[jabberwocky]

FWIW, Maryland at least does periodic crackdowns on drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. See, for example:
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/05/pedestrian-crosswalk-safety-focus-montgomery-co-police-campaign/

Not sure if VA or DC do the same.

[jabberwocky]

@mstone 176798 wrote:

Sure, that’s why they’re still in development and not mass produced. It’s clear that there was a bug, because regardless of whether the system identified the ped as a human, it shouldn’t have hit whatever it was. It should have noticed there was a collision course with something and reacted. Or its close-in systems should have noticed something directly in front of it and braked. There were likely multiple failures involved, but that doesn’t say anything about autonomous vehicles generally (just this one uber car) or how they’ll do in the future (when they’re actually out of testing). My main point was just that there’s a good chance a normal human driver might not have done any better. (“Normal” here means, playing with their phone on a stroad nowhere near a stop light. Main difference is that a human driver probably would have been speeding more.) 30k people still die every year from non-autonomous vehicles, and not many of those get nationwide coverage or much more than a “he pedestrian came out of nowhere” with no evidence other than the surviving driver’s word. In this case at least there’s some data. If it had been a non-autonomous vehicle there probably wouldn’t have even been an investigation.

I agree with you in general, and definitely don’t think self driving cars need to be perfect, they just need to improve on humans (which is a low bar). However, after seeing the video I’m not sure I’m positively inclined towards Ubers implementation of self driving tech. Because its not like it was a complicated situation. It was a clear, straight road, and she had already crossed at least 1.5 lanes of traffic right in front of the car. Human eyes would have had trouble there, but the sensors on a self driving car should have easily seen her coming, even if they didn’t know what she was. The fact that they apparently didn’t and made no attempt to brake prior to hitting her means that something either went seriously wrong with their hardware implementation (which should have layers of redundancy) or their software failed at a very basic level. Because [object] crossing a wide clear road ahead of the car should be the most basic thing a self driving car has to deal with.

[jabberwocky]

My favorite tech site (Ars Technica) has been covering this. Their take on the video that police posted:
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/03/video-suggests-huge-problems-with-ubers-driverless-car-program/

My take on it is that a human driver likely wouldn’t have done much better (she’s just outside a street light, which is the worst place to be because human eyes just don’t see things in the dark from a well lit area very effectively). I was watching for her on first viewing and even knowing what was coming I didn’t see her until about 2 seconds before collision, which even with an attentive driver likely wouldn’t have made a lot of difference.

But as the Ars article says, the driverless sensors absolutely should have seen her and reacted accordingly. Human eyes may have had trouble making her out but lack of light doesn’t affect LIDAR sensors, so she should have been registered by those well beforehand. The fact that they did not means something was wrong with their self driving system.

[jabberwocky]

@Dewey 173986 wrote:

I liked the original Cross Current, and the ODK cargo ebike it’s a pity it looks like Tora isn’t getting those in anymore as the small wheel size and step-through frame meant it fit shorter people. However I wish Tora hadn’t specced the controller on the latest batch Cross Current S to have an off-road unlimited setting, the publicity video on the Juiced website demonstrating 31mph performance is at odds with labelling them with the Class 3 decal which is defined as <28mph. FLX are behaving similarly claiming 30mph performance then print 'where laws permit' get-out wording on their website, the EBR review on the FLX Roadster has them struggling over this saying it falls into an undefined Class 4 category which just muddies the water further. Those ebikes are capable of speeds that fall into the moped/motor-driven-cycle category under most states law.

I expect this sort of thing to get worse, since people purchasing e-bikes are often doing so for speed, and the technology is getting better and cheaper which allows higher speeds at lower costs.

Which is the core of why the whole “class rating” for legalistic reasons is utterly pointless. Manufacturers can call anything “class whatever” and claim its limited, and then have a “wink wink offroad use only” setting that disables the limiter and allows people to go as fast as they want.

[jabberwocky]

I’ve ridden up it many times. It isn’t really that bad, just gear down, slide up on the saddle and lower your chest to the bars and crank away. I don’t find the switchbacks difficult, but I’m an avid mountainbiker and deal with much steeper, tighter switchbacks all the time on the trail. If you find them tricky, just concentrate on leaning your weight to the inside slightly and letting the front wheel trace a nice wide circle around the outside of the turn. And keep the cranks turning!

I may have ridden down it once or twice but in the down direction I usually just take Glebe, just so I don’t have to slam my brakes on right at the bottom of the hill. I’ve never ridden it anywhere near rush hour though.

[jabberwocky]

Whats dying? If its hubs, I’d check into why. But lots of good options out there, for every budget. As anomad said, thru axles don’t really affect bearing longevity (there isn’t a realistic limit to the outside diameter of hub bearings, so that isn’t an issue). Could be faulty hubs, or just really cheap ones that didn’t withstand the abuse.

For rims, well, road/gravel rims are the same diameter as MTB 29er rims, so you have a ton of options for heavier duty if necessary. Its worth remembering that the difference between road/gravel/cross/MTB rims is mostly marketing. They are all the same size and can be laced to whatever hub you want.

My recommendation for a durable wheelset for a gravel bike that you want to ride on trails is [whatever hub your budget allows] laced to mid level MTB rims, 32 spokes per wheel laced 3 cross with basic double butted spokes (DT comps or similar).

[jabberwocky]

@hozn 172767 wrote:

If we’re going for “forum software that feels just like it did 20 years ago”, then this does fit the bill. But this could really be a whole lot better.

To be honest, thats the main reason I like it. Its basic but simple and easy to use. I agree some of your points would be nice to address (I’d love to filter out everything that has anything to do with freezing saddles, for example), but having used other pieces of forum software I’m not sure that more modern ones are any better. They just trade one set of annoyances for another.

Facebook is a much more modern system that could certainly be argued as a descendant of old school forum software, but I could write a muuuuuuch longer list of things that piss me off about Facebook than I could about vBulletin.

[jabberwocky]

I don’t think a change in forum software is necessary; vBulletin is actively updated and does have built in options (and plugins are available) for various anti-spam measures. We could probably use an update though. We are on 4.2.3; vBulletin 4 was originally released at the end of 2009 and the .2.3 update is from 2015. The latest stable version of 4 is 4.2.5 which was released this year, but there is a version 5 as well.

Really, it seems like we need a knowledgeable admin to put a little time in to get the software updated and look at what can be enabled on the backend to cut down on spam registrations. Deputizing a few junior mods to delete spam would be a helpful stopgap measure as well.

[jabberwocky]

FWIW, I’ve never found lubing housing to do much good. It can help short term to free corroded cables, but beyond that it just gums up and causes future problems. Modern lined housings work great without lube. If things are getting sticky its almost always the steel cable corroding.

Best solution I’ve found is a bulk box of housing (available online all over the place), a container of ferrules, and just replace the housing and cables at the first sign of trouble. It helps a lot if you drill out the stops (if necessary) to run full length housing, which helps keep water out. I’ve never found the fancy housing packages to work any better than generic jagwire.

[jabberwocky]

Yeah, water in the housing is almost certainly the issue. It doesn’t take much to cause total inability to move the cable.

[jabberwocky]

When it gets stupid cold out, I’ve generally just put on a pair of fleece sweats over my winter tights. It’s not as ELITE as fancy super warm winter tights but it’s a lot cheaper. Marshals and such usually has warm stuff for cheap.

[jabberwocky]

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[jabberwocky]

Well, thats enraging.

Helmet cam is a good idea. You can get cheap ones these days. I used to commute with a GoPro on my helmet and absolutely noticed an improvement in driver behavior when it was there.

Definitely get the police involved. I doubt there is a lot they can do immediately, but hopefully they can target the area for increased patrol. Catcalling from cars is bad enough, but actually grabbing at her handlebar while riding is particularly egregious.

@AFHokie 169836 wrote:

I wouldn’t strap any defensive item to the handlebars. Anything for personal protection should be kept on your body and within easy reach (i.e. not buried under other items in a jersey or jacket pocket)

On the handlebars it’s visible to any would be assailant who would likely see you reaching for it.

For carrying something self-defensive on the bike, I’d recommend the HPG Kit Bag:
https://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/1/ProductID/2
Its low profile and keeps things easily accessible (and, as AFHokie says, not attached to the bike). Designed for people who want to carry a firearm, but works really well for anything you want accessible and not attention drawing.

That said, I’m not sure I’d ask a middle schooler to carry something like pepper spray or encourage her to engage in any sort of physical defense except as an absolute last resort. Thats a lot of responsibility to put on someone that young. I guess its up to her and her parents. Given that shes experiencing that sort of behavior, I don’t really blame her for not wanting to continue to bike commute.

[jabberwocky]

As an architect, I tell myself there is no way an actual architect was involved with the design of that house. I don’t know if thats true or not, but it makes me feel better,

[jabberwocky]

@hozn 168947 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up. I know American Heritage Trail is closed to bikes but couldn’t find anything definitive on the PHT (and didn’t see any signs referencing bikes — though did see signature telling horses not to ride if muddy). So I used fact that these had lots of Strava usage to infer that these were probably ok. (And there were clearly signs of other cyclists.). But obviously just because others do it doesn’t make it right. I’ll find a better detour for the closed section of the gravel road.

Honestly, I saw cyclists on the trails multiple times while hiking and there are tracks everywhere, so even if closed it isn’t really observed or enforced. Just more of an FYI. Its definitely an underutilized trail.

Might check on the status of the PHT; my recollection is that the section between Great Falls and Algonkian is administered by NOVA parks, who historically have not been bike friendly on their natural surface trails (for many years, the only singletrack open to bikes in the entire NOVA parks portfolio was the Fountainhead MTB trail). I know they’ve relented some in recent years, but don’t know for sure what the current status is.

I recall that when MORE was putting on the NOVA epic a few years back, they pushed for access just for the day of the event to try and create a loop and NOVA parks said no.

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