As ol' hugs pointed out, things have really progressed in the 407 during the course of the 2007 year. Even though I'm hesitant to use the word "scene", one can't help but notice that something of a bike culture has developed here. Where things used to be relegated to a few different groups going on individual rides every so often, we have now become a bit of a community with riders coming together to go on group rides and celebrate one of the things we all have in common; our love of the bicycle. As a result of this, CM attendance has gotten better and with it, some of the confusion that affect CM rides in other cities are starting to come to play here as well.
At the after party @ Nicks house, I spoke with a lot of different peeps about the ride in general. While an over whelming majority had a blast riding as a group, a few people mentioned to me that at times there was a lot of confusion regarding the route and what riders should do if they get separated from the mass by traffic signals, cars and what not. IMO, a big part of the confusion this month dealt with the new route we took in addition to the complications presented when a freight train that blocked access in to the downtown area at many of the key intersections of the route. As a result, Nick and those leading the mass had to be very creative in how to get around the new obstacle. While many if not all where understanding of this, a few did mention that there seems to be a lot of confusion regarding traffic signals at intersections. Do we stop and obey the signal? Do we run through the light and make the vehicles stop for us? What about emergency vehicles? All of these are good questions that could not be easily answered because at some intersections we stopped while @ others we just "mashed" through so to speak... While it's a no brainer when it comes to emergency vehicles (get the hell out of the way and let them through), traffic signals present another issue completely. It's hard for me to answer this point specifically simply because I tend to be a chronic violator of traffic signals when I ride by myself. I completely understand that this option is not very viable (nor safe) when you are dealing with a group of 70+ people any many feel this issue needs to be addressed at the beginning of the ride. Especially for the newer riders that are starting to show up every month...
The last thing people brought to my attention was how big the gaps in the mass became at some places. When this happened, it went from being a mass and devolved in to small groups of bike riders that cars could then bully more easily. IMO, this defeats the very purpose of the CM ride and moving forward, we need to actively watch for this. I saw many instances of riders in the back getting harassed by drivers simply because it was much easier for the drivers to do so when it's just 8-10 people...
So I'm opening it up to you guys at this point; what do you think and what can we do to avoid some of this confusion? Keep in mind I'm not trying to advocate for a series of rules or regulations we have to follow, just trying to use the platform we have here at our disposal in order to clear up the confusion that seemed to plague the ride this month. We are actually pretty fortunate cops here in Orlando are pretty mellow compared to other cities. Some of the behavior exhibited by some riders in this and past rides is the kind of things the Po-niner use to break up CM rides in other cities. I think we need to police ourselves before Johnny Law takes it upon themselves to do so..
-thoughts?
BTW this is gus (aka tbm) making this post... :)
ez!
8 months ago
5 comments:
the confusion is always going to exist with this many people, but there are some things that can be worked out...
do we cork or do we stop? this is an interesting debate and i can see both sides... personally i think we should stop if the front of the pack hits a red light, and cork if the light turns red while the pack is already passing through it. this will help give the back of the pack a chance to catch up and help us staying together... if we start going through a light everyone goes through.
i agree that the pack was spreading out way too much last ride, this is a problem as not all bicycles are created equally. a road or track bike is going to want to cruse around 15 mph where as the cruisers are going to be more comfortable around 10 mph. the bikes are designed different and some people are aren't going to want to mash on their cruisers to try to keep up with the skinny tires. this really needs to be on the people in the front of the pack. there was a good group up front of some fast(er) riders who got caught up in leading and seemed to forget to look back to check on the group. this really needs to be done, and done often to make sure the pack stays together. can't cork an intersection if the pack is too stretched out...
also as we stay closer together there will be less confusion as it is easy to know which way to go if the front of the pack is visible.
those are my thoughts on it, maybe i am too opinionated, and maybe i am wrong, but whatevs... deal :)
-hugs
i agree, if your going to lead, be a leader. that means making sure eveyone is with you. this is no race.
but, if you are in the back of the pack it is your responsibility to keep up with the pack. there was a youn lady that was trailing behind and i said to her "lets catch up to the rest of the riders" and her husband told me to let her do her own thing. this IMO is not a individual ride, its a group ride and the needs to stay together as a group. the group is what makes us strong.
as for the traffic lights and and cars. if the light turns red after we are already going through the intersection, cork, and then thank the traffic for waiting for us. if the light is red when the group first get to the intersection, stop. and we also need to stop taking up more then one lane. cars and trucks need to get though as well, and if the riders are just riding all over the place this will give the people something to really bitch about.
more then anything this needs to stay positive, i love riding CM and i do not want the city to take it away because we as adults can't work together.
yes, it is a group ride, and yes we should stay together.
but saying that and getting it done is very different. there are a bunch of different variables and not all of them you can control.
one of the biggest problem is people can't hear/don't listen at the beginning of the ride. i know nick is trying his best with this, and he has taken kinda a lead role with this ride, but him shouting out instructions at the beginning of the ride is often drowned out by everyone carrying on with their own conversation. then later those same people complain about being confused with what is going on in the ride.
so bring a megaphone? people tune those out too.
maybe we should just meet with the regulars and work out a few shepherds to ride back and forth in the pack and let people know when they need to speed up/slow down...
(if someone complains about going slow we should let them know there are weekly fast rides if they feel the need to ride fast)
maybe there just needs to be more discussion? i don't know... i just want to see the ride stay enjoyable for everyone and continue to grow...
Great comments and thoughts guys, this is exactly what I was trying to accomplish with this post!
In particular, hugs comment about people tuning out during the instructions nick is giving pre ride is especially true as I have done this myself a few times. I personally think that the instructions still need to be relayed but there should be a group of peeps who are designated corkers and know what the route is as well as the procedure for going through stop lights. This will be helpful in keeping the mass moving while helping keep the stragglers with the main group. This will also help relay information to the leaders up front. I feel the faster riders of the group are well suited for this task as sprinting from the front to the back of the mass (and vice versa) will not be a problem for us. I also agree with the methodology (process) proposed for dealing with stop lights. This makes a lot more sense than just barging through the light every time we hit one.
One more thing I would like to add is that when we do ride as a mass, we need to stick to one lane while leaving the other lane open for traffic. This is important because if the police do crack down on the rides, this will be one of the main things they will use in order to break up the ride.
Keep it rollin'!
ez!
I also felt confused about when we were to run right through (lights) or stop, but I think what Hugs said makes sense to me!
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