Kris Schamp
Saturday's rally at Waterfront Park is indeed a unique opportunity for the bike race community to show its support for the concerns and appeals put forward in this grassroots initiative, by attending the rally in numbers.
Given the many miles that we collectively ride our bikes on public roads and in traffic, it is obvious that we have a vested interest in increasing the safety on our roads. While we are a large and diverse group, with different opinions on what need to be done, how it need be done, and what the priorities should be, I hope we can all agree that a change is needed in many areas to make our cities, streets and communities truly bike-friendly.
After the recent string of bike/car collisions - in particular the crash that took the life of our friend and co-racer Brett Jarolimek - several folks in the OBRA community have expressed their desire to do something and take action. This rally will make a great first step we can all take to make our voice heard, get inspired by speakers like Joe Kurmaskie and Ray Thomas, and connect with others in the (bike) community.
And of course, biking over there will make for a great training ride ahead of Sunday's cross race!
~Kris
On Nov 15, 2007, at 12:52 PM, Jonathan Maus wrote:
Hi folks,
Hopefully by now you've heard that a major rally to promote bike
safety and "transportation equality" is planned for Saturday.
-"We are ALL Traffic" - Rally
-SATURDAY 11/16, 12 noon
-Salmon Street Fountain (on east side, between Morrison and Hawthorne
Bridges)
We need as many people from as many different parts of the community as possible to show up. While recent fatal and serious injury bike crashes are what spurred this movement, the rally is not just about bikes. This is about concerned citizens making a statement to our City leaders that we care about making our streets safer, we want them to do make it a higher priority and that we're willing to help.
You can find out more details on the rally from the "We Are ALL
Traffic" website.
http://bikeportland.org/wearealltraffic
It would be great to see a lot of racers out there.
Thanks,
--Jonathan
_____________________
Jonathan Maus
http://www.BikePortland.org
News Tipline/Cell: (503) 706-8804
jonathan@bikeportland.org