efully develop awareness, primarily among drivers, of the dangers cyclists face, through the book.
It could work a couple of ways. Once I secure a publisher (fingers crossed) I’ll push for them to create and distribute it pro bono. That is, they’ll donate all revenue to some cause for cyclists. More on that below. But that’s the best-case scenario. More likely the most generous they’ll be is to recoup their printing and administrative costs and donate the balance. Worst-case scenario is I’ll donate whatever royalties I earn.
Someone wrote me suggesting what’s known as a vanity press. That is you self-publish. I won’t do that for two reasons. First, it requires fund-raising. I’m not a fund-raiser and, frankly, it sounds shady – asking people for money. Second, anyone who self-mass produces anything (book, movie, invention) still doesn’t have a means of distribution and are stuck with a garage full of whatever. A professional publisher has all of the production, marketing and distribution expertise at their proverbial fingertips.
So let’s say this gets off the ground, people buy the book; all is fine with the world. Now comes the question, “Who gets the proceeds?” I’ll say this, The Chain Link and Ride of Silence and StreetsblogChicago are the only cycling “associations” from which I’ve received a reply e-mail or phone call. I’ve reached out to two people from the Active Transportation Alliance, by voicemail and e-mail and one person from the city’s bike program – I’ve never heard back from any of them. If anyone has a POC from either organization they’re willing to share please let me know.
Bottom line, some of the details have yet to be worked out. After all, technically I’m still in the ‘feasibility’ stage.
Juan Primo said:
For profit or non-profit? I'm always interested in intent when it comes to memorials, if that's what your book is.
…
be held to a higher responsibility for safety by society. This does not always reflect reality, however. In the Netherlands, in a collision between car and cycle, the driver is always assumed to be at fault. American policies do not reflect this, and should. Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:
My comment:
No one said that he was disobeying any laws. No one specifically blamed him for the accident. What we said was that this many accidents requires an examination of ones practices. Maybe nothing needs to be changed. Maybe something does. And, of course, the easiest way to get killed is to assume that the other guy is taking the greatest care -- particularly when they have the vehicle that can cause the greatest damage. And that's why the BICYCLE needs to take the greatest care, because the bicycle must assume that every driver on the street is ultimately distracted. That's called good safe defensive riding. Should Car drivers take greater care? Sure. But there is a reason for nearly 1000 traffic deaths this year in Chicago. But hey, if you want to ride with those rose colored glasses and assume that the Cars are taking care, go ahead. I am sure someone will be willing to scrape you off the pavement and put up a Ghost Bike for you.... Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:
Who said Michael was disobeying any laws? And I disagree – the person who is capable of inflicting the most harm is most responsible for safety. Of course when I ride, I have my own safety in mind and ride in a safe and predictable manner, but it ultimately is the responsibility of the person driving the car to act in a safe manner because they are operating the machine that is capable of inflicting far more damage. You don't give someone a gun and say that it's everyone else's responsibility to get out of the way of the bullets.
…
Added by Adam Herstein at 2:27pm on December 4, 2013
and aspiring chef was killed on Dec. 6 when a van crashed into him as he cycled home from work. The van's driver was drunk behind the wheel, authorities said.
In honor of Avalos' birthday, his former colleagues at El Hefe, the Mexican restaurant and nightclub at 15 W. Hubbard St., are hosting a benefit on Saturday. Avalos had worked there as a cook since May.
From 3-7 p.m., friends and relatives will gather with photos and donation boxes. General manager Justin Massei said the restaurant would donate 100 percent of the afternoon's proceeds to the Avalos family.
Avalos was struck by the van just before midnight in the 2500 block of West Ogden Avenue. His mother said Avalos rode his bike everywhere.
The van's driver, 54-year-old Robert Vais, had a blood alcohol content of .118, above the legal limit of .08, prosecutors said.
Vais was charged with felony aggravated DUI causing accidental death and two counts of misdemeanor DUI. He was also cited for failing to reduce his speed.
According to relatives and co-workers, Avalos was studying to become a chef. He had served in the Marine Corps for five years.
Avalos' girlfriend of three years, Cristina Valencia, 27, said her boyfriend was funny and energetic. "He loved to dance and have a good time."
His death "was very reckless, there's nothing we can change about that," she said.
Vais' attorney called the crash "a tragic accident" and said his client's "condolences go out to the family."
…
Added by Andrew Bedno at 6:25pm on February 20, 2014
en 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!
…
north again? I ditched off and caught a train after chinatown @ Grand and Milwaukee cause at that point I didn't know where anyone was going and the faces known were none really so I saw my chance and took it. And let's face it, I still had an epic ride home..
Notible point were..
Rat Patrol bake sale and delicious cookies..
Seeing Travesty, who's opinion and thoughts are greatly missed here.. Sorry we didn't get to ride together at all and talk, I didn't see you anywhere after Daley..
Being able to kinda meet Alex and his girl(?)riding the tandem.. Tandems are hot!
Meeting Tadeusz who is a now local here up in the burbs and broke his CM cherry tonight. Hope you had fun!
Meeting Lauren Sailor again.. She has to be one of the most friendliest people i've met in a long time.. very talkative and very upbeat!
I did see a lot of angry motorists, and a lot of angry motorists who who drive through the small breaks in the mass.. Mayeb something to work on? Keeping people tighter together. I heard a lot of MASS UP! but little action around me. Toby was hit on his tallbike at one intersection, but is ok and caught back up. The driver took off I guess and someone tried to chase them down but wasn't fast enough.
Also heard some terrible words which I didn't want to hear and had to restrain myself.. I was yelling out to riders who were riding the wrong side of the road when there was plenty of room on our side and oncoming traffic flowing(vs. some areas).. I yelled out how riding in oncoming traffic is a great way to get killed and the response I got was, it's CM who cares! Well brother, I care.. I care for your life number one, and the dumb decisions that you make affect us all. When you get hit, your ghost bike will be one visited next year, plus I think the last thing that CCM needs now headed into the summer months is bad press on how lawless it is or can be. Just don't be an ass is all i'm sayin..
Well it's pizza time and i'm a hungry boy.. Hope everyone got home safely.…
Park Tool discontinued the (KS-1 Kickstand Removal Tool) in 2008. Not only is it hard to find but many shops don’t think a kickstand removal tool even exists.
I went to Rapid Transit yesterday looking for rear racks and thought I would ask about the tool and if they knew of an easy way without one to remove the stand. Both mechanics told me that not only did they not know of a tool but that the only way to remove the kickstand would be to cut it out. I was in shock at the answer and left the store a bit confused. Were they f-ing with me?
Then I went to Smart Bike Parts to look at some racks and again for shits and giggles asked about the kickstand tool and again no one had any idea what I was talking about or had a solution that wasn’t destructive. Seriously? Am I crazy?
So today I called Uptown Bike Shop and low and behold they have the tool. I thought I described my situation well to the man on the phone because he told me to come on by no worries. I ride on over ghost riding the old racer all the way to the shop. I introduce myself to the guy behind the counter who I have talked to many times before. “That will be $5 to swap out the parts for ya” he says. I then asked if it would be possible at all to do it myself, they could even charge me for using the tool? “Sorry” he said. “No can do!” So I drop my head, stare at the floor and leave with my tail between my legs, defeated again. Thanks a lot insurance companies for making it impossible for people to be cool to each other anymore!
So, does anyone have a KS-1 tool I can borrow for like 5 min? I know West Town has one but I have no way to get both bikes down there so I can do the job then get both bikes home. If I have to I will make my own damn tool but that’s time I just don’t have.
BTW, I’m not trying to snub the bike shops, I am just a bit confused as to my whole experience. Although, it’s not the first time I’ve had issues with misinformation from the LBS’s. It’s one thing not to trust a car mechanic (who are on my top ten list for pure evil) but if you can’t trust a bike mechanic than we are all doomed ☹…
ole, bend a rim, go back to 'square one'. Run over a pedestrian and go to jail, etc. Chitown_Mike said:
I appreciate the feedback but I think you are adding more between lines that don't exist. I didn't actually mean glass or digging holes, I meant there could be something like cardboard signs point to 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!
…
rly recorded data. The only way the for the differing data to be noted (unofficially) each year is by media sources and 'cycling community websites'. Updated: Sunday morning, December 24, 2017. Photo credit: abclocal. Updated: 12-24-17 Clarence D. Walton, 49, was struck by a Metra train in South Shore around 5:10pm Saturday night 12-23-17. The CPD report claimed that the victim disregarded the train's warning signals. http://abc7chicago.com/travel/bicyclist-fatally-struck-by-metra-train-in-south-shore/2817445/ https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/bicyclist-fatally-struck-by-metra-train-in-south-shore/ 2017: 8* Chicago Cycling Community Fatalities:(7+ 1* transit related & 'off-street'). Update:12-16-17, CDOT announced the death of cyclist Leonard Anderson, 70, in a crash in Garfield Park on 10-2-17 at 1:10pm on Independence Ave. He died of his injuries in a hospital on 11-28-17. Update: 12-15-17 Male Cyclist, 46, killed in West Humboldt Park http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-bicyclist-killed-humboldt-park-20171215-story.html 2017 Cycling Fatalities / Chicago - Currently: 8* with 1*0ne(transit-related, & 'off-street') RIP + . . .
Lisa Marie Schalk, 50, RIP + Ghost Bike Installation Sunday 11-19-17, 3PM 5750 s. Archer ave.
photo credit: Andrew Bedno
Was unable to enter (for whatever reason) Lisa Marie Scalk's Ghost Bike Installation as an event in the Chainlink event calendar. . . . (sigh!) . . . See You All Down The Road ! . . .
http://m.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Lisa-Schalk&lc=4190&pid=187131198&mid=7624510
Update: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-bike-rider-killed-garfield-ridge-20171101-story.html Update: Farewell DnaInfo and thanks with best wishes to Alisa Hauser/reporter/Chainlink Community Member. http://chicagoist.com/2017/11/01/female_cyclist_struck_killed_by_dri.php Early Wednesday morning 11-1-17, around 8am, Lisa Schalk, 50, was struck and killed by the driver of a car in Garfield Ridge at 5700 S. Archer and S. Lorel Aves. So far this year in Chicago there have been a total of (8)eight cycling deaths, data shows, included with *(1) one cycling, transit-related & 'off-street' deaths. -Clarence D. Walton, 49 (*cycling transit-related/on-street), -Angelo L. Resto,46 -Leonard Anderson, 70 -Lisa Marie Schalk, 50 -Johnel Washington, 31 -Louis Ray Smith, 56 -Jezniah Jay Smith, 34 -Gabriel Milorad Ciupeiu,18 (*cycling transit-related/'off-street') https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170913/humboldt-park/3-cyclists-killed-so-far-this-year-city-data-shows http://chi.streetsblog.org/2017/09/13/semi-driver-killed-cyclist-johnel-washington-31-in-july-in-austin/
Despite our wishes and hopes, the loss of members of our community will occasionally occur just as it does in other communities. We cannot ignore or diminish (as some have suggested) these events by whitewashing the facts of the incidents of fallen cyclists for fear of causing alarm and discouraging the larger community. We MUST do everything possible to promote, legislate and educate all for the sake of the safety of our mode of transport! Thank you! +REST IN PEACE - FELLOW CYCLISTS+ "Meet you for the big ride on the other side!" . . .…
A message to all members of the chainlink
Welcome to This Week On The Chainlink – the update from thechainlink.org.
In this update:
- Remembering Liza Whitacre
- &nb
Added by Bianca Gordon at 12:36pm on February 4, 2014
ion is bunk. (remember the ride we did over the summer that took us down Addison while it was still under going repaving and then down a one way residential street with 1,000+'s en masse?)
CM was started as something that was different to everyone involved. For some a political thing, Cop Protest Mass; a fun thing, Bubble Mass, a holiday thing, "Ghost/Fire Mass" or a awareness thing, "Pedicab Mass"; even recently some of Spencer's ideas have taken on a designer feel in that some have had a basis on aerial symmetry it seems.
The term Critical Mass was started after watching people cross streets in India/China who need a 'critical mass' to cross city streets and that is what I see it as since I feel much safer, confident and happy when riding with many others.
I don't want to be a leader I just want to get back to our routes and just have everyone meetup for a bike ride on the last Friday of the month. Where it goes or how it gets there is irrelevant. As long as it just exists.
End
Barbra Mann said:Why don't you just do your own ride...instead of trying to 'hijack' a group that is obviously there for something different than what you have in mind? Prove to us all how your concept of a critical mass is superior!
I think many CM-ers prefer the guidance of a map that someone has thought out and checked for road construction closures and so on...especially people with kids in tow, people with disabilities or special needs, people on blades, people with sound systems, etc. Maybe the BIG monthly CM is not for you. I know it's exciting to have thousands of people around you...but with that comes responsibility, and it sounds like you are not interested in what other people want or need or what is safe. Man, how many times do people have to defend CM like this?! This is getting old. Just do your own ride, already!
OR...You could always plan for your following of 'anarchists' (if you can garner one)to branch off of the main CM at a certain point and head to the suburbs as randomly, quickly, and haphazardy as you want...
that way you get the excitement of the bigger group at first but also get to do what you want to. No-one is forcing you to stay the route! Remember that. Cut yourself loose at ANY point.
...but I think it is ridiculous of you to suggest tricking everyone into following you...you don't seem to have the experience or forethought to lead thousands of people on a ride. And if you don't like 'pre-planned' then why are you already suggesting Oak Park or Riverside?!? Sound like YOU just want to be THE leader, which there is none on CM. The planning process seems to be to be a collaborative effort to me...I always see the planning process on-line.
PS I have no interest in following you to the suburbs...your idea sounds bad to me. What, do you LIVE there or something?
…