So, I get back from the Ride of Silence and I'm watching "Modern Family", when I see a "news" commercial with some people on bikes. Assuming it was RoS related, I stopped to watch it. Instead, it's this:
(angry motorist, honking horn, split screen with a car tailgating a bike): "Come on!"
(another person, standing in front of a car): "I think they should be on the sidewalk"
(voiceover, while showing various scenes involving bikes): "Bicyclists ignoring stop signs, weaving through traffic. WTAE shows you who *really* has the right of way - what bicyclists and drivers must both know."
Needless to say, I'm not optimistic about the report. Not that there's any good time for that kind of nonsense but tonight is a particularly tasteless time to do it.
FWIW, Channel 2 and Channel 11 were both covering the Ride of Silence, and I saw a reporter in tears after speaking with Iain and his family.
salty
2013-05-15 20:56:34
Yeah channel 2 on the CW at 10pm already had the story. Watching 11 on fox and nothing yet. I did notice that channel 4 wasnt there. Ugh not gonna even turn that on. Don't need to get pissed off.
stefb
2013-05-15 21:20:19
i would hold off judgement on the story mentioned by salty. The narrative could just as easily consist of a contrast between unknowing drivers and the reality of biking in Pittsburgh. The testimonials at the beginning of the ride were all eloquent and stand in sharp contrast to the comments in the teaser. Anyway, I don't watch TV so maybe someone can post a review / pointer to videos. Cameras were out at several spots along the way and at the end; lots of footage.
For what it's worth, from my place in the procession, I think there may have been only one instance of aggressive honking, and it may have been directed at another driver. Also, a couple of cars somehow got caught inside the ride, but they toughed it out, even when told that they could zoom by. I'd like to think that they wished to acknowledge the meaning of the event.
Several passerbys and car passengers asked what this was all about (and, confusingly, so did some passing bikers). Mostly they got good answers and reacted appropriately. (Then there was that guy who shouted out "hey! is this Critical Mass?". Grrr.)
I was on the last Ride and I remember saying that I hoped that it would be my last one. Sadly it wasn't. I really do not want to have to do these rides. Really.
Anyway, a big thanks to the organizers for making this happen. We do need to keep doing this.
ahlir
2013-05-15 21:48:23
Well, we shall see soon but like stef said I don't recall seeing Ch. 4 at the ride so I was assuming their story is just unrelated.
Apparently I also missed out on meeting the elusive Ahlir yet again...
salty
2013-05-15 22:00:45
He was the dude with a ponytail riding near us and actually he was standing around when we were BSing at the start.
I am guilty of jokingly asking "is this critical mass?" When we were stopped to wait for the group to catch up.
stefb
2013-05-15 22:03:06
salty wrote:Apparently I also missed out on meeting the elusive Ahlir yet again…
How could you miss me? I was the guy with the beard (and the ponytail). Dressed in black.
ahlir
2013-05-15 22:05:37
The KDKA coverage of the RoS was pretty good.
stuinmccandless
2013-05-15 22:28:32
It wasn't as horrid as I feared but still a pretty shit story, they kept repeating "cyclists have to follow the law" like it's some kind of revelation, while showing "cyclists behaving badly". How many cars did they see speeding, rolling stop signs, running red lights, not yielding for pedestrians, etc. while they were on their "mission"? Because I see that shit all the time.
They did interview Scott, on the corner of 5th and Bigelow. They also came down to the RoS but only had about 10 seconds of footage and a brief mention of it. I did think I saw a WTAE camera there right when I got there (the first shot shows the ass end of my bike before I moved it to the grass), but then later I only saw Ch. 2 so I assumed I must have been mistaken.
So, that makes it worse in my eyes. They weren't unaware that the ride of silence was today - they obviously knew about it, and decided to run their anti-cyclist story instead. Classless and disgusting, way worse than just being ignorant.
Ch. 2 and Ch. 11 both had pretty great/positive coverage of the ride.
salty
2013-05-15 22:32:02
I hate to even give them any attention, but if you're interested in another stupid flamewar:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151562401253643&set=a.381577373642.159297.90662953642&type=1
I tried to keep my comment on point and not just engage the typical idiots.
salty
2013-05-15 22:39:56
I just thought about what it would actually mean to get a "license and registration" for my bike, which people often bring up
So I got my motor-vehicle license when I was 18, now I just show up to the DMV every couple of years and have them take my photograph
That'll stop me from running stop signs!
Because it works so well for cars too, right?
sgtjonson
2013-05-15 22:55:50
It's such a monumentally stupid idea that only drivers could come up with it. I wonder how many of them are "small gubmint" types too.
salty
2013-05-15 23:07:25
I saw @StuInMcCandless on CH.11 this morning, there were others that I didn't recognize. Good coverage for what was a successful event. It was great to see Iain!
ericf
2013-05-16 04:32:55
I joined the cast of inspiring cyclists and blithering idiots on the thread @salty mentioned.
As Bill Edmonds
mentioned in the "suffer fools gladly" thread, this really comes down to the hand-to-hand combat part of this battle, to track down the blithering idiots, one by one, one on one, and if we cannot actually change their minds, then at least get them to give us the respect we deserve.
stuinmccandless
2013-05-16 07:02:40
A very nice photograph from yesterday's Ride of Silence:
Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
05/15/2013
Kristen Engle kisses her son Iain Engle-Roe, 8, as his sister Greer, 8, and his father, Sean Garrett-Roe, watch on during Bike Pittsburgh's Ride of Silence, an annual memorial ride in honor of people injured or killed while riding, in along Forbes Avenue in Oakland on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. Iain was seriously injured after being struck by an SUV while riding his bike in Point Breeze last month.
http://everyinchofsight.tumblr.com/image/50538548277
paulheckbert
2013-05-16 09:48:32
That picture is incredible, and so are all of you. Thanks for coming yesterday.
iamdan901
2013-05-16 11:17:24
