While I disagree with Grant Petersen, the force behind Rivendell Bikes (and, before that, Bridgestone bikes) on matters of bike fit and, sometimes, design, I wholeheartedly agree with him on other things. Among them is cycling attire: Reading his blog convinced me that I didn't have to wear team kit--or anything else made of lycra--in order to ride and, more important, enjoy riding.
So I think he would appreciate this:
I think it was Winston Churchill who said that Americans will do the right thing after they've exhausted all other possibilities.
Sometimes I think he was an optimist, at least when it comes to laws and polices regarding bicycles. In my own humble (OK, I gotta say that: I know I'm right because...well, I'm so damn smart and I've been riding for almost half a century!) opinion, no vehicle--whether it has one, two, three, four or more wheels--with a motor should be allowed in any lane designated for pedestrians, pedaled bicycles or any vehicle that doesn't have a motor.
I've presented my wisdom, I mean, opinion to everyone from the folks at Transportation Alternatives (of which I'm a member) to City Hall. The response is almost always the same: "You're right. But how could it be enforced?"
So, we have to contend with "rocket" scooters, e-bikes with boosters, and hand-throttle e-bikes in bike lanes that are six feet wide--for bike traffic in both directions. Or, in some places, we and pedestrians are "protected" by wrongheaded regulations.
The new year will begin with such a policy for folks who cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Starting on 1 January, there will be a one-size-fits-all 15 MPH speed limit in the bike/pedestrian lane. Currently, bridge-crossers are "advised" to remain within that limit.
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| Photo by Sherry LaVars, for the Marin Independent Journal |
While I understand the concerns of pedestrians (having walked across a number of bridges, including the Triborough/RFK and Queensborough/59th Street, in bike-ped lanes), I can also say that most cyclists who are going more than 15 MPH have a commensurate level of handling skills. The same cannot be said, I believe, for folks riding e-bikes and motorized bikes and scooters at 25 or 30 MPH. Plus, a motorized bike (which, as often as not, is really just a scaled-down motorcycle) can inflict more serious injury or damage than a pedaled bicycle at any given speed.
My hope is that Churchill will be proven right and whoever came up with the new Golden Gate Bridge regulation will realize the error of it and come up with something more sensible--like, say, banning anything with a motor from the pedestrian/bike lane.
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?
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!
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.
