Stormy Stuff

When it comes to bad weather, I am a completely irresponsible person. I love riding in it. Yesterday, a line of storms travelled across Southern Ontario. Multiple tornadoes touched down, thankfully not in London. I took a look at the weather radar before leaving work, and it looked bad. I read that there were tornado warnings. Unlike a rational person, I thought "oh, boy!" Mother nature did not disappoint...

The plastic covered camera didn't do the ride justice. I almost got knocked over by the wind a couple of times, and the thunder was sometimes super loud. It was great.

Please do as I say, not as I do. Take cover in bad weather.

R A N T W I C K

P.S. - I know I'm a broken record, but everything in my panniers remained completely dry.

One BAD Bike Lane

My kids recently attended a week long summer camp at the University of Western Ontario. I think, but am not entirely sure, that UWO has almost complete control of its roads and the markings on them. If I am wrong, please comment and correct me. Bike lanes appeared at UWO before they did anywhere else in London. They are sometimes sensible, sometimes not. But when I was driving my kids back and forth from this Sport Western camp (which was excellent, by the way), I saw and took some video of some truly ridiculous bike lane paint.

Just imagine what happens when to medium/big vehicles are in the car lanes. Can you say squish? I have to believe that cyclists faced with such a situation would just line up in the car lane the way they should, but paint can be a powerful influence, in this case one that will definitely create conflict, and quite likely create injury or worse. I got my degree from UWO, and think it's a great school. I also think this may be the worst bike paint I've ever seen!

My online friend and frequent commenter Keri from Orlando, who is a very knowledgeable vehicular cyclist, called parts of the Queens bike lanes "heinous". I wonder what she would call this?

Implicit trust of bike paint is hazardous! Keep using your good sense,

R A N T W I C K

Kids Might Lick Any Flat Surface - Be Prepared

I've seen commercials lately for Juice that is formulated to enhance brain growth or immune systems in children. As a parent of two children, I understand that people want the best for their little ones, and are especially vulnerable to the suggestions of others when their kids are very young. I had my doubts about the science behind these juices, so I went to the web site dedicated to them. I found nothing conclusive there, but I did find out why people might need super juice for their youngsters. It's because these days kids will lick anything, including a stranger's computer screen from the inside. Who knew?

What you see above is part of an animation, one that I found kind of odd to say the least. When I find things odd, I like to share them. So here we are. If you would like to see the animation yourself, I encourage you to go to the web site too. I am not going to link to it, though, because I am afraid of multinational corporations. You'll just have to find it yourself. Some instructions for getting animations to load are found below.

Stay Healthy,

R A N T W I C K