BICYCLING THEN AND NOW IN NASSAU!

Seeing this bicyclist near Junkanoo Beach the other day, weaving his bike in and out of traffic, reminded me of the story Erskine told me about when he owned a bicycle in Nassau in the late fifties.

He said his bicycle was licensed according to law at that time and had a horn (you had to either put a horn or a bell on your bike then). He locked the bike up on the sidewalk of down town Bay Street with a chain attached to a post, like everyone else with bikes did and went into the Savoy Theatre to watch a movie.

When he came out of the theatre a policeman booked him for “parking a bike on a sidewalk”. The officer was from Barbados (“They never used to play!” says Erskine, meaning the policemen from Barbados were very strict!). Several other bicyclists were booked at the same time.

A summons for Erskine to appear in court was later dropped to Cole Thompson’s Pharmacy, where he worked at that time. Erskine says he was fined a few pounds sterling!

I don’t think the bicycle laws are enforced in Nassau very much these days! Of course, I'm sure members of local bicycle clubs make sure they have their bikes in good order and all rules of the road adhered to.