They Need Us. He Says So.

 Drivers need us.

That’s the point Nick Maxwell makes in an Edmonds (Washington State) News editorial.

Maxwell isn’t some granola-eater who “looks like an environmentalist.” Rather, he is a certified climate action planner for Climate Protection NW. In other words, he has training, experience and expertise that I appeared to have, according to one of my neighbors.

He also seems very observant. In his article, he mentions drivers’ annoyance when they can’t find a parking space while electric vehicle charging stations stand idle in the same parking lot.

He discusses some of the reasons why there aren’t more electric vehicles on the road and points out that it’s not the only reason why drivers can’t park after they’ve made their way through traffic jams.

He notes that in the lot he mentions—and at rail and bus stations—bicycles and eBikes are locked up. But they’re not, contrary to some drivers’ accusations, “taking” “their” parking spaces. Maxwell—and I—have yet to see a bicycle parked in a space designated for a car or truck.

Thus, he says, if more people cycled on to school, work, shop or go to concerts or ballgames, there would be fewer vehicles to jam the roads and fewer drivers competing for parking spaces.

He also says that more cycling, walking or use of mass transit would keep gasoline prices down or, at least, moderate their increases, especially during the summer, when people drive the most.

That last point got me thinking back to an exchange I had with a motorist some years ago. He castigated me—and all cyclists—essentially for inconveniencing him. Then he accused us of “acting like you own the road when we (meaning drivers) pay for it.

I explained that I was paying for that road just as much as he was. Like many other people, he believed that he was paying some sort of tax that I wasn’t. In fact, funds to build and maintain streets, highways and other infrastructure comes from the general pool of taxes everyone pays. The only tax I don’t pay that he pays is on gasoline.

Moreover, non-drivers subsidize drivers in other ways. As an example, if you live or work in a building that offers “free” parking, how do you think the property owners are paying for it. I am sure that the rents or prices they charge are adjusted upward, however slightly, to include what drivers get for “free.”

Oh, and I won’t even get into the fact that we, cyclists, don’t pollute or otherwise spoil the fresh green (or blue or terra cotta or whatever color) outdoor spaces people like to drive to for picnics and the like.

So, I would say that automobile drivers need us—cyclists, walkers and users of mass transportation—even more than Nick Maxwell shows his readers.

More Winners At This Year’s Olympics

 Last month, I wrote about Yulduz and Farima Hashimi, two Afghani sisters whose long road to the Olympics began in disguise and on borrowed bicycles.  

To me, whether or not they win a medal—or even finish a race—in Paris, they are winners.

So is Ese Ukpeseraye, who is not only the first Nigerian cyclist to compete in the Olympics. She is the first cyclist of any gender identity to go from the West African nation to the Olympics.

Originally, she was scheduled to compete only in road races. The disqualification of another nation’s riders opened a slot for her to compete in track events.

There was one problem:  While she had a proper road bike, she didn’t have one suitable for the velodrome, where racers pedal lighter weight machines that are more aerodynamic and have shorter wheelbases, single fixed gears and no brakes.

Just when it seemed she wouldn’t be able to represent her country on the oval, a track bike was loaned to her—by the German team.

For such munificence, I hereby declare that squad another of this year’s winners at this year’s Olympics. I don’t think they need me to make such an announcement: If they haven’t already won a medal or two, they probably will.

They Stole A Bike—And What Else?

 If you have ever had a bike stolen, bicycle thieves might seem like the most depraved individuals.

While pilfering Peugeots and Pogliaghis might be some crooks’ métier, others no doubt steal other things. This makes sense when you realize that many bike thefts are crimes of opportunity and the end-game is to sell the bike, whether whole in parts. The same could be said for the filching of other items like jewelry.

I have to wonder, however, about the two perps who entered, without permission, a New Orleans apartment complex on 18 July. They stole a bicycle—and a package containing the remains of a deceased person.

Surveillance images from NOPD

While I deplore stealing bikes, I can understand why thieves do it: Bicycles are relatively easy to swipe and sell. I cannot, on the other hand, comprehend a motive for taking someone’s remains. Could it be that the partners in crime took the package simply because it was there and didn’t realize what was inside? Or was there some more complicated motive that involved, say, revenge or simply harassment against a particular person?

Whatever the explanation may be, a bicycle and a package of human remains has to be one of the strangest combinations of theft I—and, possibly, the police officers investigating the case—have ever heard of.