<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">I am ALL FOR a Malden ride. I bike commute to Boston from Maden, and it has been my experience that drivers in Malden, Medford, Everett are not concerned / aware enough about cyclists in their area.</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">- Jon<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">----- Original Message ----<BR>From: Basil Sharpe <bsharpe@redcoatpublishing.com><BR>To: Boston Critical Mass <list@bostoncriticalmass.org><BR>Sent: Thursday, April 5, 2007 1:22:34 PM<BR>Subject: RE: [*BCM*] My thoughts<BR><BR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">ItĒs not just Boston that needs more awareness to Cyclist. So do areas such as Medford and Malden . On the March 07 ride and as we got to Harvard Square , I heard a few folks suggest that the CM ride go to Medford instead of the usual ride to Cambridge Brookline etc. I can tell you first hand after riding home from Beverly to Medford for the past 4 plus years, itĒs these close proximity towns to Boston drivers who could also stand to learn a thing or two regarding bicycles. Time and Time again people in this Medford Malden area respond to Bicycles as if they are for kids and belong on the sidewalk. In fact, a Medford cop told me this once. I know Crit Mass canĒt do everything but I just want to float the idea to going to Medford because I think Medford people need in a far more desperate way
than Cambridge or Brookline people do to be exposed to Crit Mass. Cambridge people are far more accepting to bicycles than Medford people are. And Medford is in very close proximity to Boston . A ride here could be a good thing. IĒve just found that people in Cambridge and Brookline are more accepting to cyclists than Medford people are. To go to Medford with a crit mass ride would just spread the idea that much more and could be very rewarding.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org [mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org] <B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Ian Thistle<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Thursday, April 05, 2007 1:03 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> list@bostoncriticalmass.org<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [*BCM*] My thoughts</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">So I have been stewing over the last day and here are some points I'd like to bring up for discussion.<BR><BR>First, I offer my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the young man who died. I didn't know him personally but it seems like I easily could have. I'm not sure if his name has been officially released, so I'm not going to say it, but he was a friend of friends of mine. It's a terrible tragedy that I'm sure will stick with us for a long time. <BR><BR>What I'm upset about is this: Anyone who rides frequently in Boston could have told you that the area where he was hit is very dangerous. One of the first responses on this list called it a "highway," and I agree. People drive very fast and the road is needlessly narrow. You always have to watch out for Northeastern / MassArt / SMFA students
crossing the street without warning and yet it's the quickest route from downtown to Mission Hill, Brookline Village , and so on. <BR><BR>Sometimes it unfortunately takes a tragedy for things to change. I'd have hope that the area would be improved, except the area of Cambridge St where Kirsten Malone was killed three years ago (if I remember correctly) is still just as dangerous as it was the day she died. Similarly, anyone could have told you that area was really dangerous before she was killed. <BR><BR>Now, MassBike does some good things, but for a cycling advocacy group, they haven't done much to make things better for cyclists <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">in the city</SPAN></I> (at least that I can tell in the four and a half years I've lived here). One of their major recent victories was securing $40 million of funds for bike paths <A href="http://www.massbike.org/projects/federal_bikepath_funding.htm" target=_blank
rel=nofollow>(link here)</A>. Most of these are in the rest of the state, and the ones that are in the Boston area aren't ones I will ever ride, nor do most of my biking friends. I don't want to stereotype, but they seem to mainly be for "weekend warriors" rather than commuters. No matter who rides them, bike paths are in my opinion counter to the safety of cyclists, since they get overwhelmed by joggers and rollerbladers and they reinforce the idea to drivers that cyclists belong <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">off the road</SPAN></I>. <BR><BR>I don't want to pin it all on MassBike, as I fully support a lot of the things they are doing. I guess what I'm mostly looking for is some way to get my voice heard, as a cyclist on the streets of Boston who sees the city as needlessly forboding to cyclists. <BR><BR>Lastly, I wanted to voice to everyone that while being scared to ride is a natural and understandable reaction to this death, that they
shouldn't stop riding. Fewer bikes on the streets makes it harder for everyone still riding, not to mention increasing pollution and lowering personal health. <BR><BR>Be safe,<BR>Ian</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
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