An Ode To Her Helmet

 The next time I take a trip to some exotic locale, I will pack a helmet.  Whether I bring a bike of my own, or rent locally (as I did on my most recent trips to France, Italy, Greece, Cambodia and Laos), I will wear my “shell,” even if it gives me away as a tourist.

The young man I encountered a few days ago is fine.  His mother and sister say that they’ll make sure he’s covered when he rides again.  I offered mine—I explained that I have two others and could’ve taken the subway home to avoid riding bareheaded—but they said he already has one but just wouldn’t wear it.

I can say that wearing a helmet saved me on more than one occasion.  In one instance, the emergency room doctor told me as much. In another, two decades earlier, I was fine even though (or possibly because) my helmet (rather than my head) broke in two.

I think Lou Ness would concur with my assessment of the value of helmets.

The Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian?

 They aren’t the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  I am thankful for that.

Rather, they might be the Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian.

They are four businessmen based in the iconic frame-builder’s home country of Derby (pronounced Dar-bee) in England.

In a statement on Mercian’s website, the self-proclaimed “passionate cyclists” announced that they “intend to honor” the “indelible legacy from all of the previous owners” of the iconic company they have just purchased.

It seems that they have shown their intent to honor the legacy in at least one way:  They are retaining the builder’s craftsmen. It seems that Mercian’s troubles were in its management and, by some accounts, customer service. One hopes the new owners can fix them and become the Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian.

Will This “Fake” Save Lives?

 By now, most of us have seen “ghost” bikes.

Because they are painted stark white and, as often as not, mangled, they are difficult to ignore, even if you’ve already seen many.

While they attract attention, it’s fair to wonder whether they have any effect on drivers, whether of motorized scooters or bikes as well as cars, trucks and buses. After all, as I have learned the hard way, even when cyclists wear helmets and follow all laws and safety procedures, they are blamed (especially if they are killed) even if the driver is intoxicated and blows through a red light at twice the speed limit.

But, if a potential victim is a child—especially the driver’s own child—could that change motorists’ behavior?

David Smith seems to think so. The Murray, Utah resident has constructed a “fake” memorial consisting of a banged-up kids’ bike wrapped in flowers and a photo of a young child* in an intersection in his hometown.

While there is no record of any car-bike crashes at the site, prior to or since the installation, Smith says he’s seen “people slamming on the brakes where they used to pump on the gas.”

While some may question the ethics of the “fake,” Smith says that posting it as he did nearly two weeks ago is better than “putting out a picture of a kid I know.”

Local police would not comment on the memorial.

*—The child in the photo is someone Smith knew and is now a woman in her 40s.