a nocklebeast retrospective 2014

Hey! It's time for the best of the best of photos of 2014, and there's some few non-roller derby stuff too.

 Chantilly Mace is yelling and Skatelyn is smiling.  And I'm a sucker for lens flare.


If you don't know that junior derby is good derby, you should do something about that.


Ack! Broken ankle!


This may have been the last time I was at San Jose Skate (ever).





Betty the Kid and Maiden Hades


 I cropped this one down a bit and it made me smile, because is similar to Bob Ayers' style.




Behind the scenes at the Big O.


A little pre-bout pep talk from Beans


Captain signs the post-bout paper work.


A message from the Santa Cruz Gromshells for the Texas juniors is recorded.


Team USA vs Big O MVPs!


Hauss the Boss is MVP!


some pre-bout warmup roller dancing


Santa Cruz Portland Cement and VW Bug


with a whistle so soft


oh! Babygirl! (I should shoot wide open more often)


bench


soft focus supermoon


The Memorial Auditorium as a venue for roller derby




Slambda Phage verifies Erick Rawk has got the points right


 

Ace Wenchura on one toe stop




 



some post-bout roller dancing






Earlier? What I said about junior roller derby?  It's true (it's good!)




holiday parade!


penny


 the full flickr set of my best of 2014 is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157649569957207/

And I have several 2014 favorite sets for roller derby

2014 roller derby
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157639181164504/

WFTDA D1 playoff tournament at Sacramento favorites
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157649175463351/

Pac Destruction faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157645136868478/

Big O faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157644567551171/

Monterey Bay faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157643171436185/

Silicon Valley faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157643173502774/

Bay Area faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157642081085343/

Santa Cruz faves
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157642079260475/

We are all so proud of Santa Cruz County's first green bike lane (a death trap painted green is still a death trap)

In the late nineties, I used to make this bicycle commute east on Soquel towards Aptos Village.

On the approach of Soquel Village, I used to move out of the bike lane into the general traffic lane at this intersection. Bicycle speeds down the hill easily approached speeds of "rush hour" motoring traffic. Recently the bike lane has been painted green. With solid lines at the intersection instead of dashed lines.



The reason I moved out of the bike  lane into the general traffic lane was to avoid getting doored by motorists opening their doors into the bike lane.  Soquel Village is a commercial area with a high turnover of parked cars.  A coffee shop, The Ugly Mug, is on the corner of Soquel and Porter. I'd estimate that if I hadn't moved over to the left, I would have been hit by an opening car door on this block a few times a month.



This video illustrates how painting a door zone bike lane green doesn't make it less deadly.

http://www.wmur.com/news/bicyclist-dies-after-crashing-into-car-door/27583496

The newscasters describe getting killed by an opening car door as some sort of bizarre freaky thing, but it was really quite predictable.  The easiest way to avoid getting hit by a car door is to not ride in a door zone bike lane.  Ride at least 5-6 feet from parked cars.

These photos were taken on a Sunday morning instead of a weekday morning. Here's the door zone bike lane painted with magic green paint at the next intersection.






Perhaps half of California's motorists do not understand that the law requires them to merge into the bicycle lane on approaching a right turn instead of turning across it (CVC 27171).  But I wonder if painting a bike lane green with a a solid white line instead of a dashed white line discourages motorists from obeying the law.





Added 9 January 2015:
Apparently Steve Piercy is the mastermind behind the green lanes and door zone bike lane on Soquel (http://www.stevepiercy.com/articles/soquel-drive-gets-santa-cruz-countys-first-green-bike-lanes/).

"The bike lanes are intended to make it clear to all road users where bicyclists are expected to ride when riding straight ahead. The placement of the bike lanes help make bicyclists more visible to drivers, helping drivers anticipate where bicyclists will ride."

Instead of adding sharrows on the street away from the parked cars, a door zone bike lane is added because cyclists are expected to prioritize the perceived convenience of motorists over their own safety like the good second class citizens they are.

Monterey Bay Derby Dames vs Bad Apples

some photo highlights!





























another morning of good derby comes to an end





the full flickr set is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/sets/72157646518899833/