Tralfaz

Month: October 2015

  • BDIU – Driving – Audi takes top spot

    BDIU – Driving – Audi takes top spot

    In this year’s balloting for the biggest douche in the Universe – Drivers, we have a new winner. A position that has been literally owned by BMW drivers so long, it seemed hereditary, has finally been overtaken by Audi drivers.

    BMW drivers have held the top position for so long it is almost prehistoric. From the fact that they seem to come without turn signals, and that speed limit signs are merely a suggestion, as well as audacious merges into traffic on the freeway, their hold seemed unshakable.

    However, this last 12 months it is clear that a bigger group of asshole drivers has emerged. Those who drive Audi’s. (more…)

  • Insane bicyclist

    This morning, I saw quite possibly the most ballsy, insane bicyclist I have seen in a LONG time. And that is saying something.

    As I exited off of 280 at Lawrence Expressway, this dude on his bike pulled off of Lawrence behind me. The light changed, and he kept taking the whole lane, turning left on to Stevens Creek. See the picture below:

    Looks innocuous enough, but after passing under Lawrence Expressway, you get to deal with quite possibly the worst intersection in the valley. You have traffic wanting to merge into the onramp for 280 North, you have traffic turning right from the Lawrence Expressway wanting to merge left onto Stevens Creek, and you have us brave souls who actually work at Keysight or Agilent, and have to turn right. This Google Earth view of the crunch area, with the “Green” bike lane shows the chaos.

    That little strip of bike lane has a never ending, criss-crossing of cars whose drivers are impatient, and grumpy.

    This cyclist followed me onto Stevens Creek, and turned right into the Agilent/Keysight parking lot.

    A ballsy, and extremely dangerous maneuver.

  • The Aftermath

    The Aftermath

    After the low speed, but still catastrophic fall cycling yesterday, I knew that the next day would be brutal. I am not disappointed.

    The swelling is down, the golfball-sized lump on my elbow is gone, and the scrapes are scabbing up. Yay.

    However, the other damage is now coming to the front. The inventory isn’t great, but I guess it could be worse.

    The Elbow isn’t broken, full motion, but there is soreness beyond the scrapes and new scabs.

    My left hamstring seems to have a deep tissue bruise. I am wondering what the hell I did to get that. No surface bruising, but yikes, the muscle is painful.

    My nose, and left cheek have some edema’s that were caused by hard contact with my sports glasses. Enough force to pop out the lens is enough to leave some permanent marks.

    General muscle soreness in my lower back, my pectorals, and other places that will not be mentioned.

    Yep, Vitamin I for the win today.

  • Bad Day of Cycling

    Bad Day of Cycling

    Statistically, the more you ride, the more likely it is that something bad will happen. Bicycling is no different. Every time I set out on the road, I realize that things can go horribly wrong.

    Today, that was put to the test.

    I started off on my usual 33+ mile loop, with a twist. The prevalent winds are southerly, meaning that the first half of the ride is usually with a moderate but steady tail wind. Today, the wind direction was reversed, with a southerly wind, blowing in my face for the first 13 miles. For that entire stretch, I was picturing the return path, wind at my back, and racking up the record segments in Strava, but it was not meant to be.

    As I was restarting from a red light on Butterfield road in Morgan Hill, my right foot slipped out of the cleat, and in what felt like slow motion, I lost my balance, and fell.

    Hard.

    Fortunately, I didn’t do the dumb thing, remove my hands from my handlebars to break my fall, or I would probably have broken my wrist. 240# falling is plenty of force to do serious damage.

    But plenty of bad things did happen. I landed first on my right elbow, scraping it up. Apparently I bruised it well as is has swollen up to the size of a golfball. Not too painful, and I can move it fine, so apart from some soreness, it doesn’t feel broken.

    Also, as I fell, I couldn’t keep my head up, so it had hard (and I mean hard) contact with the asphalt. Rung my bell a bit, but the helmet took almost all the force.

    I got up, and walked my bike across the intersection, and took stock. A water bottle was left in the road (more on that in a moment), I was missing a lens from my prescription sports glasses, I was dripping blood from my elbow, I knew I cracked my head, and the chain was off the bike.

    A few drivers who saw the incident asked if I needed help, which I declined, as I was more embarrassed than anything else.

    Of course, the water bottle that popped out was my $25 “Cleantech” bottle that allows it to be easily cleaned and disinfected. Some asshole car driver ran over it. Hard for me to believe that was an accident as it was in a turn only lane. Fortunately, the fucker didn’t run over the corrective lens, so I was able to get my prescription sports glasses back together.

    My helmet took the brunt of the head bounce, and did its job. The energy dissipating styrofoam dissipated energy, breaking, and preventing my head from a really nasty bounce.

    My elbow is sore, and swollen, but it doesn’t feel broken. The anticoagulants I take mean that minor scrapes often bleed enough that I look like I battled an axe-wielding serial killer. However, a shower, and some ginger clean up and it looks fine.

    I am sure to be really sore. I will need to buy a new water bottle (I am really pissed about that), and a new helmet (c’est la vie, it did it’s job, and now it will be tossed). A quick look at the bike in a stand and nothing looks bent, thus I am pretty sure I will be able to get back on as soon as my aches and pains are gone.

    What I am really pissed about? More than anything else, is the fact that an opportunity to fly back, with a strong tailwind, and to set some personal records on Strava all the way home. Oh well, I got 14.7 miles out of my planned/expected 33. I shouldn’t complain too much.