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Author Topic: Charity bike rider attacked in Colorado Dick Vaughan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1032 From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: Jul 2000 posted 07-20-2006 05:59 PM                        I just found out that Jane Tomlinson, a terminallly ill cancer sufferer , who comes from near where I live in the UK, and has been cycling across the US to raise money for charity has suffered at the hands of idiots and unsympathetic police . It was reported in this BBC online report Jane attacked during US bike ride Terminal cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson had a bottle thrown at her and was also pulled over by police during her charity bike ride across the US. Her husband Michael said the incidents happened as the cyclists travelled through the state of Colorado. A lorry also moved into the middle of the road as it passed to "deliberately" spray the riders with loose chippings to try and injure them, he said. Mrs Tomlinson, 42, is cycling 4,200 miles from San Francisco to New York. In his blog on the BBC website, Mr Tomlinson described how the group was sprayed with road chippings by the lorry, before being followed for 90 minutes by a police car. They were eventually pulled over and told to cycle on the hard shoulder, he said. "The shoulder was a narrow strip of road mainly containing debris and would have caused numerous punctures and would have been dangerous," said Mr Tomlinson. The ride began at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on 29 June "The police officer was belligerent and not wanting to be arrested we agreed with him, so as not to give him an excuse for further action; his manner was spoiling for a fight; courtesy was at a minimum, it was certainly not a pleasant experience." Later, the occupant of a pick-up truck threw a Coke bottle at Mrs Tomlinson and the other cyclists. Mr Tomlinson said: "Who needs to encounter these sorts of people when cycling; whatever the cause or whoever the person is? "Our initial experience of Colorado has not been good but let's hope they live up to their reputation of being a cycle-friendly state." Mrs Tomlinson, who was diagnosed with advanced metatastic breast cancer in 2000, has suffered from dehydration, extreme fatigue and back pain during the marathon bike ride. Her aim is to raise £1,250,000 for UK and American-based cancer and children's charities. She is joined on the 62-day trip by Leeds Metropolitan University lecturer Ryan Bowd, 27, of Calgary, Canada, and 40-year-old Martyn Hollingworth from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Jane is an amazing woman who has already raised an unbelievable amount of money for cancer charities. You can read more about her here www.janesappeal.com/ Let's hope she has better support as she heads further east  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 07-20-2006 06:55 PM                     I really abhor the bad treatment of bicyclists. The cop spoken about should be ass-raped by silver back gorillas. The coke bottle thrower should be crushed to death in a hydraulic press. However, I can kind of understand why there is some public anger against bicyclists within Colorado. First, there's the problem with the roads. There is a huge contingent of bunny hugger anti-roads idiots up there who don't give one popcorn fart's worth of a damn on making metropolitan areas like Denver and Colorado Springs function properly. So what that state gets is some really stupidly stunted primary highway designs that do not even in the slightest most remote sense match up to the capacity of drivers that is needed. US highway 24 between Colorado Springs and Limon should be, at bare minimum, a six lane Interstate-class highway between the 'Springs and the junction with I-70 in Limon. Year after year there are many gruesomely fatal accidents on this highway. Yet the fucker still remains as a measly itty bitty two lane retarded asshole blacktop. Here's a picture of just how stupidly retarded US-24 is in Colorado. You'll have majopr six lane divided streets like Woodmen Road, Constitution Avenue and Marksheffel Road dead ending into US-24. Those streets can move a hell of a lot of traffic. US-24 is the main east-bound route to hook up to I-70, but it doesn't move traffic worth a shit. To top it off, the US Olympic Team trains in Colorado Springs and there is all kinds of would-be Olympic cycling candidates pedaling on, of all places, US-24. Some of these fool-hardy pedal-happy idiots cause drivers to swerve all over the place to avoid them. Some of these cyclists have even contributed to causing fatal head on collisions between cars. Much of US-24 near Colorado Springs is bordered by an abandoned railroad line that has been converted to a walking track and bicycle path. None of the bicyclists use it. Instead, they pedal in the only fucking lane available to through traffic. I'm even more angry by this because Colorado Springs, unlike most American cities, has a winding network of concrete molded bicycle paths. Yet these guys feel the need to get out there in the few lanes availalbe to vehicle traffic. "Oh, I don't want to get my bike tires punctured by thorns by pedaling on the shoulder!" Well, excuse me, but look over your shoulder at the 2999 mile long traffic jam backing up for your pedaling pleasure! I live in a far less glamourous state (Oklahoma) and we're managing to four lane all kinds of roads. Hell, we have more turnpike miles than any other state. So what exactly is Colorado's fucking problem that they cannot seem to build a damned highway that matches the traffic load!? Don't get me wrong, I like bicycling. I own a pretty expensive bicycle bought in Colorado of all places. But I'm not going to choose to pedal down I-44 or some of the other busy streets in Lawton. I have enough sense to realize that I may be asking to get killed in a collision with a car or at least draw the ire of motorists. I choose less busy paths on which to ride by bike.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-20-2006 08:35 PM                        When I ride my bike, I almost always ride on the sidewalk. I do not feel the least bit safe riding in the street with traffic, even if there is a bicycle lane. And some of the bicycle lanes are wide enough for cars to drive in. I don't know why bicyclists avoid the sidewalk. What are they afraid of? It is easier to avoid a slow-moving pedestrian than a quick-moving and much larger/heavier car. And it's not like there are tons and tons of pedestrians anyway. Bicyclists are generally pussies. The worst are the ones who REALLY get into it with the spandex, shaved legs (for guys) and the down-syndrome helmets which require you to land on the top of your head for them to protect you. I also agree about the highway system being screwed up in Colorado. It's bad, really bad. There are no cross town highways (I-70 does not count, too far north. Same goes for C-470 which is too far south) and only one up/down highway (north/south, I mean). We don't have any loops. We suck when it comes to building roads.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-21-2006 04:23 AM                       quote: Charity bike rider attacked in Colorado Oh, that's sad. Shameful.  |  IP: Logged Dieter Depypere Master Film Handler Posts: 343 From: Deutsch-Wagram, Lower Austria, Austria Registered: May 2005 posted 07-21-2006 04:54 AM                     Certain people should really be skinned alive and roasted onto a spit.  |  IP: Logged Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-22-2006 05:12 AM                        quote: Joe Redifer It is easier to avoid a slow-moving pedestrian than a quick-moving and much larger/heavier car. in fact, pedestrians are quicker than cars, in the sense that they are prone to change direction suddenly and without warning or accountability. you're probably right about there not being many pedestrians in colorado though. who wants to walk up and down all those mountains?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-22-2006 06:04 AM                        I ran into a couple of fat girls the second day after I learned how to ride a bike. I was going up a hill (on the sidewalk) on the hugely busy street I grew up on, and these two fat teenage chicks were walking down towards me. They were almost half a block away. I kept going towards them and they kept walking towards me, side by side. I figured one of them would be smart enough to move aside to let my me and my awesomeness through, but that was not the case. And I figured that crashing into them would be like crashing into a couple of soft pillows of joy. Also not the case. I fell off and ended up with a bloody nose and a bloody lip or some sort of injury like that. The fat girls started cussing me out and the like. I don't think they felt the impact. Several years later I tracked them down and burned down all of the fast food joints near where they lived. This caused the infamous fat riots of '79.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2006 11:32 AM                     I agree that IS very shameful. But on the other hand there are ALOT of shameful bicyclists out there too. I've encountered my share of them, mainly blocking the canyon roads on the way down and not heeding regular traffic/biyciling rules. I hvae seen bicyclists pulled over by the police on at least several occasions... serves em right. Mark  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-22-2006 12:44 PM                     I am a bicyclist. At one point in my life I was relying on my bicycle as a primary source of transportation. Unfortunately it is the PRIMA-DONNA "pro-race" riding bicyclists who have made life unbearable for those LAW-ABIDING cyclists who rely on their cycles as a source of primary transportation!!!! For example, "The El-Tour De Tucson" is an extremely well known annual race. And the "pro-racers" are in town weeks before hand "practicing". These racers have a horrible reputation in Tucson. They run illegally multi-abrest and create traffic-jams. I have personally seen these "cyclists" start fights with motorists at red lights and have even seen a few purposely attempt to create mult-car traffic accidents by darting into traffic. For example, on one occasion there were a group of these cyclists riding multi-abrest outside of the bike lane creating a traffic jam. The lead driver litely tooted his horn and the cyclists moved over. But then one of them popped the birdie and as the car traffic started to speed up darted back into traffic almost causing a pile-up! Unfortunately, these "pro-cyclists" have managed to really give cycling a bad name, and it has become most dangerous for those relying on their bikes as a primary source of transportation! Also, there has been a lot of media coverage re: the attitude of these "pro-cyclists". For some reason they have the attitude that everyone needs to kiss their asses and that traffic laws do not apply to them! It got to the point where I had to give up cycling for the reasons originally posted in this thread.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-22-2006 05:04 PM                     Well up here cyclists of any age must keep there bikes on the road and are subject to all the laws of motor cars  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-22-2006 06:03 PM                        That is why Canada is not recognized as a great nation, but rather a "me-too" nation.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-22-2006 07:04 PM                        Seems like we've become a nation of mean, self-centered boorish pigs. When I was a kid, you could rid you bike to your hearts content and never be hastled by motorist. In fact, motorists were always solicitious of a cyclist's safety. Where did it happen that now we are in danger of getting pelted by drivers. As far as that cop is concerned, he won't be the first to act like an officious ass....get him back to directing traffic where he can be as pompous as he pleases, as long as he stands in his one by one spot in the middle of on-coming traffic You know, I am no priest and I don't even play one on TV, but I think the Almighty missed the mark by not making COURTESY one of the Top Ten Commandments. I mean, we could easily get along without that one about graven images, especially since "graven" isn't even defined....like, what are the exact specs on HOW grave do those images have to be before we get the Diety reeeeealy pissed? Would LESS grave images be verboten, so like, Low Def, NTSC images would be of so disgustingly grave quality that they are sinful the minute we look at a standard TV set? whereas images of, say, 1080p High Def would not constitute so grave quality that they would be OK to put before us? Detail, clarity and specifics on those tablets were not their strong suit. Anyway, Thou Shalt Not Be A Discourteous, Disgusting Asshole And Throw Bottles At A Person On A Bike. should have been chizeled away on one of those tablets. But then again, we would probably just ignore that one as well as we ignore the rest of them.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 07-22-2006 11:38 PM                     quote: Will Kutler I have personally seen these "cyclists" start fights with motorists at red lights and have even seen a few purposely attempt to create mult-car traffic accidents by darting into traffic. As I stated before, I ride a bicycle regularly for commuting purposes. With that stated, if I am driving down some road and an asshole bicyclist athlete deliberately chooses to dart in front of me to make me swerve and hit another vehicle...guess what. I'm just going to keep going STRAIGHT AHEAD and run over the fucker rather than killing myself and people in other vehicles. That pedal happy bastard better realize he will never ever be any match for 2 tons of Chevy Pickup Truck!  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-22-2006 11:43 PM                        Now now, Bobby, we didn't eliminate that other one of the Top Ten....Thou Shalt Not Kill. But I think if you read between the lines, it does say except if some idiot riding a bike darts out in front of your Chevy truck. Frank  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-23-2006 08:26 AM                        But Frank, it's not murder. The top ten should read "Thou shalt not murder" instead of "kill". Think about it. Therefore bicyclists are perfectly OK to run over.  |  IP: Logged

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