[Attoparsec] occasionally rides a bicycle for transportation, but with the major downside of doing this in North America, a place where bicycle infrastructure is generally neglected. From snow removal, maintenance, separation from cars, or even existing in the first place, the places bicyclists use are generally last to be cared for. One of these deficiencies is landscaping maintenance, with plant growth routinely extending into travel ways. Rather than continue to get hit in the face by tree branches, [Attoparsec] took matters into his own hands, or in this case, head.
Since he’s riding down the bike path anyway, the original thought was to add a trimmer to the front of the bicycle. This has a notable downside of being dangerous to others, so instead he added a string trimmer to his helmet. The electric trimmer was scavenged from an old handheld landscaping tool, with a 3D printed mount designed in CAD to cleanly mount to his bicycle helmet. It’s wired to a control on the handlebar, so when a branch is coming up it can be activated by hand and then pruned without much thought other than properly aiming one’s head.
By most measures this eccentric contraption seems to work quite well. There’s not enough torque to affect the rider’s head in any negative way, the strings are long enough to reach far enough to trim the leaves and branches before they can impact the rider’s face, and it’s safe for other users of the bike path. [Attoparsec] calls this “guerrilla urban landscaping”, a bit different from other forms of guerrilla gardening we have seen before.
Bikers may have a “right” to be on the road, but all in all they are a massive nuisance. From holding up traffic, because they are going well under the speed limit, to their flagrant disregard for stop signs/stop lights.
I can’t drive on a bike path, so maybe they shouldn’t ride on the road.
In my state cyclists only need to slow and yield at red lights and stop signs.
It makes it very easy to get across town without ever putting your foot down once if you plan the route correctly.
Visit the netherland, and you will see how bycicles can be nicely integrated into traffic and how it transforms transportation then.
(But, yes, we still have an occasional ass on a bike who thinks they own the road, but most are well behaved)
Went there on vacation with my wife last year.
We parked our car in a lot at the edge of town (Middleburg) then rented bikes (there’s a rental place right at the lot.) We rode bikes all over for the week we were there.
Obviously tourists. We’d be riding along, trying to keep up with traffic, and a bell would ring behind us: little old lady in dress and hat, wearing high heeled shoes, puffing a cigarette, on an old three speed bike, zipping along faster than we were, ringing the bell so we’d get out of her way.
We took a longer tour around the area one day. Out through the country side, and around behind the dike. I hear this whining sound coming up from behind, and some laughing little kids. Dad on an electric cargo bike, with the kiddies in the cargo box, standing up and having a good time. Dad passes us, and the kids are hollering “sneller, sneller!” Right behind them is Mom on a three speed bike, just pedaling along and keeping up.
On the same tour, we stopped to let what looked like a school class on an outing go by us. We’re standing there, waiting as about 40 kids with some teachers pedal by. Behind them there’s this little old grandpa. Not part of the outing, but just out for a ride and got stuck behind the kids. Dude’s in a suit and tie, wearing dress shoes and a straw boater hat, puffing on a big ole cigar, just taking a relaxing ride through the country side.
The streets and bicycle paths make it much easier to get around on a bike there than where I live in Germany. The riders also follow the rules there better than they do here.
Bells are underrated. That said, OP how are bikes holding up traffic?! Maybe in 1970’s Beijing, but the only congestion I see nowadays is always… cars…because people buy two huge SUV’s to bring their kids to school, literally 10min walk away with streets where a normal car cant even fit. (speaking for myself here). Madness
Trust me: the bikers don’t want to drive on the roads, but they just don’t have any other option sometimes. A bike lane does not take up much room and makes it more pleasant for both drivers and bikers. As a dutch guy, biking in a foreign city makes me fear for my life most of the time.
Sometimes they do ride on the road when there’s a better option available.
There are several places around where I live in Germany where there are bicycle paths connecting small towns. If you take the highway, you are going to be climbing some big, steep hills on your bicycle and holding up traffic. If you use the bicycle path, there’s a nice, level ride. No cars, no hillls, and not any longer.
Guess which route the bike riders take.
Outside of that, there are paved farm roads running beside many highways. Almost no traffic, goes the same place as the highway, perfectly legal for the bikes to use. Bike riders are up on the highway, blocking traffic.
I’m all for bicycles. The Netherlands has a wonderful bike path system. Some of the riders (at least where I am) need a swift kick in the seat of the pants.
I cannot speak for where you live because it’s probably not the same as me, but this is probably due to a horrible communication issue where people are told they are not pedestrians and they should be driving on the road. So they drive on the road like they’ve been told. If the rules/laws change back and forth multiple times, you end up with situations like you describe. THAT is happening where I live right now. Bicyclists do not know where to drive and the rules are vague. Combine that with actually REMOVING bicycle crossings and lanes and you get a huge mess.
More likely that they’re tourists or touring from out of town and their navigation app doesn’t understand cycling paths, so they follow the cars so they’re not risking getting stuck on a dead end.
That may be the case 99% of the time, but every few kilometers the road ends and you have to ride the highway shoulder some distance to reach the next one.
Biking across Tiananmen square was the greatest feeling I have ever had. 12 lanes! Driving a car in China makes me fear my life. Bike is often faster as well for anything under 15km/20km
In my mind, the massive nuisance are the people who think driving around in a huge box of steel, glass, and plastic somehow give them more rights to the roads that everyone pays for with their taxes. They stink up the planet with smoke and cause all kinds of deaths to other drivers and pedestrians alike. Should be illegal.
Amen!
Hmm if only we taxed the huge boxes of steel specifically somehow. Obviously it would have to be proportionate to their usage of the roads…. maybe some sort of fuel tax? OWAIT….
The fuel taxes generally implemented aren’t proportional though. Roads get exponentially more expensive to build as the design speed increases, so the fastest (ie most expensive) roads are only usable by motorised vehicles.
Add to that that the wear/damage to roads goes up as the 4th power of axle weight, and you have a case where fuel tax is paying for a very small percentage of the maintenance of roads where the majority of the costs are due to motorised vehicles, and most of the costs are just borne by the average taxpayer.
Cars and trucks don’t pay nearly enough tax.
Ehhhh. I will agree that fuel/etc taxes don’t cover all road costs. But road benefits are not limited to direct road usage. Covering some cost with property tax makes a lot of sense, since property benefits from road access, then you have network effects, etc.
Depends entirely on the subgrade – can be as low as linear. The 4th-power law depends on a somewhat elastic road surface, so concrete roads don’t follow this.
It’s much more common that the combined fuel/vehicle taxes are appropriated elsewhere and maintenance is allocated far less funds than the taxes collected. Here for example the ratio is roughly 8:1.
https://cedelft.eu/publications/road-taxation-and-spending-in-the-eu/
The ask for bike paths to be made. The more people that are driving motorcycles/mopeds/bicycles, the less people are on the road, the less time you have to spend in traffic. It’s a win for everyone.
Stop sings and lights for cyclists are a suggestion, even if the law says otherwise.
trolling away, trolling away…
Start voting for people who will start building more bike lanes to keep them off the road.
Yeah, well build more bike paths. But then this is the country that can hardly build light rail which has no “going too slow” issues.
If you are in a hurry you’d have emergency lights activated and a right to be able to be in that state.
Stay in line and only pass safely. No hurry, when on public roads you have no right to your time we will take it from you. Only on interstates there is a lower speed limit.
If a limb is that low you can break it at the side of the path and it won’t need to be trimmed later. Our city specs 8 feet over public walks higher than you can easily reach.
Dude. People riding bikes are people, and yeah you got it right that they have the right to use the road too. It’s crazy that when people see an inconsiderate biker they condemn every person that bikes on the road.
Drivers may have the “right” to be on the road, but all in all they are a massive nuisance. From endangering cyclists, because they are going well over the speed limit, to their flagrant disregard for walk signs and road sharing markers.
I can’t cycle at fifty miles an hour and hit and kill a family of four, so maybe they shouldn’t either.
You must be very important if your journey is of a higher priority of the person in front.
I presume you are preceded by a police motorcycle escort and your chauffeur driven vehicles has the national flag fluttering on the front fenders.
When I’m out on my bicycle I will be careful to get off my bike to be out of your way and I’ll genuflect as you are driven by.
You’re King Charles III, I presume? Or maybe president of the world?
Bicycles, cows, horses, waterfowl and pedestrians all have the right to use the road unmolested. Roads are not just for cars.
Alright, what happened to my comment? it wasn’t rude, it wasn’t attacking anyone. Because I dared to suggest that motorists tend to kill more motorists and pedestrians that bicyclists, my comment gets deleted? I’m becoming more and more disappointed by Hackaday. Maybe I triggered some people and there was a flame war below my post? Not a good reason to delete my post.
News flash: Roads aren’t for cars either. You just treat them like they are because everyone forgets that other transportation exists.
FOOT traffic is still legally the priority in the US, even though the laws often get ignored.
Driving is a luxury.
Pretending that a luxury is a necessity is how we got into this particular mess.
I need one of those for these countless situations when a car driving person is interfering in my right oft way or an elderly person is blocking the street wis his big car at 10km/h in a 30km/h zone.
good idea! I’ll need one too. For these countless situations cyclists pick and choose which road laws apply to them or not, or when they decide to ride 15km/h in a 50km/h zone, blocking the road for everybody else.
Rather have the later. Here cars drive 80km in a 5km zone. Rather be hit by a bike than a 4tonne SUV any day
My father in law did something like that many years ago.
He used to walk to the local train station every day to catch a train to the larger town where he worked.
A lot of the folks whose houses were along the way didn’t trim the tree and bush branches hanging over the sidewalk. He’s not a big fellow, but he was having to walk hunched over to get by.
One day, he had enough. The next morning, he took a pair of hedge clippers with him on the way to work. Anything that hung down and got in his face, he lopped off. Left a trail of green on the sidewalk all the way to the train station. The house owners got the message, and trimmed their trees and shrubs.
Great story. I like to try it in my own neighborhood someday. It must have been fun and I imagine him smiling all the way to work. And smiling again all the way back home later that day.
You can’t cut actual branches with a wire. A folding silky saw is the best wood saw you can buy.
for “on the go” trimming I really like a nice billhook TBH. Does better than a machete on thin/floppy stuff, and properly sharp will easily handle anything under 2.54cm. You’ll get far fewer youtube views for that though, unless you film some purple-hairs freaking out at you waving the thing around while zooming on your bike XD
Here’s a thought. You want to have the bike paths maintained, do some public service and maintain them! You’re not being taxed for your bike, and you want the same services that are paid for by the motoring public? No! Our road taxes already paid for the road modifications that allow cyclists to use paths and bike lanes. All we ask in return is sensible commuting by human powered bikes and low power/electric scooters.
In DC, fat chance. They ride with reckless abandon and get snitty when you call them out on dangerous behavior with phrases like “I have the right of way.” While that may be the case, understand that you are the smaller device on the road and if you choose to drive your bike/scooter/skateboard/other without regard for your own safety, that’s on you. Motorists do their best to avoid you, but that doesn’t mean you can just go when you please. Use common sense! Unfortunately personal responsibility only counts if you’re in a car, not piloting bikes etc.
You clearly do not understand who pays for the roads. Go educate yourself and come back with your opinions on who owns the roads.
So, while the gas taxes I pay when I purchase the fuel for my motor vehicle is sent into the general fund in most states, it contributes FAR MORE to the upkeep and maintenance of roadways than someone who uses, rents, considers etc a non motorized option. Hell only recently did electric vehicles fall into the pool that help pay for that.
Before you post your opinions, might I suggest you get a bit of education and try again? Have anything useful to add? Let the class know.
hahah that’s insane. i just want a good set of gardening shears that are small enough for everyday carry. i haven’t worked it out yet heh
Just make sheath to wear on your back like He-Man, then carry a set of hedge clippers on your back while biking. Learn to ride free-hand, and clip the hanging branches as you zoom by. Easy. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-Man