SIGH - WTF Tampa...Really?

Another cyclist was killed today, this morning..right by my work area (Spruce Street)

This makes the fifth fatality in the Tampa Bay Area for cyclists in a month's time.

This is so..embarrassing..and also motivation that I need to get the HELL out of this area as soon as possible.

But ..>Tampa isn't going to do anything about it.  NO no, there's 'nothing they can do' I'm sure /end sarcasm.

I drive and I cycle.  I am aware of the rules of the road for BOTH aspects of transportation and know when and how to change them accordingly.  I know that is is not my RIGHT to drive, it is a privilege that is given to me by the state I live in based on me following the rules of the road and taking a competency test to show I do know and can obey these rules.  Everyone around us thinks that they are ENTITLED to drive and that is not the case AT ALL.  It can be taken away from you ...(well, it seems not in Florida since that jackass Congressman who has 5 DUI's got the ok from our State to re-apply for your license AFTER YOU'VE HAD 5 DUI"s) but it is not in the Constitution or anything else that you HAVE to drive - and it is your RIGHT to drive.  NO, it is a  privilege and it is your RESPONSIBITLY to drive safely and responsibly.  PERIOD.

That goes for cycling too.  There are rules of the road for cyclists as well (I even have them tagged in here on one of my entries per state should you want to read them).  And cyclists need to follow those as well.  Don't be dicks, don't be rude, just ride and enjoy it.  I know there are a TON of people who don't follow the rules, I have rode with them on occasion and it has made me feel uneasy and thus, I stopped riding with them.  You need LIGHTS if you are out at night - you need to go WITH traffic (and not against) and if you do use the sidewalk, you need to understand that NOBODY sees you on the road OR SIDEWALK and do not assume that ANYONE sees you EVER...be on alert, be on lookout and be SAFE.  Please.

I know that this just gives me more incentive to move out of this State and get to a better place.  One that recognizes and acknowledges that bikes are around and bikes are here to stay and ...they are good for the environment, society and everyone as a whole and they CAN be in a community with cars just as easily.  I hope one day very soon to get there.  For now, I'm starting to wonder if the Tampa Bay Area is ..well for lack of a better terms..just FUCKED in this aspect.

Bicycling Info.org site

(Title is also link to article) - See Below:

This web-site is a bicycling/commuting site that gives you lots of info on, not only the benefits of cycling but how you can get started as well.

When are you people going to chill the eff out?

Two cyclists stabbed after holiday ride; one in critical condition

A driver confronted a group after one yelled at him.

Posted: May 31, 2010 - 12:14pm

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By Matt Galnor

An annual Memorial Day bicycle ride landed three men in the hospital — two cyclists who were stabbed and the suspect who’ll be charged in the attack.

One of the cyclists was in critical condition Monday at Shands Jacksonville, said Sgt. Robert Hurst of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Police did not identify any of the three men Monday.

Hurst said police have varying accounts of what happened just before 11 a.m. in the parking lot of Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Kent Campus.

Jim Wright of Orange Park was among about 25 riders in the front group and said everything started when the cyclists finished their 60-mile route and pulled onto the service road leading into the college — the starting and finishing point for the ride.

A man driving a pickup truck brushed up against one of the cyclists and another rider started yelling at the driver, Wright said.

The driver followed the group into the parking lot, got out of his truck and moved toward one of the cyclists, Wright said.

When the driver, whom Hurst said was in his late teens or early 20s, bumped his chest against the cyclist, another rider punched the driver in the face.

The driver then stabbed the cyclist who punched, and slashed another rider who tried to break it up, Wright said.

None of the witnesses who spoke with the Times-Union saw the knife and Hurst said it was not recovered.

The man then got in his truck and took off. Robert Brown, another cyclist, chased after the truck and yelled the license plate number to someone else in the group, who saved it in his phone and called police.

Wright grabbed a spare tube for a bike tire and wrapped it around the first cyclist’s wounds to try to stop the bleeding until rescue units arrived.

“You can fix anything with a tube and a spoke,” Wright said.

The driver called his father, who went to the scene and told police where to find his son, Hurst said. He was hospitalized with injuries to his face and will be charged with aggravated battery, Hurst said.

The driver is cooperating with police and told his father he was jumped by a group of cyclists, Hurst said.

The two cyclists were among more than 100 riders in an annual Memorial Day ride sponsored by the North Florida Bicycle Club, ride director John McDowell said.

Most of the cyclists who gathered after the ride have their own horror stories about being flipped the bird or getting ice tossed on them by motorists, but that’s usually as far as it goes, McDowell said.

“We’ve had threats like that before,” McDowell said, “but never anything like this.”

Sometimes..the Cyclists Wins

Click the title for more info :)

Stay tuned for more on this - breaking news...

Thanks to velonews.com:

California road-rage case heads for court

By Patrick Brady

Published: Oct. 12, 2009

A California emergency-room physician faces trial this week on multiple felony charges stemming from a 2008 road-rage case that left two cyclists seriously injured.

Dr. Christopher T. Thompson allegedly braked suddenly in front of Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr after he and Peterson exchanged words as they descended Mandeville Canyon Road on July 4, 2008.

The road, a two-lane, dead-end street in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood, is a popular destination for local cyclists who want a climb with relatively little traffic.

Peterson and Stoehr had taken part in a Fourth of July group ride and were descending behind the rest of the group after assisting another cyclist who had fallen and waiting for paramedics to arrive.

Thompson, an ER physician and owner of a medical-records company who lives on Mandeville Canyon Road, is said to have approached the duo at speed in a late-model burgundy Infiniti sedan and honked at them before pulling alongside and telling them to ride single file. After a brief exchange of words, the cyclists say, Thompson pulled ahead of them and then stopped short.

Stoehr hit the back of the car and vaulted into the oncoming traffic lane. His injuries included a grade-three shoulder separation and road rash. Peterson went through the rear window of the car; the impact broke his nose, nearly severing it from his face, and shattered several of his teeth. More than 90 stitches were required to reattach his nose.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he was later released on $30,000 bail. In December 2008, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Amy. D. Hogue ordered that Thompson stand trial after a preliminary hearing in which Los Angeles police Officer Robert Rodriguez testified that Thompson complained that cyclists frequently traveled the canyon road and that he was “tired of them.” Thompson allegedly also told police that he stopped in front of the cyclists to “teach them a lesson.”

Also testifying were two other cyclists who claimed to have had an earlier run-in with the doctor on Mandeville Canyon Road. Patrick Watson and Josh Crosby say they were descending the road in March 2008 when a motorist sped ahead of them and hit his brakes. Watson bunny-hopped a curb and rode onto a lawn while Crosby dodged into oncoming traffic.

Watson says the motorist made a second attempt to hit them and then sped away. He used his cell phone to record the vehicle’s vanity plate, TCH MDX; that plate was also on the back of a burgundy Infiniti driven by Thompson in the July 4 incident involving Peterson and Stoehr. Thompson’s medical records company is called Touch Medix.

The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the March incident, but Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley declined to file charges against Thompson, saying the case wasn’t “a winner.” Since then, the case against Thompson has been amended to include a single count of misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury, reflecting the allegations made by Watson and Crosby.

Thompson pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on January 15. Final pre-trial motions will take place on Tuesday. A jury is to be selected on Wednesday, with opening arguments scheduled for Thursday.

Well this is sad (Click Title for story)

Washington's Bike Messenger's are in decline :(...