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What a PIKER!!
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."
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.
Recognizing that kids ride bikes, the above measures should exempt children under the age of eighteen, who should therefore ride on sidewalks and walk their cycles as pedestrians across intersections. As novice riders they should be prohibited to ride alongside roads where the speed limit exceeds 50 MPH, and they should be prohibited to ride after dark or before sunrise.
Sounds sensible to me.
I agree..I live in Portland Oregon and commute on a bike. Critical Mass is a ‘get in your face’, confrontational, disruptive group. They stop traffic, run stop signs, and want to impose their lifestyle on the auto drivers(who pay all the road taxes) that pay for their wonderful bike lanes.
Roads exist because car owners pay for them. I find it strange that politicians capitulate to bicyclists who use roads paid by others. We need to suggest bike registration and use taxes. that should stir interest among politicians. Change the laws to make bicyclists fully comply with road laws. Make them produce an operator's license and registration when stopped by police. That will really irk the commie b@st@rds.
Sounds pretty smart to me!
Counter-productive thy name is Critical Mass.
It only shows the misplaced values in our society. Few things chafe me more than tax dollars being spent on pro sports teams who charge $300 a ticket when I can’t ride my bike because the roads look like the victim of a Serbian mortar attack.
Let me be the second. Serious cycling for transportation requires coexistence with cars, trucks and buses. It also requires always remembering what will happen in a confrontation with cars, trucks and buses.
The ignorant Gomers that yell "get on the sidewalk" are few and far between. Most motorists are rational enough to understand that if I wasn't next to you on the road on my bike, I'd be in front of you on the road in my car slowing down your commute. Why piss people off with idiotic stunts like this and turn them against you, when originally they barely noticed you?
I recently had a group of about 8 cyclists, proceed to run a stop sign across a State Highway with a 55 mph speed limit.
I had to test the anti-locks on my F-250 SuperDuty 4X4 to keep from hitting the first one, the others stopped, but then thought they would keep me stopped while they proceeded. One almast ran into the side of me as I went on.
I can’t say I recall an Indiana law that gives cyclist absolute right of way on the roads.
Hyperbole for emphasis?
> 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.
Rugby Union, Rugby League, Aussie Rules, Cricket, Ironman, Surf-Lifesaving and Surfing would be very hi on the list of “Real Man” sports, too.
Ironman has a significant cycling component.
Wow, maybe you should report all of the cyclists in this thread to flag@whitehouse.gov since you can’t be tolerant and respectful of the differing thoughts and action of your fellow citizens.
We should ban putting boats and RV’s on public roads too, since they’re also a slow and dangerous menace.
Good for you, Nully!
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What a PIKER!!
Well of course. :-)
I agree. I don’t understand the concept of doing something borderline-suicidal to be healthy. Makes about as much sense as skiing out of bounds.
I can only agree, those would be up there too.
The problem here is typified by the name of this irresponsible outfit - i.e. critical mass.
All the car/bike problems of which I’m aware stem from large group of cyclists riding en masse which changes the whole dynamic.
Laws should be written to make this sort of mass cycling illegal - unless it is done in such a way (e.g. deserted country roads) so as not to pose problems to other users of the roads.
I have no problems with individual cyclists or pairs of cyclists.
Assemblies of 20 or more cyclists using aggressive tactics to intimidate other users of the roads are where the problem lies and where people are going to hurt.
They should simply be made illegal.
This has nothing whatever to do with people wanting to enjoy the public roadways, or move to a healthier lifestyle.
Riding in large groups has everything to do with mob tactics.
My $.02.
> Wow, maybe you should report all of the cyclists in this thread to flag@whitehouse.gov since you can’t be tolerant and respectful of the differing thoughts and action of your fellow citizens.
Aw, sure I can. I can be as tolerant and respectful of my fellow citizens as you like, as soon as my fellow bike-riding free-riding citizens pay their own way and obey the laws of the road just like everybody else.
Until they do “pay-and-obey” they are free-loading scoff-laws whose opinions of how the roads ought to operate are interesting but not overly relevant.
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