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Well, David at the FredCast on his 1/28/10 expanded on the topic of “safe operation” while attention deprived.

Specifically, we’re talking about cell phones, and the idea of legislation to outlaw use of cell phones while driving. David’s perspective is that we should NOT outlaw cell phone use – at least not hands-free cell phone use.

In general David, I agree with you. There are things that might not be wise, and might be slightly less safe than another way of doing things, but at what point do we stop short of legislating every detail of our life?

I do think that cell phone use – whether hands free or not – does reduce the attention that we are giving to driving. I think this happens to everyone – drivers both good and bad, skilled and less skilled. I think that getting into an argument about the degree to which this happens is frankly a pissing contest where nobody wins and everybody gets wet…

I think that it is very reasonable to expect that people give the appropriate amount of attention to the road, as required by the conditions at hand. Failure to do this should be an offense for which the driver is ticketed. There are many things that can take our attention from the road, as you so rightly point out, and the bottom line is that when someone is driving with less attention to the road than they should have, they should be ticketed.

Of course, this can be a sticky wicket, can’t it? Who gets to make that judgement call? We have entrusted the local and state police with that authority, and while I am not always in agreement with the calls that they make, the bottom line is that we need to accept somebody’s authority, right?

The reason for the lack of attention is not really important, is it? You are essentially driving while impaired, and most states have laws governing this. I can’t tell you how many times I shake my head at someone who is driving along in the left lane of a multi-lane highway, completely oblivious to the traffic jam that they are creating by not adhering to the rules of the road and staying right except to pass. I wish these people would receive tickets to help them remember to pay attention. Or the soccer mom distracted by the kids in the back seat, or the animated conversation occurring on both sides of a front seat.

While driving down the road, it’s easy to pick out the cars that are being operated by folks who are distracted by any number of things – I personally would like it a lot if these folks were pulled over and ticketed more often. If the source of their distraction was a cell phone – as it would often be – then perhaps the ticket will help them make better judgement calls next time.

And after all, it really is “driving while distracted” that we are concerned with, right?

I just get really tired of attempts to legislate every little piece of our lives. It’s about responsibility really, and our responsibility to our fellow drivers on the road. When we fail to take that responsibility seriously and allow ourselves to become distracted beyond the point of reasonableness for the situation, then we should have our hands slapped for behaving irresponsibly.

I go back to the discussion of driving in bad conditions. An hour or two of driving on icy roads in white-out conditions will flat-out exhaust me. There’s no way I would have ANY distractions in the truck under those conditions. However, to try and maintain that level of attention over an 8 hour drive would be absurd. We NEED distractions – we need to balance our mind out as we drive, right? And, part of being a responsible driver is knowing where that balance is for any set of circumstances.

I only got to commute once this week – today. The snow from last weekend and the remaining cold temps made 2-wheeled travel unlikely for me.

I have set the dates for this summer’s epic rides, and now need to stay on the treadmill to get myself to the right level of fitness. I remain confident – I think that I can take a couple of weather setbacks like this in February – will probably even end up with one or two in March.

For the rides:

1. We will for sure be leaving the weekend of the Triple Bypass, headed east. We have 3 alternate routes established from Denver to either Kansas City or Springfield (MO). Rides will be something between 600 and 700 miles, and we have a week to get them done. We are going to try and target a double century in there someplace if the weather cooperates.
2. Two weeks later, we will do a ride in the mountains – exact route TBD but we have 2 or 3 we are considering. They are all over 150 miles with significant climbing.

I’m really excited about this – gives me a target to train for.

Tuesday morning did the first commute of the year. Tried a new route that utilized some roads, and that cut the distance down to about 21 miles.

Funny to me how that all came down. It struck me as I passed the bus station at 9 mile that I could cut through the bus station, cross Parker road at Peoria, and just head up Peoria and wiggle through side streets over to work. While I wasn’t sure exactly how I would get through, I was positive that I would be able to find a route.

So I left the quiet trail, and headed up the street, assuming that it would save me some time, albeit at the cost of dodging a little traffic.

Well, the traffic wasn’t all that bad, as it was a little past rush hour. I did follow a bike path for half a mile or so, and had to walk across some icy spots. As I was doing that, I was happy I had gone that way, not sure if my normal route that utilized so much bike path might be pretty icy in spots.

My toes got pretty cold, but the rest of me stayed nice and toasty. Temp was about 25 – maybe a little lower in spots.

So here’s the interesting part: Thinking about the route at work, I felt I had cheated myself just a bit. Dealing with traffic and exhaust just felt like too high a price to pay for the shorter route. Plus, while I am OK with the shorter route right now, as the season progresses, it is really miles in the saddle that I need anyway. It became really clear that while I had found an acceptable route, I would probably want to use it only in emergency.

Of course, a meeting ran long in the afternoon, and I got away later than I wanted, I was worried that I would be overtaken by the dark before I got home, so I took the same route back home. It was rush hour by then, and the traffic was a pain. And in fact, I was still overtaken by dark, so I am really glad that I took the shorter route to reduce the amount of time in the dark.

Interesting observation: Drivers seem to be more tolerant and cordial to bicycles when it is really cold – they must feel sorry for us?

Note to self: Get better lights!

Such a disappointing bunch of news this weekend. The Boulder Gran Fondo that we were going to ride in April has cancelled, as has the big one in Steamboat Springs for August.

So, looks like my big rides this year need to be unsupported deals. The “supported” aspect of a ride is really not the most appealing for me – it is the fact that I have shelled out money and have a committment to do a particular ride on a particular date, which forces me into some level of fitness discipline in order to avoid pain and embarrassment.

So, I will just need to find the self-discipline to do the training for some unsupported rides.

I do have the Iron Horse Classic at the end of May, and assuring fitness for that will help for sure. However, as I started looking at potential routes this weekend, it became clear to me that what I really want to do this year is tackle something bigger than the Triple Bypass – I really want to do a bigger ride.

So, I’ve been looking at a few routes. I either want to target a double-century thus summer, or else a mountain ride with significant climbing that is over 150 miles. Certainly possible to get both done this summer. To get there, I know that I need to be doing my first century rides in April, which is earlier than I have done them in the past. I will need to be doing the 110 miles Conifer/Morrison loop in May, and will need to expand that and find a loop with even more climbing and higher miles to be doing in July.

Rode the Canterbury loop on Saturday – that’s twice in January. Short loop but at least it’s some saddle time.

Someone asked again about the whole notion of listening to the IPOD while riding your bike – should there be “laws” regulating it?

Like so many things, people get all whacked out about things and don’t keep them in perspective.
Without a doubt, listening to stuff takes your attention from the task at hand, making you less proficient at the task at hand.

Period.

So what? Do we outlaw radios in cars? Do we make it illegal to have a conversation with your passenger while you drive a car?

People do this stuff to take their mind off what they are doing. I listen to all sorts of stuff while driving in the truck, (including FredCast), to give my mind something to do besides be numbed into senselessness by the traffic around me. No doubt in my mind that doing so makes me a less safe driver. Exactly why – when the weather gets really nasty – I drive in silence. I also talk on the phone while I drive – I know I am a bad person for doing this according to some people. But put this all in perspective. Creating more safety on the road can be achieved by outlawing all distractions. I just don’t think we want to go that far – I think we are willing to accept some risk as a culture – what price are we willing to pay for total safety?

All this logic above is exactly why I DON’T listen to my iPod while I ride. I LOVE riding my bike. Just handling it getting ready for a ride makes me feel good and look forward to the ride. Why on earth would I numb myself to the great joy that I get from riding? Why would I distract myself? I have a couple of buddies who I ride with, who on long rides (as-in 6 or 8 hours) will listen to their iPod. When they do this, it really separates them from me on the ride – I might as well be riding alone. The minor little chatter that happens as you ride, the extended conversations, all of that falls by the wayside.

So, my opinion is to leave the iPod in the truck, and ride the bike. There are so many aspects of our life where we cut ourselves off from the people around us, and fall into this media world that we plug ourselves into. We need to find more ways to plug into the world around us, and the people around us, instead of shutting them out with earphones.

But for heavens sake, this is not something to be legislated. The last thing we need is more invasion into how we live our lives by legislative agencies. Sure we sacrifice a little safety, but look around at all the other places in your life where you do that gladly. Leave the iPod at home because you’ll enjoy the ride more, and you’ll enjoy your friends more.

Plus, all that sweat just can’t be good for those things. 🙂

I got lucky yesterday – the temp was 50, so I went for a little ride.

My short loop through Canterbury.

The wind was strong, but I stayed nice and warm thanks to the right layers and new gloves.

I felt much better than I expected on the climbing that is part of that loop. I think that I am starting this year off with reasonable shape in January. If I can only hold on to this and build from it.

I have been talking to some folks about putting together an alternative ride to the Triple this year, since that was such a mess. I’m thinking that if 20 or 30 of us got together the weekend before or after, we could pay somebody to do food support, and have a great time at it. Folks kick in $20 or $30 apiece, and have watermelon and other good food waiting at important places. Sagging would be possible too if we paid someone to drive a truck with tools for minor repairs if needed.

Would need to stay somewhat together, but I think that if we had an A group and a B group, we could make it work.

Would love to find folks interested.

I’m still having trouble finding a bike at the gym that works well for me.