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.

He’s 78 And Rides A Bike—But Doesn’t Have “Stamina”

 The folks at Fox News want to have it both ways.

On one hand, Faux News contributor Rachel Campos Duffy accused President Joe Biden of being “too old” and not having the “physical or mental stamina” for his job.  The evidence?  He went for a bike ride in his home state of Delaware while “crises” raged in his country and the world.

What’s even more ludicrous is that she compared Biden’s actions to those of his predecessor, Donald Trump, claiming he “worked those long, long hours” and had “impromptu hour-long pressers with the media.”

Ok, so Joe went for a bike ride.  Donnie spent lots of time golfing—or simply hanging out on his golf courses.  Now tell me:  Which activity requires more stamina?

Also, look at all of the time T-rump spent on Twitter. How much stamina does that require ?

Oh, and Biden works out five days a week and his medical records show no major health problems. El Cheeto Grande, on the other hand, is said to have nudged his doctor into falsifying his health reports.

As for being “too old:” Biden is keeping up his bike rides and workouts at age 79.  When he took office, he was six years older than the Orange One was when he entered the White House.

I think Ms. Campos-Duffy’s real beef—and that of others in the right-wing media—is that Biden hasn’t held a “presser” since taking office. Trump’s press conferences, on the other hand, were mainly opportunities for self- promotion, or for bullying and belittling anyone who didn’t further his agenda, which begins and ends with himself.

That Biden can be the most powerful and famous person in the world not make it all about him shows me that he has some kind of stamina:  the kind one needs to have self-discipline.  Maybe the bike riding has something to do with it .

If You're Gonna Steal...Don't Learn From These Guys

Normally, bike theft is not a laughing matter.  But I am relaying this story as a "Sunday funny" because of the thief's ineptitude.

In New Hampshire, a couple of guys cased out a bike shop.  At least, that much can be surmised as they bypassed the cheap bikes and took three with a combined retail value of $16,000.  

In the wee hours of morning, before the shop opened, the perps backed a van into the shop's front door.  They tossed two of the bikes into the back of the van and the other on the roof.

But they forgot to shut the rear door of the van.  And the bike on the roof fell off as they drove away.

Bob Beal, the shop's owner, said it took a year to get those bikes and will probably take at least another to replace them.  But, as the crooks' bungling was recorded, and the fire department later responded to a call for a burning van--which the thieves abandoned and apparently torched--I suspect the criminals will be caught sooner rather than later. 

I would imagine that Mr. Beal will be compensated for his losses.  But I am sure he and his customers would rather have those bikes.

Note To North Country: Don't Repeat NYC Bike Policy Mistake

Yesterday I wrote about an example of bicycle infrastructure and policy crafted, so it seems, by non-cyclists.  The new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane seems to combine every bad decision made by this city's planners when it comes to cycling.  What's worse, or at least as bad, as the lane itself is that motorized bicycles and scooters are allowed to share it with completely human-powered bikes.

Photo by Jay Petrequin for 

Now the folks in Warren County--part of my home state's "North Country"--are contemplating that same policy mistake on a popular bike lane.  The Warren County Bikeway winds its way through the woods from the village of Lake George through the city of Glens Falls, and connects cyclists with Adirondack Park and other parts of the North Country.  The county administrators are debating whether to allow electric bikes on the lane.

Now, I am not against electric bikes in principle:  They keep people on two wheels after their bodies have been decimated by injuries, disease or simply old age.  And, they are quieter and less polluting--at least in their normal state--than the motorized bikes--which, in my opinion, are just scaled-down motorcycles-- commonly used by delivery workers. 

E-bikes differ from their motorized counterparts in several ways.  First, of course, is their power source.  But more to the point, the motor in an e-bike is not made to power the bike by itself.  Rather, it's there to augment the rider's leg juice on a hill, against the wind or simply when the rider tires out.  

Within the category of e-bikes, there are three basic types: 

Type 1 is designed to assist the rider in getting the bike to speeds up to 20 MPH.  At higher speeds, the motor cuts off until the bike slows down.

Type 2 is like Type 1, with a throttle added.  This feature can be used to cross an intersection, make a right turn or in any other situation in which quick acceleration is helpful.

Type 3 is the same as Type 2, but with the ability to reach 28 MPH.

If the bike lane is wide enough and secluded from traffic, I have no problem with Type 1, or even Type 2.  The problem is that the latter is often modified into a Type 3, and Type 3s are made to go even faster.  Also, Type 3 riders tend to ride more than they pedal. 

I think making clear distinctions about what is and isn't allowed, and enforcing such regulations, would make it safe and practical for Type 1 and even Type 2 riders to share a lane with those of us who ride completely human-powered bikes.  Such an arrangement would make particular sense on the Warren County bike lane, as many riders are vacationers who bring their bikes on RVs or trailers to Lake George or some other North Country destination.  And many of those arriving in RVs are retirees who might not otherwise cycle if there wasn't a "boost."

This Bridge Should Be Seen And Not Crossed

Photo by Jake Offenhartz, for the Gothamist

 The new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane opened on Tuesday. However, I probably won’t be using it any time soon.

The old joke about compromises is that they make no-one happy.  The thing about jokes is, of course, that they convey truths.  Such is the case for the new lane.

Mayor de Blasio was opposed to any lane on the bridge.  Advocates wanted a single lane in each direction.  The new lane is two-way, on the Manhattan-bound part of the bridge.  While it is separated from traffic by concrete barriers connected with chicken wire, cyclists who’ve used it report feeling nervous about traffic so close by.

What would concern me more , though, is some of the traffic allowed in the lane: motorized bikes and scooters, including those making deliveries for Doordash and other services. Anyone who’s used the Queensborough/59th Street Bridge lane can recount all-too-close encounters with them.  Well, the new Brooklyn Bridge lane is even narrower: six feet for two-wheeled traffic in both directions.

Such claustrophobic conditions pose another hazard:  If a cyclist has a flat or other issues, there is no room to pull over, let alone fix the problem.

So, while cyclists will no longer have to dodge selfie-taking and otherwise bike-oblivious pedestrians on the wooden upper deck, I don’t see how the new lane makes cycling safer, let alone more pleasurable, on the Brooklyn Bridge.  For now, I will stick to my tried-and-true New York wisdom that the Brooklyn Bridge should be seen and not crossed!