When I went to lunch today, I felt a slight twinge underneath my kneecap. I figured maybe I'd just jarred one of my legs at some stage and thought nothing of it.

By the time I got home, I could barely ride! That's a pretty depressing state to be in. Every rotation was just agonising. It's fine as long as my leg is relatively straight (okay to walk) but as soon as I start bending it, the pain sets in. Doc reckons it's the cartilage behind my kneecap becoming a little rough, and says to rest it. So no riding for me this weekend.

I guess now might be a good time to consider reconfiguring my bikes so they're all set up properly.

In December I tried emailing the city of Vancouver's engineering services to inquire about three areas of the city's extensive bike routes that didn't quite make sense to me. I didn't hear a response right away, so I tried forwarding it every month or so, when I remembered.

Just yesterday I got a response back from Peter Stary (bicycle program coordinator), who had been forwarded the email from a colleague. He took the time to write detailed responses to each of my questions. I feel the answers might be of interest to you folk reading this blog, so here they are:

Hi there =]
I'm Lyle and I hadn't made a new post until now. I figured I would make it good and desribe my wipeout in traffic today.

Going South downhill on Thurlow, towards Pacific. I had merged into the left lane, and was trying to scrub off enough speed to make it around the corner. The road surface towards that intersection is oily with a few cracks. I'm guessing that the pads grabbed after cleaning the rim enough, shooting the front end out from under me.

Internally I sighed, as I watched my bar end grind the pavement.

Hey! Found this site through courierman.

About me: eighteen from seattle. uh, you can check my myspace. Haaah.

http://myspace.com/jordanfstop

Specs on my ride:

Well work was a barrel of laughs today. I was cruising through the city at a pretty good pace, around 25-30km/h... only one job in the bag, pretty quiet day but I was having fun playing in traffic. And then suddenly ***BAM*** I'm on the ground tangled up in my bike.

Thankfully no injury other than some abrasions and nasty big bruises on my part. The old guy who stepped out from behind a parked van received some pretty deep cuts on his shit from my axle, and nasty road rash on his arm. Now I'm not gonna leave the scene of an accident when it wasn't my fault... hell, that just sets you up for a charge against your name. So I grab my bike and shift it to the side of the road, and start patching up the old guy as best I can. Find out his doctor is around the corner so when he's ready to move, I walk him down there. I didn't leave his side until he was comfortably seated in his doctor's waiting room.