I was trawling eBay for a small part when I came across this:
In spite of its bright blue paint (which, actually, I like), the bike seemed, somehow, almost quintessentially British. I emphasize the "almost".
While its lugwork and fork crown remind me of at least a couple of old-time builders in Albion, this bike comes from the other end of the world.
Yes, it's Australian. The frame--the top-of-the line "Five Star", was built in 1950 by Malvern Star. They're still building bikes today and, in fact, someone named Phil Anderson still rides one. Who is he?, you ask. He's just the first Australian--and non-European--to don the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France. He would complete le Tour 13 times from 1981 to 1994 and finish as high as fifth (in 1982 and 1985).
What really caught my eye about the bike in the photo, though, was its headtube:
Five stars. Where have you ever seen a head badge like it?
Citibike, New York City's bike-share program, will probably be expanded to Western Queens by the end of this year. So says City Council member Jimmy Van Bremer, who represents the area.
In other words, it's coming to my neighborhood. The first kiosks will probably be installed by Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum, which are (literally) steps apart--and, ironically, next to a Costco store.
I used to live half a block from the museum. In the seven years I lived there (2002-2009), I noticed more and more people going to it and to Socrates. I also noticed that increasing numbers of those people came from Europe, Japan and other parts of the world.
Those tourists--especially those from Paris and other capitals with extensive mass transportation systems--would be surprised at how difficult it was to reach those places, in spite of their proximity to Manhattan. Really, you can't get much closer to Manhattan without being in it. But they're still about a mile from the nearest subway station, and on weekends, only one bus line serves them. And, it seems, the buses run every hour.
So, Socrates and Noguchi would seem to be great places for Citibike. Socrates is popular with cyclists, as one can bring his or her bike into the park, touch the sculptures and installations, and enjoy a little picnic by the river. I have done that many times.
However, for Citibike to be practical, other kiosks will need to be installed near the subway stations--unless Citibike plans to increase the 30-minute time limit (45 minutes for annual members). Most people, especially those who are not regular cyclists, would need half an hour, or maybe twenty or twenty-five minutes just to get to or from Manhattan by bike. Socrates and Noguchi are halfway between the Queensborough (59th Street) and RFK (Triboro) Bridges, both of which let cyclists off on the easternmost extreme of the island.
Of course, if anyone wants to use Citibike for commuting or transportation, the things I've mentioned are even more critical. And, of course, that begs the question of whether said commuters and errand-runners would ride the bikes into and out of Manhattan, or to the subway stations.
Don't get me wrong: I'd be happy to see Citibike come to Queens. I simply think that its planners have to re-think the current limitations of the program in order to make it practical, let alone enjoyable.
I grew up during the 1960's and early 1970's, when all sorts of upheavals and other changes were roiling. There was, of course the Vietnam War--would it still be raging when I was old enough for the draft?--and the protests related to it, the civil rights movementand other events of the day.
Some of those protests involved school busing. It was being used to intergrate previously single-race schools, whether those schools' monochromaticness (Is that a real word?) was by design or a consequence of history (i.e., segregation). As you can imagine, a lot of white parents weren't happy to see their kids bussed to schools that had been all (or mainly) black or Latino (the two main non-white groups of the time), Some fierce protests ensued--perhaps the most notorious being the one in South Boston.
(It should also be noted that many parochial and other private schools opened their doors during that time.)
But all of those parents who didn't want their kids to ride buses or sit in classrooms with kids darker than themselves (I don't mean to imply that this was the sole motivation behind opposition to busing) were tilting at the wrong windmill. Actually, there was a much better reason for them to keep their kids off buses and, instead, attending their local schools.
Most of the kids who were forced to ride buses would have otherwise walked or ridden bicycles (or, today, skateboards) to their local schools. That's more exercise than a lot of kids get today: I can't help but to wonder if the skyrocketing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes among children and teenagers would have been prevented, at least in part, if more of them weren't riding buses to school.
Now, of course, I realize that in some places, particularly rural areas, the school is too far away for someone to commute on his or her feet or a pair of wheels. So, perhaps, they have no choice but to take a bus.
Here is a solution to that dilemma (and the high cost of fuel) from--where else?--the Netherlands:
-
