Sweet Circles in the Road

No doubt you've seen the tar rimmed circles, squares and various other shapes at intersections put there to cause the change of signals. Cars roll over wire underneath these cutouts and the traffic signal knows a car waiting. The wire acts as an antenna that reacts to a large hunk of metal coming near.

These have been around for quite a while; nothing unusual about that. What makes these circles so lovely is they have been scribed into the bike lane at intersections on my commute to work. Traffic light circuitry is not just for automobiles any more - sweet!

Now in L.A. rush hour, I often have a car or two around, but during off hours I can wait a while for an old fashioned, dino-dust burning non-pedalmobile to come along.

I don't know if these tiny beauties use a different process to determine a cyclist is present, but it seems like they must. Bikes are made with precious little metal these days. My frame consists of only 4.5lbs of aluminum with the entire bike weighing around 20lbs (Ok, slightly more when you include the rider). Most of the serious cyclists these days have carbon fiber frames and light alloy wheels with a total weight of under 16lbs and only a pound or so of actual metal.

Dunno how these little things work, but they do - and I like it.