Thank you Robin, for proving my point about the militant nature of your bike riding. Most people would have felt this to be a pretty "militant" letter. That's OK though, militant is not a negative word in my vocabulary. In fact I usually use the word for praise. Militantly denying ones "militancy" is a little much though.
Actually Robin, the people I know with the most serious injuries came from riding in the summer, without being involved with an automobile. These terrible injuries came from rather harmless appearing accidents with the person going over the handlebars and becoming a quadriplegic. The worst accident I ever had on a bike was at about 80 degrees and involved a hole that had been cut out for a road repair. Same with the worst accidents I have seen involving motorcycles. I do resent your "moral" implication and quite honestly probably a lot of others would also. I also got a lot of off list e-mail from people agreeing with me on the issue. I do gather that you would like bike riding treated as a viable transportation method, and I also gather you would advocate that they, (bikes), be treated as any other vehicle on the City street, County road, or State Highway. GOOD, I WILL AGREE WITH YOU. Now as such, I might also find it immoral if you do not carry liability insurance for when you ride your bike. Not for your protection, but for the protection of others that might be involved in an accident with you. I also hope you would be fair, and moral, enough to also advocate for licensing bikes, and licensing operators. Being fair is the "moral" thing to do. Funny thing about "moral" when you open that Pandora's box you bring a whole lot of things out. By the way people do have to license snowmobiles, motorcycles, boats, and even healthy canoes in the State of Minnesota. Seems only fair, and possibly moral, to license bikes also. Let's treat bikes fairly and equally under the law! The reason I would not want you riding your bike in front of me on ice filled streets is your own safety. I would feel the same about a motorcycle rider or a skier, or someone suddenly running in front of my car on icy streets. And yes, I do have to look out for people riding bicycles. Which I happily do! I only wish the State would look out for them also, by testing the riders proficiency and licensing them as your post implied. I appreciate bike riding by responsible people. I also believe many who have licenses for operating automobiles are suspect. How could they possibly have passed? By the way, as a "moral" thing to do, I should warn you that riding along Franklin Avenue between Seward Neighborhood and Chicago Avenue is an unsafe thing to do. Franklin, being so bike unfriendly, is due to changes to the street. Many of the changes, that you might advocate for Lyndale are included on Franklin. Taking this into consideration, as part of the "Master Planning" for Ventura Village, we designed special bike friendly streets north and south of Franklin. These one way streets would be designed to be major "Bike" highways and much healthier and pleasant to ride on. We knew we would not be able to redesign Franklin so soon after it was changed. Also to be fair, many in my community, including my wife, like Franklin not being able to move traffic. Last item, I like the winter games triathlon of Cross country, winter-biking and in-line skating. Jumping is sexy, but not something "regular" people would do. Close down River Road each Sunday afternoon and use it for two direction training - Minnehaha Falls to north of Camden. Paint blue checks down the middle of each lane - (slower traffic stay to the right). Run monthly competitions culminating in the February Minnesota "Relays and/or "Loppitt" on the same course. Sounds like a kick. Like the Boston Marathon people might be saying, "You qualified for the Minneapolis Relays this year?" "If your training I'll see you in Minneapolis come February" Have a good day and hope everyone gets out to vote. And yes it is snowing Jim Graham, Ventura Village (sometimes described as militant by those complimenting me) _______________________________________ 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
