It is well known that Talking Heads singer David Byrne takes his bicycling hobby very seriously. So much so, when asked to help the NYC Department of Transportation choose the winners of a public bike rack design competition, Byrne submitted his own designs, which were graciously accepted and can now be seen on various city sidewalks. Now he has written a memoir about his adventures on two wheels due out this fall, called Bicycle Diaries, and one story from the book (obtained by Jugo Magazine) reveals why you wouldn’t want to cross paths with a cycling David Byrne.
One of Byrne’s gripes with pedestrians, including a certain famous hotel chain heiress, is that they often ignore crossing lights: “[Hilton] was holding her little doggy, crossing the street against the light and looking around as if to say, ‘I’m Paris Hilton, don’t you recognise me?’” Byrne wrote. “[New Yorkers] have enough brains not to walk in front of a truck, but they’ll step right into the path of a cyclist, thereby initiating a game of urban chicken.”
I’ve never experienced it myself, but the thought of David Byrne barreling at you on a bike is kind of frightening to me.
Meanwhile, for a more substantive David Byrne update, check out his article on the history of steel factories/coal mines in the Czech Republic here.