1 - I'm incredibly liberal and tolerant of all people. Did I generalize for sake of that post, absolutely! Just like I hear bike riders constantly generalize about "drivers". I hate to break the news to you, but we humans like to talk in generalizations to make a point.
2 - At my work, we have a very healthy bike program and probably 80% of the people I work with ride their bikes constantly, so I hear from a LOT of bike riders.
3 - Living in Waukee and working in Johnston, I experience a ton of bikers along the way and have no problem with probably half of them - you know, the ones that obey the laws and treat vehicles with as much respect as they want to be treated with. The ones I do have a problem with are the ones that think they should slowly ride down the middle of Hickman when there is a great bike trail 5 feet away, or the ones that blow through red lights crossing 156th, Alice's Road, or Warrior Lane and nearly cause accidents without a care in the world, or the ones that go 30 mph across a driveway going into a major retailer like Hy-Vee without regard for others.
4 - Typical west-side attitude that keeps things from progressing? You do realize that the "west-siders" that you generalized are far more progressive than probably any other "generalized bucket" of people in the metro? I'm a progressive liberal and love that people like to bike, but I also love people that like to obey the law and not **** and moan about being treated equally when they themselves don't want to treat the laws equally.
5 - The article couldn't have better displayed the arrogance SOME bikers have - look at the guy that's in charge of the trail safety and upkeep. He ****** and whined about getting a ticket for willfully blowing through multiple stop signs because it would have "inconvenienced" him to stop. How about setting an example for bike safety and sharing of the roadway?
But I'm just a head in the sand, west-sider that hates progress... or something like that.
1-Generalizations are nothing more than uninformed opinions. You clearly stated you were happy to hear of the tickets because (insert generalizations here). Not a valid argument IMO. Basically, because a few bikers may be jerks or do things you disagree with, albeit legal in some cases, you want what could have been an otherwise good biker to get a citation.
2-ok?
3-I live and work in the same places you do...and have the exact same opinions...with one exception. I recognize that the biker who is in the middle of Hickman, however unsafe he/she may be, has the right to be there. However inconvenient it may be, it's the law. (unless there is some provision I'm not aware of that says a certain minimum speed has to be obtained that a bicycle can't reach in that specific speed zone)
4-yes, I do realize that. I was being sarcastic in an attempt to cast light on what I felt was a ridiculous generalization. Although you may knowingly say something that is intentionally over-the-top, others don't and this is a sensitive subject right now...because in a situation like we just had with Wade Franck being killed, I think specifics and intelligent dialogue need to be had, rather than hyperbole. That means the biking community AND the non-bikers need to find some common ground, not cause a divide by lumping people into categories based on activity alone.
5-you are absolutely right. I was there that day and heard first hand the arrogance being exhibited. I didn't receive a citation because I wasn't breaking what some people say were laws (I think we'll see that they in fact are not laws and these tickets are bogus, btw), but I was embarrassed by the way everyone acted...both the DNR officer and the bikers. Although, to the credit of some, the bikers who received citations were not ********. Both bikers and drivers need to set examples of each, I agree.
We probably agree on more than we don't on the subject but much like you don't like being called out as non-progressive, I don't like being lumped into a negatively construed cyclist category. Doesn't feel very good especially when neither of us know one another.
That being said, I'm sure you've passed me on your way to or from work. I appreciate you keeping an eye out for me...I'll be on the trail except in those areas where no trail exists.
