Stopped for Speeding on a bent

Every Spring the state put radar with large displays on the Parkway. I find that the radar gives a
5-10 MPH faster speed than what my dead on computer is syaing. The reason! The radar is picking up
the faster speed of the spinning pedals. So unless you have a fairing covering your pedals you could
beat any ticket in court. Sorry to burst your bubble. Ps there are calculations you can do to find
out the speed you are going at that gear inch and cadence just to check. Thats how I know my
computer is dead on 😉

Mike said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the top gear. Their was a car
on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the car. He looked really
supprised to see me on my Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I know that I can't give a
bicycle a ticket but you really should not exceed the posted speed limit. I replied this is a
bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you were going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said
sorry will go slower next time. Then he told me that he was a roadie and was interested in
recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale upright but was looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada
and Volae Club. I answer one of his questions how fast are they.🙂 I let him sit on it and he
liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure gets a lot of attention and
after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been impressing me each time I ride it.

-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- newsfeeds.comnewsfeeds.comOpen ↗ - The #1
Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

About half of all the people who I have let test ride my regular and E-bents have been the Police.
One traffic supervisor said to me last September that he has seen way too many dead and mangled
cyclists to ride one himself, but a short ride up and down an alleyway he said he'd seriously
consider getting a bent. Every so often when I ride he hits the siren and pulls up beside me and
says he is still thinking about the bent idea. I figure it is an image issue. Maybe if I can get one
bent then more will follow & go bent.........Hmmm "A Bent Copper"
**********************************
"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:e_0Ua.140534$H17.49687@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the

top

Quoted message said:

gear. Their was a car on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the
car. He looked really supprised to see me on my Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I
know that I can't give a bicycle a ticket but you really should not exceed the posted speed limit.

I

Quoted message said:

replied this is a bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you

were

Quoted message said:

going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said sorry will go slower next time. Then he told me that he
was a roadie and was interested in recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale upright but was
looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada and Volae Club. I answer one of his questions how
fast are they.🙂

I

Quoted message said:

let him sit on it and he liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure gets
a lot of attention and after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been impressing me
each time I ride it.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:e_0Ua.140534$H17.49687@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the

top

Quoted message said:

gear. Their was a car on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the
car. He looked really supprised to see me on my Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I
know that I can't give a bicycle a ticket but you really should not exceed the posted speed limit.

I

Quoted message said:

replied this is a bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you

were

Quoted message said:

going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said sorry will go slower next time.

He's wrong, he CAN give you a ticket on a bicycle, I got one years ago for right turn on red.

Quoted message said:

Then he told me that he was a roadie and was interested in recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale
upright but was looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada and Volae Club. I answer one of his
questions how fast are they.🙂

I

Quoted message said:

let him sit on it and he liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure gets
a lot of attention and after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been impressing me
each time I ride it.

Yup, best way to get out of a ticket is to let them admire the bike for a while 🙂

In California you can get a ticket.

Vehicle Code Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use

21200. (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all
the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division, including, but
not limited to, provisions concerning driving under the influence of alcoholic
beverages or drugs, and by Division 10 (commencing with Section 20000), Section 27400,
Division 16.7 (commencing with Section 39000), Division 17 (commencing with Section
40000.1), and Division 18 (commencing with Section 42000), except those provisions
which by their very nature can have no application.

Herman

--
Web site: www.wadler.org Email: [email hidden]

Wow. In Maryland you can get a ticket for speeding on a bike. The biker must obey the same rules of
the road as a motor vehicle, if applicable.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<e_0Ua.140534$H17.49687@sccrnsc02>...

Quoted message said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the top gear. Their was a car
on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the car. He looked really
supprised to see me on my Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I know that I can't give a
bicycle a ticket but you really should not exceed the posted speed limit. I replied this is a
bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you were going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said
sorry will go slower next time. Then he told me that he was a roadie and was interested in
recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale upright but was looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada
and Volae Club. I answer one of his questions how fast are they.🙂 I let him sit on it and he
liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure gets a lot of attention and
after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been impressing me each time I ride it.

Wow. In Maryland you can get a ticket for speeding on a bike. The biker must obey the same rules of
the road as a motor vehicle, if applicable.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<e_0Ua.140534$H17.49687@sccrnsc02>...

Quoted message said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the top gear. Their was a car
on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the car. He looked really
supprised to see me on my Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I know that I can't give a
bicycle a ticket but you really should not exceed the posted speed limit. I replied this is a
bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you were going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said
sorry will go slower next time. Then he told me that he was a roadie and was interested in
recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale upright but was looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada
and Volae Club. I answer one of his questions how fast are they.🙂 I let him sit on it and he
liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure gets a lot of attention and
after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been impressing me each time I ride it.

"losloufo" <[email hidden]> kirjoitti viestissä "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Every Spring the state put radar with large displays on the Parkway. I find that the radar gives a
5-10 MPH faster speed than what my dead on computer is syaing. The reason! The radar is picking up
the faster speed of the spinning pedals. So unless you have a fairing covering your pedals you
could beat any ticket in court. Sorry to burst your bubble. Ps there are calculations you can do
to find out the speed you are going at that gear inch and cadence just to check. Thats how I know
my computer is dead on 😉

5-10 mph faster?

Let us check.

Pedals are rotating in a circle, the diameter of which is about 0.35 m (=35 cm, 1 inch=0.0254 m). If
the cadence is very high, say 90 rpm (revolutions per minute) , the speed of the foot is

pi*0.35 m/(60 s /90)= 1.6485 m/s

1.6485 m/s*3600 s/hour= 6.0 km/hour

2. km/hour/(1.609 km/mile)= 3.6 mph

At top position the pedal speed 3.6 mph is added to the speed of the bike. At cadence 60 rpm the
speed is only 2.4 mph, not much more than the speed of a walking baby.

(At the lowest position it is subtracted. Astonishing, how small the speed really is, typically
about 15 % of the bike speed on flat terrain).

hwadler <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In California you can get a ticket.

Vehicle Code Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use

21200. (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all
the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division, including, but
not limited to, provisions concerning driving under the influence of alcoholic
beverages or drugs, and by Division 10 (commencing with Section 20000), Section
27400, Division 16.7 (commencing with Section 39000), Division 17 (commencing with
Section 40000.1), and Division 18 (commencing with Section 42000), except those
provisions which by their very nature can have no application.

While it's true that techically you could get a speeding ticket on a bike, it's complicated by the
fact that speedometers are not required equipment on bikes as they are on cars. Novices, at least,
really have no idea how fast (or slow) they're going. Besides, most police don't want to bother with
you if you aren't going at least 10 over. I think in the original story, the cop just wanted to talk
to the biker and see the neat 'bent.

In article optimistx said:

Quoted message said:

Every Spring the state put radar with large displays on the Parkway. I find that the radar gives
a 5-10 MPH faster speed than what my dead on computer is syaing. The reason! The radar is picking
up the faster

speed

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of the spinning pedals. So unless you have a fairing covering your pedals you could beat any
ticket in court.

5-10 mph faster?

<calcs snipped>

Quoted message said:

At top position the pedal speed 3.6 mph is added to the speed of the

bike.

Quoted message said:

At cadence 60 rpm the speed is only 2.4 mph, not much more than the

speed of

Quoted message said:

a walking baby.

(At the lowest position it is subtracted. Astonishing, how small the

speed

Quoted message said:

really is, typically about 15 % of the bike speed on flat terrain).

I doubt the radar was reading the pedal motion, much more likely it was seeing the apparent motion
of the spokes and miscalculating based on that. Radar *loves* rotating machinery. Most of the radar
returns on aircraft I am told is from the big spinning fans on the turbo jets or props. A lot of
stealth technology consists of moving the engines back into the body and running a carefully
calculated S shaped inlet duct to them covered with absorbing material - it shrouds the spnning fans
from the radar signals and vastly reduces the signature.

I've seen this first hand when a local police officer stopped by our parachute club one day and
amused himself with the radar gun. As one of the pilots, I was well aware of the speed of the jump
plane in various phases of the takeoff, 45 mph to get the nose gear up, 50 to pop up into ground
effect, accelerate to 70 and climb = but he was getting readings in the 80's while the plane was
still rolling on it's wheels! The radar was displaying a speed based on the prop rotation rate, but
it knows how to do is send the number it gets to the display, it's up to the officer to distinguish
what is good data and what is GIGO. Unfortunately they have a terrible track record at that. He was
quite convinced the plane was going 85 as the gun showed, and wasn't going to listen to any other
source of information. ;-(

As far as beating tickets - nope. I got tagged one day on a motorcycle. I'd just missed hitting a
pair of deer, and doing a panic stop and was working my way up the gears to cruise speed again when
I came around a corner by a country store with a car on my side of the road. It's cabin lights were
on, and in my jazzed up adrenaline charged state, I took that to mean the door was about to open and
someone clueless was going to step out in front of me so I got on the brakes again. When I slid to a
stop the lights came on and I got a ticket for 55 in a 40 zone. I was doing about 37 when the car
came in view and was still in 4th gear. The radar was either reading the wheel rate, or vibration
from the fairing. Went to court, showed my license to repair and calibrate those very radars,
explained why it wasn't right - and got told it didn't mean nothing. Got the points, paid the fine.
(and the next time those ruby red lights came on, I made the officer work for it. He didn't work
hard enough...)

In college, my roommate got ticketed for 37 in a 30 zone on a DF. He paid the ticket, but then wore
it proudly.

The small radar units like the MR11 and up are not the stuff their elders were made off. Back in the
day, there was tripod, a dish, and a plotter. The dish made the beam narrow, the plotter made
momentary abberations obvious. Today the gun has a 3 inch horn with a half power beamwidth of 23
degrees. That means for about a 45 degree swath out in front of the gun, everything is getting
painted about the same. Those little gunsight notches on top of the unit are frankly a joke, but the
officers believe the beam goes where they point and nowhere else. Out of this vast illuminated area,
a whole cluster of signals return, some showing fast, some slow, some loud, some soft. The crude
circuitry in the unit simply finds the loudest, fastest return and puts that up on the display. That
might be you 100 meters away, or it might be that truck coming down the hill a half mile behind you.
If you're going 55, but that truck is doing 70, you'll likely get the ticket cause the officer
thinks he's only pointing at you, but the truck is well illuminated too, and makes for a much louder
return than your semi-stealthy sports car. Anything that perturbs the beam momentarily, including
surges in the car electric system like when the airconditioning clutch pulls in, can get locked up
in the display as the highest speed. When NIST/NBS reviewed the radar units for the NHSTA, they
specifically recommended the 'peak hold' circuitry be disabled on units used for traffic control. It
will never happen. The ticket rate would drop too much, and the officers would have to watch the
display, not write reports while the radar is running.

We used to try to do 1/4 motorcycle trap times with a friendly officer in a defunct mall parking
lot. He'd point the radar gun, and we'd accelerate towards him. Sometimes we'd paint on the screen,
sometimes it would show 7 mph of the little old lady turning her buick around in the lot hundreds of
meters away. The radar profile of the bike was much smaller than the profile of the car, even though
it was 2-3 times farther away. But it only responds to the loudest, fastest signal.

Radar is more complicated than most folks, including the officers who use it, think. If you want to
get a good speed reading on a bicycle with one
- be sure there's nothing in the background of the bike moving, and you may have to cover the spokes
with an aero disc or something metallic to keep them from confusing the radar's simple minded
discriminator. Also you need to be coming more or less straight at, or straight away from the
radar to minimize something called 'cosine error'.

I know, TMI. ;-)

Ride on

Kevin, Linear LWB in the hills of CNY.

losloufo <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Sorry to burst your bubble. Ps there are calculations you can do to find out the speed you are
: going at that gear inch and cadence just to check. Thats how I know my computer is dead on 😉

I guess you are very sure about the circumference of your tires :-)

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fihpv.htmlOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

In Massachsetts we have to obey the traffic laws too, but their is no mechanism to enforce them to a
bicyclist. The enforcement part is in the works and comming soon.

"Pete" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wow. In Maryland you can get a ticket for speeding on a bike. The biker must obey the same rules
of the road as a motor vehicle, if applicable.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<e_0Ua.140534$H17.49687@sccrnsc02>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was riding down a long slight down grade peddling about 75 rpm in the

top

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

gear. Their was a car on the side of the road ahead. Suddenly a police officer jumped out of the
car. He looked really supprised to see me on

my

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Baccetta Strada. He flagged me down and said I know that I can't give a bicycle a ticket but you
really should not exceed the posted speed

limit. I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

replied this is a bicycle it does not exceed speed limits. He said you

were

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. I said sorry will go slower next time.

Then

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

he told me that he was a roadie and was interested in recumbents, he was riding a Cannodale
upright but was looking at the Vision Sabre, Baccetta Strada and Volae Club. I answer one of his
questions how fast are

they.🙂 I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

let him sit on it and he liked the seat. I have only had a bent for one riding season it sure
gets a lot of attention and after working out the initial bugs on the Strata it had been
impressing me each time I ride

it.

"Joshua Goldberg" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

About half of all the people who I have let test ride my regular and E-bents have been the Police.
One traffic supervisor said to me last September that he has seen way too many dead and mangled
cyclists to ride one himself, but a short ride up and down an alleyway he said he'd seriously
consider getting a bent. Every so often when I ride he hits the siren and pulls up beside me and
says he is still thinking about the bent idea. I figure it is an image issue. Maybe if I can get
one bent then more will follow & go bent.........Hmmm "A Bent Copper"
**********************************

Last summer, I was riding merrily(I really was merry...)and an oncoming police car stopped and
motioned for me to stop also. I immediately thought, " Oh man, what kind of [censored] am I gonna get?
"Too low." or "Get a taller flag." or "we've been recieving complaints...". When I was even with his
window, he said " Where did you get that bike? My wife saw you ride thru the neighborhood earlier,
and she said THAT is the kind of bike I want." I was on my homebuilt Tulpa trike. He now has a
Burley Canto(?) and is looking for another bike/trike.A few weeks ago I helped him fix a few things
that the dominately DF shop put together wrong. (For the locals, it was the big Fort Wayne shop that
starts with a "K".) Never hurts to have a few cops as friends.

rorschandt

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Rorschandt
"Joshua Goldberg" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

About half of all the people who I have let test ride my regular and E-bents have been the Police.
One traffic supervisor said to me last September that he has seen way too many dead and mangled
cyclists to ride one himself, but a short ride up and down an alleyway he said he'd seriously
consider getting a bent. Every so often when I ride he hits the siren and pulls up beside me and
says he is still thinking about the bent idea. I figure it is an image issue. Maybe if I can get
one bent then more will follow & go bent.........Hmmm "A Bent Copper"
**********************************

Last summer, I was riding merrily(I really was merry...)and an oncoming police car stopped and
motioned for me to stop also. I immediately thought, " Oh man, what kind of [censored] am I gonna get?
"Too low." or "Get a taller flag." or "we've been recieving complaints...". When I was even with his
window, he said " Where did you get that bike? My wife saw you ride thru the neighborhood earlier,
and she said THAT is the kind of bike I want." I was on my homebuilt Tulpa trike. He now has a
Burley Canto(?) and is looking for another bike/trike.A few weeks ago I helped him fix a few things
that the dominately DF shop put together wrong. (For the locals, it was the big Fort Wayne shop that
starts with a "K".) Never hurts to have a few cops as friends.

rorschandt

THIS is what you call speeding...........

http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/misc/MadFella.htm

I know the area, and it is a good hill, but evn so.......

pedal&pint <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

THIS is what you call speeding...........

legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukMadFella.htmOpen ↗

I know the area, and it is a good hill, but evn so.......

Do they actually give tickets for 3mph over the limit? Here a posted limit of 60 means 65 or so
before one MIGHT be stopped.

rorschandt

rorschandt said:

Do they actually give tickets for 3mph over the limit? Here a posted limit of 60 means 65 or so
before one MIGHT be stopped.

They don't give tickets *to cyclists* for speeding at all, but they /can/ do you for "riding
furiously". What constitutes "furious" is, I imagine, very much in the eye of the beholder. As far
as motor vehicles are concerned, the rule of thumb appears to be 10% above the posted limit + 2 mph,
so 35 in a 30, 79 on the motorway, at least for Gatso cameras. Real representatives of the Old Bill
may vary - I once got away with a mild finger-wagging for
92.

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

The article raises a couple questions for me.

1. Isn't the UK on the metric system? What's up with mph instead if kph?
2. The cycle world speed record is 207 mph? Motorcycles, I assume.

--
Rob Rudeski Trenton, GA RANS V2

<pedal&amp>; "pint" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Rorschandt said:

"Joshua Goldberg" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:AW1Ua.417$8-
[email hidden]:news:[email hidden]-
lobal.com:

Quoted message said:

About half of all the people who I have let test ride my regular and E-bents have been the
Police. One traffic supervisor said to me last September that he has seen way too many dead
and mangled cyclists to ride one himself, but a short ride up and down an alleyway he said
he'd seriously consider getting a bent. Every so often when I ride

he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

hits the siren and pulls up beside me and says he is still thinking about the bent idea. I
figure it is an image issue. Maybe if I can

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

one bent then more will follow & go bent.........Hmmm "A Bent

Copper"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

**********************************

Last summer, I was riding merrily(I really was merry...)and an

oncoming

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

police car stopped and motioned for me to stop also. I immediately thought, " Oh man, what
kind of [censored] am I gonna get? "Too low." or

"Get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a taller flag." or "we've been recieving complaints...". When I was

even

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

with his window, he said " Where did you get that bike? My wife saw

you

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ride thru the neighborhood earlier, and she said THAT is the kind of bike I want." I was on my
homebuilt Tulpa trike. He now has a Burley Canto(?) and is looking for another bike/trike.A
few weeks ago I

helped

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

him fix a few things that the dominately DF shop put together wrong. (For the locals, it was
the big Fort Wayne shop that starts with a

"K".)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Never hurts to have a few cops as friends. rorschandt

THIS is what you call speeding...........

legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukMadFella.htmOpen ↗

I know the area, and it is a good hill, but evn so.......

--

Quoted message said:

--------------------------<

Posted via cyclingforums.com cyclingforums.comcyclingforums.comOpen ↗

Rob Rudeski said:

The article raises a couple questions for me.

1. Isn't the UK on the metric system? What's up with mph instead if kph?

No. Well, sort of. It is illegal to sell goods in imperial quantities with the exception of milk and
draught beer and cider. But it is also illegal to put metric distances on signposts or to drive a
car with the speedometer marked in km/h only...

Quoted message said:

2. The cycle world speed record is 207 mph? Motorcycles, I assume.

On rollers. The /real/ cycle world speed record is 81 mph.

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================