The Jersey Off His Back

A domestique is, literally, a servant.

On a cycling team, it's his or her job to help the team leader win the race.  That often means riding for long stretches in front of the leader, making a slipstream that allows him or her to conserve energy for a breakaway or climb.  It can also include inserting themselves into a breakaway and forcing other teams to chase, or to chase another breakway that threatens their team.    

A domestique can also  bring water or food from team cars to the leader.  He or she might also be called upon to give up a wheel--or even a bicycle--if the leader's machine fails.  I've also heard of domestiques giving leaders the jerseys off their backs!

How far should a domestique go to help the team's leader win?  

  

A "SMART" Tire?

The single most important innovation of in the history of the bicycle is the one that someone or another has been trying to render obsolete from the day it was introduced.

I am talking about the pneumatic tire, created 133 years ago.  Of all bicycle innovations, it's had, by far, the most influence beyond the world of cycling: Without it, motorized vehicles would be no faster, sturdier or more reslient than those powered by animals, and modern aircraft could not take off or land.

What makes pneumatic tires seemingly indespensible is also their flaw:  They are elastic membranes filled with air.  If that air is lost, whether through a puncture or leakage, your carbon fiber wheels ride as if they're cast in lead.  Having to fix your flat can make you late for work, school or a date (yes, I've ridden to those!) or lose time in a race.  And, fixing a tubular tire was probably the closest I've come to performing surgery--which is one reason I stopped riding tubulars a few years after my racing days ended.

So it seems that every few years, someone comes up with an "airless" tire.  About four decades ago, I had the opportunity to try a pair of Zeus LCM rim coverings.  Essentially, they were solid polyurethane donuts fitted to bicycle rims.  I did a half-century and a weeks' worth of commutes on them and felt as if I'd spent a year on a "boneshaker."  Since then, a few other tinkerers have tried their hands at making "flat-proof" tires.  Most never go beyond the prototype stage; a few are released and meet the same reception I had for the Zeus rim coverings.

The problem is that when you get rid of air, you also sacrifice buoyancy and resilience--the very qualities that made pneumatic tires such an important innovation.  I don't know whether this is an insurmountable problem, but there always seems to be someone with more technical expertise (or simply a different kind of imagination) than mine who believes it isn't.

Photo from SMART Tire Company

One such person is Calvin Young, an engineer based in (where else?) Portland.  As an intern at NASA's Glenn Research Center, he started to work on what would become the Martensite Elasticised Tubular Loading (METL) tire.  It's essentially the tire that allowed the Perserverance Mars rover to traverse the Red Planet, adapted for bicycles.  

The spacecraft tires were woven from Nitinol, an alloy of titanium and aluminum.  This makes them strong yet elastic--and flat-proof. (I would imagne they're more resilient than the Zeus LCMs I rode.)  But they don't make for very good grip on slippery surfaces.  So, one of the ways Young adapted the tires for bicycle use was to add a layer of our friend polyurethane.  As I understand, it can be re-applied, further adding to the tire's durability.

SMART (Shape Memory Alloy Radial Technology) Tire Company, for which Young now works, plans to make these tires available to consumers some time in 2022. I'd be interested in trying them.  They didn't quote a price, but I imagine it's a good bit higher than what you paid for your Continentals or Michelins or Panaracers.  

  

The Myth Of His "Accident"

Without even trying, I came across more than twenty articles about what happened to Shawn Bradley.  But only one called the incident what it is--or, more precisely, said what it isn't.

On 20 January, he was riding his bike near his St. George, Utah home when a driver struck him from behind.  Such collisions normally don't garner more than a report or two in a local or regional news medium.  The reason why this story captured more attention can be summed up from a sentence in the statement announcing his plight:  "Doctors have advised him that his road to recovery will be both long and arduous,  perhaps an even more difficult physical challenge than playing professional basketball."

The italics in the previous sentence are mine.  While Shawn Bradley's situation is terrible--he is paralyzed, with a traumatic spinal cord injury--it's unlikely that anyone beyond whatever communities he lives in or belongs to would have heard about it. But it just happens that one of his communities is that of former National Basketball Association players.  While he wasn't a star on the level of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan or LeBron James, his career spanned 12 years--a geologic age in the NBA--more than eight of which he spent with the Dallas Mavericks, where he earned a reputation as a shot-blocker and rebounder. 

Shawn Bradley.  Photo by Jeff Mitchell, for Reuters

But, even with all of the attention paid to Bradley's story, there is one thing that every media account I saw, save for one, got wrong.  They called the collison an "accident."

Henry Grabar, in his Slate article titled (appropriately enough) "It's Never A 'Bicycle Accident,'" corrects this error. "A child falling off his bike in the park is a bicycle accident," he writes.  "A wipeout in the Tour de France is a bicycle accident." But, he admonishes, "Getting rammed from behind by a car is not a bicycle accident." 

Safe-streets advocates have tried, for years, to convince reporters, police officials and engineers not to use the word "accident" to describe car crashes.  As Grabar points out, the use of this word implies "the carnage could not be avoided through better policy and design." The use of the word particularly egregious when, say, a cyclist is run over by a minivan driven by someone who is looking at a screen rather than the road, or who is intoxicated.  It allows the police to spin the incident as a result of a bicycle malfunction--or, worse, to imply that that the cyclist was at fault.  "The press repeats the assertion, and the myth of the bicycle accident is renewed," Grabar observes.

Since retiring from the NBA fifteen years ago, Bradley has become a dedicated and, from all accounts, very skilled cyclist.  So it doesn't seem likely that he did something stupid, careless or illegal.  And I have to wonder:  How could a driver not see a guy who's 7'6"  (232 cm) tall?

So, of everyone who reported on Shawn Bradley being struck from behind while riding his bicycle, only Henry Grabar managed to say what the incident wasn't.  Unfortunately, it will take many more folks like him to dispel the myth of the bicycle accident.

A Theology Of Bike Repair For All

 In the spring of 2017, I spent two months volunteering at the Jubilee Soup Kitchen in Pittsburgh.  One day, a 70-year-old black man named Rupert showed up with a nasty bruise over his eye.  A bicycle accident because of faulty brakes, he said.

John W. Miller recounts this experience in America:  The Jesuit Review. After asking around, "I was stunned by how many people rode bicycles to come get their meals," he recalls.

In his article, he reports something I've described in other posts:  In cities like Pittsburgh and New York people who cycle by choice--whether for transportation, recreation or fitness--tend to be younger, better-educated (and whiter) and have better incomes than those who cycle out of necessity.  In fact, those in the latter category are in the lowest income categories and include the unemployed and those who receive public assistance--and, of course, use soup kitchens.

From Dreamstime

He also makes an observation I've related:  Poor cyclists are, as often as not, riding bikes in dire need of repair and maintenance. They may be riding bikes purchased from flea markets, yard sales or on the street--or inherited, or rescued from a curbside or fished out of a dumpster.  

Miller applauds organizations and initiatives that give bikes to the poor--and, in the case of programs like Recycle a Bicycle, teach people how to resurrect bikes that might have otherwise met their fate in a landfill.  But he also points out that it's necessary to keep those bike maintained so more folks don't end up like Rupert.  Even more to the point, a reliable bike is reliable transportation--to school, a training program or a job.  

Finally, since he's writing in a Jesuit magazine, Miller makes the point that everything he recommends is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church--and the current Pope has expressed his approval of bicycles.  Given that he's expressed more genuine concern for the poor than other prelates, it's not a surprise.

Nothing But Happiness Through Your Door

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, I wonder how happy it will be--for you, for me, for anybody. In a sad irony, my city--New York--and many others shut down on this day last year.  The day before last St. Pat's was the last time I set foot on campus, and some shops have yet to open.

Once again, the parade will not be held in person.  But, I hope to go for a ride later today.  This old Irish blessing captures the spirit of cycling for me:

May your troubles be less

and your blessings be more

and nothing but happiness 

come through your door.

(Illustration from Lula Bell)

P.S. I got my first dose the other night.

The Unbearable Whiteness Of Cycling

When a (n-word) comes in with a nice bike, I know he didn't buy it.  I know it's a stolen bike.

The owner of a shop in my undergraduate university town made that pronouncement.  I hadn't thought about him--probably gone--and the shop--long gone--in a long time, until I wrote posts about Black and Native American cyclists being cited at much higher rates than White riders for helmet infractions.

I got to thinking about it, again, when I came across a report of a study, "Where Do We Go From Here?"  People for Bikes conducted it, and Charles T. Brown of Rutgers University's Vooorhees Transportation Center led it.  

Among its conclusions:  The increased popularity of cycling--accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic--in US cities has largely been a White phenomenon.  Focus groups conducted in ten cities reveal that, in addition to economic barriers (something I mentioned in my earlier posts), non-Whites, and Blacks in particular, cite a non-inclusive cycling culture and infrastructure.  Some participants said they saw cycling as a "white thing," in part because of images of cyclists projected, consciously or unconsciously, by the media and the cycling community itself.  "Whenever I see pictures of cyclists or anyone on a bicycle," one participant explained, "I just think it's not for me as someone who is over a size 10 and Black."  

(By the way, I am over a size 10 and probably always will be, no matter how much weight I lose!)

Pedal Possse Divas. Photo by David Swanson, for the Philadelphia Inquirer

The study's conclusions are all valid.  Our culture needs to be more inclusive, and its infrastructure more accessible.  But I also can't help but wonder whether some non-White people--young Black men in particular--are deterred because of how the police and criminal justice system treat them when they ride.  In addition to being disproportionately cited for not wearing helmets in places like Seattle, they are more likely to be ticketed for violations like riding on the sidewalk* --or simply stopped for "suspicion" if they're riding a nice bike.  

In short, as the People for Bikes study concludes, we won't see more non-White cyclists if Blacks, Native Americans and others don't see themselves in images of cycling--or sipping lattes in cycling cafes.  But I think the changes have to include not treating non-White cyclists as criminals when they ride the same bikes in the same ways as White cyclists.

Our bikes come in all sizes and colors.  (So do many cyclists' jerseys!)  Why shouldn't our images of cyclists?

*--Every cyclist I've met, or heard of, who's been cited for riding on the sidewalk in New York City is not White.

Visiting The Visiting Nurses

 My late-Saturday ride brought me to the light.

No, I didn't have a religious experience.  Rather, the last dusk before Daylight Savings Time--a little more than a week before the Spring Equinox--cast a glow on this city's streets and seemed to capture the flickerings of hope so many yearn for, after a year of the pandemic.

 

Nurses are widely celebrated as heroes.  They deserve an entryway like the one on this building, next to the Oxford Nursing Home.  The fellow sitting in front (he offered to move; I told him "It's OK") and his friend told me that the building now serves as artists' studios and offices for arts organization.  Not surprisingly, they added, the building was a residence for the nurses and other personnel.

The street on  which it's located--South Oxford--is nestled among the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center and recently-built offices.  The Visiting Nurses building is just one treasure on a street chock-full of them.  Oh, and I wasn't the only person on a bicycle.

Daylight Savings Record?

Daylight Savings Time begins today.  If you're in an area where it's observed, remember to set your clock (and Garmin) ahead an hour.

Hmm...What if someone started a 24-hour challenge at midnight and had ridden, say, 35 miles by 2 am--the moment when clocks are set back an hour? Would that person still have 35 miles--with an extra hour to ride?

Maybe, at my age, I can set a record after all!

 

Protection Or Discrimination?

Was he protecting the company's interests?  Or the would-be customer's?  

Or was he discriminating against the would-be customer?

Giant Halifax, a shop in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, refused to hand Sebastien Barsetti a bicycle he'd bought.  Barsetti made the purchase from the Giant Bicycles website and was later notified that it would be ready to pick up from Giant Halifax.

Before going to the shop, Barsetti called to ask some questions about proper adjustments.  "I told them my weight, my height," he recalls.  "Shortly after, they told me they wouldn't sell it to me because of my weight."

Sebastien Barsetti

Barsetti tips the scales at just over 300 pounds,  the rider weight limit. Riding the bike was part of his plan to get back into shape. Even though he pledged not to ride the bike until he lost some weight, owner Barry Misener backed his shop's refusal.  "You cannot ride that bike safely," he explained. He expressed concern that the bicycle's components could fail and result in serious, possibly life-threatening injury.

Finally, Misener said he'd let Barsetti take the bike only if he signed a release. "So he finally understood that the bike is not safe to ride," Misener said.  "At that point, he hung up on me."

While Misener cited safety concerns, Barsetti saw the situation differently.  "I wonder, would they weigh everybody going into the store?"  

He got a refund through Giant Group Canada.  But, he says, he plans to push forward with his active lifestyle goals.  "I'm hoping to find a bike and just commute to work," he said.

I can understand, somewhat, how he felt:  like one of many people who walked into a bike shop and felt discriminated-against because they didn't fit the shop owner's or employee's image of what a cyclist should be.  (I actually once overheard a shop salesperson telling a potential customer that she should lose weight before she started riding a bike.)  On the other hand, I also understand why Misener acted as he did:  Just about all bikes and parts can bear only a certain amount of weight.  In particular, many lightweight racing parts, such as rims and handlebars, are made for riders of 85 kilograms (185 pounds) or less.

Does The Bike Business Understand Economics?

 When I was an undergraduate, I knew a few business majors.  Some started off that way; others swtiched from fields ranging from biology to fine art because, well, they saw the starting salaries for folks with business degrees.  One thing I couldn't help but to notice was that the "B" majors--at least the ones I knew--hated Economics, which was a required course.  

I could understand:  As bad as I was at math, I was worse at economics.  Math by its nature is abstract, which is part of the reason I wished I could understand it better.  On the other hand, it seemed that economics was abstract because, well, it could be, if that was how economists wanted it.  Perhaps the business majors felt the same way.

After seeing those fellow students, it really came as no surprise, some years later, when some pundit--I forget whom--declared, "Most business people don't know a damned thing about economics, and most economists don't have a clue about business."  The first part of that statement, I think, could apply to six of the seven US Presidents who were businessmen before they ran for office.  (The exception, Harry Truman, failed at business but is generally regarded as a successful President, his decision to drop atom bombs on Japan notwithstanding.)  They showed the world that the United States (or any other nation, for that matter) can't be run as a business in part because it's an economy.  

One of those Presidents is, of course, Donald Trump. His tax cuts benefited people who didn't need them, and some would argue that they would have led to economic woes even if COVID-19 hadn't brought so much enterprise to a standstill.  

Another of Trump's economic policies that probably exacerbated the problems wrought by the pandemic were the tariffs he imposed.  He, like Herbert Hoover (one of the other businessmen who occupied the White House) passed them in the belief that making foreign goods more expensive would lead to more production in the US and "bring back American jobs."  That didn't happen in either case. Nearly every economist and historian now says that the import taxes passed under Hoover’s watch (known as the Smoot-Harley Tariffs) helped to tip the stock market crash of 1929 into a full-blown depression just as, I believe, Trump's tariffs will be see as an accelerant of the current economic crisis.

What Trump didn't seem to understand is that no matter what economic theories you follow, simply making steel from China or India more expensive isn't going to cause new mills to appear, or for shuttered plants to re-open or abandoned or demolished factories to be re-built in Pittsburgh or Youngstown or Gary or Lackawana--or anywhere else in this country.  Or, to put it in more technical terms, cutting off foreign supply does not lead to an increase in domestic capacity.

Photo by An Rong Xu, for the New York Times

I mention all of this because two leaders of the bike industry are showing that they are as ignorant of economics as Trump or Hoover.  At the Taipei Cycle Online Expo, Bob Margevicius said, "There's a gold mine today in the bike industry, but you have to invest." Component makers, according to Specialized Bicycles' Executive Vice-President, are "very reluctant to invest in additional capacity."

His belief was echoed by Ton Anbeek, the CEO of Accell Group, which owns, among other brands, Batavus, Koga, Lapierre and Raleigh.  Like Margevicius, he blamed the current shortage of bikes, parts and accessories on manufacturers' unwillingness to make more of them.  "To meet the growing demand in the coming years, we need component suppliers to invest in extra capacity to produce more critical components and parts," he urged.

While both of them are right, at least in one sense--that more products won't be available if more of them aren't made--they are missing a point:  Simply investing money isn't going to lead to more manufacturing capacity overnight, especially if new facilities need to be built.  Their exhortations will no more bring more bikes, helmets, tires or locks to bike shops or online retailers than Trump's tariffs will cause steel to be made in the US.  That might be the extent of my understanding of economics, but according to the old pundit, it's still more than what some businessmen seem to know!