October 14, 2009

Following up, and circling back.

Police and Cyclists reach agreement, from KCBike.info

I felt it important to follow up on this interesting piece that seemed to catch the attention of cyclists and non-cyclists alike in and around the KC Area back in August.  When this story broke, I collapsed into my usual holier-than-thou tirade about this particular group and their behavior, and I must be clear: at the time, that was my gut reaction, seat-of-the-pants, stream-of-consciousness take on the situation.  No apologies for that.  I was frustrated at FAR more in the world than the fact that some cyclists ran a red light, and got ticketed.  I think I used the story as a punching bag of sorts.  I'm far to retrospective for my own good sometimes.

However, it is both interesting and encouraging to note that the parties involved and the head of their club has taken to the negotiations chair, has been active in the system since the incident, and has drafted up agreements with the Prairie Village Police Department outlining ways to improve the situation.  It was also very nice to see at the end of a couple news articles, and to hear at then end of a couple newscasts, that "the majority of cyclists in the area are doing things right."  That felt good.  

Am I right all the time?  Certainly not.  Do I *always* stop at stop signs?  Yeah, yeah, I've done the "safe roll-thru" before, as a commenter mentioned previously.  I'm not infallible - especially since my reaction to their actions appears that I fancy myself as such.  I think a lot of my comments on this blog have gone against my "mission" of engaging and joining cyclists together, regardless of discipline and riding style.  In a couple of hastily written paragraphs, I have done quite a bit to drive rifts back into the atmosphere of local cycling, and I can feel it in interactions I've had since that post.  For that, I do apologize, because its intent was never personal.

Humbly, I know full well that in the grand scheme of things the opinions and observations made inside this blog do not amount to much, and they won't prevent people from riding, and (sadly) may not encourage many to ride either.  I have no illusions that this is some high penetration publication that somehow affects the way local cycling happens, nor that my opinions will be given any more weight than a single pixel on a screen.  Like I'd mentioned in the original post, the offenders may not have even read it.  My point is, if I don't have anything nice to say - then what am I writing about?  This is not supposed to have ever been a scathing opinion page.  There are many that started reading this blog on one premise, and some of that has changed over time.  My sincere hope is to start adding positive value again.  Life is full of far too much strife, argument, woe, and outburst - why do I really need to log in and rant on about how the entire fabric of society coming unwoven because someone ran a red light?

No, it's not a full time job, and this is not a sanctioned publication - which goes to why it took so long for me to follow up on this story.  This is nothing more than a personal blog, a personal journal that I started because I enjoy writing about cycling, the things I see, the struggles I've overcome.  It's an homage to the people that first encouraged me to ride, way back when, written in hopes that it might encourage someone out there that is just starting out to take that next corner and see what cycling brings to them.  Corny as it sounds cycling really changed my life, who I am, how I think, how I go through my day.  The friendships that I've made on the saddle are worth far more than whether or not I weigh in on every cycling incident that comes down the pipe.  The positive aspects are far more important to share, and that's my intent going forward.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

1 comment:

Andrew said...

Hey, it's your blog. Don't feel like you have to apologize for writing what you think. I love reading your stuff and I don't think anything you've written has come close to going over the line. I think the only person you have ever been "scathing" towards is yourself.