riends and coworkers, I think they'll circulate as much as they can.
h' said:
Can you let his friends/family/coworkers know about the vigil tonight at 9? Trevor said:
I'm not sure if Neil was a chainlink member, but he was a really nice guy. He was on his way to work on W. Fulton Market this morning. He didn't show up on time and didn't respond to text messages, unusual for him. Police showed up at his office to let people know what had happened. This is incredibly sad, and I know at least one of his coworkers who rode into work today was too shaken to ride home. My thoughts are with Neil's family and friends.Kevin C said:
Updated Tribune story identifies the victim as Neil Townsend.
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Added by h' Zerocats at 12:57am on October 6, 2012
nd of graphic and then 3-4 bullet points.
Cameron Puetz said:
If someone can put together a design, I'll front the printing costs of the flier.
What are we thinking for a location? We may have to coordinate with school staff if we're going to be gathering on Peyton Prep's grounds.
Melissa M said:
Ok. So, I'm going to go ahead and add an event for the memorial Friday. Below is a list of the things that don't seem to have been worked out yet.
Who's working on the ghost bike and can it be ready by Friday?
Is anyone able to contact someone from Neill's family or friends to notify them about the memorial and to see if they would like, or if they know someone they would like, to offer a brief eulogy at the service?
Has a consensus been reached about a flyer? As this requires a quick turnaround, I suggest something simple that can be done at a FedEx Office type of place. If this is something we want to do, it would seem that we need people to volunteer for the following:
design
paying for printing costs (we could all pitch in, but someone's going to have to cover it up front)
printing
I checked the FedEx Office website, and you can upload a document on-line to have printed at a store. They have whole, half, and quarter page flyers, but I can't get an estimate without a design.
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ke things worse these bridges and over/underpasses tend to fall on Aldermanic boundaries which turns them into turf disputes or just ignored in general by said Aldermen. Add in the fact that many of these routes across the barriers are IDOT roads, which suffers from their famous anti-bike/pro-car bias, and we have a recipe for a lot more ghost bikes at each of these crossings, such as the the one at the meat-grinder intersection of Logan & Western and many more like it.
David P. said:
Oh, and safe bridge and river crossings. Sure, I like riding downtown from my office on Elston and Kinzie, but if I had those two things everywhere I'd give up all the other stuff. This is, to a degree, settling for 'good enough' but we're not Amsterdam and I'd love just the basics being right, please. Kthx. Kevin C 4.1 mi said:
Me too. David P. said:
I think I'd rather have good pavement everywhere than all the new bike lanes, PBLs, etc. I might just settle for non-shitty pavement.
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ncluding many trips with my daughter first on a bike seat and then later on a Trail a Bike. The ghost bike is appreciated as a sign of respect for her life and as a daily reminder for drivers.
In the bigger picture, this intersection is like thousands of others in Chicago, where there isn't an actual right turn lane, just (perhaps) two parked cars worth of space at the end of the block that prohibit parking. So as others have noted, a large vehicle like a truck has to be at least somewhat in the center of the actual lane to make a right turn.
Based on the video, the confidence of the cyclist and the intersection's physical limitations, it strikes me as extremely likely that the driver was guilty of not having a turn signal on. Thus the cyclist assumed they were *supposed* to be to the right of the truck, and it was just the worst possible timing in terms of the cyclist hitting a blind spot, although it is certainly also possible the truck driver did not properly look before and during the turn. Trucks should be treated with as much deference as possible, just for our own safety. Even when you are 100% following the rules of the road they are dangerous, I got "hooked" as in literally snagged by a truck's passenger side mirror on Belmont a few years back near Clark as it zoomed past me. The mirror caught my jacket and I got lifted practically off of my bike and ultimately sent to the asphalt. That may have been the only time I can say having toe clips worked in my favor from a safety perspective, as my weight combined with the bike (a heavy Specialized Crosstrail) actually quickly bent the s mirror and I was released. Fortunately I just ended up with a few scratches and bruised, but it wasn't hard to imagine that scenario playing out very, very differently.Belmont has desperately needed a bike lane for as long as I've been alive, I'm impressed/hopeful that Steven mentioned it as a possibility as that would be a bona fide miracle. But I have no idea how that can be reconciled with the so-called rush hour parking control lanes, which don't have actual striping and thus are confusing as to where they actually start and stop. Traffic on Belmont during rush hour is... special to say the least.
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glass, or cartoon-y drawings of glass that a rider would have to avoid. Or a physical pot on a course representing a pothole that a rider would have to also avoid. I look at it as poking fun at what commuters face on a daily basis versus reinforcing the negative aspects of it.
This would be done off the streets, so there wouldn't be a huge need for safety concerns, at least in relation to cars and trucks. You are right in this being a get together, but one with more of a spoof focus of a CX race with people on the rigs they commute on. I also realize that people go to a real race event to watch, I'd love to ride CX but I don't have the time, money, or bike to compete there. I do, however, ride a bike that was bought and purposely outfitted to commute on, so like a cross bike why not have an event (lets drop the term "race") geared specifically towards commuters.
I'd love to raise money for something like Ghost Bike family support, or Working Bicycles, or anything like that. It doesn't have to a commuter only organization, maybe even several, it was just an idea and I know there are a lot of folks on here who have setup, run, helped run, have connections, and so on that could take my idea and flush it out into something fun, as well as a reality versus just an idea floating in my head.
You mention the beauty of watching a race is to see riders who can perform beyond our abilities....but why limit that to just watching? That, I guess, would be the idea here. Get people off the sidelines and running a fun and somewhat silly course on their bikes. I used to drag race cars and many times it was a "run what you brung", so you'd have the "serious" racers and then the guys in their mom's Honda with a fart cannon racing each other.
I appreciate the feedback and thoughts, really forces me to think more, which is what I was looking for by even posting this. Anne said:
I'm still trying to wrap my head around your idea of a fundraiser that is a race. Or an organized event on a prescribed course with pole positions that gives out silly medals? Why should anyone be given a medal to ride a bike? Plus, you're torturing your participants with the crap they deal with daily - glass, obstacles, etc. Commuting already IS designed to be "something for fun and all riding abilities", let's not reinforce all those things that deter folks from riding.
Racing is not designed for fun and all riding abilities.
"Pro" riders don't ruin anything, they are doing a job on a prescribed course by an Organizer for prize money. A 'Race" is largely entertainment for the spectators (those you describe as "gal who rides an old stove-pipe steel framed classic in a sundress, to the business exec that rides to work in a suit, to the Divvy rider...) or to sell newspapers (tour de france). The beauty of racing is to watch those perform acts that is beyond our ability. Hence the offering of a 'prime' to have the riders go faster/harder. Also why there are so many awesome sundresses out watching the Tour de France.
The ChiCrossCup fundraises for World Bike Relief thru rider registration, and one or two of the race promoters in the series do bake sale/food pantry works.
It is the confusion of a Race with an Event that makes Bike the Drive (or any century) chaotic. I meet 'serious' riders all the time who tell me they are "racing" yet they are only talking about Century or Charity rides. This is an entirely different topic, too, apologies for the thread drift.
Let me suggest something that is fun and geared towards all abilities that you could do? As charity is an emotional outlet, so target a cause that is dear to you or would be to commuters. Ghost Bike Family support? Pothole Potluck Raffle? Say you come up with a list of the 'best/worst' potholes in a zip code....commuters can buy a raffle ticket for their favorite pothole...ok maybe not that. Let's think positive.
I guess my point is that you're confusing Obstacle Courses or safe riding practices with creating a nice get together. Now, if you stood on a streetcorner, and sold raffle tickets that would fund buying a bike for Trib reporter Ron Grossman, I bet many commuters would love to get an anti-cyclist-whinger to experience the daily obstacle course of riding our streets. I bet people would pay big money to see him and John Kass and quite a few others on your obstacle course!
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Added by Chitown_Mike at 1:31pm on October 16, 2014
(Young Lincoln statue)
Street: http://massup.us/-nscm
City/Town: Chicago,Il
Website or Map: http://massup.us/nscm
Event Type: social
Organized By: N.S.C.M. Andrew,Julie,Tony (aka-buddaa38) We do have guess speakers!! For those that just don't like the C.C.M. because of different reasons. Come join our HAPPY - FRIDAY Spirt! !! We have music, dogs in baskets,trailers of signs & music, but most of all we have a chuck wagon! :-)
Best of all no police ! !! Whoot! !! Whoot! !! Mucca Pazza is a 30 piece self-described "circus punk marching band" based out of Chicago. Conceived by composer Mark Messing, the band, whose name comes from the Italian for "crazy cow," has been performing in and around the Chicago area since 2005. Their repertoire ranges from Balkan-brass to covers of 60's television show themes as well as themes from Shostakovich and Bartok. They have performed nationally at many well known venues and concerts including McCarren Park Pool, True/False Film Festival, Looptopia, Lollapalooza, Rothbury Music Festival, Tour de Fat, and were featured on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2006.
Detholz!There is a subterranean region between the Sacred and the Profane -- a murky swampland of unknown size and scope, crawling with crooked barkers, piggish gluttons, depressive religious fanatics, murderous cowboy crusaders, elderly fifth-stage alcoholics and defrocked addict priests...to name a few. This baleful Bayou from Beyond is the setting for Detholz! newest and most bloody album to date, Death to the Traitor (ETA Fall 2009). A sister album to 2006's Cast Out Devils, which chronicles a loss of faith in the Lands of Party, Death to the Traitor traces oneParty-Pilgrim's Regress back to faith, a return journey fraught with unknown pitfalls and frightening characters along the way. Following a controversial performance at the 2003 Cornerstone Music Festival, Detholz! was featured in the critically acclaimed documentary Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music, which led to an invitation to join Wilco on their Ghost is Born tour. Detholz! has also been privileged to tour and play with bands such as Danielson Familie, Weird War, Electric Six, Radio 4 and The French Kicks. Individually, members have written, recorded and toured with artists such as Mavis Staples & The Staples Singers, Bobby Conn, and Baby Teeth. Detholz! w/ Mucca Pazz @ Jackhammers
Kinetic energy > Large Hadron Collider
Doors: 8:30pm
Show: 9pm
21+
$10 at the Door, $8 advance purchase…
spitefulness" is a better descriptor than "fairness"Fairness could readily be extrapolated to require cars to drive slowly and in the gutter as we do.The last thing 21st century Chicago needs is anything anti-cyclist, hence I must doubt their motives.
2. I was at the MBAC announcement of this as pending and thought we'd have time to debate against.
3. I wish I could argue that there's no record of harm, but one of the local ghost bike back stories reports them having been on a phone.
4. Does anyone have the exact text of the ordinance?I've searched to no avail. Wondering if it's exactly as the car one, which I also couldn't find.I'm concerned if this could include interacting with a GPS, even if its bike mounted.
-----Original Message-----From: Chicago Critical MassSent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 12:56 PMSubject: [*CCM*] City Council bans texting while bicycling
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-chicago-city-...
Chicago City Council bans texting while bicyclingBy John Byrne, Clout Street
Bicyclists soon will face the same restrictions against texting while riding in Chicago as motorists do while behind the wheel.
The City Council today passed an ordinance prohibiting bicyclists from texting while moving. They also cannot make cell phone calls unless using a hands-free device under an ordinance that passed the council without dissent. The ban will go into effect next month.
Fines will start at $20 for a first offense and go up to $100 for a third or subsequent violation. If an accident is involved, the fine could shoot up to $500.
Sponsoring Ald. Margaret Laurino, 39th, said the issue is a matter of fairness as well as safety, since motorists already are prohibited from texting and making calls with hand-held devices in Chicago.
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shall we not revenge? William Shakespeare
It would be flattering to call it a modern Dirty Harry, but I think this film deals more with the loss of his wife than the traditional revenge vigilante films. Vin Diesel
Men are more prone to revenge injuries than to requite kindness. Thomas Fuller
To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves. Alexander Pope
Violence is almost an everyday occurrence in some Muslim lands: it should not be exacerbated by revenge attacks on more innocent families and communities. Cat Stevens
Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire. Confucius
David said:
I think "revenge" as a transitive/reflexive verb is pretty common. "The cyclist shall revenge himself upon the driver" may be a bit overdramatic, but I think it's a pretty normal phrase for native speakers. And as a normal transitive verb, "revenge" sounds okay to me also, it brings to mind Hamlet's ghost's "Revenge his foul and unnatural murder". OK, I guess that's pretty dramatic as well.
"Revenge" as an intransitive verb is, to my ears, much more archaic. It just sounds wrong to me.
Jeff Schneider said:
I've always heard/read/used "avenge" as the verb.Michael J Blane said:
Sometimes revenge is a verb.
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Added by Gene Tenner at 2:14pm on February 21, 2012
ressways. These tend to be awfully daunting to many riders and act like barriers to bike travel outside of isolated neighborhoods
To make things worse these bridges and over/underpasses tend to fall on Aldermanic boundaries which turns them into turf disputes or just ignored in general by said Aldermen. Add in the fact that many of these routes across the barriers are IDOT roads, which suffers from their famous anti-bike/pro-car bias, and we have a recipe for a lot more ghost bikes at each of these crossings, such as the the one at the meat-grinder intersection of Logan & Western and many more like it.
David P. said:
Oh, and safe bridge and river crossings. Sure, I like riding downtown from my office on Elston and Kinzie, but if I had those two things everywhere I'd give up all the other stuff. This is, to a degree, settling for 'good enough' but we're not Amsterdam and I'd love just the basics being right, please. Kthx. Kevin C 4.1 mi said:
Me too. David P. said:
I think I'd rather have good pavement everywhere than all the new bike lanes, PBLs, etc. I might just settle for non-shitty pavement.
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Added by h' Zerocats at 12:06am on February 13, 2013
I think we need to remind, whine, advertise and continue to get the message out. This will require cooperation from the authorities and the powers that be. Its going to be a while before it becomes normal. How many of us had parents or grandparents who simply refused to wear a seatbelt because they didn't like the feel or didn't like being told what to do. After many years seatbelts have become normal. This needs to happen with checking for bikes before opening a door.
Further, dooring is a very tough one because the driver is not the only person involved. A parent parks a car on Clark and a kid doesn't look before opening the door. A grandparent is sitting in the car and can't see the lane or doesn't look and... Lets say the parent has been vigilant and keeps telling everybody, "get out on the curb side. don't open the door on [mommy's or daddy's] side. That parent parks on Church street in Evanston and the good kid opens the door on the passenger side right where the bike lane passes and...
This is why regardless of the cruelty, stupidity, oblivion etc of a person in a car, the cyclist needs to do everything possible to increase their odds by being aware of who is in parked vehicles and making educated guesses as to who may be about to exit one. Cyclists need to pay attention to where they are in the bike lane or whatever lane to give themselves an opportunity to evade the door. Of course, we all know this stuff. My attitude is that before an accident happens or never happens its all on me. Its my responsibility to avoid being doored (without drifting further into the lane and getting a ghost bike). If an accident happens I will want to make sure the doofus who opened the door is made responsible. E A said:
Will the education extend to the Chicago Police and will the fines be enforced, especially against dooring? I nearly got doored by an officer exiting his Chicago Police SUV - opening the door without LOOKing first. Happened on Clark St. last Friday evening.
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