Robin Garwood comments: " >Jim, do you consider your purpose on this list to be as offensive as > possible? I know at least fifty Minneapolis winter bicyclists who are > entirely sane, gentle, and economically comfortable.
Actually, my purpose on this list is to shed a little light from just possibly a different direction. I apologize if I have a different perspective from you. I think the person who might have been offensive in this case, could possibly have been you? I do not believe I picked out someone to personally insult. I stated an opinion, but unfortunately some people are "Personally offended" that some other person might have a differing idea from themselves. One more time. Either you have to be militantly pro bike and love riding them no matter the danger, or desperate for transportation so you need to use the bike, or crazy because you simply don't know the difference. I believe this statement is true and not insulting at any level. Bike riding in urban settings is dangerous, even in summer months. I have personal friends and acquaintances who have sustained lifelong injury from bike accidents in the summer. In winter months, with ice and snow and the ability to suddenly go down in front of a car, that is less likely to be able to stop, you have to be one or the other. Check statistics on fender benders, and how they rise dramatically during those same months. The problem with bikes in that situation is cars and trucks are not bending fenders, they are bending human bodies. By the way, I feel the same about motorcycles in the winter time. This comes from riding both and laying them both down in such conditions. When doing this, by the way, I would have come under the crazy category, because I was not desperate or militant about either, (In fact I could not have cared less about anybody else wanting to ride them in the same conditions. I was just having fun.) I also once liked cliff diving, sky diving, swimming rapids and just about any other dangerous thing I could think of. In all these activities I was honest enough to know I was taking personal risk. Some bike riders feel that it is their right to be looked after and have extra caution taken by automobile riders while engaged in such activities, and this is dishonest in my mind. If I wish to ride a snowmobile in the winter, I take it off of commonly used roads. I completely support other people taking their bikes out where they can ride them in the winter and not endanger others. Mayor Rybak's "Loppet" games might be a cool diversion. Pam Taylor's suggestion for silent games seems appropriate also. Mixing winter biking, cross country skiing, and ski jumping might be a real kick. But please do not cross country ski down busy streets, or ride your bike in front of me on a busy street when there may be ice on the road. Jim Graham, Ventura Village _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
