A Path For Stolen Bikes

Between 2005 and 2010, a number of European cities, mainly in the north and west, initiated bike-share programs.  Paris and Rome were among them.  Both ran into similar problems, among them vandalism and theft.  In both the City of Light and the Eternal City, bikes ended up at the bottom of bodies of water:  the Canal Saint Martin in Paris and the Tiber in Rome.  Also, a number of bikes went to--and a few were recovered in North Africa and Eastern Europe, particularly Romania.

The fact that so many bikes were not returned led Rome to pull the plug on its program, and for two companies to abandon the city.  The Velib program nearly met the same fate before a Spanish company, Smovengo, took it over and rebranded it as Velib Metropole in 2018.

Over the years, I have heard from friends and acquaintances in France and elsewhere that Romania is a common destination for goods, including everything from watches and designer clothing to priceless artwork, stolen in other parts of Europe. The reasons I've heard and read include everything from the relative poverty of the country to the corruption or inefficacy of police and government officials.  

Whatever the reasons, it seems that high-profile sports teams--including those in cycling--are not immune to the problem.  About a month ago, the Italian national team competed--and won seven medals--in this year's World track championships, held in Roubaix, Belgium (the end-point of the Paris-Roubaix race, a.k.a. "L'enfer du nord.).  The team stayed in a hotel just over the border in Lille, France that was selected specifically for its safety.

Well, we all know that stuff happens even in the safest places and structures.  The team was getting ready for its return home when 22 of its Pinarellos--including four with a distinctive gold--were stolen from a team van.  In total, those bikes were valued at around 400,000 Euros (about 451,790 USD).

Italian team members Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Lamon and Jonathan Milan on the track bikes that were stolen.

 

The good news is that police recovered the bikes after they caught some criminals in the act of trying to sell  them.  Searches also turned up--surprise, surprise--other stolen goods, including eight televisions, ten mobile phones and drugs, in addition to 2800 Euros in cash.  

On Monday, team mechanics travelled to Romania to pick up the bikes and bring them back in Italy. 

A Perfect Storm Of Hate

I am a transgender woman and a cyclist.  That means I belong to two groups of people for whom it means that becoming more visible means having a target pinned on your back.

That's how it seems, anyway.  On some jobs, when I've done anything that draws positive attention--whether it's an excellent review, volunteering for a committee or, sometimes, even outside activities, like my writing--some co-workers, including those of higher rank than mine, become Captain Ahabs to my Moby Dick.  Until that happens, they congratulate themselves for "tolerating" me.  But when I accomplish something through my creativity and hard work, they seem to think that someone like me (or unlike them) isn't supposed to do such things.  

Likewise, as cycling for transportation as well as recreation becomes more mainstream, it stokes whatever hatreds and resentments some folks have toward us--or, at least, whatever notions, however unfounded, they have about us. We are seen as taking something--"their" streets or, perhaps, some notion of what it means to live a meaningful and productive life.  We are also accused of "not paying taxes" when, in fact, as I pointed out to one driver,  we pay more taxes for things we don't use, such as gasoline and highways.  

An unfortunate corollary to the things I've described can be seen in the aftermath of recent protests against the ways police, in too many places, treat Black*, Hispanic and Native American people.  It seems that, like trans and non-binary folks and cyclists, racial and ethnic minorities--especially Blacks and, in some parts of the country, Native Americans--have similarly been targeted for harassment and violence. Unfortunately, it's no surprise when you realize that the Ku Klux Klan became a force in the wake of Reconstruction, and lynchings and other kinds of violence against Black people surged in the years just after World War I, when large numbers of Black soldiers returned home, and during and after the Civil Rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s.

One parallel between what I've experienced, if less intensely, as a cyclist and trans woman and what Blacks too often endure is that we and they are too often targeted for doing or accomplishing things, or being in a place we're "not supposed to." And, being a member of one of the groups I've mentioned can compound the harassment you might experience as a member of one of the other groups.  As an example, one hot day early in my gender-affirmation process (I was on hormones for about two years and had begun living and working as female), a couple of cops pulled me over on some made-up charge while I was riding home. Their interrogation was punctuated by comments like, "I like your bike" and "You have nice legs." 

Elliot Reed also experienced an unfortunate confluence of bigotry while he was out for his morning ride two weeks ago.  The 50-year-old Texan is not only a cyclist in a car-centric, red-meat state; he is also--you guessed it--Black.  

When he stopped at an intersection, 25-year-old Collin Joseph Fries (great name for someone in a red-meat state, isn't it?)  drove up along side him.  "He was just looking at me at the stop sign," Reed recalls.  "He said, 'You need to get out of this neighborhood because you're making a lot of people nervous."  

Then Fries upped the ante:  "You don't live here, and if I catch you, I'm gonna do something to you."

Reed says he tried to get away and  get neighbors to confirm that he indeed lives in the neighborhood.  Then he pulled out his cell phone to record the incident.  At that point, he recalls, Fries got out of his car and used the N-word.  Things went downhill, very quickly, from there. 

Several witnesses have confirmed everything I've described so far, and what I'm about to relate.  Fries chased Reed, caught him and punched him so hard and so often that he lost consciousness. Those same witnesses reported that Fries continued to punch him even after he lost consciousness.

The attack left Reed with cuts requiring numerous stitches on his face, a broken tooth, fractured cheek bone and a burst blood vessel in his eye.

From Black Enterprise

Now, you might expect that, with all of those witnesses giving essentially the same account, Fries would be facing some serious charges.  For the moment, though, he's only been charged with a misdemeanor for aggravated assault.  (Is that a Harris County thing?  If something is "assault" and it's "aggravated," how can it be called a "misdemeanor?")  The District Attorney's office, however, says the investigation is "ongoing" and that it's awaiting medical records of the injuries and other evidence from the investigating officers.

At the very least, I think, Fries should be charged with something more serious related to Reed's injuries--and a hate crime.  For that matter, anyone who is attacked because of his or her identity--yes, I include motorists who did what Fries did or pedestrians who push people off their bicycles because their victims are cyclists--should be so charged, and sentenced.

*  I am using the term "Black" because I want to include immigrants and descendants from the Caribbean and Africa, as well those who were born here. They, too often, experience the same sort of hostility and violence as African Americans.

When A Death Is A "Failure To Yield"

A Postal Service driver runs over and kills a cyclist.

Five months later, that driver is...charged with a misdemeanor for "failure to yield." And he's gotten a ticket for..."failure to exercise due care."

That "failure to yield" charge "doesn't even suggest that a man died," Christopher Brimer lamented.  "It's more  like, 'Whoopsie, I guess I didn't look."

Ms. Brimer has a right to be angry:  The cyclist who died in the crash on 29 June is her husband, Jeffrey Williamson.  He was riding northbound (uptown to us New Yorkers) on Central Park West.  He had the right of way as he crossed the intersection at West 86th Street when Sergei Alekseev made a right turn with his 2019m Peterbilt truck.  Around 5:40 pm--still broad daylight at that time of year--Alekseev slammed into Williamson.

Jeffrey Williamson (inset) and the scene of his fatal crash.  Photo by Ken Coughlin, from Streetsblog

A civil notice of claim has been filed against the Postal Service, but won't be dealt with until after the criminal case is resolved.  Brimer's lawyer, Steve Vaccaro says that Alekseev should plead guilty.

Even though the charges against him seem almost trivial, they are still exceptionally rare.  Last year, the NYPD wrote 35,257 summonses for failure to yield.  That translates to roughly one per day in each of the city's 77 precincts.  What's even more galling is that such summonses are rare even in fatal crashes:  Streetsblog reported that in 2019, only six drivers--about one out of five-- who killed cyclists got so much as a summons.  The rate for drivers who killed pedestrians, while better, is still too low:  58 percent.

What makes Williamson's death all the more egregious, though, is that Alekseev was driving where trucks aren't permitted.  (I know this because I've cycled on Central Park West many times, before and since the bike lane was designated on it.)  On top of that, the USPS has a reputation of "getting away with murder." It is a behemoth that can summon lots of money and other resources.  I don't know what Brimer's financial situation is, but even if she's a multimillionaire and Vaccaro is one of the best lawyers in the world, she's fighting a lonely battle--against the USPS, and the hidebound culture of the NYPD that could only come up with a charge of "failure to yield" in her husband's death.

Priorities

 If you have ever crashed, which did you take care of first:  your body or your bike?

John Karras R.I.P.

It began as a lark. Nearly half a century later, it had become the world's oldest, largest and longest bike recreational bike ride.

In 1973, a couple of Iowa newspaper guys decided to pedal across their state:  about 700 kilometers from the Missouri to the Mississippi River.  They wrote about their adventures for their newspaper which, as one of the riders jokingly said, allowed them to claim that their adventure was part of their job and therefore get the newspaper to pay for it.

Perhaps more surprising to them, though, was that they went along with their editor's idea of allowing readers to ride with them--something one of the two fellows thought was "stupid."  His disdain turned to anxiety when more than 100 riders showed up at the starting line.

So was the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) born.  The ride has set off every year since except for 2020, owing to the pandemic.  The most edition of the ride included more than 15,000 cyclists.

Perhaps more important, RAGBRAI--which could have disappeared along with the 1970s Bike Boom--helped to spur interest in bike touring and, arguably, led to the construction of a bike lane network that criscrosses the state, as well as bike routes beyond the Hawkeye State's boundaries.  It also helped to raise the State's profile, which people identify with RAGBRAI ("that ride") in much the same way that France is linked to its Tour and Italy to the Giro.

When they founded the ride, Donald Kaul and John Karras were Register columnists.  Kaul passed away from cancer three years ago.  He was 83 years old.  Earlier this week, 91-year-old Karras followed him to that great bike tour in the sky.

I hope to do RAGBRAI.  And I will remember Karras--and Kaul.

John Karras

Disabled Man's Bike Stolen

In yesterday's post, I talked about the importance of bicycles, sometimes modified, for people with disabilities.  Some people, like a man I mentioned, can't get drivers' licenses because of their disabilities, but they can still pedal a two- or three-wheeler.  That can allow disabled folks to get to jobs or classes, or exercise, they might not have otherwise.  Being able to study, make a living and get exercise--or simply enjoy some of the other things normally-abled people take for granted--brings about a sense of independence and some semblance of control over their lives.  

For some disabled people, such as Randy Bowling, simply getting a bike is an accomplishment.  The 50-year-old Hamilton, Ohio resident suffered a traumatic brain injury at age 16.  A few months ago, he spent $157 on a bike he rode four miles, each way, to and from his job at a Wal-Mart.  "It was the first bike I ever bought myself," he said.

Now that bike is gone.  On Saturday night, Bowling rode to the door of a nearby store.  He stepped inside and, less than a minute later, a man rode up on another bike, grabbed Bowling's ride, and took off.  The theft was captured on the store's video camera.

Although he needs the job and says he's prepared to walk to work if he must, Bowling says he doesn't feel angry toward the guy who took his bike.  "I'd rather talk to him and help him get a job," he expains.

Helping Veterans--And Everyone--With Disabilites

Today is Veterans' Day here in the US.  I don't know what I could say to, or about, veterans that isn't a platitude at best.  What I can say, though, is that I am pro-veteran precisely because I am anti-war. It's a disgrace to see a former service member living under an overpass and, honestly, the kind of health care, physical and mental, that too many veterans get--or don't get.

What I say is especially true of disabled veterans.  Even those whose immediate needs are being met by the Veterans' Administration and other organizations often face other challenges, especially in terms of mobility.  That difficulty in getting around is not just an inconvenience or a destroyer of pleasure; it also deters too many veterans (and other disabled people) from employment, education and the means of obtaining and maintaining health.  

Although Chesterfield, Virginia resident James Howard's paralysis wasn't a result of his service in the 82nd Airborne Division, the retired US Army Ranger understands just how important mobility is. He was given a recumbent bicycle adapted to his needs after his diving accident.  That inspired him to "give back," he says, by advocating for fellow veterans and people with disabilities.  

He has also helped in a more concrete way by launching REACHcycles.  To date, it has provided over 600 adaptable three-wheeled bikes to disabled veterans, children and other folks. Recipients have included a triple amputee as well as a blind child.  Those bikes allow their riders to go to jobs and schools to which they might not otherwise have access. (I am thinking now of a man I knew, now gone, who couldn't get a drivers' license because of his lack of peripheral vision.  He could, however, ride his bike to work.)  They also help, especially the kids, to prevent other health problems:  Disabled people often become obese and develop diabetes and other degenerative conditions as a result of their physical inactivity.  

So, being the pro-veteran person I am, I want to say that the Veterans' Administration and other relevant government entities (and insurance companies) should pay folks like James Howard--and the folks who build and adapt the bikes he provides--for their services.  And, of course, provide them with anything else they need for their physical and mental health.      

For Her Country, And Everyone’s

 Many cycling events, from local charity rides to races involving world-class riders, have been cancelled or postponed during the pandemic.  The cancelled rides were, mostly, annual events, and one assumes that they will resume once things return to “normal,” whatever that may mean.

On the other hand, Afghanistan’s female cyclists have no such hope.  Nobody really knows what could return that country to what it was three months ago, before the Taliban took power.  Women are losing the rights they regained during the past two decades—including, in effect, the right to ride a bicycle, an effect of the Taliban’s dress codes and prohibition against women venturing outside their homes without a male relative.

For some women, not being allowed to ride a bike means that they have no way to get to their jobs or schools—if indeed they are still allowed to work or study.  For some, though, it spells the end of their lives unless they can get out of the country and have a sponsor or other help waiting for them wherever they land.

Those women include Rukhsar Habibzi. Before she evacuated from Kabul Airport (just before it shut down) she was riding with the Afghan women’s national team and attending dental school.  Oh, and her activism got her a nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize—and threats of gender-based violence.

From Kabul, she was brought to Quatar, then to a US military base in Germany and an immigration center in New Jersey, where she waited for an emergency visa before settling in another state last week. 

She is slated to compete through 2023 for the Twenty24 development team.  Twenty24 owner Nicola Cranmer has set up a GoFundMe page to help Habibzai with rent, food, utilities, clothing, books and tuition. This fundraising effort “is not to fund a cycling team,” Cranmer stresses. Rather, she is trying to help a young woman become “the best athlete, student and leader she can be” after leaving her country “with just her purse.”  As an emergency visa holder, Habibzai gets very little assistance from the government.

She probably has dreams of winning races.  But Habibzai summed up her real goal in training and studying: “I want to showcase the physical and mental strength of an Afghan woman to Afghanistan and the whole world.” That, she believes, will show that “a woman is not weak” and that “success can be achieved by any gender.”

I’d be happy to have someone like her in my country!

What Do They Carry?

 Every once in a while, I see an article or blogpost about carrying stuff on your bicycle.  They mention the usual things:  racks, panniers, other bike bags, baskets, backpacks, trailers and such.

None of them, though, has ever mentioned anything like this:

Saving The Colors

Saturday was the last day of Daylight Savings Time.  It would be the last time until Spring I could start not much before noon, take a longish ride and get home before dark.  So I rode to--where else?--Connecticut. 

Connecticut is just a north of my apartment.  It's actually not very far "as the crow flies," but the geography and topography make it impossible to go like a crow.  Why would I want to be a crow anyway?  I wouldn't be able to ride my bike and, well, their diet isn't very appealing.

But I digress.  Connecticut is just far enough north that the Fall foliage is a few days ahead of ours in Astoria.  I figured, correctly, that it would be at or near peak.

In downtown Greenwich, I saw quite a few people out and about.  The day was chilly, but it was illuminated by that perfect autumnal light.  

Given how awful I felt on Thursday, I could hardly believe how wonderful I, and everything around me, felt.  I pedaled into a fairly stiff wind most of the way up.  The flip-side of that, of course, is that the wind blew me into the sunset.

From the Randalls Island Connector it's about another six kilometers to my apartment--just enough for me to enjoy the last flickerings of twilight.  And that night I'd have an extra hour of sleep after a 140 km ride.

Which Way?

 Could this be the cycling equivalent of "sitting on the fence?"

Will They Get Bikes For Christmas?

If you've tried to buy a bike, or replace parts on one you have, you may have had a difficult time.  COVID restrictions has stopped production and interrupted shipping and distribution all over the world. In the meantime, demand for bikes and parts has increased, as people were reluctant to take mass transportation (or, in some places, it was shut down altogether) and people found that cycling is one way to get to where you're going, get exercise along the way, and adhere to social distancing protocols.

All of that meant a boom in business for bike shops--as long as they had stock.  When supplies dried up, some kept their doors open by doing repairs, as people grew frustrated at not finding the bike or accessory they wanted.  But when supplies of new parts disappeared, those shops cannibalized other bikes for parts---until those ran out.

Thus did a sad irony unfold:  The very "boom" that led, for some shops, to their best profits in years or decades also led to their demise.  Not even well-established and well-respected shops were immune, as we saw when Harris Cyclery shuttered in June.

Now, this pandemic could claim another casualty:  Programs that give bikes to kids from needy families.  One such program is in Mississippi. The Community Benefit Committee of the Lowndes County Sheriff's office has been giving out bikes for the past ten years.  Some of those bikes come through donations, but the majority are purchased, wholesale, from Huffy.  The money comes from events like the Haunted House as well. 

This year's House brought in more than enough money to purchase the bicycles.  But Huffy says it doesn't have bikes to sell them.  Neither, of course, does the local Wal Mart.  

CBC founder and director Rhonda Sanders still holds out hope that there will be some bicycles available. But, just in case there aren't, she is making alternate plans to bring toys to younger kids or technology-related items for older ones.

Learning about Sanders' and the CBC's situation, I have to wonder how many similar programs are in jeopardy--not only this year.  After all, once factories that make bikes, parts and accessories are operating at full capacity, and shipping and distribution channels are flowing freely, warehouses and shops won't be fully restocked overnight.

The Next Tour?

 World War II suspended the Tour de France and most other cycling and athletic-related events.  For one thing, many riders were called to fight for their countries.For another, had the events been held, riders' safety could not be ensured.

So I was surprised to learn that a race transversing one of the world's most war-torn countries last week.  One thing that makes the race all the more interesting is that it is being promoted as a counterpart to the Tour de France.  Burkina Faso was a colony of that country, called Upper Volta, until 1984.

Eighty cyclists are riding the race, some of them Europeans.  (They say they're not worried about safety because "the military are everywhere.") Perhaps most prominent among them is Paul Daumont, who also competed in this year's Olympics in Tokyo.  The good news is that, at 22, he still has a lot of riding ahead of him.  

But he admits that it hasn't been easy for him, or other cyclists from his country.  The country's cycling federation gave him a bike when he showed potential but, he says, you need a really good bike which few of his compatriots can afford.  Also, I imagine that his team and others in Africa simply don't have the budgets or facilities of their European counterparts.  

Daumont has already raced, not only in Japan, but in other countries like Switzerland.  It's fair to wonder whether he and other talented cyclists will follow their counterparts in football (soccer) to careers in Europe, where teams from the English Premier League to Serie A feature star players from Africa and other parts of the world. The French national team won the World Cup in 1998 and 2018 largely thanks to the efforts of their African and Middle Eastern players.

Two things Daumont and other African cyclists share with their football-playing counterparts are ambition and a willingness to work very, very hard.  So, perhaps, we might see Africans win the Tour, Giro and Vuelta sooner rather than later.

  

Laid Up

This morning I felt as if I'd been struck by a train.  Everything in my body ached, and I was as exhausted as if I hadn't slept at all.  So I didn't ride this afternoon, as I planned.  Instead, I spent much of today in bed. At least Marlee is happy:  She can curl up on me to her heart's delight.

Last night, I received my COVID booster.  I felt no ill effects after the first two doses, so I don't know why I feel the way I do.  It may have to do with another vaccination, for shingles, I received at the same time.

I've ingested my average annual consumption--two tablets--of Ibuprofen.  Perhaps I'll feel better tomorrow.

 

Park Tool Grants To Community Organizations

I am very happy that United Bicycle Institute and other organizations are offering scholarships and making other efforts to train women, transgenders and non-binary people to work in the bicycle industry.  While some might argue that such programs lead to low-paying dead-end jobs as bike shop employees, I think the training is valuable in other ways.  For one, some bike shop employees go on to open their own shops or work in other facets of the bicycle industry.  For another, I think training programs can help to raise the quality and consistency of services bike shops and companies offer.

Another benefit is one that training and volunteer programs of bicycle recycleries and co-ops also offer.  Knowing how to fix a bike, whether one's own or someone else's, makes for more self-sufficient cyclists.  That, I think, makes people more likely to use their bikes for more than twiddling around the park.  If you can at least fix a flat, you're less likely to worry about being late for work or school or getting stranded in an unfamiliar neighborhood or foreign country.  

Sometimes knowing how to fix a bike isn't enough, though.  Some people and communities don't have the tools necessary, whether because there isn't a shop in the neighborhood or because they don't have the money to spare for even a pair of tire levers.  Many low-wage workers. immigrants and unhoused people (who are sometimes the same people) are riding bikes that were purchased for very little, gifted to them or rescued from a dumpster or curbside.  

From Recycle-A-Bicycle

That is where Park Tool's Community Tool Grants come in.  Every year since 2015, Park has been giving grants that include tools and repair stands to nonprofit organizations and community groups.  The application period for 2022 grants is now open. In addition to ten grants that include bike-repair items, one organization will receive an additional $1000 grant to spend on tools and equipment.

Now I have one more reason to be happy that I have a number of Park tools in my box.

If A Bike Is Too Big And Nobody Is There To Ride It

Could it be that Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of Facebook to Meta because his goal is to rule the Meta-verse?

All right, that query isn't even serious enough to qualify as a rhetorical question.  Or is it?  There's a part of me that believes every multi-billionaire's ambition is to rule the world, whether physical or virtual.  After all, every billion you make isn't as satisfying as the previous billion--or your first.  

How would I know?  All right, I admit, I'm speculating.  (I don't mean that in the way a billionaire might.) But I would hazard to guess, to paraphrase someone who never should be quoted , that one billion dollars is a fortune, a hundred billion is a statistic. 

Anyway, I have to wonder what life is like in the metaverse? (Or is "life in the metaverse" an oxymoron?)  I mean, do people's bodies change when they enter the Meta-verse?  Specifically, I am now wondering how Maxima Chan Zuckerberg and her sister August were conceived.

Here is what led my mind down those dark metaphysical alleys:

I mean, if Mark Zuckerberg rides that bike (Does anybody ride in the Meta-verse?), what is the condition--or, indeed, what about the presence--of his, uh, apparatus?

But the real question--which follows from the title of this post--is:  Does bike fit matter in the Meta-verse?

Hues Of Exposure

 On the return leg of a North Shore ride, I saw the kind of blue, if a little darker, one normally doesn't see in the waters around New York City, except in postcards--or this:

We haven't had very many days of crystal-clear skies lately.  During the past few days, intervals of non-rain have punctuated downpours accompanied, at times, by wind gusts.  I couldn't keep a cap on when I was walking to the store; it's no wonder the branches can't keep their leaves

and their nudity seems even more stark against dark clouds.

Even the tall steel towers across the bay and river seem to need something to shield them against the impending winter, the way even a big, strong, young person needs a shawl, a cloak or something to cover his or her shoulders and frame against the coming cold. 

The Procession

 Happy Halloween!

From Jim's Bike Blog

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

During the initial investigation, video surveillance was obtained depicting two males removing the bicycles and leaving the area.

That sentence could be part of a police report almost anywhere, about any two males (or females or non-binary people) in a depressingly familiar scenario.

But then there's the next sentence:

These actors were identified as Eric Campbell and Austin Craig, who are both employed as Police Officers with the Lower Township Police Department."

The report continues with the caveat that the charges are "merely accusations" and that "defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty."  Still, it's hard not to notice that the accused thieves are constables in a town adjacent to the seaside resort of Cape May, New Jersey's southernmost area.

Now, assuming that Campbell and Craig are indeed the "bad actors," it begs the question of "Why?"  Do Lower Township cops have too much time on their hands?"  (Charming as it is, calling the place "sleepy" makes it seem like Times Square. I know, I've been there.)  Are they so poorly-paid that they can't afford bikes?  Or did they become "bad actors" for the reason some other police officers go rogue:  because they could, because they figured their badges and shields would protect them from charges?

Marianne Martin Finally Gets Her Due--Somewhat

 It's one thing to call a baseball player "the Black Babe Ruth."  One player wore that moniker.  But some called "the Bambino" "the White* Josh Gibson."

Gibson died at age 35, three months before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.*  Yet he wasn't enshrined in the sport's Hall of Fame until a quarter-century after his passing.

Five years ago,  Rogatien Vachon was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame--more than three decades after he played his last game in the National Hockey League.  When he retired, he was among the sport's top five or ten in several categories for his position.  He spent the bulk of his career with the Los Angeles Kings, where he became the franchise's first superstar. But, as great as he was, he was overshadowed by other goalies like Ken Dryden, who played for the dynastic Montreal Canadiens teams, and Ed Giacomin, who spent his career with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.

So why am I mentioning them on this blog?

Well, a parallel just played out in the world of cycling.  On 6 November, Marianne Martin will accept her induction to the US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs.  She actually was inducted last year but, due to the pandemic, her ceremony was postponed.  

Her enshrinement comes three decades after she retired from competition and nearly four after her most notable achievement on two wheels.  That her induction was so late in coming is also a sad commentary on the state of competitive cycling.

Marianne Martin and Laurent Fignon, winners of the women's and men's Tour de France, 1984

In 1984, she won the inaugural edition of the women's Tour de France.  The race, 18 days long, ran in tandem with  (though on shorter courses than, with the same climbs and peaks as) the men's version.  Six editions of the women's Tour were held, the last coming in 1989, the year Greg LeMond came back from a near-fatal hunting accident to win the men's Tour for the second time.

LeMond got his induction, well-deserved as it was, five years after his last race.  Martin's honor took a quarter-century longer to come her way.  Still, she doesn't express anger or resentment. "Half my friends don't even know that I was a cyclist.  It's not something I carry out in front of me," says Martin, who is a photographer.  While she says that cycling was something she did, not who she was, it's hard not to compare her post-cycling life and reputation with that of LeMond who, in turn, is less famous than the disgraced Lance Armstrong.

*--The only athletes I respect as much as human beings as I respect Jackie Robinson are Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, Colin Kaepernick and Simon Biles. That said, I will not refute (or confirm) the rumors that Jackie wasn't the first Black Major League Baseball player, as others--including Babe himself--were rumored to be Black.  Also, it wouldn't surprise me if some light-skinned Black players moved north (where all of the MLB teams were, and Jim Crow laws weren't) and passed themselves off as white.  

Employee Killed At Bicycle Company Headquarters

When it comes to hazardous occupations and workplace violence, the bicycle industry probably isn't the first that would come to most people's minds.  Even less likely to occur to some would be an employee killing another in a well-respected bike company's headquarters located in a town that is home to many young professionals who work in a nearby city.

But the scenario I've described seems to have played out in the headquarters of Jamis, in Northvale, New Jersey.  Yesterday morning, Northvale police responded to a call about an injured employee.  When they arrived, they found the body of 43-year-old Jeanette Willem, a 20-year employee.  

She had a head wound which, according to authorities, was caused by a blunt object.  They believe that warehouse employee Christian Giron inflicted that wound with a hammer. He was arrested and charged with murdering Ms. Willem, weapon possession and hindering his own apprehension.

In light of these developments, Jamis' headquarters will be closed until Monday, 1 November.

 

If You Can't Find It...

Some of you may already know what I'm about to say:  Some bikes and parts are really, really hard to find right now.

Those woes seem to have begun a month or two into the pandemic, when lockdowns shut down factories, warehouses and distribution centers, and disrupted supply routes.  In some places, even bike shops were shut because they weren't deemed "essential businesses."

Now, a year and a half in, the situation doesn't seemed to have improved.  I was able to do my most recent build only because Mercian built the frame (which the insurance settlement paid for) and I had most of the parts on hand.  

Mat Brett (Good name for a hero in a detective novel, isn't it?), on the British road.cc website, relays some of the recent woes of Matt Page, a  contributor on sibling site (We can't be sexist here, can we?) off.road.cc, in sourcing replacement pads for his Shimano disc brakes.  He's set up stock alerts, it seems, with every online retailer in England as well as the country's official Shimano distributor.  His alerts include notifications for, not only original equipment replacements for his model of brake, but any other compatible pads.  I'm not familiar with all of the disc models, but the situation he describes seems something like what you might encounter if you had to replace your Dura-Ace 9, 10 or 11-speed cassette or front derailleur and couldn't find, not only Dura Ace, but also Ultegra/600, 105, Tiagra, Sora or other Shimano road parts.

Page also encountered another problem. Here in the States, some people have managed to find stuff, sometimes via Amazon, from retailers in France, Germany, Spain and other European countries.  But some of those outfits won't ship to the UK.  Or, if they will, customers have to pay sometimes-hefty import duties now that the UK is not part of the EU.

Not long ago, Bicycle Habitat, one of my longtime go-to shops, started carrying Giant bicycles, I would guess, because they actually had bikes to ship to Habitat.  Many shops say they don't expect to have new stock, whether of bikes, parts or accessories, until some time next year, if at all.  That means that if the shop you patronize doesn't have the bike, helmet or shoes in your size, let alone the color you like, you have to wait or buy another model--if indeed that is available.  I would imagine this situation, like the one Page describes, is also further complicated in the UK because some companies, even those based in Asia, serve the UK through distributors in Continental Europe--which means, of course, import duties.

(Ironically, for a time earlier this year, all-leather Brooks saddles like the B17 and Professional were unavailable in England--where they're made--because after they're finished, they're sent to the parent company's distribution center in Italy.)

So, while I don't encourage hoarding, I think that if you don't have some spares of brake pads, chains, casettes, tires, tubes and other parts that normally wear, it might be a good idea to buy them--not to mention the bike you want, if you can find it!

Oh, and be aware of fake websites--like the one of a "Shimano Clearance Store"  Page encountered in his searches:

Tout A Velo In Paris

 As I said on Saturday, and in earlier posts, if any municipality is serious about getting people to ride bikes rather than drive to work or school, or for fun, building bike lanes is just one step.

And it’s a legitimate step if and only if (See what I learned in my formal logic class?) those lanes are well-designed, -constructed and -maintained—and practical.  

On that last condition:  Building bike lanes that begin  and end in seemingly-arbitrary locations, without any markers or any other indicators, serves no one.  People will give up four wheels for two if, among other things, bike lanes actually connect places people ride to and from, safely.  Of course, I don’t mean that people should have lanes directly from their front doors to their desks or work stations. But bike and pedestrian paths should make it possible to go from, say, a central point in a residential neighborhood to a business or cultural district in the way of good mass transit systems—like, say, the one in Paris.

Photo by Ludivic Marin, for Agence France Presse

Apparently, the City of Light’s Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has such a vision.  She won a second term last June on a platform that included making Paris a city “tout á velo”—totally cycleable—by 2026. To that end, the French capital is investing 250 million Euros to improve its cycling infrastructure.  

Among other things, 52 km (about 32 miles) of “coronapistes”—temporary lanes created during the pandemic—will be upgraded and made permanent. To that, another 130 km will be added to the existing 100 km.  These additions and upgrades will make it possible to cycle from one end to another, and to and from key locations, within the city as well as in the adjacent suburbs.Even more important, those lanes will be planned to make it safer for cyclists to cross intersections, thus addressing another concern of people who say they’d consider cycle commuting but worry about safety.

Hidalgo’s plan will also address another concern—bike theft—by adding 100,000 new secure parking spaces, including 1000 for cargo bikes.

Budding Fall At The Harbor

Yesterday I started riding to Connecticut.  But in Mamaroneck, a bit more than halfway up, I detoured into a couple of cute downtowns and onto lanes that wind by mansions, country clubs and horse trotting courses, and through tax-shelter farms.

When I ended up back on Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck, I stopped to eat the bagel and small wedge of cheese I packed in the bag of Zebbie, my Mercian King of Mercia with the striped seat tube.  

Honestly, I rode her for one reason:  She looks autumnal.  So did the scene at Mamaroneck harbor, at least somewhat.

If you look closely or enlarge the image, you can see budding Fall foliage on the right.  Actually, it looks (to me, anyway) like someone lightly brushed red and orange across a cluster of leaves.