[*BCM*] This Saturday: Bike the Seven (Or More) Hills of Somerville

[Jim Leonard]

Thank you for being yet another voice speaking out against this madness.  What would it take to promote a formal bicycle education in schools (or god forbid even drivers ed)?

The only thing I will offer is that it may be a requirement of insurance on some of the rides but I'm guessing this isn't one of them.

--jim

On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 09:53:13AM -0400, jb fentner wrote:
> "riders should wear helmets". .. really.. on a group ride led by the totally non bike conscious bike cops on a Saturday morning. how.. horribly fucking stupid and I'm really getting sick of people being so fucking uppity regarding helmets and how naive they are. do you people have any idea how often I see cyclists spacing out and nearly getting killed in traffic because they don't know basic safety rules? taking a lane.. dooring zone.. just paying attention?? yet no one ever talks about it.. like wearing a helmet is going to prevent people from doing stupid shit and getting hurt or killed. to promote wearing one on a Saturday morning group ride when it's almost completely unnecessary proves my point that people don't even fucking think about what they're saying. 
> 
> I'll continue teaching folks how to actually survive in an urban environment and I guess you folks can just keep telling everyone that wearing a helmet is the solution. oh, I'm also wondering which one of the girls in this group it was who ran a red light at the bu bridge intersection, got yelled at by a driver, and then proceeded to bitch about mass. bike laws regarding bike lanes. I ran the same light.. cut through the backed up traffic without being noticed or having anyone bitch. glad she was wearing a helmet,  as I nearly slapped her over the head. 
> 
> From: rnewman at thecia.net
> To: list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:36:53 -0400
> Subject: [*BCM*] This Saturday: Bike the Seven (Or More) Hills of Somerville
> 
> The Somerville Bicycle Committee will hold its 17th annual Tour de Somerville this Saturday, October 17.. Our theme this year is "Somerville: City of Seven (Or More) Hills".
> We'll meet at 10 am at Seven Hills Park (behind the Holland Street T entrance in Davis Square), leaving promptly at 10:15.
> 
> Our ride will be approximately 11 miles, and visit each of Somerville's hills, both those that still exist and those that have been removed. Riders should wear helmets and be prepared for hill climbs and descents. We will make brief stops at the tops of most hills so that riders stay together as a group, but we won't have extended history lectures or speeches.
> 
> The Somerville Police will escort the ride on bicycles, and Redbones will provide refreshments at the halfway point.
> 
> For more info (and a list of hills), visit http://somervillebikes.org/events.html .
> A route map is at http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/312795 , and a cue sheet at http://www.bikely.com/cuesheet/route/312795 .
> 
> If it rains, we'll try again the next day, same time and location.
>  		 	   		  
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