Blood on the Road - Death on the Highway

My ride was interrupted on the Fourth of July by a fatal car accident, reported on in the media here. I try to get out on the bike as often as possible, as a Pinarello is like chicken soup for the cyclist's soul. During the past month I've ridden in the morning, the evening, early-afternoon, late-afternoon and even high noon. I've had young kids stare at me in wonderment, utterly thrilled by the sight of a bedazzled bike rider in matching kit aboard AdrenalinaItaliana (either that or they're wondering what grown-up could be strange enough to be willing to pedal around suburban Pittsburgh in Lycra while their parents throw coffee cups at him). I've had cute girls whistle (unfortunately at my ride partner that day), dogs give chase and I even played chicken with Western PA's resident rat: the white-tail deer.

And unfortunately, on almost every ride at least one motorist objects to my being out there! And yet I'm usually alone, riding 2cm to the left of the white line that marks the edge of the road - and I've been doing this long enough to know how to make things as easy as possible for overtaking traffic!

Thus far this summer I've been hit by a car, swerved at, brake checked, spat at, swore at, and even attacked by a freakin' senior citizen road-rager. What is WRONG with you people?! Why is it that when you slide behind the wheel of your car, you become sociopathic monsters who think you have the right to kill other human beings because either you don't like skinny guys in Lycra riding bikes, or you think you're Douglas MacArthur and that a 10-sec delay in going about your business is going to cost the lives of 100 Allied soldiers?!?

Guess what?! You're not that important! You're just a normal boring human being living a monotonous life like most of the rest of us. You've got you're own drama, of course, and you think you're no doubt special and privileged, but that still doesn't give you the right to treat your Sunday drive like a stage of the Death Race 2000. And you shouldn't anyway, because the odds are that I'm going to either avoid you, because I've learned to always be vigilant, or I'm just going to turn you in to the police after I refuse to be baited by your foul mouth, I take a picture of you driving your car as if it was a Tiger Tank, get a picture of your license plate, find a friendly witness who'll confirm the previous, and then drop it all off at the County Police barracks. A third result is that you end-up dead yourself like the poor passenger in one of the two cars involved in that head-on collision on the 4th. WTF?! Idiots!

And a special shout-out to the young woman who was talking on her mobile phone as she passed me in a huff on Route 88 heading north, approaching the intersection with Brightwood Road, and almost slammed her pregnant ass into the car stopped in front of her that was waiting to make a legal left turn onto a side road. I'm sure your parents would have been really proud of you for dying in the name of speeding and multi-tasking. Idiot.

Cycling Team Cars

In a recent post I referenced the custom roof racks that were mounted on a team car in Venezuela. Those racks are not your father's Yakima's...

Here are some links that show in some detail just how different a proper team car roof rack is from what's on offer from Thule or the other manufacturers (I think - correct me if I'm wrong):

Pez ProTour Team Cars Story

Google Image Link

Top-9 Cycling Team Vehicles

And who the heck knew there was an entire Wikipedia category, "Team cars of professional cycling teams"? Sweet. I should have gone there first.

I'm getting one of these for the Audi...

...to replace the stock steering-wheel.

Powered by Rice

Suzuki

FS: Four (4) Enkei Sportline Rims + Tires

FS: Four (4) Enkei Sportline Rims + Tires

Rims are a 4x100 lug pattern (very common with imports); and possibly 4x115.

The rims are in fairly good condition with some rash. The tires are almost new, all are Yokohama 205/40/17, but 3 are A520's while 1 is an ES100ZR.

Price: $350

Contact: joe.papp01-at-gmail.com

Local (15232) Pick-up only - no shipping.

Dead End in Detroit for White-Collar Workers

Business
Dead End in Detroit for White-Collar Workers
By BILL VLASIC and NICK BUNKLEY
Published: February 17, 2009

"The resolve of Detroit’s white-collar workers has given way to grim resignation as General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler have announced more and more job cuts."

This article is sobering... My dad was a white collar GM worker. He died back in 1989 when he was 52, so he'd have been retired by now, but still...I love cars and I love the auto industry and this is a crappy time...

GM will keep at least one loyal customer, though unfortunately she's not one who the company stands to make much money off of: my mom. She can buy GM cars at "employee cost" through the GM Family First employee purchase program (as can my brother and me), but really - in this market? GM dealers are hardly working off of big margins and it's not like there is a lack of supply that is boosting up prices. Rather, the lack of demand for GM products has ground the price of GM's offerings into the dirt. Sad, sad days.

And with Bob Lutz bowing out as head of GM's global product development at such a watershed moment... It's now only a matter of time until the company is compelled to declare bankruptcy, though hopefully something viable emerges from the ashes. Poorly managed for too many years with endless production runs of vehicles that did not appeal to a wide enough market segment? Yes. But still, this company is close to my heart - it was the company in which my father (God rest his soul) built his career. It deserves better than what we're seeing.

If You've Gotta Go...

Were this my final road and mode of transport, I would not complain...

Maserati Gran Turismo-S

Current issue of Maserati Monthly = car porn.
Gran Turismo-S main page (with Flash video) = even better car porn.

(Note to my family, I am not considering suicide or obsessed with death. I am, however, obsessed with the Maserati Gran Turismo-S.)

Envirofascists are Killing Motorsports

Motorsports is under attack headline #1: Honda quits F1
Motorsports is under attack headline #2: Subaru abandons WRC


I hope that we don't see a massive pan-industry withdrawal from motorsports as a result of cost-cutting moves taken for the benefit of 'effective' PR in the age of the gov't bailout.

Despite the positive returns delivered by motorsports participation in such areas as technical development and brand enhancement, even those manufacturers that can afford to stay in racing (like Ferrari) may feel pressured to curtail sponsorship or withdraw completely (like Subaru or Honda) so that the "public," the mainstream media and now, unfortunately, the federal government, don't accuse them of insufficient "belt-tightening."

I fear for the automobile in this country if the envirofascists get their way and are able to dictate the production of vehicles that no one wants to buy, but which are forced upon us in the name of saving the environment...

So in addition to stocking up on guns and ammo, one might want to consider squirreling-away a V12 or bi-turbo or even a Geländewagen before we're all forced to buy battery-operated "cars."

---
Gmail Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Procrastination Isn't Always Bad

A long-lost friend was apparently procrastinating today (and seemingly still is), reading my blog as a distraction from whatever work it is that she's trying to avoid doing. Long story short, she procrastinated enough that she wrote me an email, I was happy to hear from her, now we're back in touch and life is good - at least until I venture out in the snow to get dinner.

Oh wait! I have an Audi Quattro. Doesn't that convey an unfair advantage?

Juan Manuel Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio (June 24, 1911 - July 17, 1995), nicknamed "El Chueco" ("knock-kneed") or "El Maestro" ("The Master"), was a race car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing. He won five Formula One World Driver's Championships — a record which stood for 46 years — with four different teams (Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati), a feat that has not been repeated since. Many still consider him to be the greatest driver of all time.

He is the only Argentinian driver to have won the Argentine Grand Prix. And apparently his spirit is boarding at 5803, and using T-Mobile for its wireless calling needs: