Selfie-related injuries and deaths versus shark & cow attacks 

The simple fact that the following list exists is scary enough, but the fact that the death total is higher than shark attacks is just mind blowing. Thankfully the death tole is still not as high as cow related deaths at 22 because everyone knows that cows are the real killer of the sea.

January

  • A 21-year-old South African woman died after falling from Northcliff Hill, Johannesburg as a male companion was setting up a tripod for a selfie. Reports vary as to the identity of the companion.[21][22]
  • Two young men died in the Ural mountains as they pulled the pin from a hand grenade to take a selfie, which remained as evidence of the circumstances of their deaths.[23]
  • Three Indian students aged 20 to 22 died trying to take a “daredevil selfie” close to an oncoming train.[24]

May

  • An 18-year-old Romanian teenager died when she attempted to take the “ultimate selfie”, posing with a friend on top of a train in the north-eastern Romanian city of Iași when her leg touched a live wire above, sending an electrical surge of up to 27,000 volts through her body. A 17-year-old friend who accompanied her was hospitalised.[25]
  • A teenager climbed on a railway bridge in the Ryazan region in Russia to take a selfie and died when he came in contact with live wires.[26]
  • A 21-year-old Russian woman asked a security guard at her office to give her a 9-millimeter rubber-bullet pistol for taking a selfie and accidentally shot herself in the head sustaining heavy injuries.[27]
  • A 21-year-old man from Yogyakarta, Indonesia fell into the crater of Mount Merapi and died while attempting to take a selfie.[28][29]
  • A Singaporean tourist died after falling into the sea while taking a selfie on a cliff in Nusa Lembongan, an island off the coast of Bali, Indonesia[30]

July

  • A 21-year-old Russian university graduate died after falling from a bridge while she was trying to take a memorable selfie next to Moscow City financial district.[31]
  • A man from San Diego, California, was hospitalised for five days following an attempt to take a selfie with a rattlesnake.[32][33][34]

August

  • A man died in the annual bull running festival in the town of Villaseca de la Sagra trying to take selfie with the animals.[35]

September

  • A 19-year-old from Houston, Texas died after trying to take an Instagram selfie while holding a loaded gun to his head. He accidentally fired the gun and shot himself in the throat.[36]

  • A Japanese tourist fell down a staircase to his death while taking a selfie at the Taj Mahal.[37]

 

Source: List of selfie-related injuries and deaths – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crosstown Bixi with Saddle Bags

IMG_4421
Panniers are MEC AquaNauts. 

Ever wonder what to do with all your cycle gear if you have to leave it at the bike shop because of a broken spoke. It’s not like you can just lock it in the trunk and only give the garage the valet key. Yesterday, I had the chance to figure all this crap out.

First off, a little back story. I jumped a bad curb coming off the Banana Bridge in Valois on Wednesday and not only pinch a tube but busted a spoke. After fixing the flat, I managed to secure the spoke and get into town. I dropped off the bike at my fave LBS: Martin Swiss and then went back to work. When it came time to pick up the bike on Thursday evening, I really did not feel like taking the bus in cycle shorts and shoes. So I came up with the idea of getting the Westmount shop via Bixi bike. A buddy lent me his key for 45 minutes and then I had to figure how to strap the paniers to a rackless bike. Luckily the Bixi bikes has a make shift sturdy bask made for strapping in a attache case or something of similar size.  So I would be able to get one of the bags in but what about the second? Well it turns out that you can feed the Bixi bungy chord through the straps and position the bag so it faces forward over the first bag. It looks stupid and is bit awkward to ride with but it does the trick.

IMG_4423

The funniest part of course is riding across town along Maisonneuve in full cycle gear: shoes, shorts, shirt, helmet and gloves while everyone else is still wearing their city clothes. Even the courriers were having a good chuckle at my behalf. Oh well it’s not like it’s the first time this summer.
bixi-Central-Westmount

 

The setup got me to the shop in time to pick up the Hornet and get back home again safely and comfortably on a great bike that already served me for 3000KM this summer.

We Did It And We Have a RickShaw

Well sort of… We have definitely raised over $50,000.00 for the Segal Cancer Research Centre at the Jewish General Hospital. To be clear, 100% of that money is going to cancer research. All other expenses: rickshaw, inner tubes, Dagwoods Sandwiches and beers are paid for by us the riders and our sponsors. A very good feat for TeamKat indeed. We bested last years ride by $10,000.00. And of course we are still accepting donations.

So about the rickshaw… you would not believe how hard it has been to secure one of these puppies for the weekend. Two of the companies we called flat our refused to rent us one for the whole weekend due the distance we are covering: 250KM. I can understand some trepidation about seeing your equipment be loaned outside of your home turf, but that is why security deposits exists. To those guys, all I can say is shame on you. The ride to Conquer Cancer is a well established charity event with unbelievable technical and logistic support.

ricksahwSo we stared looking into riskshaws we could buy outright. This was  not as easy as one would think for such a cosmopolitan city like Montreal. For example we found a lot of stuff that “needed work”like this one in the picture. Or some that were basically just adult tricycles.  Such as the one below. Although I will probably be going back there soon for another project I thinking of.

TrikenotRickshaw

So getting back to our quest. As time was running short and suppliers were backing out, some of the TeamKat members and supporters got involved and managed to secure a ride for the weekend. As my buddy PK would say, this one is:

“SAME SAME….. BUT DIFFERENT”. 

IMG_4050

Enter the Ted. Our good friend Ted managed to find this old sailing dinghy turned cargo bike with seat and dodger for a roof. I will admit it’s not exactly an aero bike like my Kuota, but a deal is a deal and a gentleman always honours his wagers. So here I am. Two days before the ride, with an amazing effort form TeamKat and all our sponsors and donors getting ready to literally push this boat downstream to Quebec City. My only consolation is that I will be carrying my own food and beer along the ride, conditions of the wager of course. And if things get really bad, I will just head for the nearest landing and sail this thing down the river using a Dagwoods t-shirt as a spinnaker.

GO TEAMKAT GO

 

RTCC Rickshaw UPDATE: Only $1600 To Go


Just wanted to give everyone an update as to the whole Rickshaw saga for this year’s Ride to Conquer Cancer. We have now raised just over $48,000 and I am now seriously worried about finding a rickshaw in time.

I honestly did not think it would happen and have been caught a little flat-footed. So I am now counting on all of you to help donate towards last the $1600.00 dollars and hopefully help out with the rickshaw rental or purchase.

Please reach out to us and let us know if you can help.  Comments below or use the Twitter and Facebook links.

The Cancer Kicking RickShaw Dream Lives On

Via WikiMedia.org

So one night this winter, I jokingly made a bet that if TeamKat was able to raise $50,000.00 for this year’s Ride to Conquer Cancer in support of the Jewish General Cancer Research Centre, I would make the ride on a rickshaw complete with a passenger and case of beer for them to enjoy. Well, I’m an idiot…

As of this morning, TeamKat has raised $41,423.32. A busy weekend rush has seen the team raise $3000 to take us within $8500. That means that with only 12 days to go I could see myself strapping the the red rocket to the back of one of these bad boys (see above) and spinning my ass up the Donnacona hills to la Vielle Ville.

I must admit, I am actually getting worried.  Why:

  1. It’s going to be f…ing hard
  2. I DON’T have a rickshaw… And don’t know where to get one
  3. Did I say it was going to be hard.
  4. Blair and Ted want to sit in the back….
  5. And It’s going to be fracking hard.

So if you hate Cancer as much as I do and you want to see me suffer… A LOT! Please give generously using this link.

And as I’m being such an idiot, I might as well go one more:

  1. For $5000 you get to ride the whole way beer & sandwich’s included (Trevor you just volunteered to make the Dagwoods)
  2. For $1000 You get to ride for one stage and slap your corporate logo on the rickshaw
  3. For $500 You get to slap your corporate logo on the rickshaw
  4. For $250 You just get slapped with a Dagwoods sub.

 

 

 

Sailing on Suds Explained

T22suds_EXPLAINED

So with the mast up, sails rigged, and toilet in full flush mode we are ready for another season of twilight racing. I’m always looking for extra crew, no experience needed as long as you respect the above “infographic”.

Here’s to cheap tinnies, salty snacks and the occasional dip at the sand bar.

This showed up in a club email this morning, so if this is yours or you know where it’s from, let me know.