A common misperception about cycling, especially in cities, is that the hazards cyclists face are self-inflicted. Some media outlets, such as Faux, I mean Fox, News and the New York Post depict us as surly scofflaws who had it "coming to us" when one of us is injured or killed by a driver who was texting.
According this infographic from Chicago Bicycle Injury Lawyers, the truth is quite a bit different:
There's a good chance you've seen a police officer patrolling his or her beat on a bicycle. It's a common sight on college campuses as well as in dense urban areas with heavy traffic. Bicycles can be ridden between buildings, down alleyways and in all sorts of venues too narrow for cars. Even when few adults were cycling here in the US, constables on two wheels were not an unusual, if not a common, sight.
There is also a long history of postal delivery on bicycles, mainly for the same reasons officers patrol from the saddle. Mail carriers on bikes aren't as common as cops pedaling on patrol, at least here in the US, but I understand they still pedal through "rain, snow, sleet and hail" in a few places. And they are still pretty common in some other countries.
Speaking of history: I've written a few posts about how bicycles have been used in the military. As commenter Reese Matthews pointed out, bikes aren't particularly good fighting platforms. In some situations, however, they are good for transport and reconnaissance, especially in terrain in which motor vehicles can't be used. And, interestingly, the Vietnamese didn't actually ride their bicycles; rather, they used their two-wheelers "as pack animals" to transport equipment and other goods.
I mention all of these facts because of something I came across:
This firefighter bicycle was made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company in the early part of the 20th Century. Naturally, the hose caught my eye. The bike also had special accomodations for an axe and a siren. And look at that headlight!
While it looks distinctive, I don't know how anybody rode it, especially with the "hump" in the top tube--not to mention what the bike must have weighed! It's easy to see why bicycles have never had as much of a role in firefighting as they have had in conducting wars, patrolling streets and campuses and delivering mail. Then again, the bicycle contributes to firefighting in a different way: Many firefighters ride to keep themselves in shape--especially if they have injuries that prevent them from running--or simply for pleasure. In particular, I have met many firefighters on charity rides, or other kinds of organized rides.
They serve. And the bicycle helps them.
Most of us, if we're working for anyone (or any entity) besides ourselves, are evaluated on our performance. We're rated on a number of factors, some of which vary from job to job. There are, however, other factors that seem to be more or less universal in personnel evaluations, such as knowledge, efficiency, communications skills and professionalism.
Another such trait is "effectiveness". Some have tried to measure it, mainly without success. For example, since No Child Left Behind began in the early "aughts", students' test scores have been used to determine which teachers are effective. But things aren't that simple: a bad teacher almost certainly won't get good results, but sometimes a very good teacher can't overcome other things in a child's life that might impair his or her performance. On the other hand, in some occupations, effectiveness is easy to see: folks like salespeople bring in money, mechanics and plumbers fix things that stay fixed and others meet, or help to meet goals.
I think that effectiveness is easier to see in things: Effective things do, well, what they're designed to do. A derailleur that gives quick and precise shifts is effective; so is a brake that stops quickly or gradually, as needed, with a minimum of fuss.
It's also easy to see ineffectiveness, as I saw while riding across the RFK Memorial Bridge today:
Graffiti is a crime? Someone obviously didn't get the message.
