Posted on 08/09/2009 9:21:20 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
OGDEN -- Was it a friendly group bicycle ride through downtown Ogden or a confrontational melee that included obstructing traffic, assault, obscenities and alcohol?
Depends on who you talk to.
Numbers vary from 35 to 70, but a large group of cyclists, referred to as Critical Mass, was taking a monthly ride to celebrate cycling and assert their rights to the road on Friday when Ogden police say things got out of hand. Four individuals were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and public intoxication.
Matt Hasenyager, owner of Skyline Cycle and one of the bicyclists, said the group was obeying traffic laws and having fun.
However, police reports indicate some were hostile, disrupted traffic flow, yelled obscenities and made gestures at motorists while intoxicated.
The trouble started at the intersection of 23rd Street and Grant Avenue when a woman motorist stopped at a red light and was suddenly surrounded by bicyclists. When the light turned green, she was unable to pull forward and honked her horn.
Cyclists responded by yelling obscenities and someone threw a cup of soda pop and hit the woman in the face, the police report said. When she pulled forward, her vehicle bumped one of the bicycles, causing minor damage to the fender and wheel. Then she called police.
"They demanded she be arrested for aggravated assault, but it wasn't intentional," said Ogden Lt. Mike Ashment. "The woman didn't want to pursue anything."
The group continued its ride to 24th Street and Lincoln Avenue, where two individuals halted traffic, entered the intersection and began escorting the other riders through even though the light was red, according to the police report. Angry motorists were forced to maneuver around the pair and more gestures were made and obscenities yelled, Ashment said.
The scene was observed by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper and Weber County deputy who were assisting the Ogden City gang unit for the weekend. They arrived and instructed the two cyclists to leave the intersection and talk with them. One complied, but the other pedaled away after the group.
Deputy Trevor Petersen pursued the individual, eventually tackling him off his bike. Petersen's actions surprised the group, which then surrounded him. He ordered them to move away and called for backup, the report said. Eventually more than six officers arrived to help disperse the irate crowd.
Four individuals were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and public intoxication. They are Samuel Mc-Kay, 26; Sara Fulks, 33; Donald Hall, 61; and KC Shirra, 19. A 12-pack of beer was located in Fulks' backpack.
It was a bizarre scene, trooper Chris Turley said.
"I have never encountered something like this. Usually people are very law abiding, but the crowd was very hostile. Many were intoxicated and smelled of alcohol," Turley said. "It was unusual behavior."
Hasenyager was riding with the group and recalls the scene as one of chaos and confusion. He said his friend that was tackled didn't know the deputy wanted him to stop.
"It was hard to know who he (the deputy) was talking to when he said 'Stop sir, stop.' There 30 of us," Hasenyager said. "I don't think the police department as a whole was out of line, but this individual (the deputy) could have handled it in a different fashion. If it had been handled differently, without physical force, I wouldn't be talking about it right now. Maybe tickets could have been written."
According to several Web sites, Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in hundreds of cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists. Participants have insisted that these events should be viewed as "celebrations" and spontaneous gatherings, and not as protests or organized demonstrations.
Ashment and Lt. Scott Conley both find it odd that the group is out promoting fun and bicycle awareness, yet failing to comply with traffic rules and other laws.
"It doesn't jive," Ashment said.
"Why are they so confrontational with public? Why do they have alcohol in their backpacks? From what I am being told, they were they individuals escalating the situation," Conley said.
Hasenyager didn't see the incident at 23rd and Grant, but said has heard several different versions of what happened. He said it was heartbreaking to see this all happen, but the bottom line, he said, is that Ogden is an outdoor hot spot.
"The best we can do now is move this in a positive direction, learn a valuable lesson and move forward, and be better because of it."
I understand your position, and am familiar with that part of Texas. The recreational riders are major offenders in being road hogs, ever since one person tried taking over the Houston Bicycle Club. He ran a Virgin Century Training Series in the mid 90’s. He had his entire group riding 3 and 4 abreast on some of the FM roads in Montgomery and Grimes Counties, while going quite slow as well (~10 mph). Riders would not move over for traffic, even if someone called “car back” (the person who would call “car back” and expect the group to yield to the vehicle - basic courtesy - would be the target of some major personal attacks by the group leader). To top things off, the group would stop at one of the country stores (happened one time at Richards), take drinks and cookies out of the support van, and use the plumbing in the store without buying anything. MAJOR NOT COOL! Thanks to the leadership of this jerk, the racing community and the recreational cycling community were at major odds. The former due to not wanting to be associated with such behavior (a lot of times when we train we are wearing team kits with sponsors logos), the latter due to - call it “class resentment” - “how dare you be able to ride in fast pace lines, how dare you......”
The person who tried the takeover of Houston Bicycle Club dared to call himself a conservative.
That's insanely dangerous. Here in Toronto 3/4 of all collisions between bicycles and cars occur on sidewalks (car pulls out of driveway and gets hit), and just a few days ago a woman was killed when a cyclist ran her down on the sidewalk. The safest thing to do is widen the curb lanes a foot or two (just a matter of moving the lines) so that cars can get around them.
One bike per month.
Awesome pic!
That’ll wreck your whole day.
Those laws are already on the books- most jurisdictions require cyclists to ride single file, so "packs" are illegal. Then there's the catch-all "impeding traffic" offence that applies to cars, bikes and pedestrians.
Spandex is no defense against Detroit iron.
Love your graphic.I wonder how many of these people are gay.
> The safest thing to do is widen the curb lanes a foot or two (just a matter of moving the lines) so that cars can get around them.
The issue you’d encounter there is people parking in these widened lanes.
I hear what you say about the sidewalks.
Here in NZ the NZ Post delivers letters using small motorbikes (you guessed it) by driving on the sidewalk. It is definitely a discipline to watch out for them as they scoot around, when pulling out of the driveway. Bikes aren’t generally permitted on our sidewalks, but skateboards and mobility scooters are.
When it all boils up, the motorist does need to be careful for the hazards, no easy way around it.
I guess that makes sense - then the existing laws should be enforced. My guess is that they *never* are.
Two words:
Pepper spray
That incident was during a sanctioned race in Mexico.
I have been hit once deliberately by one driver, who then escalated the situation by spinning the car 180 degrees and revving the engine. I let him know that I was quite ready to exercise my Second Amendment rights. This was in Texas mind you.
We don’t let people obstruct traffic playing with other toys like skateboards, roller-skates, or pogo sticks. We shouldn’t let them play in traffic with these toys either.
"...Cyclists are, generally and with a few exceptions, a menace on the hiways and byways and ought to be taxed off the road. At the very least they ought to have annual licence plates for their contraptions, compulsory third-party and property damage insurance, five year cyclists licences with photo and signature (for which they should sit a test), and they ought to pay a mileage levy just like diesel trucks do, to pay a contribution to the roads that they otherwise use for free. This latter tax could be used to pay for the dedicated cycle lanes that cyclists seem to constantly demand.Sounds sensible to me..."
These are not suggestions one would anticipate from a fellow FReeper as they're VERY leftist in nature. All that taxing you proposed? Really?
The second thing to keep in mind is cyclists already pay their share. I own three cars and a motorcycle that are registered and insured. Do you also promote "road use taxes" for pedestrians who walk along the shoulder...who also likely own cars, trucks, and motorcycles, too?
I have three cars and three bikes. Do the taxes I pay for my cars cover me, or should I be charged to ride my bikes on the roads as well?
I find it strange that politicians capitulate to bicyclists who use roads paid by others.
Roads are funded from a wide variety of sources. Many taxes on auto registration and fuel are actually diverted to other things. Cars and trucks wear roads out. Bikes don't.
We need to suggest bike registration and use taxes.
Great idea. Let's do it by weight. Pay whatever your vehicle weighs.
Change the laws to make bicyclists fully comply with road laws.
They already are. The laws obviously aren't enforced as strictly as against motorists, but do you really want little Timmy getting slapped with a ticket because he coasted through the four way stop between his house and the park? He looked both ways he stopped peddling and braked, but his wheels never actually came to a complete stop. Do you want him tagged? Bone headed cyclists doing things like blowing through red lights are already fully subject to traffic laws, and do get tickets.
Make them produce an operator's license and registration when stopped by police. That will really irk the commie b@st@rds.
Governmental approval to ride and own a little bike? Who's the commie?
Do you really think that a group of people with an average per-person income of over $90k who are riding a vehicle that does no damage to the road are a horrible succubus on the average counties road budget?
“Cycling is one of the few sports left with real “hard men” in it. The NFL/MLB/NBA should just start handing out mandatory tiaras.”
Sounds like they get pretty excited about riding their bikes...
Like many Leftist groups, they like the power and anonymity of being in a large aggressive mob.
It took until Post 49. That has to be some kind of record for the longest time ever before someone commenting on thread about cycling made the obvious connection between cycling apparel and homosexuality. Maybe Freepers are getting smarter.
But when you consider the joking about a fatal accident caused by a out of control motorist, I guess not.
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