[*BCM*] Scattered Thoughts on Massbike, Police, and Class

[Pete Stidman]

Well aware of the Boston Chapter, I went ot one of the
first meetings, where I heard critical masser's
berated by John Allen.  I also noted a distinct lack
of younger and female persons.  

Don't know if it's still quite that bad, and like I
said I hate to criticize when I am not involved, but
let's not try to paint everything white.  At least we
can be honest and admit a few shortcomings on this
list.  Dialogue is pretty much impossible if people
keep putting up a front, and I think it's a sign of
disrespect, a way to keep folks on this list from
having any input into the way you're personally
thinking about bike advocacy.  

admitting a weakness here might be the first step
towards solving it.  I am out on a limb however.  Only
reason I react to this is that Tom's post seems to
deny the point I was trying to make.  

-Pete

--- Tom Revay <trevay at massbike.org> wrote:

> On 9/30/2005 at 3:34 PM Pete Stidman wrote:
> 
> >Mass bike is doing
> >great work at the state level (if it's true that
> they
> >are out to enforce a helmet law, however,  I
> condemn
> >them forever, I don't want to get busted for not
> >having my helmet when I ride five blocks to go to
> the
> >beach, they should be going after drivers, not
> >bikers).
> 
> Glad you like MassBike's work with the state.
> 
> To set aside your worry, we've never been in favor
> of requiring adults to wear helmets.  We have worked
> to promote helmet use by adults and children, but
> not through legislation.  If you go into a bike shop
> and see a poster from the Governor's Highway Safety
> Bureau showing an adult putting a helmet on a child
> -- well, that poster's ours.  But the law that
> requires 16-and-younger cyclists wasn't invented by
> us, nor did we promote it.  Nobody at MassBike wants
> you to get busted.
> 
> >But they look down on critical mass and
> >others who ride every day.
> 
> Who's "they"?  I ride every day -- every day when
> it's not actively snowing or raining when it's time
> to leave the house, and in that case I take public
> transportation.  I rode when it was -4 degrees
> outside last January, though I admit wimping out on
> a -6 day when there was a 25 degree headwind.
> 
> I don't feel the least "looked down" upon by anybody
> in MassBike.  Outside of MassBike, some of my
> friends think I'm crazy for riding as much as I do,
> but they're not card-carrying members. 8-)
> 
> I don't think CM accomplishes much, that's true. 
> But that's not me speaking for MassBike, that's me
> speaking for me and me alone, and other members will
> disagree with me.
> 
> In fact, we have people on this list who're part of
> MassBike and who ride CM.  In fact, one of our
> recent Board members was famous as the guy who
> pulled the couch in many CMs.  We also have SKUL
> folks who're part of the organization, and I
> recruited our first messenger to our Board .. what,
> five years ago?
> 
> Woody Allen is right:  80% of life is just showing
> up.  If you don't want to show up and participate,
> that's fine, but you should now consider yourself
> invited to do so.  If you still don't, well, that's
> up to you.
> 
> >I don't feel that they are building many
> connections
> >to the rather large, younger, and ahem.. much
> hipper
> >community that includes bikes as part of their
> >culture.  I'm talking about everyday commuters
> inside
> >Boston, not in the wealthier suburbs.
> 
> Have you ever attended a Boston chapter meeting and
> found out who else attends and what they're doing? 
> Are you even aware there is a Boston chapter?  (It
> was discussed on the CM list this past January and
> February.)
> 
> All of the chapters are linked from the front page
> of the website (http://www.massbike.org), and the
> Boston chapter has its own domain
> (http://www.massbikeboston.org).
> 
> The local chapter's been very active at identifying
> routes into and through the City of Boston and
> surrounding inner suburbs.  They've also taken to
> doing field surveys at trouble points, places where
> our meetings' participants have identified as
> problem locations along these routes.  The next step
> will be to work for improvements in these locations.
> 
> We meet on the fourth wednesday of each month. 
> We've met several times in Harvard Square, twice at
> the Central Transportation Planning Office at the
> State Transportation building in Park Square, and
> once at Boston University.  Our most recent meeting
> was held jointly with the MBTA Bicycle Committee,
> which MassBike is trying to bring some new life into
> (the T hasn't used it particularly effectively). 
> The meetings are publicized on the website and the
> mailing list, as are the chapter leaders' email
> addresses.  You can also call 617 542-2453
> (542-BIKE) to find out when is the next meeting.
> 
> While I agree that I think we could use more
> outreach, to college students and to the urban poor
> who might depend upon bicycling, or who might take
> it up because of its economy and efficiency in the
> City, it's quite wrong to characterize this
> organization as weekend warrior suburbanites.  In
> fact, one complaint that we also get from more
> exurban and rural areas of the state is that we're
> too Boston-centered, and too
> transportationally-focused.
> 
> >If groups like MassBike aren't testing their ideas
> on
> >this community, if they aren't including this
> >community, then they are creating divisions that
> don't
> >need to exist at a time when we should be building
> >connections in all directions.
> 
> We're a volunteer organization that depends upon its
> membership.  The Boston chapter is exactly where
> these issues should be addressed, and God knows,
> they want people who'll come and participate and
> help the chapter better meet the needs of cyclists. 
> If you're aware of what we're doing, and you believe
> this isn't addressing particular needs of the local
> cycling community, why not attend a chapter meeting
> or get in touch with the Boston chapter leaders and
> tell them so?
> 
> Tom Revay
> ... whose opinions are his own, and don't
> necessarily reflect the opinion of MassBike, its
> chapters or its members.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
> 



	
		
______________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! for Good 
Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. 
http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/