FLCC> Tuesday night rules

[Daniel Kidney]

Hey, another distant former participant here. Sorry if this was all ready
mentioned, I haven't actually read the whole lengthy conversation from
here in Colombia, paying every minute on the computer, but I like what
I've read and I sure hope to have some good Tuesday nights after I get
back next Spring or so.

Every year we have a big conversation about Tuesday night; last year at
least one of them focused on the ride to the start. I hope those rides are
going well (split into distinct groups at least).

I was glad to see this year's subject as really we're much more dangerous
during the race than the ride out. I definitely support the rules Ernie
put out there. The neutral corner seems like the biggest change for
everyone. I know I've attacked coming out of the White Church corner... it
seems like such a good idea, right? In a supported race with corner
marshals, corners are big strategy points. But we have to accept that we
don't have any official sanctions on these races. If we managed to get
some corner marshals that would be excellent, unlike sanctioned races
though, they would be looking out to keep corners neutral (I hope) not to
let some riders know that they can race through and then tell others they
can't.

So one thought, because this is such a big change, and there are always
new riders, and excited riders, how about we try to keep this at the front
of people's minds. If everyone who remembers they're going into a neutral
corner, defends their position despite their good morals and yells
"neutral corner!" Sure, it might seem a little silly if 10 riders are
yelling "neutral corner!" and it feels like everyone all ready knew, but
what's not heard are the 2 riders who didn't yell anything, one of whom
says to themselves *oh, duh... calm down, calm down* and the other new guy
figures *I guess I shouldn't be attacking here?* If those two guys took
off in the corner and you never saw them again after you tried to keep it
safe, what would you want to do next week? If they were then punished
through a peer review system, maybe helpful, but mostly they'd just feel
attacked, especially the new guy who got to the parking lot late and
didn't hear Glenn giving us our weekly reminders.

Let's be preventative, not just reactive!

Hope to see you all early next season for some good safe racing.

As always, our ambling accounts, and probably moderately more interesting
photos can be found at: http://bici.ppckernel.org (same site, simpler
address if anyone has been typing in the old one).

And by the way (seriously) if anyone wants to do some touring in Central
America, or knows of someone who does, let me know. My companions are
going to abandon me somewhere here in Colombia and I'm not that big on
doing Panama to Trumansburg alone (and my mother absolutely wouldn't have
it).

Cheers

Daniel


> Hi all,
>
> I'm sorry to hear of the irresponsible riding going on at Tuesday Night
> races.
> I've been living in Lowell, Mass. for more than a month now, working at a
> summer internship.
> As much as I hate the dense suburban sprawl, traffic lights, occasional
> traffic jams, and two-dimensional terrain, I have learned something here.
> People cooperate on the road.
> Even though there are way more cars than in central New York, I have heard
> the sound of a car horn maybe twice. People have figured out that you're
> not going to get there faster if you cut someone off, abruptly change
> lanes, or get pissed off. I commute only 8 miles to work on a motorcycle,
> and have witnessed countless accounts of just being nice and respectful,
> although everyone is talking on their cell phone or eating breakfast
> behind the wheel.
>
> Anyways, back to the point. I guess some people living in rural places
> like the land surrounding Ithaca have no idea how lucky they are to have
> such beautiful roads with virtually no traffic to race or ride on every
> day! I really miss that here, and am upset that some are abusing those
> privileges back home.
>
> I just came back from a four-day motorcycle tour to the Green Mts. of
> Vermont. Most of the riding was excellent, except for those times when the
> pace was interrupted by a slow-moving motorhome or SUV that seemed
> obivious to what was going on behind them. Leading a pack of four requires
> much more careful planning than riding alone, and passing a vehicle is
> unsafe unless you have a half-mile straightaway, which don't occur too
> often on windy mountain roads. Sometimes these vehicles would pull off to
> let us by, but not often.
> Does anyone see a parallel?
>
> A swarm of bycyclists can clog up a road much worse than a single vehicle!
> Just put yourself in the motorist's shoes...what would you think of a pack
> of grown-ups doodling in the middle of the road and not letting anyone by?
> Personally, even though I'm a bike racer and respect other bikers, I would
> think they were jerks and get pissed off pretty quickly, leading to an
> unsafe situation. What about those motorists who DON'T respect bikers??
> Yikes.
>
> Anyways, even the fastest guys out there can go up Ringwood only about
> 13mph, or one third the speed of a generic car. So YOU ARE the slow moving
> traffic which should let by the faster traffic. Simple, right?
> As for riding in the oncoming lane...that's just suicidal, especially in
> turns and hills.
>
> OK, enough ranting. Time to go for a bike ride through suburbia.
> Vanya
>
> Glenn Swan <gs37 at cornell.edu> wrote:  This coming Tuesday night may start
> a few minutes later than usual, as we
> will be having a discussion (rant?) about safety and courtesy and
> practical
> rules that may help to keep us safe, keep the racing fair, and keep us
> from
> upsetting the local drivers and the constabulary. I think that Ernie is
> right, that it's time to update these things in the minds of our old and
> new riders. I plan to have a few things to say and I hope that others will
> come prepared to offer their comments and support as well.
>
> Glenn
>
>
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