How Many More?

This year is only half-over.  Here in New York City, more cyclists have already been killed by motorists than met such a fate in all of 2018.

The fifteenth and latest such victim is 28-year-old artist Devra Freelander.  A week ago, she was riding on Bushwick Avenue when a cement truck hit her.  

Devra Freelander

I am very familiar with Bushwick Avenue, a 10 kilometer long thoroughfare that cuts through the center of Brooklyn, from Greenpoint in the northwest to East New York in the southeast.  It is perhaps most famous for being part of Robert F. Kennedy's walking tour, which is said to have changed his politics prior to his 1968 Presidential campaign.  Today, it serves as a conduit for hundreds, if not thousands, of people--mostly young--who pedal to their jobs or clients in Manhattan.  

It also is, unfortunately, a prime route for trucks like the one that struck Devra Freelander.  While gentrification, in one degree or another, has taken hold in the neighborhoods (with the exception of Brownsville) along Bushwick Avenue, there are still industrial areas near the ends of the avenue--in East New York and East Williamsburg, where Ms. Freelander met her unfortunate fate.

Bushwick Avenue, for most of its length, has two lanes in each direction.  Because it's a major thoroughfare, traffic is usually heavy and there isn't much room to maneuver--especially for vehicles as large as cement trucks.  Worse yet, most trucks don't offer their drivers good sight lines, especially on narrow city streets.

What exacerbates the problem is that the city does little to enforce regulations on trucks or other commercial vehicles.  As a result, truck drivers frequently hurtle along at well above the speed limit--as the driver of the truck that struck Devra Freelander did.  Also, trucks are often operated outside of their legally-designated routes.  The NYPD's 90th Precinct, which covers the area where Ms. Freelander was killed, has issued only five tickets in 2019 to truckers operating outside their legal routes:  something--you guessed it--the driver was doing at the time he struck Ms. Freelander.

I don't want to make light of this situation, but there is a "You can't make this up!" aspect of the story.  Devra Freelander, the artist, made sculptures and video art that examined climate change, geological time and technocapitalism.  And she was killed by a cement truck while riding her bicycle.  

The year is only half-over, and more cyclists have been killed by motorists than in all of 2018. Devra Freelander is the latest.  How many more must meet her fate before my city gets serious about enforcing its regulations on trucks?

How Gentlemen Travel

We've all seen images of well-dressed, tophatted men astride high-wheel bicycles during cycling's first heyday.

We all know that those high-wheelers disappeared once the "safety" bicycle--with two wheels more of the same size, the rear driven by a chain and sprockets--was invented.

What if the bicycle "evolved" in a different direction?  How would the world be a different place?

Could we be looking at well-tailored gentlemen (and ladies) on unicycles?

Artists: Guy and Rodd

In The Saddle, Through The Eyes Of A Bee

About a decade ago, New York City, my hometown, legalized beekeeping.  Other cities have done likewise, and in some other cities, the practice has always been legal.  A result is that the number of urban beekeepers has grown exponentially.  

In the Big Apple (Now there's something a bee would like!), the first apiarians were amateur hobbyists.  These days, however, there are beekeeping businesses in formerly-abandoned industrial buildings as well as other "recycled" spaces.  As you might expect, beekeepers in New York and other cities are selling honey--some with interesting and unique flavors--in farmers' markets and even to stores.  They also, ironically, sell bees and hives to farmers and fruit growers.

Another trend in large and mid-sized cities coincided with the re-discovery of beekeeping.  Since you're reading this blog (Aren't you smart!), you have probably guessed what it is:  bicycling, for transportation as well as recreation.  Just as hives were being built in old warehouses, bike lanes and other infrastructure were blazing their way through urban neighborhoods.

It makes sense, then, that these two trends would meet at some point.

More precisely, they have met in someone:  Jana Kinsman, founder of Bike a Bee in Chicago.

Jana Kinsman. Photo by Adam Alexander.

Seven years ago, she was working in graphic design but wanted a change.  To help satisfy a lifelong curiosity about bees, and insects in general, she took a winter beekeeping class with the Chicago Honey Co-op.  After that finishing that class, she went to Eugene, Oregon to apprentice with a beekeeper.  She brought the skills she learned there back to the Windy City, and began a Kickstarer campaign that raised $8000.  With that, and her 1974 Peugeot PX-10 (You can do damn near anything with that bike!), she "started Bike a Bee out of my apartment," she says.

Jana with bike and bees.  Photo by Brent Knepper.

In the beginning, her operation was in her apartment.  "All of the equipment was stored in my bedroom and we extracted honey in my living room," she recalls. (I must say that I've lived with housemates who did less to contribute their fair share of the rent, and who were far more dangerous!)  Today, Bike a Bee maintains more than 50 hives in community gardens, schools and urban farms on the city's South Side.  She pedals between those sites to conduct inspections and collect honey.  From those places, she transports honey all over the city, where it is sold in farmers' markets and stores.

She says she has yet to find the need for a motor vehicle.  What's more, working by bicycle has other benefits.  Not only does it keep her physically active, it helps her to be more mindful and enjoy the community around her.  "When you're on your bike, you're slower," she explains. You're able to take things in more.  Stop whenever you want, wherever you want.  You can see nature more, the blooms in the trees.  You connect much more with the world around you by bike."

Could it be that from the saddle of her Peugeot PX-10, Jana Kinsman is seeing her city through the eyes of a bee?

Jana with bees. Photo by Adam Alexander.

When The Tide Was Out

The other day I took a ride to Point Lookout. Despite the warmth and humidity, I didn’t see many people along the Rockway beach and boardwalk, or on the Nassau County south shore.  I felt as if I had the seaside to myself.  Well, almost....

...and until I got to Point Lookout.

The tide was out.   But I behaved myself.  I’m not proud of myself:  What else could I do?

I enjoyed the ride nonetheless.

Fourth Wheels

Today is US Independence Day.

I'm going to sneak in a bike ride before going to a barbecue with friends.  (I've been riding quite a bit lately; I haven't been writing about it because I've been taking familiar rides, e.g., to Greenwich and the Rockaways and Point Lookout.)  One thing I won't do, though, is decorate my bike for the occasion.

I mean, really, why should I when one can see creations like these?:

From Cool Mom Picks

Happy Fourth.  Oh, and it's my birthday.