Going With A Gnarly Idea

 Here in New York City, the prototypical commuter/errand/“beater” bike has flat handlebars, a single fixed cog or freewheel and tires somewhat wider and thicker than those found on road bikes. Frames are usually finished in plain colors or could be raw steel or aluminum. So far, those bikes sound like the love children of Minimalists and Brutalists. But those drab machines might have neon-colored V-shaped rims, as if to assert themselves against asphalt and concrete. Other cities’ signature bikes are variations on what I have described—or on Dutch-style city bikes. 

In still other places—typically hillier—bikes with multi-gear hubs or derailleurs are more common. Such machines often are modified ‘90’s mountain bikes, which some argue is the best kind of utility bike.

That belief seems to be a guiding philosophy of Gnargo.  Minneapolis natives Elysia and Zach Springer moved to Bentonville, Arkansas shortly before the pandemic.  They were drawn by the city’s reputation as a mecca for mountain biking—they had been cycling advocates in their former hometown—and other outdoor activities. It also happens to be the headquarters of Wal-Mart which, Elysia jokes, “sponsored” their move with Zach’s new job in product development for the retail colossus.

They had two toddlers and wanted to integrate cycling into their lives away from the trails. To them, the ideal solution was a front-loading family cargo bike like they’d seen in Europe. They weren’t widely available at an affordable price in the ‘States, much less in Arkansas, so they decided to make one themselves.

The first design was “pretty bad,” Zach recalls. But after a few tries, they hit upon something that satisfied both of them. It began with an old steel mountain bike frame, which Zach modified and equipped with an electronic kit. 

Needless to say, it got a lot of attention when they rode it around town. People asked where they could get a vehicle like it—which, of course, they couldn’t. So began the Springers’ enterprise.

It will be really interesting to see whether Gnargo’s front-loading cargo bikes become the signature mode of transportation for any community. Such a place would have a very different bicycle culture from New York or Portland!

Photos by Betsy Welch for Outside magazine.

Urban Range

 

West 59th Street, Manhattan, from the saddle of Tosca, my Mercian fixed-gear bike.

Cops Chase, Suspects Get Away, Cyclist Dies

 One of the reasons I have never attended my high-school reunions is an encounter I had with a classmate just after I graduated.

We were in the stands for the Thanksgiving Day football game. He said that he was waiting to enroll in the police academy. That did not surprise me: Several members of his family worked in local and state law enforcement.  He wasn't, however, trying to continue a familial tradition.  Rather, the allure of becoming a constable was  that "it's the only job where you get to drive fast, carry a gun and beat people up."

I suspect that more than a few prospective cops were enticed by the prospect of operating vehicles at speeds that would get civilians arrested or ticketed--and, too often, lead to innocent drivers, bystanders, pedestrians--and cyclists--getting killed.

We don't hear about that very often.  But such was the tragic fate of Amanda Servedio.  The other night, she was riding her bicycle  near 37th Street and 34th Avenue in Astoria--an intersection I have pedaled, probably, hundreds of times, as it's only a few blocks from where I lived--when a driver sped a pickup truck through the intersection and struck her.  The impact launched her; she landed on a nearby parked car.  

She was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

As terrible as the crash was, it might have been just another of many caused by a careless, errant or impaired driver save for another "twist:" Police were pursuing the vehicle, whose drivers and passengers were suspects in a burglary at a nearby construction site.

Heartbroken to hear the news that our neighbor Amanda Servedio was hit & killed by a driver fleeing the NYPD in a chase on Tuesday.

Her tragic death was preventable and the latest example of cyclists and pedestrians being killed due to an unacceptable increase in NYPD chases.

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 24, 2024

An NYPD policy forbids chases of the sort those officers made. There's a very good reason for that, according to Transportation Alternatives' Alexa Sledge: "When there are cars speeding down city streets, it's dangerous." Evidence of her claim can be found in this fact: Ms. Servedio--an "avid cyclist" according to a friend--is the fifth person to be killed in a police chase this year.

Oh, and the suspects, who abandoned the Dodge Ram 1500 (with "ghost" plates), are still at large. 

Call me cycnical, but I wonder whether those cops gave chase for the thrill of it--just as my old classmate dreamed of doing.