BIKE: Mostly Well-Done AusChron Article on SCB (Bury the Hatchet)

[Stuart Werbner]

>From: Thorne <jeffrey.thorne>

>I agree that the SCB battle was bad for the future of cycling interests in
>Austin--wholeheartedly.  Losing the SCB battle was bad for cyclists because 
>it
>showed cyclists fighting the wrong battle for the wrong reasons and 
>seriously
>reduced the credibility of 'bicycle advocates' in Austin.  And that was the
>very concern I had from the moment I was approached in 2000 to sign the
>petition in support.  By all appearances, it was a battle over turf, not
>safety, which is why the 'debacle' started with the idea to paint the bike
>lanes in the first place (long before the battle over parking began).  To
>date, I've never heard a coherent argument for why SCB parking was the
>priority of the day as far as Austin cycling safety was concerned.  
>Dangerous
>places needed that attention, and still do.

I disagree wholeheartedly that cyclists "lost the battle". How could this be 
when ALL of he cyclists on the SCB Working Group supported it, except for 
one, who stopped participating in the process less than halfway through. How 
could this be when the Austin Cycling Association officially endorsed it in 
April 2002? How could this be when the UTC, which is historically very 
simpathetic
to cyclist interests officially voted for it in autumn of 2002?

What I really think happened is that a small but vocal group of bellyaching 
prima donnas in the cycling community, who think it's gotta be their way or 
the highway, and who have long since deluded themselves into thinking they 
speak for ALL cyclists, lost their bid to get the city to adopt a course of 
action that ultimately would have backfired on the cycling community, and in 
addition,
not improved the safety of cyclists on SCB. It's no accident, I believe, 
that none of these
voices lacked the dedication to keep participating in the SCB Working Group.

[The "division thing" is ok, too. It's healthy, normal, and to be expected. 
But, I still am convinced there was still majority support within the 
cycling community.]

If this is losing, then defeat has never tasted so sweet.

Your champion chump,

   __o
_`\<,_
(*)/ (*)
~~~~~~~~~
Stuart Werbner
Annuit Coeptis

"Braggin about his big, burly man date while demagogically opposin gay 
marriage."