Hi Bike Folks; Im new to posting to Bikies, but after reading the past few posts, I feel I may interject with some thoughts.
I live in Madison, but Im not a native of this city. Ive lived outside of the confines of this city so I know there is more than one way to consider an issue. Biking in Madison is a gift of foresight by the biking enthusiasts, city officials, municipal ideology, geology and proximity of social amenities. It is a local phenomenon that, as a cyclist, Im fortunate to take advantage. Having lived in smaller communities and rural locations makes all more evident that Madison is a singular situation seldom found elsewhere in the state. It is easy and tempting to take cycling and bike right-of-ways for granted and just as easy to assume that the governments that are within our reach should respond to our desires no matter how sincere we are in our outlook of pro-cycling. The reality is Wisconsin is inclusive to municipalities of different sizes, cultural and governmental histories, taxing abilities and desires, and logistical concerns that supercedes auto vs. bicycle arguments. Having lived in small towns and rural setting, it is well nigh inconvenient to hop on a bike to go to the grocery store, pharmacy, coffee shop or work and still have time left over for a life. And country riding has more risks of less bike-aware drivers than Madison. (Although, that isnt always the case as in the last week with a cyclist and pedestrian downed by automobiles in Madison.) So, before we go off the deep end demonizing people and municipalities of differing priorities, keep in mind local policies are made and voted on locally. Before you criticize anothers policies, consider the context in where youre from. Just because someone doesnt vote the same way as you, doesnt mean you resort to name calling, sarcasm and un-civil language. Im not saying we should agree and have a group hug. All I ask is to count to 10 or even twenty, or even wait a day before responding to an issue before the heat of the emotion betrays our mutual interest in biking, for whatever reason we bike. Respectfully submitted Darryl Jordan --- "George J. Perkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I violated one of my own rules of e-mail etiquette - > I acted in haste and with > emotion. My apologies. > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
