[dc-critmass-list] Jeremy's Response

[Christine Turner]

As an occasional lurker on this listserv, thank you
Jeremy for posting exactly how I feel as well.  I have
only been to one critical mass, last year, and Jeremy
stated exactly the reason why I had little interest in
attending another one.  I am all for supporting
cyclist's rights and I believe there isn't enough
state and citywide support for cyclists.  I also
believe there are a lot of really awsome people in the
cycling community.  However, some of the attitudes I
came across during that one critical mass I attended
were offputting...yelling at people in SUVs, etc.    

It's so easy to go with the Us vs. Them mentality, to
take your anger out on perceived enemies.  It takes
guts to confront so-called enemies head-on with a
strong, positive and inspiring attitude.  

Maybe this got a little off topic from the original
discussion, but the thread opened an opportunity for
me to vent a little.  So that's my 2 cents.  Take it
or leave it.  

Christine

  
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 14:35:58 -0400
> From: jeremy ogusky <jeremyogusky at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [dc-critmass-list] dc-critmass-list
> Digest, Vol 63, Issue
> 	1
> To: Madeline Tilton <madeline.tilton at gmail.com>,
> chris moore
> 	<btownbikedeath at msn.com>
> Cc: dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
> Message-ID:
> <BAY101-W12EE41A5459F3A9F2CFDB9DFF70 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
> 
> 
> Madeline,
> 
> thank you for your question. I would be very
> interested to know if any of you have been accosted,
> ticketed or bothered by police while on a bike. And
> if so, why?
> 
> i have refrained from writing thus far, b/c the
> amount of anger in previous emails has surprised &
> saddened me.
> 
> the only thing i want to say is that while we as
> cyclists should *definitely* be respected while
> using the public streets, we too have to respect the
> laws that govern our roads. I write this in
> solidarity with all you other city cyclists. i think
> we should challenge and force the city to become
> safer for cyclists, but only through productive
> ways. Yelling at police officers and blatantly
> disregarding the rules of the road does a
> dis-service to all other cyclists i believe.
> 
> my 2 cents. thanks for reading,
> 
> Jeremy
> 
> 
> Jeremy Clark Ogusky 
> 3420 16th Street NW, #404 
> Washington DC, 20010
> phone: 202 588 1840"The microbe is nothing. The
> terrain is everything."--Louis Pasteur
> 
> Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 13:01:52 -0400
> From: madeline.tilton at gmail.com
> To: btownbikedeath at msn.com
> CC: dc-critmass-list at lists.mutualaid.org
> Subject: Re: [dc-critmass-list] dc-critmass-list
> Digest, Vol 63, Issue 1
> 
> does anyone have any personal stories of getting
> ticketed? i talked to a cop that comes into the
> restaurant that i work at in dupont and asked him
> about it, he told me that basically he's not going
> to stop anyone on a bike (he is a bike cop) unless
> they're flagrantly violating the law and creating
> unnecessary dangers to other people (running a red
> light with a lot of traffic and drastically
> increasing the potential for an accident etc.). 
> other than that he said its not worth his time,
> though this is only one cop i'd still like to know
> just how many people are actually getting stopped
> and ticketed on a bike
> -Madeline
> 



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