Umm...ok, park the garbage truck on the bike path.

The morning started out pretty normal....coffee, shower, riding in to work with wifey.  Stopped by the Raley's for some bread.  Headed down through downtown.  Nice cool morning, perfect for riding.  As usual I'm always looking for something to snap a picture of so I can put it up here.  Today however, it was pretty hard to miss!

I was so stunned by the full sized garbage truck parked on the river path that I didn't even stop short for a picture.  Well, actually, I was concentrating to try to fit between the garbage truck and the railing!  Then I remembered to stop and take a picture. 

I'm not sure what's up with this.  There aren't any trash bins along the river here so he's not working.  I guess he's just trying to stay out of the way....which this does not accomplish.  How about one of the many empty parking spaces on the road.

The other part that bugs me is that it's hard enough to keep the bike trail maintenance up....the sidewalk/path isn't designed for this type of load and if they get in the habit of this it will crack the concrete and cause damage that has to be repaired.  I'm sure their not thinking about this but come on....let's use a little common sense!

Either way, it definitely made my morning unusual...anybody else see something interesting on their commute?

Under bridge lighting....a comparative study.

Under bridge lighting along the bike path.

I'm not sure if you can tell....but this light is not currently working.  It hasn't been working in the 5 years I've been bicycle commuting. And just for reference there is exactly one light under this bridge.

Under bridge lighting on Mill St. (I-80 underpass).

I'm also not sure if you can tell....but this is a state of the art, high intensity multi-led light.  It definitely works because it's brand spanking new.  I'm guessing it puts out the lighting equivalent of a small star.

This bridge merits 10 of these lights (yes, only 4 are pictured here).

To complete this exhaustive study.  The old, broken lights are utilized in areas designated specifically for pedestrians and cyclists.  At the best these probably ran a 40 watt light bulb (450 lumen).  The new, functioning lights are utilized in areas designed for cars (and probably are the equivalent of a 100 watt light bulb (1600 lumen)) x 10 in this case.

The average bike light or flashlight produces ~30 lumen, compared to a car's headlights capable of producing between 1200 to 3000 lumen.

So, why do we put the best and brightest lights in locations designed for vehicles that have the capacity to produce tons of their own light, and leave old non-functioning lights in locations were people who have limited capacity for generating light are designated to walk or cycle?

The answer is complex and multifaceted (I'm sure of this).  However, the answer is not common sense!