i'm not going to edit or proof read what i am about to say so
na na na ....
As much as I love cycling and seeing a big mass of riders fly by me, I can also completely understand the concerns of the city.
These riders are actually lucky the city doesn’t completely crack down on them and just put an end to it sense this is not a sanctioned city event. The legal problems and the insurance problems just for the city is a pain for them to deal with if some one actually did get hurt. Say someone’s little kid or dog runs straight in the Pelion. That would be a major train wreck. Cyclist sometimes have to step out side the realm of our sport and view things from the eyes of those who do not understand what is going on.
Take this as an example: If you saw a herd of cows trotting straight at you or by you and none of the cows are fenced off / free to roam any direction. I am sure you would feel uncomfortable. Now if you were a rancher or grew up around cattle you would not feel so uncomfortable. This is basically how all the people are feeling when the Pelaton flies by them. People in general have a deep rooted fear of large moving crowds...
Right now by watching the video and reading what is out there on this event. It sounded like hardly any of the cyclist showed up at the city counsel meeting regarding the ride. This just set them up to loose because more cyclist showing up and speaking on their own behalf regrading the ride would give others an idea of what is going on... Now because there were only a hand full of cyclist at the meeting the city is viewing this in the eyes of all the non cyclist. Only evidence they have are the complaints that are coming from actually tax paying residences. So currently they are only looking at this though the eyes of those who are complaining about how the ride goes… So they see the Pelaton as a group of riders who are riding into the pedestrian recreational Walking lane, and often intruding into oncoming traffic. Along with a report showing them a group of cyclist forming a Pelaton that has caused 14 accidents in 7 ½ years.
Here’s my fix: I think this group of riders should form a club. Ask the city to close off the roads for the weekly Pelaton. Then ask all members who are non city residents to pay a small fee for the coverage of having to shut down the area. This fee would be paid to the city of Pasadena for the use of the roads and the closer of the roads. While the road is closed to the Pelaton ride, the Pelaton would also have to allow all other recreational cyclist in the city to be able to ride on the outer areas of the road while the club does its thing. This would save a lot of heart aches and also legal issues.