I Wouldn't Be Caught Dead In...

 The '80s brought us "fade" paint jobs.

The '90s--oh, where do I begin?  It was (mostly) a great time for me personally (including as a cyclist), but there was all manner of insanity in the bike world.  As someone who was both a road and off-road (mainly the former) cyclist for most of the decade, I can say I'm unbiased in laying much of the blame on mountain bikes, which brought us bar ends in weird shapes, wheels with spokes that looked like the twist-ties from bags of bread and anything that could be made in a neon color.

This century/millenium has also brought its share of unfortunate trends.  Some of them start off as sensible, even laudable ideas, like bike garments designed to make us more visible to motorists (and, sometimes, each other).  But they end up in absurdity or just sheer tackiness:

I mean, why do you need an emoji to be seen?

A Fowl Holiday

 The other day, my friend Beverly told me she's going to spend today with her kids and grandkids on Staten Island.  I'm going "with bird in tow," she said.

I asked whether she'd planned to use a tow truck to drag a turkey across the Verrazano Bridge.  "That sounds cruel!" exclaimed.

Plus, it would definitely lead his fellow feathered friends in a fowl mood. (I couldn't resist that one!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

They See You While You're Shopping

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day--and, unofficially, the beginning of the "holiday season"--here in the US.

Although this time is festive for some, it comes with increased dangers.  Among them are "crimes of opportunity," especially in shopping and touristic areas.  Such incidents include car break-ins, purse snatchings, other kinds of theft and sexual harassment and assault.  As one shopper pointed out, a woman alone in a parking lot is especially vulnerable at this time of year, as darkness arrives earlier in the day.

Knowing that, police departments typically increase their presence in such places at this time of year.  Typically, constables pass by in patrol cars; sometimes cops do their work on foot.  But at least one police department has figured out that sending officers to such areas on bicycle is perhaps the most effective means of fighting and deterring crime.

That is what the Kyle, Texas police department will be doing for the fourth year.  The Austin-area city's department specially trains officers for bike duty.  One benefit, according to officer James Plant, is that "we can get into areas that police cars can't." Moreover, he says, bikes are quiet, which allows officers to "be stealthy" and "sneak up on the criminal."

The real value, he says, of the bike patrols is not so much in busting criminals but in deterring them.  The officers on bikes, he explains, are "an extra set of eyes and ears in the community."

And, it seems, people like the bike patrols.  "We get a lot of thumbs-up," Plant says.