Death In The Sunshine State

Some people think Florida's climate makes it a cycling paradise.

Me, I prefer the change of seasons.  But I admit that I don't mind going there for a few days, and that I have had many enjoyable rides in the Sunshine State.

However, I am more cautious when cycling there than I am here in New York, or just about any place else.  Florida's roads--indeed, much of the state's infrastructure--is designed around the automobile.  And most drivers--I'm not talking only about the elderly ones--are not cyclists.

So I wasn't surprised to read, a few months ago, that in 2012, as many cyclists were killed by motor vehicles in Florida as in Great Britain, a country with three times as many people and many more cyclists.  That same report said that pedestrians are killed at four times the US national rate.

Having cycled some of the causeways that connect the innumerable islands, peninsulae and other outposts with the mainland, it's easy to understand why there are so many cyclists and pedestrians have fatal encounters with motorists.  Those causeways are, too often, more like speedways:  wide, flat, and without a shoulder.  Worst of all, speed limits are enforced loosely, if at all.

So it was that yesterday, on the Rickenbacker Causeway in Key Biscayne, two cyclists were struck.  One of them was killed; the other is in the hospital.  Even by Florida standards, it was a horrific accident.  A news helicopter caught the grisly aftermath:



http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Serious-Crash-Involving-Car-Bicyclist-in-Key-Biscayne-289277331.html

Who's Walking Whom?

A few days ago, I mentioned people who "walk" their dogs while riding a bicycle.  I've actually seen big canines pull their owners along; other times, I winced when Yorkies and other pup-sized adult pooches couldn't keep up with owners who were barely pedaling at all--or were even dragged.

Then, when I saw this, I thought people were trying to "walk" their kids:





 
Or was it the other way around? 

Of course, the real purpose of the harness is to help the kid learn to ride without training wheels.  I don't know anyone who's tried it, but it looks like it might be a good idea.

One Way To Commemorate This Day

Today, on Martin Luther King Day, I thought it would make sense to share something I learned just recently:  He actually gave his "I Have A Dream" speech--albeit in a slightly different form-- for the first time in Detroit, some two months before the whole world heard him deliver it from Washington.

It's interesting that such a fact has been all but lost to history, especially when one considers how much sense it makes.  After all, he made his speech in Detroit right around the time it became a majority-black city.  Also, King had, by that time, realized that the struggles of the labor movement were part of an overall struggle for justice, and no city has ever been more emblematic of the American labor movement than Detroit.

It's thus fitting that there's a "Tour  de Troit" taking place today. If today's weather in the Motor City is anything like what it normally has at this time of year, I give "props" to whoever rides it.  

The name of the ride is kind of funny.  The name of the city itself means "strait" in French; Francophone settlers who came by way of Quebec named the then-settlement for "le detroit du lac Erie", which separates it from what is now Windsor, Ontario.

(If you are under-age, or of delicate sensibilities, please skip over everything else in this parenthetical element.  The second syllable--"troit"--means "narrow" and is pronounced the way Anglophones pronounce a vulgar term for a part of the female anatomy.  In fact, it's believed that British soldiers in World War I introduced the term in to the English-speaking world.)

Anyway, congratulations to everyone who is riding today. And thank you for everything, Dr. King!