Negative press

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is all
about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short distance.
The public roads in question have very infrequent car traffic - maybe a
couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting - any suggestions?

----------------------------------------------------------
September 4, 2003 article in the News Graphic "Ozaukee County's Newspaper
since 1883"



Trail cyclists continue to ignore signs.



Grant might ease problem by taking part of trail off-road.



By Chris Mier, News Graphic Staff



Grafton - They say they do it for the exercise, but some bicyclists still
fail to heed local stop signs - even after a 14-year-old Cedarburg boy was
hit by a car three weeks ago after peddling across Western Avenue without
stopping.



Surprisingly, though, the problem pertains more to Lycra-clad race-style
bikers than defiant teenagers.



Town Chairman Lester Bartel said he's heard of three cars swerving into the
ditch to avoid careless cyclists exiting the Interurban Trail onto the
intersection of Terminal and East River roads.



Bartel lives on East River Road and said he has sat out at the intersection
outlet counting the number of bikers plowing into the road with stopping.
Four of 15 cyclists rode into the road without stopping, or even looking to
see if any cars are coming Bartel said.



"They're always the same people doing it," Bartel said. "They're the guys
in the spandex pants and the funny shoes that want to look like Lance
Armstrong. It's not the casual bikers. By and large the majority of the
people are really good. It's the people trying to see how many thousand
miles they can get in the next 20 minutes. They must think they're up north
on some endless rail line, but they're not."



The town recently decided to lower the speed limit along East River Road
from unmarked to 35 mph, partially in response to the dangerous cyclists.



Bartel said the problem cyclists are not just ignoring the signs on the
trail, but even the stop signs on the roads.



"There are trucks that go down that road," Bartel said, "and a dump truck
isn't going to stop, it can't, and that nobody's been hit is beyond me. It'
s asinine."



The problems with renegade racers doesn't stop there either.



Lt. Cory McCormick of the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office said every spring
he issues standard warnings to a couple of bicycling clubs who take Highway
C to Lake Shore Road and up to Port Washington, regularly garnering
complaints from motorists for ignoring stop signs and other rude biker
behaviors.



The groups typically drive their bikes here from Milwaukee and start their
ride in Mequon, McCormick said.



"We've had numerous complaints that they take the whole road up and they don
't obey signals and so forth," McCormich said. "This has been an ongoing
issue for several years with us, so as soon as we get the first complaint of
the year, we'll make contact with the clubs immediately when they come up
and let them know any complaints will result in citations."



There haven't been any citations issued so far, McCormick said, mainly
because the warnings have worked, but also because it's nearly impossible to
ticket a cyclist unless a violation is observed by a deputy.



McCormick also said the Sheriff's Department would increase its patrols
along Terminal and East River Roads if it begins receiving complaints from
residents or the county.



County Planner Andrew Struck said he hasn't received any formal complaints
about bicyclists neglecting the stop signs at the Terminal and East River
roads intersection, but said he has observed infractions himself and is
aware of the general dangers posed by that stretch of the trail.



The county has applied for two state grants to bring the trail off the road
at that stretch in the town of Grafton and in another in Port Washington,
and Struck said preliminary indications are favorable for the first grant.



The grant, combined with a 20 percent county match, would pay for the trail
to be taken off-road at the midpoint along terminal between East River Road
and Highway W. It would continue over I-43 to where it picks up as an
off-road trail now.



Even if the plan is carried out, however, the intersection where the trail
lets out onto Terminal Road would remain largely unchanged.



Struck will field questions from the Grafton Town Board next Wednesday
regarding possible enforcement actions against problematic cyclists.



------------------------------------

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

I've been on both sides of this issue. Where I've almost gotten hit by cars
but, I've almost hit a bicyclist that ran a stop sign. He was lucky that there
wasn't a car coming the other way on this country road as that was the only
direction I could go without hitting him. He came out when I was 2 car lengths
or less away from the intersection doing the posted speed limit of 45 mph. I
have also seen it where the driver's of the cars were at fault. Boils down to,
obey the law. If you stop, you more and likely won't get hit but, if you run
the stop sign or stop light (when red) and you get hit whether that be by car
or bike, your at fault. Unfortunately, whoever is on the bike is usually the
one that really pays for it.


Dave Harney wrote:

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

I've been on both sides of this issue. Where I've almost gotten hit by cars
but, I've almost hit a bicyclist that ran a stop sign. He was lucky that there
wasn't a car coming the other way on this country road as that was the only
direction I could go without hitting him. He came out when I was 2 car lengths
or less away from the intersection doing the posted speed limit of 45 mph. I
have also seen it where the driver's of the cars were at fault. Boils down to,
obey the law. If you stop, you more and likely won't get hit but, if you run
the stop sign or stop light (when red) and you get hit whether that be by car
or bike, your at fault. Unfortunately, whoever is on the bike is usually the
one that really pays for it.


Dave Harney wrote:

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic
laws. This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the
bike-hostile motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who
wear Lycra have been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category.
Currently, in Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under
the law for using public roads. These types of news stories are
usually encouraged by groups that view cyclists as a mere nuisance
factor for motorists. They would like to change the law to get bikes
off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong
advocate of doing just that. This type of article does little to
promote overall safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same
roads. What is needed at the intersection in question in the article
is some better signs for motorists to slow down and some brush cleared
for better visibility. The more important issue is the one of raising
awareness about cycles as valid users of public roads - even if they
wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a healthy problem solving attitude
instead of just more law enforcement in a dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This
is all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a
short distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent
car traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board
meeting - any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?



Well that's YOUR point. THEIR point seems to be that a percentage of
bikers are blowing the stop signs and causing problems with near misses.
Near misses that are much liklier to kill the biker than they are the
driver. I'm not sure that the most important thing is raising awareness,
vs surviving the intersection.

"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic
laws. This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the
bike-hostile motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who
wear Lycra have been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category.
Currently, in Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under
the law for using public roads. These types of news stories are
usually encouraged by groups that view cyclists as a mere nuisance
factor for motorists. They would like to change the law to get bikes
off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong
advocate of doing just that. This type of article does little to
promote overall safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same
roads. What is needed at the intersection in question in the article
is some better signs for motorists to slow down and some brush cleared
for better visibility. The more important issue is the one of raising
awareness about cycles as valid users of public roads - even if they
wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a healthy problem solving attitude
instead of just more law enforcement in a dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This
is all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a
short distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent
car traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board
meeting - any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?



Well that's YOUR point. THEIR point seems to be that a percentage of
bikers are blowing the stop signs and causing problems with near misses.
Near misses that are much liklier to kill the biker than they are the
driver. I'm not sure that the most important thing is raising awareness,
vs surviving the intersection.

I think your reply is pretty eloquent. Why not make it a "Letter to the
Editor" of some local news papers. It's amazing how rampant bigotry can
get. It's been my experience the most cyclists are a hell of alot more
courteous to others than most auto drivers, not matter what kind of shoes
they each wear.
"Dave Harney" wrote in message
...
The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic
laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by
groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would
like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong
advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed
at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

I think your reply is pretty eloquent. Why not make it a "Letter to the
Editor" of some local news papers. It's amazing how rampant bigotry can
get. It's been my experience the most cyclists are a hell of alot more
courteous to others than most auto drivers, not matter what kind of shoes
they each wear.
"Dave Harney" wrote in message
...
The point is that most of us that wear funny shoes do obey the traffic
laws.
This Town Chairman is providing moral justification to the bike-hostile
motorists who endanger our lives everyday. All of us who wear Lycra have
been lumped into a law-breaker or "renegade" category. Currently, in
Wisconsin, bicycles are consider valid vehicles under the law for using
public roads. These types of news stories are usually encouraged by
groups
that view cyclists as a mere nuisance factor for motorists. They would
like
to change the law to get bikes off the roads.

Certainly, we should all obey traffic laws and our club is a strong
advocate
of doing just that. This type of article does little to promote overall
safety for cyclists and motorist sharing the same roads. What is needed
at
the intersection in question in the article is some better signs for
motorists to slow down and some brush cleared for better visibility. The
more important issue is the one of raising awareness about cycles as valid
users of public roads - even if they wear funny shoes. I'd like to see a
healthy problem solving attitude instead of just more law enforcement in a
dubious situation.


"MLB" wrote in message
. 4.25...
"Dave Harney" wrote in
:

Read the article - I'm sure you will be amused (and ****ed). This is
all about a nice paved trail that reverts to public roads for a short
distance. The public roads in question have very infrequent car
traffic - maybe a couple an hour. I'm going to the board meeting -
any suggestions?


Obey the traffic laws?

"pjclarkesq" skrev...
I think your reply is pretty eloquent. Why not make it a "Letter to the
Editor" of some local news papers. It's amazing how rampant bigotry can
get. It's been my experience the most cyclists are a hell of alot more
courteous to others than most auto drivers, not matter what kind of shoes
they each wear.

Well cardrivers always rag on bicycles and pedestrians.
Pedestrians complain about cars and bicycles... etc.

That being said I see a lot of bicycles blowing red lights (in Copenhagen)
and violating other trafficlaws. A large part of them are either
bike messengers or people out excercising (as in lycra and roadbike/MTB.)
But these are probably a lost cause anyway no matter how many
new restrictions the council comes up with. It wont deter them.

cheers
Mikael