I'm not looking to rabble-rouse. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the athletes who participate. I don't oppose the idea of the Olympics. However, do understand that the Olympics do bring negative consequences that almost no one is aware of. They're simply unsustainable environmentally and irresponsible socially. These are issues I was expecting at least a good deal of cyclists to be concerned about. Anyways, I'm just exploring ways of raising awareness, I recognise that there is no easy way out.

Insofar as the negative repercussions of the of the Olympics, I'll just paraphrase them briefly. Basically, the Olympics in Vancouver involve several things. I'll try to be concise.

First of all, economically, they're a disaster. The city government hasn't "had enough money" for years to spend on necessary projects like our roads, our homelessness situation, public programs, etc. Now all of a sudden, the government is going over budget and raising taxes to finance the Olympics and they still keep on increasing the budget and making cuts in other areas(including areas they promised not to cut spending on as a condition of the Olympics coming). And though I can't be absolutely sure about this, I have heard from certain sources that the business the Olympics bring is often not enough to make up for the expenses incurred.

Secondly, many old growth forests are being paved over to create roads up to Whister(where skiing and snowboarding events will be held). These are being constructed with little regard for the wildlife as well as the local communities. Furthermore, the sheer amount of resources necessary for the Olympics is simply extravagant.

Third, Vancouver's downtown eastside(the poorest neighborhood in N America) as well as the rest of the city in general is becoming increasingly gentrified and low income housing is being replaced with more expensive housing. The residents of the area are being pretty much evicted(illegally in some cases) and it looks like the homeless(of which there are many) are being kicked out of Vancouver. Do Vancouver residents really need an increase in housing prices when the cost of living is so high already?

In general, the current way the Olympics are being held is unsustainable and irresponsible. Preparation is essentially a drastic change in city format and a flurry of construction and development specifically to allow for a 2 week party. Sound shortsighted to anyone?

Anyways, after that long winded rant, I'd just like to say I'm not here to start an argument over the Olympics or whatnot. I just had an idea that would have involved two aspects of my life I'm politically involved in.

Having said that, I was not planning on breaking any laws during this planned event(why give police another excuse to arrest people?).

Closetbiker: I do understand the Olympics are coming and there's nothing to prevent this. Does this necessarily mean no action should be taken? Perhaps it would be more "productive" to leave bikes out of this but I also feel that there would be a lot of support within the cycling community.

PS Don't believe me about the negative consequences? Look at Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Beijing(the worst by far). People in those cities are still paying for the Games(well, not in Beijing), both with their money and in their everyday lives.