I love these things

Apparently they are having issues with cars speeding on this street. In lieu of actual enforcement the county sheriff has set up this radar deal to encourage drivers to police themselves. It doesn't work on me.

A bicyclist coming upon such a device is required, I believe, to sprint all out and try to register something approaching the posted speed limit. I tried my best.
I came away from a STOP sign and around a corner and stumbled on this only a half block away. I was in the small ring. The small ring is preferred but not required for STOP signs. With only a short distance to the radar sign I sprinted as best I could and got an adequate result. But immediately upon passing I started to consider. The radar placement was on a slight downhill with a slightly aiding quartering cross tail wind. Conditions seemed ideal to try for a big number.

So I considered my options, cut off the planned route and circled back through the neighborhood to come up on the sign from another angle. This time I was in the big ring and the sprint was more satisfactory. Then I had to wait around for a car to come by and boost the sign up to my number and try to get a photo of it. All in all, good clean fun.

I keep reading about town line sprints and other deals on group rides. I ride alone nearly all the time and never ride in competition so I am not familiar with competitive sprinting. Even so there are two spots that I come upon with some regularly where I engage in all out sprinting. One is the Sucker Lake entrance to Snail Lake Park. There is a speed limit sign restricting traffic to 15 mph. I feel compelled to pass this sign going at least 20. The second place is at the bottom of the hill along the west side of Lake Owasso where there is a sign advising that maximum safe speed on the turn is 20 mph. It is at the end of a long downhill. Entering the turn at greater than 20 mph is required.

In important football news, FC Nantes is facing relegation from Ligue 1. I am a fan of FC Nantes from a distance. However les Canaris are firmly lodged in the bottom spot of the table. There are only 5 games remaining and they are 7 points adrift from safety, almost certainly an insurmountable deficit. This past weekend Nantes travelled to Parc des Princes in Paris to take on Paris-St. Germain. PSG is also experiencing difficulties this year and was one of the teams Nantes had some chance to overtake. A win was absolutely essential. But the final was PSG 4, Nantes 0.

The French record for longest stay in Ligue 1 is 43 years, held by Nantes. The streak seems to be at an end. Further, relegation may well spell the end of the active playing career, at least at this level, of Fabien Barthez, one of the heroes of France's win in World Cup 1998. Barthez was in goal for Nantes and the result indicates he may be at the end of the road.

Je suis tres bummed out. ALLEZ NANTES.