In the middle of the journey of my life, I am--as always--a woman on a bike. Although I do not know where this road will lead, the way is not lost, for I have arrived here. And I am on my bicycle, again.
Is it the team van for a very low-budget operation? Or is the driver (or a passenger) shopping for a bike and can't decide on one? Or could there be another explanation? Whatever it is, I hope the driver (and/or passnger(s)) are not part of a bike-theft ring!
Two decades ago, I was living on Bergen Street, on the northern side of Park Slope, Brooklyn. I was midway between Fifth Avenue, then one of the area's main shopping strips, and Flatbush Avenue, one of Brooklyn's main throughfares. The latter street was often called, in a grim joke, "The Mason-Dixon Line." The difference between the two sides of the Aveune was literally black and white. I ended up on the white side. Some time after I moved there, I realized that all of the apartments the agent with whom I'd dealt showed me were on the side of Flatbush where I lived. The local precinct house was just on the other side. I often heard stories about how differently each side was policed. It was during that time I heard an expression that may be familiar to you: Driving While Black, or DWB for short. Of course, the phenomenon was not limited to that neighoborhood--or, for that matter, to any particular American city, or to the US. It's also not surprising to realize that there's a two-wheeled equivalent: BWB, or Biking While Black.
Yesterday, an article by Chicago Tribune reporter Mary Wisniewski revealed that of the ten community areas with the most bike tickets from 2008 to September 2016, not a single one has a white majority of residents. Seven of those neighborhoods have an African-American majority, while Latinos are the majority in the other three. What must be most galling, particularly to Black and Hispanic cyclists in the Windy City, is that the neighborhoods with the greatest numbers of cyclists are mainly-white enclaves such as West Town and Lincoln Park, whose cyclists didn't come anywhere to getting as many summonses as those in such communities as Austin and North Lawndale. But African-American cyclists are bearing the greatest burden of constabular harassment, according to Wisniewski. "As Chicago police ramp up their ticketing of cyclists," she writes, "more than twice as many citations are being written in African-American communities than in white or Latino areas." Some law enforcement officers and commanders repeat an argument I have heard before and is condescending or simply insulting, depending on your point of view. In essence, they say people in low income (which usually means African or Hispanic) communities are less educated and therefore more ignorant of the rules of the road. But others, including cycling advocates, point out there are simply more cops on the streets because of their higher crime rates, so there are more opportunities to stop cyclists in such neighborhoods. Whatever the explanation, such tactics can only worsen relations between the police and non-white residents in a city where, by many accounts, such relations are worse than in most other cities. And don't get me started on relations between cops and cyclists--or trans women!
Today is St. Patrick's Day. Here is a message for the President whose name I dare not say:
Actually, it might be even more appropriate for the guy he appointed to direct the Environmental Protection Agency! Yes, "Go Green" on St. Patrick's Day! And every other day of the year. That might just be a good all-around political philosophy. Forget the Democrats and Republicans. Go Green! Today is as good a day as any to think about the great Irish cyclists. I am one of the many people who regard Stephen Roche as the greatest of all. He remains, to date, the only Irishman to win the Tour de France and one of the few from any nation to achieve a "Triple Crown" with victories in the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana in 1987. In addition, he won or placed highly in a number of "classics" and proved himself in a wide variety of courses, from mountains to time trials.
The reason why he will never have the status of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Mercx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain--whom I, like many other fans, see as the "Big Four"--is that his career was cut short by a chronic knee problem. But the reason why he's beloved is that probably no other racer's form was as graceful as his. He really was, to use a cliche, poetry in motion. Roche, Sean Kelly and every other Irish rider owes a debt to Shay Elliott. In 1963, he became the first Irishman to win the maillot jaune, which he wore for three days during that year's Tour.
Unfortunately for him, his career spiraled downward because of financial and marital problems. Worse, he became a pariah in the peloton when he sold a story to a newspaper about drug-taking in the sport. Two weeks after his father died, he was found dead in the living quarters above the family business premises. The cause of his death, at age 36, was a gunshot wound. The Route de Chill Mhantain, a race held every May, was named for Elliott after his death. It's considered the most prestigious race in Ireland besides the national championships. About the Irish Road Race and Time Trial Championships: Last year, they were won by a fellow named Nicolas Roche. Yes, he's Stephen's son.
