My Bike For A Tart!

"A Cronut!  A Cronut!  My Citibike for a Cronut!"

All right.  So The Bard didn't write that line in Richard III.  However, it seems like an apt headline for a story that appeared in Thursday's  Gothamist.  

A Cronut looks something like this:

Chef Dominique Ansel created it and  it's available only in his ShHo bakery.  It opens at 8 am, but in otder to score a Cronut, one has to arrive before 7 and wait on line. 

That is what someone with a Citibike did.  I don't know whether or not he had an annual  membership or was renting by the hour.  if the former is the case, he is limited to 45 minutes.  For the latter, it's  30 minutes.  If he doesn't check into a Cititbike kiosk before his time is up, each additional half hour is $9.00 (for an annual membership) or $12.00 (for a one-time rental or holder of a seven-day pass).

Now, if said cyclist were to abandon the bike, the Cronut run, as the Gothamist wryly noted, would cost $1000.  Cronut fans claim that is a small price to pay.  As I haven't tied one--or a Citibke-- yet, I couldn't tell you for sure.

Two Wheels vs Two Feet In Bucharest?

Many of us have an image of Europe as a place where cycling is revered, or at least respected.  Even if you haven't been to Amsterdam or Copenhagen, you've seen images of streets full of people riding to work, to school, to go shopping, or just because they can, wearing everything from fashionable suits to flashy racing gear.

Even in less bike-friendly European cities, one finds accommodations, if not in physical accoutrements, then at least in the attitudes of local motorists and pedestrians--and, sometimes, even the police, who are often recreational or sporting cyclists themselves.

But, believe it or not, there is a major European capital in which officials actually seem to be discouraging cycling.  Or, worse, they seem to be pitting cyclists against pedestrians and motorists--and everyone else in the city.

That place is one I've never visited:  Bucharest, Romania.  Believe it or not, the city's to build bike paths on the sidewalks.  This would endanger both cyclists, for both will have less space than they would have were the bike lanes in the roadway--or if there weren't bike lanes at all.  

Riding to Bucharest City Hall to protest the Mayor's decision to place bike paths on the sidewalks.  From Demotix

As I've never been to Bucharest, I can't comment on its motor traffic or cycling conditions.  However, it does seem as though there is a growing number of commuting  and recreational cyclists--and people who would like to be one or both.

What's interesting is that, according to a poll, 81% of motorists believe that cycling and walking should be encouraged.   Perhaps they're thinking about the study that rated Bucharest the most polluted capital in Europe in 2011 and the second-most in 2012.  I would imagine that even those who wouldn't normally think about the environment could be noticing an increase in the number of respiratory ailments or cancers.  Perhaps those motorists have contracted one or both themselves.

Those same motorists, for the most part, agree that making cyclists and pedestrians share the same ribbons of concrete is a terrible idea--at least for a city that should encourage cycling and walking.  

 

Shady Practices In The Sunshine State

When a place is called "Beachside Cycle and Surf", it conjures up images of friendly, perhaps laid-back, people who are enjoying the sun, surf and wind.

You probably don't think of swindlers.  At least, I didn't when I ordered from them two days before this past Christmas.

They listed a model of Wald basket I hadn't seen in my local shops.  The price was good, even with shipping.  I decided to order a couple of other items they were selling for lower prices than most other retailers.  

After two weeks, I hadn't heard from them.  I got no response to my first or second e-mail to them.  Finally, on 17 January--more than three weeks after the order--they told me that my items were on back-order,and might take another three to six weeks.

Well, I still hadn't heard from them on the 23rd of March--three months after I placed my order.  And I've had no communication from them since, even though I've sent several e-mails and left messages on their voice mail.

For all I know, they may be out of business or something.  I did notice, however, that on their Better Business Bureau page, there were was another complaint (besides mine) from someone else who ordered, but didn't receive, merchandise.

Of course, I'm going to send Surfside, the BBB and the local newspapers a link to this post.  Now I no longer want the merchandise:  I want my money back.  And I hope the other complainant gets his/her money back or merchandise from those shady businesspeople in the Sunshine State.