BIKE: Permission to use the roadways

[Michael Bluejay]

Again, I've never said that it wasn't a *good idea to have a police 
escort*.  What I was commenting on was the assertion that the riders 
*wouldn't have been ALLOWED* to ride without special permission.

Every weekday, twice a day, way more motor vehicles than that clog up 
both the highways and the interior city streets.  And they don't need 
any permission to do so.

-MBJ-


On Jan 2, 2004, at 12:24 PM, Michael Zakes wrote:

> given:
>  1) the large number of riders (~1500)
>  2) the large percentage of those being young kids and/or 
> inexperienced riders
>  3) the need to keep them organised into a group while navigating a 
> number of busy
> intersections
>  4) the number of other users on the road at the same time
> it would have been next to impossible without the police escort. the 
> two restrictions
> ( state law mandated head and tail lights and wearing a helmet) were 
> fairly minimal.
> Michael F Zakes, prop.
> Waterloo Cycles
> 2815 Fruth
> Austin TX 78705
> 512.472.9253
>
> "I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have 
> weapons of mass
> destruction to tell the world where they are."
>
> Ari Fleischer, on July 9, 2003.
>
>
> mail
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Dahmus" <mdahmus>
> To: <forum>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 3:37 PM
> Subject: Re: BIKE: Permission to use the roadways
>
>
>> On 03:34 PM 12/31/2003 -0600, Michael Bluejay wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 31, 2003, at 9:24 AM, Jeremy Elliott wrote:
>>>
>>>> Even a funeral procession needs escort. Any time you
>>>> try to pass that many people through the bowels of a
>>>> city, it's wise for everyone's sake to have some
>>>> organization involved--even if it detracts from the
>>>> hippie-cool-freelove-"we have the right to ride
>>>> anywhere"-vibe that some people insist on.
>>>
>>>
>>> Maybe you haven't noticed, but that many people move through the 
>>> bowels of
>>> the city every day -- in cars.  And they don't ask anybody's 
>>> permission.
>>>
>>> Whether it's "wise" to have some organization is another matter.  The
>>> original post said that they wouldn't be *allowed* to ride without
>>> assistance.  THAT's the position I challenged.  If a bunch of cars 
>>> don't
>>> need special permission to use the roadways, then neither do we.
>>
>> If a bunch of car drivers organized a parade (Corvette enthusiasts 
>> crusing
>> by the hundreds down Lamar), they'd probably be subject to the same 
>> sort of
>> escort as you saw with the Jingle-Bell ride.
>>
>> Not everything which ticks you off is a result of anti-bike 
>> unfairness.
>>
>>
>> Mike Dahmus
>> mdahmus
>>
>>
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