The mods, I suppose, can defend themselves. I just wanted to say that I was one of the users who contacted the moderators complaining about the tone that the former dialogue taken.

I had 3 problems with it:

1. The criticisms of Ryan were old. They had gone on and on. Every time there was an update on Ryan, there were posts going back to the same (now very old) criticisms.

2. There were a number of posts criticizing or belittling forum members who vocally supported Ryan or cheered him on.

3. The mods had already asked for the tone of the forum to change, and it didn't.


Personally I am confused as to why a couple of you are now going back over this well plowed ground, but I thought I would take a moment to explain why I found the former dialogue so annoying. I have no way of knowing whether other forum members complained, but I thought you should know that some of the others following this thread found the earlier dialogue objectionable.

Since the *same* criticisms of Ryan (now even older) are being repeated again, I guess the dead-horse-beating will never end. That's BF.

But the second item above - criticizing other forum members who supported Ryan - just seemed way over the line of what the touring subforum, in particular, ought to be about. People ought to be able to come to the defense or aid of another cyclist without being characterized in a negative way or given a "cute" name as a group that implies they are members of a cult.

It's now a little past dawn where I live; the frozen fog is lifting; and the temperature has just crept past 35 degrees. I'm going for a bike ride.

A small suggestion - you can criticize me as well for complaining to the mods; if you want to assure there is no censorship you can send me a PM. I'll give you my personal email address and you can send me an uncensored flamemail of any length and frequency you choose.