A Masked Slash And Grab

The good news about the COVID-19 epidemic (Did I actually write that?) is that more people are riding bikes.

The bad news is that more bikes are being stolen.  What's worse is that not all of the thieves are taking unattended bikes or breaking locks on parked machines. Perps know they're harder to identify when they're wearing masks, so some have become more brazen about how they part riders from their wheels.

Such was the case a month ago, just a few miles from my apartment.  Sometimes, during rides to or from Fort Totten or Nassau County, I'll stop in Flushing--the Chinatown of Queens--for dumplings or other tasty treats.  A young man who stopped in front of a restaurant near Main Street--may have had the same idea.

Whatever his intention, another young man started to talk to him.  The distraction allowed another young man to approach him from behind--and slash him in the face.

He dropped his phone and bike.  The guy who started the conversation scooped them up and took off.  The slasher ran into a subway station a few doors away.

Everything was captured on video.  I just hope someone can recognize the perps and call the NYPD hotline (1-800-577-8477 for English, 1-800-577-4782 for Spanish).

John, 40 Years Later

Some things really can make you feel old.

I know, it isn't all about me.  At least, what I'm about to relate isn't.  But I write this blog, ostensibly about bicycling, and end up talking about myself.  Then again, what blogger doesn't talk about him/her/themself?

So here goes:  Forty years ago, John Lennon was murdered by someone who claimed --like other actual and would-be murderers and assassins--to have been inspired by Holden Caulfield (who was, not a killer, but a teenage rebel who feels disgust for almost everything in the adult world) of Catcher in the Rye.

Four decades ago? Four decades ago!  At the time, I had lived barely half that amount of time.  On the other hand, John had lived as long (having turned 40 two months earlier) when he was shot.

In an earlier post, I relayed one of his fondest memories:  of getting a bike as a kid. He rode it everywhere and didn't leave it outside at night, as other people  in his neighborhood did.  His wheels accompanied him to bed, he said.

Of course, what is better-known is someone who accompanied him to bed:

Yes, a bicycle accompanied him and Yoko during their first "Bed-In For Peace" in Amsterdam.  I don't know whether they had a bike during their second Bed-In, in Montreal, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

Here they are in 1972, stopping for what has long been a quintessential New York experience, but one that is disappearing.  Those iconic Sabrett's hot dog carts are being replaced by Halal food trucks and carts that serve kebabs and chicken or lamb with rice, as well trucks and carts offering other tacos, pizza and other "street foods."

(As best as I can tell, John is riding a Bottechia ten-speed and Yoko is on a Dunelt or Rudge three-speed. At least, I'm sure it's a three-speed but not a Raleigh.)

John, apparently, never gave up his love for cycling, even when he and the Beatles were touring and turning out an album or two every year.  

Tell me:  Does that look like '60's England, or what?

It certainly looks like John, expressing his kind of joy.

For Her Brother

What motivates people to do charitable work?

My guess is that one common (if not the most common) impetus is the memory of a loved one, whether a blood relative, friend or anyone else who matters to the person doing the work.

Such is the case for Kay and Craig Collier.  For the past 27 years, the Brownwood, Texas residents have been collecting bicycles and distributing them for Good Samaritan Ministries and other non-profit charities.  The need is great in their area which, in spite (or some would say because of) Camp Bowie, has lower income and higher poverty rates than average for Texas or the United States.

Kay Collier (left) with Marie Smith of Good Samaritan Ministries (Photo by Derrick Stuckly)

One of the needy could have been Kay's brother, had he not become her brother.  Her parents adopted Sidney Collier Hanks through Catholic Charities when he was six years old.  For his first Christmas with his new family, Kay's mother asked Sidney what he wanted from Santa.  "He said it didn't matter, he never gets what he wants, but he really would like to have bike," Kay recalls.  

He soon came to be known "Sid on the Bike" in the community.  "He wore out a bike, and sometimes my mom would have to get him two a year," she remembers.  He rode "everywhere," she says, continuing even after getting his driver's license at age 18.

So far, that sounds like a typical story.  That is, until you consider a handicap Sid had to overcome:  one leg was 12 inches shorter than the other.  At the time he was adopted, he was living in a group home where the foster mother made booties but not shoes.  "My mother found someone to get him shoes made that were built up and very heavy."  Still, Kay says, "he rode that bike anyway."

Phlebitis developed in Sid's shorter leg.  Finally, he needed hip surgery because the shorter leg was causing so much stretch to the normal one.  He was on the verge of being relegated to a wheelchair when he passed away, at age 28.

At that time, Kay, now a receptionist for Good Samaritan Ministries, and Craig were expecting their first daughter, whom they named Sidney.  She is now 27 years old:  the same age as the couple's bicycle charity.