feeling like my pain didn鈥檛 matter or wasn鈥檛 important. I felt like, Who am I to write about suffering? To keep crying uncontrollably? I didn鈥檛 lose part of my leg or someone I loved. But Cope reminded me, 鈥淭here鈥檚 no monopoly on stories. One person writing about their experience doesn鈥檛 take away from all the multiplicity of the other narratives and feelings.鈥�

I keep thinking of Joanna. When I鈥檓 riding my bike. When I drive through the intersection. When I run through the sunflower fields at the park. Jenna, Joanna鈥檚 sister, told me that she sees her everywhere as long as her heart is open. A praying mantis landed on her neck during their shared birthday and stayed with her for seven hours throughout the day. She鈥檚 sure it was Joanna. 鈥淪he鈥檚 always there,鈥� she said. Jenna is a therapist and is working toward a specialization in grief and loss. Her knowledge was comforting. 鈥淚鈥檝e been intentionally keeping death near, because to me, life and death are the same. So often, we turn our backs on death and don鈥檛 let it alchemize us and transform us.鈥� It cracks you open, she says, but 鈥渨e don鈥檛 need to be scared of what is in that crack because it can be unifying.鈥�

Something profound that I鈥檝e learned through this process is the power of the word 鈥渁nd.鈥� It has changed how I view my own feelings and emotions. They don鈥檛 have to be either-or. You can feel many complex things all at once, like deep loss and immense gratitude. You can feel heartbroken and encouraged. Heartbroken over a world without Jo. Encouraged by the way people have comforted one another. 鈥淭here is no expectation that we have to go back to some earlier version of ourselves before tragedy happens or before grief affects us,鈥� Cope told me. 鈥淚s it ever going to be OK that Jo died? No, that鈥檚 never going to be OK. But what an amazing thing to expand our hearts and our capacities to bring in the resilience of community and the ways that we come together.鈥�

I feel a stronger connection with Flagstaff now, partly because of having experienced a collective pain with so many others. And partly because of the way the community came together to grieve and show support. Several GoFundMe campaigns surpassed $100,000 goals to fund the victims鈥� medical expenses, time off work, bills, and whatever else they needed. Businesses created special menu items and donated proceeds from a day of sales to raise money for the fundraisers. People made 鈥淔lagstaff Strong鈥� T-shirts and organized vigils for Jo and the other victims. And community members submitted a petition to the city council for more pedestrian and cyclist protections. I鈥檓 not sure whether more bike lanes or the newly painted green stripes would have prevented what happened, but it鈥檚 a start.

I鈥檓 still scared to bike alone and I worry constantly about Steve, who rides through the intersection every day on his way to school. I make him text me once he gets to campus. 鈥淎live!鈥� he writes every time. There鈥檚 still an immense amount of individual and collective healing that needs to happen. Then there鈥檚 the healing from the physical injuries. None of us are ever going to be the same. But maybe one day, once everyone feels ready, the Flagstaff Bike Party will meet again. If it does, I鈥檒l be there.

The post I Witnessed a Fatal Bike Crash. It Changed Me Forever.听 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

This past summer I was riding along the Hudson River Greenway in Manhattan when I came across a pair of riders repairing a flat. They needed a tube, so I stopped to provide one and to offer an additional hand. In rendering said assistance, my body and bicycle unavoidably occupied a very small sliver of the bicycle travel lane, and a passing cyclist loudly admonished me to 鈥淕et outta the bike lane!鈥�

At first I was outraged. For one thing, the dismantled bicycle should have made it more than apparent to all but the dimmest of bulbs that we were engaged in a repair. Had we been enjoying a picnic or playing pat-a-cake then sure, call us out for our selfishness. But fixing a flat? For another, the woman who had incurred the flat was a new rider who was extremely grateful for the assistance, and the last thing we need is people giving up on bikes because of the twin indignities of flat tires and condescending schmucks.

But then I thought more about the rider鈥檚 behavior, and while it still annoyed me, I also had to admit that his attitude wasn鈥檛 entirely his fault. That鈥檚 not to say it was in any way my fault鈥攆ar from it, my stopping to help a fellow rider in distress means I鈥檓 an unimpeachable good human being鈥攂ut it is the fault of the cycling community at large. Shaming people (drivers, mostly) who block bike lanes has become a staple of social media. As riders rush to upload photos of the latest obstruction and revel in the validation of their indignity from their fellow riders, even the most benign encroachment becomes a capital offense. The result is a phenomenon I refer to as Pathological Bike Lane Obstruction Fixation Disorder (PBLOFD): the expectation that one鈥檚 forward momentum while utilizing a bike lane for its intended purpose should never be impeded for any reason, coupled with compulsion to berate the cause of the impediment.

When it comes to blocked bike lanes, it鈥檚 important to acknowledge that our reaction can at times be out of all proportion to the actual inconvenience and danger created by the obstruction. It鈥檚 a problem that鈥檚 much larger than any one individual.

Consider, for example, that perennial blocker of bike lanes, the UPS truck. It can sometimes seem as though at least 75 percent of Bike Twitter is indignant riders posting pictures of , or .听 Yes, the sheer ubiquity of the problem is a clear sign that our consumer habits are changing the streets and that we need to rethink how we accommodate parcel delivery. (In New York City we鈥檙e beginning to do that, albeit slowly, with and .) However, it is highly unlikely that the majority of UPS drivers wake up thinking to themselves, 鈥淗ow can I fuck with a cyclist today?鈥� Most are simply trying to do their job as best they can amid difficult circumstances. And while they do wind up in pretty much everybody else鈥檚 way in the process, let those who have never ordered anything from Amazon cast the first stone. Pending a long-term solution, the best course of action is to simply go around them and get on with your day.

Of course, when it comes to calling out bike-lane blockers, no two cyclists will agree on what is reasonable and what constitutes PBLOFD. Some throw tantrums over anything and everything that impedes their progress, whereas I鈥檝e come to the conclusion after years of riding that it鈥檚 almost never worth it to make a fuss. Whatever you believe, I鈥檇 argue that when you鈥檙e probably suffering from this disorder. as you ride right into one of the city鈥檚 most popular tourist attractions instead of simply choosing an alternate route is also symptom, as is upon people who don鈥檛 really have the room to get out of your way. Getting mad at drivers is one thing, but yelling at fellow cyclists and pedestrians is almost always PBLOFD, as is . Sometimes people block the bike lane because they鈥檙e assholes, and sometimes they block the bike lane because they鈥檙e subject to the same spatial constraints that you are, and from your lofty position in the saddle you鈥檙e not always able to tell the difference. Plus, assholes are best avoided anyway, since you never know when they鈥檙e just .

Acknowledging the existence of PBLOFD in no way means you condone bike-lane blocking or absolve your municipality when it comes to poor street design or lack of enforcement. However, it does mean you recognize that whether you walk or ride or dart around on a Onewheel, sooner or later something鈥檚 going to get in your way, and it may require you to adjust your course or even鈥攇asp鈥攕top. People often say that blocked bike lanes 鈥�,鈥� when what they actually do is force cyclists to slow or stop and change course. This is an important distinction, because we鈥檙e not particles in an atom-smasher, we鈥檙e humans on bicycles with free will. Blocked bike lanes are deeply irritating and even dangerous, and of course they need to be addressed, but I suspect the rage we feel as cyclists in these situations is less about actual danger and more about the fact that having to go around someone makes us feel like we just lost a pissing match.

When it comes to riding a bike, there鈥檚 the way things are, and the way things should be. Working towards the latter is necessary, but when you鈥檙e actually out on the streets it鈥檚 equally necessary to reconcile yourself to the former and act accordingly. You can鈥檛 control whether or not people get in your way in the bike lane, but you can control how you react to it, and your ride鈥檚 a lot more enjoyable when you鈥檙e not busy hating everybody. If you let your PBLOFD go untreated, you may start barking at pedestrians and people fixing flats on the side of the road, and before you know it anything other than rose petals scattered lovingly in your path is liable to get you bent out of shape like a wheel with a broken spoke. And that鈥檚 no way to live.

The post Zen and the Art of Ignoring a Bike Lane Obstruction appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I鈥檇 rehearsed the speech several times the night before, but the judge still had to ask me to slow down as I read my statement. As I addressed the court, the driver who hit me more than two years prior wasn鈥檛 in my field of vision, but I could still feel him off to my left and I wondered if my words would impact him, or anyone. I wondered if friends and supporters watching the proceedings via video feed would be able to see both of us at the same time. I wondered if the few friends I鈥檇 asked to attend in person could see how much my hands were shaking.

In July 2019, on an unusually gloomy afternoon in Boulder, Colorado, the assailant drove his old van into me. The driver fled and left me in a roadside ditch with injuries so severe that I very nearly died: internal bleeding, collapsed lungs, 35 broken bones, a concussion, and a spinal-cord injury that paralyzed my left leg and some organs. By grit and luck鈥攐r maybe due to a higher power鈥擨 became a rare example of what happens when a van听smashes into a cyclist and somehow doesn鈥檛 cause death.

I鈥檝e been emotionally unprepared for everything that鈥檚 happened since that day and therefore shouldn鈥檛 have been surprised by the feelings I experienced when, after nearly two and a half years, I confronted my attacker in court. But I turned out to be unprepared for that moment, too.

With relative speed, police located the vehicle and impounded it, but the van鈥檚 owner denied knowledge of a crash. He also obstinately refused to explain how pieces of his turn signal ended up at the crash site, or to provide any explanation about who was driving, if not him. The police finally issued an arrest warrant on November 9, 2020, but there was no immediate听arrest and no meaningful update.

At some point during the process, I lost hope for any kind of justice and became resigned that this would be yet another driver to deal mortal wounds to a cyclist and get away with it. And that I鈥檇 be stuck paying for the results of his destructive behavior in the form of never-ending medical bills that arrive at my home.

I stopped sending periodic queries to the Boulder district attorney and focused on things I could control. Just as I had once dedicated myself to the training that let me compete in elite-level track racing鈥攊nternational races and national championship events鈥擨 now diligently worked on improving my physical condition, limited though it was. I went to various kinds of physical therapy as many as eight times a week and sought out doctors to help me relieve the chronic pain resulting from my lopsided paraplegia. (Today I鈥檝e made progress but still dream of being pain-free.) I bought an e-gravel bike and went on rides that were once routine but felt novel after months of being forced to stick to flat paths. I walked so much that I, without any sensation in one听foot, gave myself a stress fracture in the calcaneus bone, my first major setback in the process of recovery. Still, I trained all summer to hike my first fourteener, and in September, I reached the summit of 14,065-foot Mount Bierstadt.

Six more months passed before the driver was pulled over鈥攂y chance鈥攐n June 19, 2021, for an unrelated traffic violation and taken into custody. Without ceremony, the DA鈥檚 office emailed to say he鈥檇 been arrested.

He appeared in court the following week for a procedural check-in that I watched via video conference. He looked exactly as I鈥檇 pictured him: middle-aged, white, with a paunch and graying stubble that spread over world-weary wrinkles. He looked very serious, staring intently at the camera, his eyes glassy and unblinking as the judge worked through a number of other cases. I wondered if he thought he would get away with the crime. Or if he truly believed he hadn鈥檛 done anything wrong. Of course, he wasn鈥檛 called on to speak, so I continued to wonder.

With the DA鈥檚 office, I discussed the charges against him, the possibility of trial, the possibility of a plea deal, and various options for punishment. When asked, I said I hoped he鈥檇 never be able to drive again. And I asserted that he should bear full and ongoing financial responsibility for my care, though I knew financial remuneration is usually part of a civil action and one听that I almost certainly wouldn鈥檛 pursue鈥攖his was a man without insurance and without resources worth trying to sue for.

The punishment of not driving was not an option available to the court, given the specific charges the driver pleaded guilty to: leaving the scene of an accident, careless driving, and criminal attempt to leave the scene of an accident. The disciplinary actions that were available ranged from restorative justice鈥攕peaking to teenagers about safe driving or some such thing鈥攖o prison.

After a couple months of deliberation, during which I voiced my wishes, which varied from day to day, the DA made him an offer: plead guilty to reduced charges and accept a sentence of two years in prison, plus parole and restitution, which everyone agreed I was unlikely to receive. His lawyer signaled that the deal was preferable to a trial, and the court set a date for arraignment.

I wasn鈥檛 required to address the court before his formal sentencing. In fact my attorney advised against it, telling me that most of his clients come away disappointed to see how little impact their words have. Despite his advice, I planned to speak, knowing that the driver would receive a previously agreed-upon sentence. I would expect nothing from the court but still wanted to state听on the record, and for the larger public, how much this criminal had taken from me.

I arrived in court, in person this time, on October 22, 2021. I read remarks to the presiding judge, describing my initial trauma, the physical pain I live with, and other chronic symptoms of my spinal-cord injury鈥攑ermanent paralysis of one leg, my bladder, bowel, and sexual function鈥攖he cost of managing it all, and also my conviction that there wasn鈥檛 much justice happening that day.

The driver, who spent two and a half years on the lam, was then given the opportunity to speak, and he shuffled to the lectern. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry to everybody that鈥檚 involved in this incident. I鈥檓 taking full responsibility for this action, and I would like to apologize to Andrew,鈥� he stammered before stepping away. I had no expectations for him either, of course, but his few words failed to reckon with any of my experience: the way he tortured my loved ones while I struggled to cling to life in the early days, or the harm he鈥檇 caused me physically and emotionally. He didn鈥檛 attempt to offer an explanation for fleeing or lying to law enforcement. He sat down in the empty jury box to await the sheriff鈥檚 deputies, who would take him into custody.

I took a little comfort in the judge鈥檚 agreement with my most important point: that a sentence of two years in prison and parole doesn鈥檛 help me and does nothing to prevent him from driving into someone else when he gets out. She agreed that he will be out of prison long before my life sentence ends.

The gavel came down, and I left to get drunk.

I don鈥檛 know what I expected from the arraignment, but I felt very raw after court. A friend visiting from out of state observed that most of the people we talked to about the proceedings over the next several days projected the same set of feelings onto me: they said things like 鈥淚t must be such a relief to have this behind you!鈥� or 鈥淚sn鈥檛 it nice to have some closure?鈥� or 鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough, but aren鈥檛 you happy he鈥檚 going to jail?鈥�

I felt none of those things.

I felt sad. I felt angrier than I had in months, and not at the driver, oddly, but at the criminal justice system鈥檚 utter inability to mete out just punishment. Most of all, I felt hopeless in the face of the huge bills related to my rehabilitation鈥攁pproaching $20,000 per year, after my health insurance鈥檚 contributions, for each of the last two years and with no indication of receding鈥攏ow knowing with some certainty that I鈥檇 gotten all the help I was going to get. It鈥檚 a lot to be 37 years old, looking ahead to another 60 or 70 years of life, knowing that my ability to take care of myself will depend on my ability to stay in high-paying jobs that offer good private health insurance.

Worst of all, while so many around me seemed glad that there was some punishment鈥攁 prison sentence at that!鈥攆or a driver who hit a cyclist when so many are let off听without consequence, I kept thinking about how nothing had changed for me. I was just as paralyzed as I was the day before the arraignment, my hopes for full recovery just as dim, and my needs just as great.

I did my best to take these comments as misguided well-wishes. But my inner New Yorker finally broke free when someone remarked, 鈥淵ou must be happy it鈥檚 all over.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not over, and I don鈥檛 have anything to be happy about,鈥� I said.

It wasn鈥檛 kindly put, but it is my truth.

The only fitting punishment for a person who鈥檚 shown such little interest in being a safe driver is to take them off the road forever, which I stated in court. But in this country, we give such priority to cars that a punishment of that nature is deemed unthinkably severe. Therefore, the best solution our society has is to put him in jail. He will likely be able to drive again soon after his release, and I can only hope that when he does drive again, he doesn鈥檛 crash into another person. If he does, it will be entirely because the justice system was unable to keep him off the road.

Early in this ordeal, I was predisposed to find a way to forgive this person. But with all that I鈥檝e lost, how can I forgive someone who doesn鈥檛 acknowledge their actions, even as they plead guilty?

And how will his incarceration restore function to my body? How will his time in prison improve my situation in any way at all?

Of course, it will not.

In surviving this assault, I鈥檝e been given a life sentence, and his two-year sentence will be a lot shorter. The unfairness is something that I will have to learn to accept. I鈥檒l also learn to live with the discomfort I feel toward the justice system. Maybe I鈥檒l forgive my attacker once that work is done. Or maybe not.

The post The Driver Who Hit Me Got Two Years in Prison. But I Got a Life Sentence. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

To capture the beauty, diversity, and conflict inherent in the African wildlife ecosystem, the BBC built an artificial body of water in Tanzania and fitted it with hidden cameras. The result was 鈥淟ife at the Waterhole,鈥� a three-part series that PBS describes :

The series reveals dramatic interactions and unlikely rivalries, as well as some unexpected moments of humor. As elephants, warthogs, giraffes, monkeys and big cats jostle for position, scientists gain a greater understanding of the important role of water in Africa as its wildlife faces the growing impact of climate change.

While I haven鈥檛 visited an African water hole, I am a resolute city dweller and bicyclist鈥攁nd inasmuch as bicyclists and city dwellers are prone to facile pronouncements, I feel comfortable saying that our equivalent is the intersection. Nationally, occur at intersections. Here, 鈥渄ramatic interactions and unlikely rivalries鈥� also abound鈥攐nly instead of elephants and warthogs and giraffes, it鈥檚 cars and pedestrians and bikes. And while the animals may be competing for water, the resource that compels all of these road users is the city itself. Commerce, culture, education, recreation: these are the city鈥檚 鈥渨ater,鈥� and the need to partake in them is what dictates everyone鈥檚 movements. These movements in turn lead to interactions that can be anything from delightfully serendipitous to deadly.

Here in New York City, the Intersection Capital of the United States (with , nearly ), there鈥檚 no better way to observe this ecosystem than by coming to a complete stop at a red light on your bicycle and taking in your surroundings. Yes, there鈥檚 a common conception that bicyclists don鈥檛 stop for red lights, and to be fair, this is not totally unfounded鈥攊n fact, running red lights is arguably necessary in certain situations. But watch a city intersection for a while and you鈥檒l find that nobody stops for them, at least not really, and certainly not consistently. Pedestrians slip through gaps in traffic. Bicyclists practice the 鈥溾�� (not yet legal in New York), even though most of them probably have no idea there鈥檚 a name for it. And drivers afford themselves a five-second grace period after the light turns red, during which there鈥檚 a tacit understanding that they鈥檙e going to gun it and speed right through if there鈥檚 an opening in traffic.

At an intersection, anything can happen at any time, but in the five seconds after the light turns red, it crackles with the possibility of sudden death. Look around you and you鈥檒l see it in the wary eyes of your fellow travelers. Walkers hesitate before putting a foot forward; bicyclists scan the streetscape before pushing off. They鈥檙e like zebras on high alert for predators, sniffing for danger in the wind before tentatively lowering their heads to take a sip. Whether it鈥檚 the water hole or the intersection, an attack is inevitable. Sometimes it鈥檚 the driver of a Dunkin鈥� Donuts rig, blasting the horn before charging through the red light; other times it鈥檚 someone behind the wheel of a car who鈥檚 whipping around the corner like a frisky cat from the other room. With each cycle of the traffic signal, it seems like there鈥檚 always at least one person who manages to escape death by the width of a goose bump… .

This downward pressure from the automotive apex predator results in curious behavior from the other species, who are in a constant state of fleeing for their lives. More vulnerable and yet more nimble than people in motor vehicles, bicyclists forced to wait for oncoming traffic will generally try to get a jump on the drivers bearing down on them by track standing, riding around in circles to avoid putting a foot down, or reverse queueing in front of each other until they jut out into the intersection (a bizarre process called ). Or else they鈥檒l simply run the light altogether鈥攕ome in a tentative and cautious fashion, others rolling casually through in a state of Mr. Magoo鈥搇ike oblivion, and still others simply going for it like squirrels.

These bicyclists can unsettle the pedestrians鈥攚ho, while watching for drivers, must also contend with the addled cyclists who are variously occupying their crosswalk鈥攐r even While considerably less of a threat to pedestrians than drivers, bicyclists are in a way more vexing; they appear suddenly while you鈥檙e scanning for more obvious threats, and thus have much more of a capacity to startle. In turn, some bicyclists complain of 鈥渙blivious鈥� pedestrians stepping out into their path or sauntering across bike lanes. But who can blame pedestrians for doing so? A bicyclist who surprises you is scary, but one in plain view is so benign as to be easily ignored, especially on a street full of cement trucks.

A more recent addition to this ever-changing ecosystem is the preponderance of electric contraptions鈥攅-bikes, e-skateboards, e-scooters, Onewheels鈥攕ome of which are capable of rather high speeds. Drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians may quibble over who鈥檚 the worst, but for now many seem united in their contempt for the new wave of e-assisted conveyances, in the same way . Based on familiar vehicles like bicycles and skateboards, these e-machines move at an altogether different pace鈥攆aster than bikes and yet slower than cars鈥攁nd to someone who鈥檚 been plying the streets of the city for a long time, they can be quite disconcerting, like those creepy .

To its credit, the city has been working to tame the intersection. In 2010, the Department of Transportation that 74 percent of crashes resulting in death or serious injury to pedestrians happened at intersections. Around half of those occurred at intersections with signals, and over half of the walkers had the signal in their favor. 听it has identified over 200 priority intersections for safety treatments and redesign, and implemented pilot programs, such as signals giving pedestrians and cyclists a head start on motorists (known as a ). This allows the smaller animals to drink first while the red traffic light holds predators at bay.

Still, the world moves much more quickly than city agencies do. The rapid shift to online retail means the streets are choked with trucks, some of which disgorge packages while parked in the bike lane. Meanwhile, 鈥攏ot just the usual commuters and recreational riders but also commercial cyclists on e-bikes working for food-delivery apps. When the city installed it seemed impossibly exotic, like something imported from the bike utopias of Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Now, in the age of , the very idea of a bike lane is almost quaint, and as people on every conceivable form of wheeled locomotion speed by you, it can feel as though the improvisational and instinct-driven nature of getting around New York will always remain just ahead of the city鈥檚 efforts to bring order to it.

Despite all the changes the city has made to the streetscape, the intersection remains a place of peril. In July of 2021, a bicyclist riding in the new protected bike lane alongside Central Park in Manhattan by the driver of a U.S. Postal Service truck, who appears to have struck the rider while making a right turn onto the 86th Street transverse, a motor-vehicle thoroughfare that carries heavy traffic across the most used park in the United States. The city installed the bike lane on Central Park West after an Australian tourist on a rental bike . Four years and a redesign later, this confluence of commerce and recreation and culture and education and residential life is still treacherous. Vehicles of every size and description, piloted by people often at cross purposes, travel along a roadway that serves as a line of demarcation between the bustling city and the respite of the park.

New York City is either a vast desert or a giant oasis, depending on who you ask. There鈥檚 a water hole at the end of every block, and at any one of them you might meet your fate.

The post The Intersection Is a City鈥檚 Watering Hole, and It’s Teeming with Life and Danger appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The post 2021 Is the Year of the Bike appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.