I couldn’t decide on a title for this post, so I gave it two.  I could’ve actually given it many more – Belly Buster, Scale Tipper, Glut Gut.  You get the picture.  I have put on 11 pounds since Thanksgiving.  Compare this to last year, I lost about 30lbs from Thanksgiving to the first of the year and had lost a total of 50lbs by the beginning of February.

I attribute this to several things.  First, the most obvious, I am not watching what I am eating.  More to the point, I am eating tons of junk!  I am perpetually snacking.  This is very bad.  Second, I haven’t been exercising.  I haven’t been biking, I haven’t been to the gym.  My healthy life came to a screeching halt right around Thanksgiving.

Sure, it is not uncommon for Americans to put on weight around this time of year, but I don’t need to fall into senses of justification.  I need to get back into the swing of it.

Starting on Tuesday, since I am unable to on Monday, I am resuming my strict routine.  Bike to work, workout at the gym, eat my brought-from-home lunch, bike home – with my professional work routine sprinkled in between.

The holidays are over and so is my excessive behavior.

And there you have it.

Joe.

Yesterday, Sunday, the “first day of the week”, my wife, my son, and I joined our good friends, Brian, Lisa, and their son, Logan, on a trip to North Carolina.

– Wait.  Let me back up.

Saturday night - “Last Week” – Joyce, Daniel, and I attended a Christmas party.  There were lots of kids there and we stayed as long as we thought Daniel could stand it.  His hair was drenched in sweat from running around with all the other kids.  When we got home, he collapsed and went straight to sleep.  Just before leaving for the party, Daniel, informed us of his severely loose tooth.  Though we wiggled and pulled, it was not quite ready to come out.

Sunday morning – yesterday – the first thing that Daniel did was wake up and show us his newly extracted tooth.  Apparently, the tooth only needed a good night sleep before coming out.  So that marks the first Big thing in Daniel’s week.  Daniel lost his first tooth!  He was so proud.  He carried it around in his hand at least five minutes before he surrendered it to the “tooth fairy box”.

Next we got ready for our trip to North Carolina.  This was not just an ordinary trip.  This was a trip to the Polar Express.  We were going to drive three hours to Bryson City to board the famous train.  Daniel and Logan were ecstatic.

The trip went smoothly.  The boys only asked if we were there yet about 5 times each.  Completely tolerable for a 3+ hour drive.  Logan watched Cars, the Movie and Daniel, of course, watched Star Wars Clone Wars.  He watched the movie, then he watched several episodes, then we watched the movie again.

When we arrived, we got our tickets, grabbed a bite to eat and then changed the boys into their pajamas. 

The train ride was great.  Daniel and Logan were very excited about the many activities that went on during the trip.  We were served hot chocolate to the song Hot Chocolate from the movie.  The conductor stopped at every seat and punched each child’s ticket.  He didn’t have the skill of Tom Hanks, so he only punched each ticket with one “very special” hole.  Then we all sang Christmas carols as the trip progressed.  Finally, we reached the destination – The North Pole, where Santa and an elf were waiting to board the train.

The North Pole was a little skimpy, I must admit, but the kids didn’t care.  Santa boarded the train and greeted each kid individually during the return trip.  We rounded out the train ride with more caroling.  Both Daniel and Logan enjoyed the ride thoroughly.  It was a great time.

That marks the second Big item in Daniel’s week.  While today is only Monday, clearly, the week has another big day – Christmas.  But for Daniel, there will be another Big item before Thursday.

Wednesday, Christmas Eve, is also Daniel’s sixth birthday.  So this time of year is always a big deal for Daniel.  He tends to get a lot of presents as no one wants to be “that guy” who gave Daniel one present for both occasions.  In fact, he probably gets too many presents, but it’s his birthday and Christmas – what are you gonna do?

So we will have a small party for Daniel’s birthday on Christmas Eve, before our company (Brian, Lisa, and Logan) arrive for Christmas Eve dinner.  We will have a full blown party for him in January.

He’s a good kid and I love him very much.

Happy week, son.

We get the privilege of having a view into the lives of two of their guinea pigs - Ron and Peter.  Ron and Peter are roommates and have been friends since they were kids.  They are both unattractive, mildly unintelligent, and besides dealing with drug side-effects and other occupational hazards, their time is spent playing video games.  There are a few people that they might consider their friends, but most would not.

	Peter is best friends with Ron.  He doesn’t and probably hasn’t ever had a girlfriend.  He hides a little pony that he sings the songs he wrote for in secret.  He looks as if they just drug him out of a dumpster.  He isn’t very loyal to TESTiCO, but he remains an employee because of his friendship with Ron and his need of money.  Peter often begs for the placebo because he is convinced that Ron always gets it.
	Ron is best friends with Peter.  He doesn’t do well with women, but has more success than Peter.  He’s more pragmatic than his buddy, which means he is slightly less paranoid.  He tries to look out for his buddy unless, of course, he can benefit by not doing so.  All-in-all, Ron is a pretty simple guy who usually has his head on straight.
	Nugget, besides having one of the best nicknames known to man, is Peter and Ron’s “neighbor”.  I use the term loosely as he is really homeless and has been squatting in an empty apartment down the hall for years.
	Larry is the senior most employee at TESTiCO.  He prides himself in his testing abilities and considers himself somewhat of a ladies man.  He is pretty disgusting and overbearingly hits on any woman he finds attractive.
	Kate is the owner and bartender of the bar in Peter and Ron’s building.  We are not sure if she is still alive - after Peter gained the courage and kissed her, her peanut allergy kicked in and we haven’t seen her since.

Testees is one of the most stupid, irreverent, envelope-busting shows I have ever seen - no wonder I love it.  Check out this clip where Peter and Ron lose their memories (one of those hazards of the occupation) and Nugget convinces them that they are homosexual life partners.

And there you have it. - Joe

One of the podcasts I listen to is Scott Hanselman’s “HanselMinutes“.  One fo the episodes I was recently listening to had a discussion between Scott, the host, and Rod Conery, the guest host, about Domain Driven Design (DDD).  Apparently, Rod does not know DDD, and is doing research in order to learn it.  In this podcast, both guests describe their openness to learning.  What I mean by that is that they are very open with the public, via their blogs and/or other mediums, to what they don’t know.  More importantly, they are very open about the way they go about learning new things and invite others to join them in their learning process so more can benefit from their experiences.  This was very inspiring to me.

I have had a great time blogging this year.  It started out this time last year as a New Year’s resolution.  I had started blogs several times in the past, only to have them fizzle and die.  I think I have been successful in my resolution as it is the end of the year and I am still blogging.  There were a few rough spots during the summer, but I bounced back and am now stronger than ever.

Now I am turning the corner.  I have decided to take on three blogs next year.  I will continue josephdecarlo.com with similar content, but will add two new blogs: one I will be launching today and one that I will save to talk about in a later post.  The new blog I will be launching today is my vision of open learning that Scott and Rod practice.

This will be a very technical blog.  On this blog, my technology articles are about technology subjects, but are not, themselves, technical in nature.  My new blog, located at http://www.technicalmatriculate.com will be completely technical in subjects and content.

My first topic I will be learning and, thus, covering with a series of posts, will be Microsoft’s Windows Workflow Foundation (WF).  This is a topic that I have needed to wrap my head around for a long time, but have never made the time for it.

Hopefully, contrary to the title of this article, my new blog will not feather my reader base, but provide more content rather than act as a substitution for this site.  So techheads, please join me, on my new site (Technical Matriculate), as I learn about WF.  And to everyone, techheads and otherwise normal people alike, please continue to visit this site.  I will continue to post new articles here regularly.

thanks for your support.

Joe.

One of the not-so-little hardcovers that Joyce brought home is called the Elf on the Shelf - A Christmas Tradition.  It is a book that explains to kids how Santa knows their Christmas wishes and who’s been naughty or nice.  He sends out scout elves to observe the children.  Each elf watches from a high post in the house during the day, and then flies back to the North Pole each night to report their findings directly to Santa.  After which, they return to their assigned child’s home and take a new post within the house to start a new day of spying—I mean observing.  The book comes complete with an elf that you name with your child.

There are keys to making this reality for your child.  One - you have to be able to explain why the elf is toy-like and not an animated creature.  We explained to our son that the elves only come to life at night right before they fly back to see Santa, just like the toys in the movie Toy Story.  Having seen the movie, this made complete sense to Daniel.  Another key is your child mustn’t touch the elf.  Actually handling the elf allows it to become a “toy” for your child.  There needs to be a distance kept, an abstraction in your kid’s mind to keep this real for them.  If the elves “loose their magic” if touched by human hands, then that reduces the temptation for your child to touch and play with them.  This has worked so well with Daniel, that he once got sad because he knew he would never be able to hug his elf.

Now my 5 year-old, Daniel, who turns six on Christmas Eve, was “assigned an elf by Santa” when he was two, almost three.  Daniel has named many things for a five year-old.  Each member of his large stuffed animal collection has a name, but unlike most youngsters, the names are not basic.  Sure, he has a few that have predictable names - Oinky the pig, for example.  Most of the time he is very creative with his names.  We have a monkey named Alphie, a frog named Ravioli, a snake named Sakey Seymour, a horse name Oreo, and a real hamster named Baggio, pronounced Bah-gee-O.  With his creativity in naming, it only made sense that he name our elf.  Our elf is named Fillmore.

There are upsides and downsides to this tradition.  The upsides are numerous.  Every morning  I get to see that Christmas excitement in Daniel’s eyes as he searches for Fillmore.  Also, Daniel believes that Fillmore is real and that he is really at our home to report on his behavior.  This can be leveraged!  If Daniel is pouting…threaten to tell Fillmore.  It is amazing how well this works.  Even this morning when Daniel wouldn’t get out of bed to get ready for school, I told him I was going to find Fillmore by myself and tell him.  Seconds later, Daniel whizzed by me racing to find Fillmore first.  The only real downsides are: 1.  You have to remember that Fillmore must go back to the North Pole every night.  This means he must be at a new post every morning.  It takes discipline remember that nightly for almost a month.  2.  This year, in Kindergarten, Daniel’s teacher read the book and has an elf for the classroom.  This elf has been handled by Daniel’s fellow students.  He reported to me that he won’t touch the elf because he knows it will take away its magic and he won’t be able to get home to the North Pole if it is lost.  The other students apparently ignore the “no touching” rule.  So far, that hasn’t spoiled it for Daniel…we’ll see how long it lasts.

This is the third year that Daniel and I have spent scavenging the house, every morning between Thanksgiving and Christmas, looking for Fillmore’s new post.  It is a great time for our family, and we will continue this tradition for a long time - even after Daniel figures things out.

And there you have it.

Bike Rack.  If you remember from my earlier post, I have a Jeep with oversized tires.  This little fact limits the types of bike racks that I can get.  I didn’t buy either of the two racks that I was considering before.  Instead, I bought the Swagman XP: 2.  It has the ability to carry two bikes and has a locking mechanism that secures both bikes.

Cycling Clothes.  I learned a bit here.    I ended up with mostly Pearl Izumi products.   Gloves are important and I was able to find some pretty good ones.  They make thicker ones that are  warmer, and thinner ones that provide more finger dexterity, but the ones that I found are working great.   Pearl Izumi’s Arm and Leg warmers are great for using those summer outfits in the winter.  The ones I got have Therma Fleece which adds a little more warmth the some of the alternatives.  I also got some Calientoes, which are basically toe covers for your bike shoes.  They haven’t tested out too well, though.  They keep my feet warm enough, but they have torn on the bottom and sides. 

Panniers.  I ended up not getting panniers at all.  I decided to get a commuter’s backpack by Novara (REI Brand).  This way I didn’t have to worry about extra weight on  my back tire and how I was going to mount the thing.  The backpack I got is a commuter style.  It sits higher on my back making it easier to ride with it on.  It has a compartment to store a U-Lock and rain fly to keep it dry in wet weather.  I carry my laptop, clothes and shoes, and emergency supplies (spare tube, etc.) in it.  It doesn’t have enough space to add anything else.  That is its only downside.  It is probably the best purchase I have made.

Multi-Toolkit.  I purchased the Crank Brothers Multi 19 Tool.   I still don’t know how to use half of what it has, but I have it for when I need it.

Cycling 101 Class.  I already blogged about this experience.  Check it out here, if you haven’t already.

And there you have it.

Joe.

As I was contemplating leaving or taking to the route on my own, I was surprised to see a rider zoom by to the back corner of the parking lot.  I had decided that I wanted to ride despite having missed the group, so I got my bike ready and rode over to where I saw the rider that had zoomed by.  I asked how far ahead the 20 mile group was and he replied that he didn’t know.  He had tried to catch them and gave up when he realized they were too far ahead.

So we decided to ride.  At first, I thought the ride may be a bit easier, but the other guy, being 17 years younger than me, shut down that idea before it had time to flourish. 

We left somewhere around 10:20am which was late enough to ensure we had no chance of catching the original group.  Interestingly enough, we did pass some of the fallout riders. 

What is it about passing someone while running or riding that makes it so invigorating?  Anytime I am riding along and see someone ahead of me, despite how far they are, I start trying to close the distance until I eventually pass them.  The opposite is true as well.  I can’t stand the thought of being passed.  Anytime I sense that someone is closing in and wanting to pass me, I push myself harder to keep it from happening. 

When I was riding with Mike’s Bikes about two months ago, one of the riders, Molly, commented that she thought that was a common feeling and that I need to figure out a way to avoid it.  I guess that makes sense.  There will always be someone out there faster, with more endurance, and overall better than you.  Pushing yourself is fine, but it can be overdone.

My partner Saturday’s in crime, err… that is to say: the other late dude, told me about his father during our ride.  How he permanently damaged his body by over training for Ironman Triathlons.  Now he can no longer do stressful exercising without falling into relapse. 

At 38, I am really excited that I am getting back into shape, but hearing this awful tale gave me caution.  A body needs its rest, especially when it is rapidly approaching middle-aged.  I am the type to go all out when I do things.  It explains the fair amount of injuries I have sustained during my life.  It is not that I have “no fear”, but it’s that I give it my all.  I guess I am going to have to manage that attribute from here on out.

To bring this post back around to its original topic, we finished our ride with a fairly decent time/average.  I found out that he is riding to train for a triathlon next year.  With that and Tom Daugharty planning to compete in one also, I am feeling a bit left out.  We shall see what the future holds.

And there you have it.

- Joe.

To explain MindManager, it would probably be helpful to first explain mind maps.  Mind maps are diagrams that represent thoughts or ideas surrounding a central topic.  They are commonly used to record in brainstorming sessions.  They are built by starting with a shape in the middle of the writing surface.  This could be a circle, square or line.  A word or words is written with the shape that declares the central topic.  From then every idea that stems from the topic is recorded in a shape that is connected to the topic.  Ideas can also stem from other ideas.  These child ideas are represented in shapes that connect to the idea it stemmed from.  This is more difficult to express in words than by a picture, so let me provide an example.

Notice that in the center of the map, lies the topic of the map (In this case the topic is entitled “New Course Design”), and how each subtopic is connected to it by a line.  This is a great way to loosely organize your ideas.

The example above is a mind map that I found on the web.  I didn’t create it and can only speculate what it is for by reading it.  But to show the power of MindManager, I decided to recreate the map above.

I have found MindManager to be a quick and easy way to take meeting notes, layout complex ideas, and even plan my son’s 6th Birthday party.  MindManager auto places each node and reshuffles as you add more.  You have the ability to manually move them or force them into different layouts that it provides, but I find the default auto layout to be the best.

Another extremely useful feature of MindManager is its very rich web 2.0 UI.  To be clear, there is a rich client for Windows or Mac, and there is a web interface.  However, the web interface is dependent on my favorite feature -> Mindjet Connect.  Mindjet Connect is the S+S (Software plus Services) feature of MindManager, so you can save your map files in the cloud.  If S+S  or Cloud computing means nothing to you, no worries…in this case it just means that you don’t save your MindManager files on your computer, they get saved on Mindjet’s servers so you can access them from any machine.  Much like Gmail - you don’t save your emails on your computer, they are saved on Google’s servers.

In the case of Mindjet Connect, you can invite others (non-MindManager users) to your virtual workspace and allow them to interact and contribute to your map files.  This is a really nice feature if you are interested in using mind mapping as a collaboration tool.

This is a very geeky post, I know, but for those of you who take lots of notes and have tons of Word docs littering up your hard drive… you should check this out.  And since I mentioned Word, I should probably mention its extensive integration with Microsoft Office products.  You can link in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Access, and OneNote.  You can export to them as well.  Exports…well there’s another interesting topic.

You can export to many things…PDF, many image formats, MPX, and Office documents including a limited export to Outlook.  You can also export to one or more web pages, and to a PDF that has a “Mindjet Player” built in that allows the consumer to collapse and expand the notes on the map.

There are a ton of features that I am leaving out, so let’s just say… try it.  There is a free trial that you can get from their site.

Note: You don’t have to be a computer geek like me to like this software.

And there you have it.

Joe

Addendum

In light of Michael Deutch’s comment, I thought I’d link to an eight part blog series he did on MindManager 8:

Post 1:  What’s Great in MindManager 8: Introducing the Mindjet Player

Post 2:  Tackling Tough Tasks: MindManager 8’s Top Task Management Enhancements

Post 3:  Context Matters: Edit Office Files Within MindManager Maps

Post 4:  Browsing Within Your MindManager Maps

Post 5:  Serving Up Web Services

Post 6:  Visualize Your Data with the New Database Linker

Post 7:  3 Ways Search with MindManager 8 Just Got Better

Post 8: Get Connected and Share Your Maps

And there it is again…

Joe.

This brings me to the second part of my post - the “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” part.  As I was riding around town on Black Friday, I got caught by a traffic light that wouldn’t change for me.  There were no cars and no crosswalk button that I could push to encourage the light to change to green.  My choices were to wait a very long time for a car to meander down this secluded side street,  turn around and abandon my trip, or attempt to run this red light with as much precaution and safety as you can get when breaking the law.  This made me realize that though bicyclist have as much right to the road as motorized vehicles, the roads were not designed with bicyclists in mind.

First I started researching how traffic lights that change based on vehicle presence worked.  I found that there are three basic types:  Ones that use lasers, ones that use air hoses, and ones that use inductance.  If you’ve seen the “pressure plates” at stop lights that look like your vehicle tire must be on them to work, then you’ve actually seen the inductive loop sensors.  Those pressure plate looking things are not actually pressure sensors, but are cuts in the asphalt to insert a coil of wire used in inductive loops.  I am not going to butcher the explanation, because I barely understand it myself.  There is a good explanation of it here.  Let’s just say that inductive loops provide a electromagnetic field which is interrupted by large metal objects (cars, trucks, etc.).  Bikes do not have enough inductive material to interrupt that electromagnetic field.  During my research, I found several products that were created for bicyclist to solve this problem.

GreenLight has two products (one an improvement over the other) that promises bikes will “Stop Getting Stuck at Red Lights!”  Here is their explanation of how their product works, but the abbreviated version is they have small metal magnet that  you place on your bike that will interfere with the electromagnetic field at intersections, “fooling” the computer into thinking your bike is a large metal object, thus triggering the light to turn green.  At $24.95 with an unconditional 30-day money back guarantee, it is probably worth a try.

If you are not wanting to buy a product, Instructables.com has a DIY version that involves epoxying a magnet to the bottom of your bike shoe.  Comments to the blog post indicate it works and suggest other alternatives.

Personally, I don’t run into this problem very often in Atlanta.  I happened upon it Friday, because I was biking around town in Columbus, GA.  If you are running into this problem often, try one of these solutions and let us know how it went.

And there you have it.

- Joe.

In terms of preparation

• Be prepared for the workout… always carry water or other hydrant and USE it.  When it is cold, you may not sweat or may think you are not sweating. Either way, you can still get dehydrated.  Do not subject yourself to cramps or worse due to improper hydration.
• Be prepared for flats… they will happen.  There are different schools of thought on this matter.  You could repair them, and though it is tedious and time consuming, some people swear by it.  I, on the other hand, am partial to carrying spare tubes.  They take up more space and weigh more than patch kits, but I find it a much easier, more permanent solution.  Road bikes are more prone to flats than hybrids or mountain bikes, but they all can get flats!  Have a set of tire levers on hand - they are cheap and indispensable.  Make sure you have a way to put air in the tire.  I prefer CO2 cartridges, but realize I also keep my tires at 130psi.  It is easier to pump up tires that require lower PSI.  Portable air pumps are easily mountable or are small enough to fit in a back pack or jersey pocket.
• Be prepared for night… it is inevitable.  It is better to leave work with enough time to complete your commute home before darkness hits, but sometimes it sneaks up on you.  As the year progresses, along with daylights savings, night comes sooner.  If you have a long commute, like me (20 miles each way), it has a greater impact.  If I leave my desk at 5pm, by the time I get suited and leave, I don’t have enough time to get home before dark.  Don’t forget that rainy days bring dark skies as well.  The key here is not seeing, but being seen.  Have a white front light, preferably blinking.  Have a rear red light, also blinking.  I also have a blinking red strobe on my back pack so people see it at eye level.  Have reflective shoes - since your feet are always moving, they have a better chance of catching someone’s eye.  It is a good idea to have a white light on the front of your helmet as well.  While a white light on your bike shows your direction, a light on your helmet can also catch someone’s eye because your head is constantly moving.  Don’t wait until it is dark to mount or turn on your lights, turn them on if it is even remotely possible it may be dark before you finish your ride.
• Be prepared for exhaustion… long days at work can creep up on you, even at desk jobs.  I carry Gu packets in my backpack just in case, but any carbohydrate formula will do.  There are different types. Ones that provide a lot of calories and others that provide sugars.  Getting caught on a commute with no energy to finish the ride is a bad deal.  Fatigue leads to bad judgement which leads to accidents.
• Be prepared for isolation… if you get into a situation where you are stranded, invariably, it will be in a place where it is too far to walk and is not well traveled.  Carry a cell phone.  I can’t stress this enough.  There are countless situations you can get into on a ride home where a simple phone call can be the resolve.  Even though you can’t really talk on it while riding, leave it on.  If you were to wreck, or something worse, you can be found by your cell phone signal.  I never commute without one.

In terms of gear

• Dress for current and possible weather.  It is easy to wrap yourself up in multiple layers to prepare for a cold morning’s ride.  Remember, the morning commute is only half of the trip.  Be aware that the evening may be much warmer, or it could be raining on your way home.  Make sure you have a way to carry the clothes you would rather not wear in the evening.  I prefer to wear things that are removable.  I have arm warmers and leg warmers.  I carry a spare set of gloves in my pack, long fingered to wear during the cold and fingerless in case it warms up.  I wear a balaclava to keep my face and neck warm, but it is easy to store, or just wear around my neck if not needed.  Toe warmers can help with shoes that have vents.  The same goes for helmet covers.  Just be sure that you don’t overdress or have issues stowing the things you don’t want to wear home.
• Carry spare shoes.  If you have the room, carry a light pair of sandals or flip-flops.  This really depends on the type of clipless you ride.  If you have SPDs (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) you probably don’t have to worry about this as your cleat is usually recessed in to the shoe making them easy to walk in.  On the other hand, if you have LOOK pedals, like me, having a spare set of floppers to trudge your way to the locker room will save your cleats and toe warmers if you have them.
• Wear glasses.  If you have prescription glasses, then this is obvious.  On those bright sunny days, this is also pretty self-explanatory.  However, when riding down a hill at thirty miles an hour, that pair of Wiley-X’s or other clear-lens eyewear will prevent that bug from taking an eye out or dethroning you from your bike-pedestal.  Any type of safety lens will do, but Oakley and Wiley-X who make ballistic eyewear that really do the trick.
• Carry a multi-tool.  You never know when that crank shaft is going to fall off or your cantilever breaks get loose and your break pad rubs the rim even when they are not actuated.  Not having that right Allen Wrench could cause you to carry your bike the rest of the way home, or worse to work!  When choosing a multi-tool, if you decide to buy one that was not designed for bikes, remember that all bikes use metric sizes.

In terms of the trip

Bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities on the road as motorists.  Bicyclists are permitted to travel in the center of the traffic lane if there are safety hazards on the right side of the road (such as parked cars or debris) or if the lane is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to share. Pass bicyclists with caution, treating them as you would any other vehicle and according to Georgia law. Motorists should not try to pass the bicyclist while remaining in the same lane of traffic. Bicyclists may be forced to swerve to avoid road hazards, causing a collision.

- 2008 Georgia Driver’s Manual, Chapter 1 - Traffic Laws, Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles

• Never travel sidewalks.  Though it is tempting when traffic is high to ride on the sidewalk to avoid it, it’s a bad idea.  Though I have heard people say that is illegal for bicyclists to ride on sidewalks, there is no record of it in the Georgia DMV.  The reason for not traveling on sidewalks is that there is a high probability of collisions occurring between cyclists and motorists at driveways and intersections.  Imagine a bread truck driver, if you will.  He has just finished a delivery and is approaching the main road from between the two buildings that the driveway runs between.  The entire front of his vehicle must cross the sidewalk before he has any visibility.  If you are riding down this same sidewalk, and you are crossing this same driveway at the same time, you could get you hit by this big bread truck.  Most people don’t stop at sidewalks when exiting driveways, the pull up to the street and stop blocking the drive.  If you hit the vehicle with your bike, it could be at fault.  Paying for an expensive Mercedes become more difficult if you don’t have insurance to cover it.  If you chose to ride on sidewalks, do so slowly with extreme caution.  I never do it.
• Travel on trails if possible.  Unlike the statement above, trails are made for cyclists and prevent motorized vehicles from traveling on them.  On trails, there are defined traffic intersections to mandate the crossing of the trail by motor vehicles.  There are many old rail roadways that have been converted to trails.  Check out Rails to Trails for more information. 
• Obey the law.  Many cyclists are guilty of running red lights or stop signs.  Remember, that as a cyclist, you are blessed with the right to ride on public road ways, with that right comes the responsibility to obey traffic laws.
• Keep to the right, but not too far.  When riding in a lane of traffic, keep to the right of the lane, but not on the line or on the shoulder.  I travel about 1-2 feet to the left of the lane divider line.  That is to say I stay to the right of the lane with a 1-2 foot buffer between me and the lane dividing line.  This way, I am not in the middle of the lane, so vehicles who don’t initially see me have some means of avoiding me.  I am also not hugging the right side of the lane, so vehicles don’t mistakenly think they can squeeze by me without actually passing me.  Vehicles should be forced to pass you as if you were a motorcycle.
• Hold your lane.  Do not be tempted to change into turning lanes when they become available (unless you are turning).  Changing lanes is dangerous because you don’t have conventional turn signals, so you must use arm signals.  This is especially tricky at night.  Changing into a turning lane, though it may feel safer, exposes you to the difficult task of returning to your original lane from the turning lane once it has ended.  It is much safer to stay in your original lane.  Keep in mind, if there are multiple lanes of traffic, excluding temporary lanes, you should pick the right most lane and hold that lane.
• Claim your lane at intersections.  When stopping at an intersection, you should move from the right to the middle of the lane to claim it.  Motorists pay the most attention to the vehicles in front of them and to the traffic signals.  If you are directly in front of them, they cannot blindly pass you.  This is important for clipless pedal riders.  If you have trouble clipping from a stop, you may weave or stop your bike.  If you are in the middle of the lane, this will be seen by the vehicle behind you.  If you are on the right side, the vehicle beside you and behind them may not see this and may hit you.   This is also very important when making left turns.  If you do not claim your lane, it may be assumed you are going straight instead of turning left.  If you force the driver behind you to stay behind you, then they cannot pass you while you attempt to turn left.  This is also very important when going straight through an intersection.  If you allow the driver to be beside you at the stop, if they want to turn right and you want to continue going straight, they will cross in front of you, or worse, into you.
• Do not over react.  When large trucks pass you, or someone honks at you, be aware of the events that are happening around you, but do not react unless it is called for.  Jittery riders tend to switch lanes or veer right with being passed by a vehicle, especially big trucks.  This makes you unpredictable.  Changing lanes is already a dangerous event, doing so sporadically increases the danger.  It is better to hold your lane unless you suspect it will more dangerous to do so.
• Do not follow too close.  Cars can stop very quickly.  If you are following too close, you are liable to hit them.  Unfortunately, you hitting a car from behind on your bike , increases then chances of the car behind you, thus sandwiching your between the two vehicles.  Bad deal.
• Communication is key.  Despite what anyone may say, NO ONE wants to hit you.  Cycle/Car collisions many times result in fatalities.  Make sure you are as predictable, visible and communicate your intentions at all times.  This will help ensure your safety.

And there you have it.

Joe.