Disrupting Mass Transit--With A Citibike

For me, it was the kind of story that I couldn't believe when I first heard it, three nights ago.  But once it "sank in," I wasn't surprised.

After all, bikes from share programs have ended up in exotic faraway places, at the bottoms of rivers and canals or in "chop shops."  Theft and vandalism killed the bike share program in Rome and nearly did so in other cities.

But the way a Citibike in my home town met its demise--and disrupted transit service in my neighborhood--took aggression against public bike programs to a new level.

At the Steinway Street station--which is the second-closest subway stop to my apartment--someone tossed one of the blue share bikes onto the tracks.

It just happened that two trains, traveling in opposite directions, entered the station.  Whether or not it was the vandal's intention, the bike landed in just the right spot for both trains to hit it, or parts of it.    

Here's the result:

Was the vandal's intention to "blow up" Citibike--or the subway system?   

Vision Of A Ride At The Autumn Equinox

Today the Autumnal Equinox comes to the Northern Hemisphere.  For those of you on the other side of the line, the Spring Equinox is getting sprung on you.

While I envy those of you who are about to enjoy more daylight every day, I also look forward to riding through crisp autumn air and into vibrant sunsets.  And, as much as I love the city, I hope to leave it for a weekend or two now that there are fewer travel restrictions.

Here is a vision of something I'd like to see on a ride:

It's in Vicksburg, Michigan, but I know there are red barns, weathering and weathered, closer to the Big Apple.   

Driver Accused Of Causing Cyclist To Crash

Just about any person, place, thing or state of being can be a tool or a weapon.  Included in the latter category are advanced age and the knowledge and wisdom it brings--for some people, anyway.  Among the "things" are the pharmaceuticals and the automobile and its many safety and convenience features.

Age, pharmaceuticals, the automobile and one of its features in particular came together to endanger the life of a cyclist in Gerry, an Erie County, New York town near the Pennsylvania border.

Dale Reynolds of Meadville, Pennsylvania was driving along Route 60 when he flashed his high beams at a cyclist traveling in the opposite directions.  High beams, of course, can be useful in dire situations, when the weather is brutish and visibility is poor. But those same lights are too often used to bully and otherwise intimidate cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.

According to New York State police, Reynolds showed "multiple signs" of drug impairment, which resulted in his arrest.  Oh, and he's 82 years old.  I'm not saying that there should be a cut-off age for driving.  But I think there should be more frequent and stringent testing of senior citizens' reaction times and other cognitive abilities if they are to be allowed to continue driving.  You have to wonder, not only about Reynolds' reflexes, or his judgment:  He ought to know, at this late date, not to drive while impaired.

The failed sobriety tests resulted in his arrest for impaired driving--and causing the cyclist at whom he flashed his high beams to crash.  Gerry EMS workers took the cyclist to a local hospital as a precaution,  while Reynolds was taken to the State Police Barracks in Jamestown, where he was processed, charged, released and scheduled to appear in Gerry Court later this month.

While there are cyclists who ride carelessly and flout laws, my four decades-plus of cycling have shown me that drivers are too often not held to account for endangering, deliberately or not, cyclists.  While I am not hoping for a long prison sentence for an 82-year-old man, I am hoping that Reynolds gets whatever help and treatment he needs and, if necessary, his driving privileges restricted or revoked.