chimblysweep

Hey y'all... hope to see you there. In costume, if you want. Bring your friends.

Friday, June 3 (DC CM rides on the first Friday of the month)
6pm
Dupont Circle

aw yeah.

tink20seven

Hey thats cool
i've been wondering how these rides were in DC

whats the police presence like?
do alot of people show up?

If its cool ill definitely be there with some friends
maybe afterwards we can all have "one" beer

chimblysweep

yeah, haven't had cops in a while, which is soooo nice. two years ago, DCCM was like a monthly battle with the cops. now, it's more celebratory.

some of us are still owed $10,000+ for the mass arrest that happened like 2 1/2 years ago...

tink20seven

actually i think i heard about that arrest (once upon a time)

are there any sites that give an accurate recreation of the events from that day?
that is, outside of the *partially* biased oppinion of those who were wronged that fateful day, how would one find out what happened?

if there really isn't anything like that out there, would you mind?
a little bit of background info always helps to know where we stand now.

-tink

chimblysweep

there was a mean, mean article in the washington post style section the day after the arrest that basically poked fun at us. the story ended with some "oh, they got arrested, who would have ever guessed it?" sort of thing. it sucked.

here's the Editorial where the Washington Post cusses out MPD for the arrests:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

the background's simple: we rode. leally. got harassed by cops. got pushed into a park. the park got surrounded. we all got arrested. personally, i was held from 10am Fri until 3pm Sat. Fed only bologna sandwiches on pre-buttered white bread. (i.e. not veggie, certainly nothing there a vegan could eat) and the first 18 hours of that time i was held on a metrobus. the balance of the hours i was hogtied on the floor of a police training facility, on a tumbling mat. aside from running red lights (hardly an arrestable offense), i did nothing wrong.

i'm just waiting for my settlement $.

EDIT: NOTE that this was over two years ago. Like I said, rides aren't like this anymore. No police at all have shown up in the last several months.

tink20seven

wait... *snicker* hold up....
YOU were "hogtied"?!!!
bwaaahahahahahahahah
thats just too funny to think about
/wipes eye with tissue

ok .. sorry.. lets be serious again
well that at least explains why they're not so eager to cause a big deal over the whole thing any more. sounds like they made a propper mess of it once already.
I wonder what they thought was going on, or why they thought they needed to arrest you all.
so I try and look at it from their point of view

were you acting in a manner inconsistant with public safety? i supose
were you disrupting the peace? well not really
were you endangering yourself and others? not if you were coralled into the circle
were you posing a threat? COME ON!? you were a bunch of bikers!!

I really would like to hear the reasoning behind this all. WTF mate!!

...
you were hogtied
...
oh god

chimblysweep

hogtied seems all funny until it happens to you.
and you haven't slept all night.
and you haven't eaten anything.
and there's no good way to either sit up or lay down.
you're stuck in a gym with flourescent lights (it burns!) and a table full of FBI folks uploading your mugshot on the far end of the room to see if their facial recognition software has you rioting/doing anything illegal elsewhere.

and sometimes you have to pee, which presents whole new problems.

no, the MPD investigation pretty much shows that their intention all along was to get the bikers in with the rest of the protesters (this was during a world bank/IMF protest) and then arrest us all. they had no intention of even attempting to get the crowd to disburse. and hence, the ACLU legal actions, the payout, etc.

tink20seven

well its good to see that even if its going to take a while,
justice will be done

sorry you (and the others) had to go through that
but in a way, you paved the way for a more peaceable present day
for that, i thank you

but back to this friday...

did you have any ideas for a theme? im down to act a fool.
like you didn't know.

chimblysweep

i wish i hadn't broken my butterfly wings. perhaps the cheerleader costume will do the trick instead...

tink20seven

ooh good idea
if you run the cheerleader angle
i got the gym nerd covered in 70's athletic equipment

- headband (check)
- armbands (check)
- knee-high tube socks (check)
- "sport" glasses (check)
- baseball Tshirt (check)
- short shorts (check *oh god*)

looks like i found my gear.
im going 70's dodgeball style
this is going to be really,, really messy
i'm going to need some backup

mattista

Hey, I thought I missed it. Why on the first friday? Just to be different?
Also, I work until 6. Where can I catch up with everybody? (like 6:15)

chimblysweep

DC politics, basically. There's a "solidarity ride" instead on the last Friday. What's the difference? We run red lights. (shhh. don't tell.)

We usually don't roll out until around 620-630, so you should be fine.

tink20seven

i wonder how many peope would have showed if it wasn't such crappy weather out.

what does that leave
only the nutjobs?

nice

jrowe

"Would have showed"? I thought it was today at 6.

tink20seven

true true
but i just got the call confirming my prior fears
two of my 4 have bailed citing crappy weather

and i quote,
"nah,, i don't think i'm going to be leaving my house today. i mean have you looked outside?"

*sigh*
where's the heart?
where's the soul?
where are my rain people at?

jrowe

How sad. I'm actually waterproof, so no problems.

chimblysweep

Yeah, I left the costume home, but I'll be there.

Call me a nutjob if you want, but ain't no rain forcing me to do something shameful like, say, take metro.

RIDE ON!

tink20seven

HA!!!
i wish i had rain gear.
a nice gortex jacket. a pair of slick pants.
maybe some rubber underwear.

mmm .. chaffing

really though. i have none of those luxuries.
you will find me this afternoon soaked in my cheap ass cotton jersey and shorts.
with a cheap ass backpack and a cheap ass bike. (see the pattern?)

But I'll have a million dollar smile. and cold-pressed extra special limited edition custom titanium resolve to ride big.

ooo ooo..
i do have a rear fender!
does that count towards anything?

tink20seven

<glare> now that was a low blow. you just HAd to rub it in didn't you </glare>

emayex

6 pm dupont cirlce....correct?

so whats the arrest rate in DC?

emayex

hey! answer me!

mattista

Sorry emayex, Chimbly must be out riding. She seems to be the DC BF rep. of late. I never rode CM and I'm not even in DC this summer (job), but I'm pretty sure they do start in dupont circle around 6:15 - 6:30. Seems like no arrests since the big one a few years ago. See above in this thread.
Come on down.
See you all in august. I miss DC.

tink20seven

hey max
see you there on friday

emayex

awesome!

justin79

Damn, I can't do it today, but I would love to get in on it for the first time next month. August 5th, correct?