SALINE COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) — A Norwegian man attempting to rollerblade across the U.S. was killed in a hit-and-run in Kansas, officials said.
The Saline County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 24-year-old Joachim Lanham.
Lanham was documenting his rollerblading journey across the U.S. on Instagram. According to a post from his family, he was hit by an SUV on day 22 of his journey from New York to Los Angeles
I am too terrified to ride a bike 20km to the next town. I could probably do a quarter of it on paths. Perhaps a bit more bush bashing. But the highway sections seems like certain death. I envy places that are connected with paths. Huge respect for this guy.
Are you in australia?
I’ve done a bit of long distance riding here.
Bush tracks are ok, but be very, very mindful of snakes. Bush bashing is generally a bad idea. You’ll pick up ticks from foliage, and snakes can’t feel your vibrations and you can’t see them soooo…
Being on the road is generally ok, but a wing mirror is essential. You really need to be able to see traffic approaching behind you.
Cars can move around you but for road trains I just get off the road and stop on the shoulder. They’re too wide to leave any room for you, and the “bow wave” of air pushes you away, but then the void behind them pulls you on to be road, ready to be collected by the traffic following.
Welp, “bike touring Australia” is now officially off of my bucket list. Thank you for that
What’s a road train?
A truck with three trailers.
Actually funny thing I realized is that when I tried to go the next city over from the city I live in the safest paths were the forests and park paths . EVen unofficial paths were a better option, as in forests paths that shouldnt have a path but so many homeless people and drifters there go along thst path so often that the path has now been beaten into the ground and now its just there permanently.
Snakes are a real problem on narrow trails in Australia. On a bike they can’t sense the vibrations from your footfalls so they can’t get out of your way.
Also mobile / cell coverage is patchy. If you get bit then walking / riding is the worst thing you can do, but if you don’t have cell coverage then you’re cooked.
I guess we need municipal service for all towns, villages and cities that regularly keeps snakes, other venomous, and large carnivorous creatures off of these forest and unofficial paths.
I’m not sure how that could work.
Just take appropriate precautions.
You could just as easily fall and injure yourself and be in a similar situation.
For snakes, you have to be aware that they’re around, don’t ride through grass or foliage where you couldn’t see them, and if you do see one don’t stop next to it. I have a pressure bandage kit, and I have a personal locator beacon in case there’s no phone reception.
I was thinking maybe we have like designated ’ pedestrian highways’ or 'cyclist highways’that connects each municipality to another.
Roads that are often travelled by humans tend to be avoided by animals since animals have a fear of humans , rightfully so, and they typically do what it takes to avoid us. So all the people walking or biking down these roads will unconciously scare off most animals from them. I dont think there is currently a perfect solution for a problem like this but there has got to be a better way than whatever the heck we have now, right?
Honestly, I think the best solution for the time being is 2 part: for more people to ride bikes or be pedestrians, and a public awareness campaign to convince motorists that they need to be mindful of other types of road users.
Tracks between municipalities do exist, but not everywhere, they’re not used very much and often in disrepair.
You’re right that animals avoid well used tracks (in some cases) but where I live, the lack of people on bikes is the core problem.
I am very sure that public awareness campaigns are nearly useless.
People have been PSAing the americans and canadians on how self-destructively their car-centric infrastructures are for decades…and… there has been no substantial actions substantiated to change this by either of these peoples ever lol
People have been PSAing about the coming apocalyptic effects of climate change since the fucking 1950s bruh…and yet… there has been no substantial actions substantiated by most humans to change this.
People have been PSAing about the big 3 STDs for nearly a centurey…and yet…rates of these STDs continue to rise or remain stagnant for all those years.
Peoole have been issuing PSAs for this thing or that thing for decades and the success of these PSAs are questionably hit or miss. More miss than hit in my personal opinion.
I actially think that the second part of the solution is acomplete revolution of societies everywhere, car-centric or not. as in complete destruction of the car-centric infrastructure in a careful and slow manner, so nobody gets harmed , and then we revolutionize how we create the infrastructure of all socieites. I think that we need WAAAAAY more public taxpyers and researcher input before we construct or even demolish ANYTHING and humans have to ensure that such input is normalized everywhere and always when projects are proposed. Its really hard to ignore the public, then construct a highway that will rip through a city or town when almost every adult in there is willing to pick up arms to prevent you from doing that…
In my opinion even a million reforms and PSAs will never work when you want humans to make permanent, substantial change.
Not all PSAs are created equal I guess ?
The Slip Slop Slap sun protection campaign from the 80s comes to mind. Smoking cessation is another.
Trying to make people feel bad for driving cars isn’t going to work, but just trying to humanise people on bikes can’t hurt.
No way in hell would I walk , bike (motor bike even) , scooter, any form of transportation other than in a tank a disrance of 20KM or over. Especially if Im going the next city over.
The problem is two fold cause the drivers in north america are inherently bad and they think theyre better drivers than they are. BUT THEN ALSO the infrastucture in most of north america is car centric so when you go to a dangerous a crossing or a dangerous path …that path was probably made for cars , large emergency vehicles, large constructiin vehicles or military vehicles… that path was not made for cyclisrs or pedestrians. So youre rolling a loaded dice against your favour any time you go near paths like this without a tank of your own lol
If I wanted to travel such distances? Unless there is a ‘no car policy’ there and its blocked off ffrom all sides by authorities or Im travelling via a city bus or a train? Im not going. Sorry.
I cycled across Kansas when I was a teenager, in 1971 (yeah, I know, that was a long-ass time ago). I had no problem with cars or trucks. Some curious locals did ask me “why are you doing that?” and once I had to wait 20 minutes for a herd of cattle to cross the road. But that was a long time ago, when cycling was less popular, Kansas politics were pragmatic, the locals friendly, and road rage unheard of. Now, when I go there, people seem pissed off all the time and the state and local governments are malicious. Also, meth and rabid fundamentalism.
One of the best things my parents ever did was leave that state.
I did that ride during a family visit back, training for a ride from Los Angeles to Sonoma County that I ended up not doing. Instead, I got into cycling in the San Gabriels. Now, well past 60, I’ve started bike touring in Europe, where drivers are generally less inclined to kill you, though it does still happen. Also, there are car-free (with a few exceptions) cross-European cycle routes.
🫂🥺Glad that you survived . Hoped it was enjoyable 🥺🫂
Also
What in the fuck!? Im jealous 😒
Dang man, there were only 3 billion humans on this planet when you did that.