Bilingual Bonehead Busted

I really try not to be a mean, vindictive person.  I know it's wrong to wish harm to other people, but...  

There are some people who really deserve to become candidates for the Darwin Awards. The problem is that instead of removing themselves from the gene pool, they harm others.

I am thinking in particular about the spectator who, with her back to the peloton, stepped into its path while holding a banner of bilingual banality:  "Allez Opi-Omi."  Allez, is of course, a French greeting or wish for good luck, while Opi-Omi is a German term of endearment for grandparents.

The latter part of the sign led authorties to believe that she was German or, perhaps, Alsatian or Swiss.  Turns out, she's a local woman, and the gendarmes took her into custody in Landerneau, where the first stage of this year's Tour de France ended.

About 45 kilometers from the first stage finish line, her stupidity, vanity or egocentricity, depending on how you see her action, resulted in one of the worst crashes in recent Tour history.  Eight riders were involved, and one, Marc Soler finished the stage but abandoned the race after fractures were found in both of his arms.

According to local law in Finistere, northewestern France, the woman could be fined 1500 Euros (about 1800 USD), provided that the crash doesn't cause the riders more than three months of inaction.  She could face stiffer penalties, however, if individual riders take action against her.  Soler says he might try to sue her, and Tour organizers say they're considering that option.  

Whatever comes of their actions, the woman will have few, if any, rivals for sheer thoughtlessness.  One can only hope that she doesn't pass on that trait.

The Need Remains; They Want To Keep On Delivering

Back in February, I wrote about Bicycle Meals and its founder, Mike Pak.

Last year, on a Monday, he put up a flyer on Instagram, calling for help in assembling and distributing packets to the un-housed of Koreatown, the Los Angeles community he calls home.  The following Friday, 20 strangers rolled up to his apartment, ready to help.

Bicycle Meals volunteer getting ready to deliver. Photo by Angel Carreras, from KCRW.

The volunteers included people of varied backgrounds, including graphic designers, audio producers and former chefs.  Most were either working from home or not working at all, so they were able to contribute much time and energy--and, in many cases, their own money (to purchase food and other items).  They assembled packets containing sandwiches, fruit, snacks, masks and hand sanitizer--in the apartments of Pak and Bicycle Meals co-founder Jacob Halpern.

They have since moved the assembly operation to the basement of a nearby church.  Halpern notes that this has made the operation more efficient, but there is another problem:  As pandemic restrictions loosen, many volunteers have returned to their old workplaces and schedules, which doesn't leave them as much time to be, well, volunteers.

The need for their services, however, has not decreased.  Nor is the need for food and supplies.  Local businesses supplied some of them, but much also came from the volunteers themselves.  Some of the businesses can't donate as much as they did at first because they've lost so much revenue, and some of the volunteers are tapped out.  So, Pak and Halpern are hoping to engage more of, and beyond, the community for help--not only with money and material resources, but also help in accessing social services and job placement.

It seems that with all of the changes, Pak and Halpern are still trying to deliver.

New Law In Old Dominion

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I'm critical, sometimes even cynical, about bicycle-related laws--especially when they are presented as being in the interest of "safety."

So when I heard that a new law is to take effect 1 July in Virginia, I thought, "What now?" 

According to the new law in Old Dominion, drivers are required to change lanes when passing cyclists unless the lane is "very wide."  It also stipulates that two cyclists are allowed to ride abreast of each other if a single is approaching.  These rules apply only to regular streets and roads; when cyclists are in a designated bike lane, neither they nor drivers will need to do anything different from what they do now.

It will be interesting to see the effects of this new law.  I think requiring cars to move over makes sense, but I wonder about cyclists riding next to each other with trucks passing at 50 or more MPH.  If cycling in Virginia (which I haven't done) is anything like cycling in Florida (of which I've done a fair amount), the scenario I described wouldn't be uncommon, especially in rural and other remote areas, where the only road might be a county or state road.

Entirely predictable were some of the ignorant comments that followed a news story announcing the new law.  They were full of stereotypes about cyclists and complaints that cyclists were taking "their" roads that they "paid for."  One said that cyclists should be taxed--apparently not realizing that bicycle infrastructure is usually paid through transportation funds, which come from the same pot of tax money into which we all pay.  Still someone else said bicycles should be allowed only on designated bike paths, sidewalks and roads on which the speed limit is not greater than 25 MPH.  

What those commenters don't seem to realize is that today, a greater number of cyclists than ever are pedaling for transportation, and not solely for recreation.  The new law--at least part of it--seems to show some cognizance of that fact.