The Monday Roundup: Fox News hypocrisy, Fear and Loaming, better Google Maps, and more

I’m not sure what “sad and sickening” adds to the coal rolling phenomenon. Seems like the original commentator’s “deeply stupid” covers it pretty well. The pearl clutching just gives them what they want. Personally I’m all for encouraging these guys to express their political opinions using their big boy words instead of obnoxious pranks. I have a feeling leftists are going to like that even less though.

Fox news provides a valuable service by providing insights into the so-called thinking of the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) crowd.

I have long held the philosophical view that the cosmos put the huge reserves of fossil fuels on earth as a test for humankind. If we were a mature and advanced civilization capable of advancing on in the cosmic community we would respect this giant gift of cheap energy and use it very wisely and very slowly. But we failed the test, as we burned it all up in a little over 100 years wrecking the climate, polluting the earth and covering the countryside with sprawl and ugliness and having little more than Ilth to show for it. The monster truck rolling coal is like an exclamation mark at the end of our sad performance, so the rest of the cosmos will pay attention and realize we are not ready for prime time.

Re: fast e-bikes … while I disagree with the purists’ claims that a class 1 or 2 e-bike is suddenly a motorcycle or moped, arguably a “class 4” that can go 37 mph bike is one, and doesn’t belong anywhere on bike lane or path that is actually used by people at more moderate speeds.

We’ve already found ourselves in the situation where the industry is simply churning out lots of Class 3 bikes (no longer difficult technically, and they can charge more), so I don’t think we can put that genie back in the bottle. Maybe, as the article suggests, bike-lane speed limits are in order. Limit them to 20 mph (except on downhill stretches!) It won’t be widely enforced, but will help deal with some of the most egregious violators – and will empower sane users to yell at them.

Personal note: Not desiring an e-bike that propels me to 28 mph, I bought a Aventon Pace 350 (Class 2) a couple months ago. However, I was surprised to find that the top assist speed, factory-set to 20 mph, is easily menu-adjustable. I can easily set it higher, and though the 350 doesn’t have enough power to go over about 24-25mph in most situations, that’s still class 3 territory. Conversely, owners of the more powerful Pace 500 (which has the same control panel as mine but is set for 28 mph and sold as a Class 3) could limit their rigs to 20, making them legal Class 2 bikes if they were so inclined, though few will ever do so. In any event, given that most e-bikes now have 700+ watt motors and are shipping set for 28 mph, I don’t think we’re realistically going to have a world where most e-bikes are self-limiting to 20. Local regulation of actual speeds is going to have to be the answer.

With the Google Maps heatmap story, I wonder if they could partner with Strava to make use of their heatmap. I know I often look at the Strava heatmap when planning routes in areas I’m less familiar with.

These suggestions for Google Maps are nice, but fundamentally the main issue with Google Maps for bikes is that it has no idea how to route bikes, even after all these years. Google still thinks I can’t ride a bike through a diverter, even though I’ve reported this issue to them for years. It also just generally favors busier streets, even ones without any official bike facility, over neighborhood greenways that prioritize bikes. It still routes me to go to Hollywood via Knott Street rather than Tillamook! It’s a broken system, so before adding bells and whistles like heat maps, maybe they should actually fix their algorithm.

…”lock-to’s,” a locking mechanism that a rider uses to affix their vehicle to a bike rack or street sign after completing a trip, thus preventing discarded scooters from becoming obstacles for pedestrians or those using wheelchairs,,,

Portland is considering this for e-scooters? When can we revisit the rental bike parking plan, a failed experiment, and repurpose the space and hardware for public bike parking? Some of the ‘orange’ parking areas displaced existing bike racks or corrals, and I have NEVER seen one of them full.

Bike corrals are desired and successful. They should be enhanced, not displaced. Scooter users who fail at parking should have their fare doubled. If they can’t learn, let them pay.

Re e bike credit: time for Oregon to follow suit, repeal its regressive bike tax and give a credit to ALL bike purchases, not just electric

re rolling coal – if police were doing their jobs, they would use the videos as evidence, charge them with assault, and seize the trucks as evidence and fine/victim compensation collatoral