[dc-critmass-list] Columbia Heights Cyclists Beware

[Morrigan Phillips]

Damn! I didn't realize this was such a widely experienced problem. I 
mean I've talked to a number of people in the past year or so that say 
they try and avoid 14th and 11th sts. becuase of the rock throwing 
kids. I dodged some pebbles once but haven't experienced anything too 
bad.

It seems that this is the same group of kids who have decided this is 
something they will routinely do. I'm glad the original graigslist 
poster is collecting stories to try and get in the media. It makes a 
difference that this isn't random but routine. I go up 14th st. every 
day on my way home from work. But perhaps I'll go up 16th st.

But you know I agree that it may be time for a broader cyclists rights 
effort in the District. I mean I may not get hit with rocks on 16th but 
I'll get honked at and yelled at by cars. So it seems we lose either 
way. M

Quoting Michael Ross <jmichaelross at verizon.net>:

>
> I doubt the grief is with cyclists...
>
> I could be wrong of course, and the reasons for anger are 
> complicated, but anger is best interpreted psychologically as not 
> having one's needs met, and my bet also is that the person(s) who 
> throw bricks at cyclists are angry because theyre socially alienated 
> from a larger culture where they play a disposable and not a 
> significant part;  and theyre unfairly renumerated for the work they 
> do, thuis making them econonoically marginalized from the larger 
> culture.
>
> The issue, then, to use a category of social analysis, concerns 
> "class."  Of course, the USA doesnt like class issues or calss 
> analaysis, because it is afraid of talking about money, and has no 
> practical mechanism (a parliament with prorportional representation 
> with multiple parties, etc..) for redress or discussing it.
>
> On a listserv that has "mutual aid" written into its email address, 
> harkening back to Kropotkin's anarchism, I think my commments here 
> warranted....
>
>
> At 02:50 AM 3/14/2006, you wrote:
>> From the many comments on the article's webpage, it seems many
>> people have been attacked while riding in Columbia Heights.  I was
>> also attacked last summer and had my bicycle stolen.  Perhaps some
>> sort of community outreach could be undertaken?
>>
>> http://www.dcist.com/archives/2006/03/13/columbia_height_2.php#comments
>>
>>
>> From DCist.com
>>
>>
>> Columbia Heights Cyclists Beware
>>
>> A faithful reader tipped us off to a Craigslist posting that may be
>> somewhat disturbing for those of us that ride our bikes around town.
>> Titled "Bicyclists: Have you ever been struck by a hurled object
>> while riding?," it reads:
>>
>>     I have been. My leg is broken right now as a result of being
>> struck by a brick that was hurled at me from the balcony of an
>> apartment building on 11th Street. The cops haven't done anything for
>> me because A) I don't have a postive ID of the perpetrator, and 2) I
>> didn't stop to see if there were any witnesses. I know which building
>> it came from and roughly which balcony, but they insist they can't
>> ask any questions of the occupants of the building based on this. I'm
>> quite angry. The receptionist at my workplace said she saw the exact
>> same thing happen to a different bicyclist in the exact same place
>> back in November. If something like this happened to you *and you
>> filed a police report, or have other documentation*, please write to
>> me. If I find enough people for this to look like a legitimate
>> "trend," I want to investigate and write about this.
>>
>> We're not the types to trust Craigslist posting for news stories, but
>> having suffered from some people's apparent grief with cycling and
>> cyclists, we can see this being both true and alarming. So, if you
>> know something of incidents like these, please let us know.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> dc-critmass-list mailing list
>> dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
>> To (un)subscribe: 
>> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/dc-critmass-list
>> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> dc-critmass-list mailing list
> dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
> To (un)subscribe: 
> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/dc-critmass-list
> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
>



-- 
In solidarity

"If I were a monkey, I would be the baddest monkey in the Jungle!"