| Subject: | Re: Anti-bicyclist letter in Friday's Oregonian (A& E section) |
| Date: | 08/25/2003 03:03 AM |
| From: | Mathew Hill |
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Aside from his opinion in the third-to-last paragraph, and his incorrect assumption on stress to joints in the second-to-last paragraph, the rest of his points on bicycles are right on. His main point is obey the traffic laws. For the most part cyclists do, but it is the arrogant (or stupid) few that ignore basic rules of the road, like yielding the right of way and stopping at a stop sign that cause the majority of problems and therefore make the news and therefore give cyclists as a whole a bad name. I think his statement in the last paragraph is dead-on. "I can share the rod with courteous bikers, but I don't like the unpredictable nature of some bikers. If you want to share the road, live up to the responsibility of obeying the laws of the road. Otherwise stay on the sidewalk and out of traffic." As a cyclist and a driver, I agree. Curt Dewees <curtd@rivercitybi To: ob-@topica.com cycles.com> cc: Subject: [OBRA Chat] Anti-bicyclist letter in Friday's Oregonian (A& E section) 08/24/2003 04:16 PM Please respond to curtd Hi, OBRA friends, On Aug. 15, John Foysten of the Oregonian wrote a piece in the A&E section about Portland's bike culture. Nothing shocking, just a few highlights about some of the more bizarre and interesting aspects of Portland's wildly diverse biking scene. One week later, the Oregonian A&E published a single letter in response to that article. It was from a Mr. Steve Seitz, Northwest Portland (a person whom I don't know). Here is his letter, unabridged. What makes it particularly insidious is that, although it obvious that Mr. Seitz hates bicyclists, he claims to be a one! (It soon becomes clear, however, that he isn't the type of bicyclist that we are!) Here is his letter: [Headline] "Unplug Pedal Power." "Regarding "A place for every pedaler" ("Out There," by John Foyston, A&E, Aug. 15): Let's face facts. Bikes are a nuisance. The people who ride them, for the most part, think they deserve the respect of motor vehicles while having to obey none of of the same restrictions that motor vehicles deal with. Look no further than arrogant bikers ignoring the stop signs at four-way stops because they would actually have to lose momentum by stopping. "Don't get me wrong. I love bikes. I biked everywhere when I was a kid. They are a cute toy. Recently, I went on a 60-mile bike ride (while gaining 2,000 feet in elevation) near the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. Now, as an adult who commutes to work, a bike simply will not cut it. "For many months out of the year, Oregon is not a fun place to ride a bike. We have lots of rainy days and some cold weather. I can't drop by the store on my way home from work and pick up groceries for my family while riding a bike. I can't give the football team a ride to practice with my bike. I can't take my family with me to the pumpkin patch or the the U-cut Christmas tree farm on a bike. "Aside form tandem bikes and teams practicing for competition, the act of biking is a solitary activity. It is telling that as our culture gets more and more self-centered and detached from family we see the rise of all these biking organizations. "People actually think that they are doing something healthy or themselves by biking. While it's true that their cardiovascular system may benefit from self-propulsion, the limited range of motion and repetitive stress on joints caused by biking can actually do more harm than good. "I can share the rod with courteous bikers, but I don't like the unpredictable nature of some bikers. If you want to share the road, live up to the responsibility of obeying the laws of the road. Otherwise stay on the sidewalk and out of traffic." Steve Seitz Northwest Portland (Note: I couldn't find a telephone listing for a Steve Seitz in NW Portland, and a Google search on the computer didn't turn up anything, either. There is a telephone listing for a "Stephen Seitz" in SW Portland, but that seems to be a common enough name that I will assume it it not the same person who wrote the letter.) There are so many factual errors in this person's letter that I almost don't know where to begin to respond. But I am going to take the time to respond because I think it is very important that Oregonian readers see how wrong this person is. I hope you will, too. Please help me out by writing a letter in response to the Oregonian, cataloging at least one or two of the serious factual errors that this person has made. I believe that if we send enough letters that provide a fact-based and logical rebuttal to this person's woefully misguided letter, the Oregonian will be compelled to publish a response from at least one or two of us! Please also CC. the BTA with your response so they will have a record of what has been submitted to the O. Here's where to send your response: email: ar-@news.oregonian.com USPS: Arts The Oregonian 1320 SW Broadway Portland OR 97201 Be sure to include your name and daytime phone number (for verification purposes only). Thanks, Curt Dewees River City Bicycles To respond to the whole group send to ob-@topica.com. To respond to the list manager send to ob-@teleport.com To unsubscribe send to obra-uns-@topica.com |
