Music City Cannonball / let’s party on a bike!!
According to facebook, this event lasts until 3am. So it wont matter that my blog post coincides with the start time, and it wont matter if you have other plans.
You can just come by the Bike Lounge afterwards! But fair warning – as soon as Dan (the shop owner) gets sleepy, he’ll probably start throwing wrenches at people until they leave. j/k
BUT SERIOUSLY, If you enjoy biking and you live in Nashville, you should check out group that organized this, Music City Cycling. Keith, Devan, and the other folks involved, have been working hard to cyclists with in-town events like the Music City Cannonball.
The event is going to raise money for Toys for Tots. They have donations and door prizes from lots of great companies, like Halcyon Bike Shop and the Nashville Bike Lounge. This is just a taste of what Nashville the cycling community is becoming.
It’s what I like to call “fun for all, y’all.” See you there …
STOP TWEETING and get on your bike!
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Let the Pedal Tavern Passengers Drink!
Some heroic entrepreneurs just launched the Nashville Pedal Tavern, a 16 person pub-crawilin-pedal-machine. It’s half bicycle / half tavern, and it’s been on the streets for about 6 weeks. I met Ryan, one of the owners, just after he got started up. I was out with some friends, and I saw the behemoth bike rounding the corner at 12th and Demonbreun.
Ryan told me about their plans for taking the Nashville party bus market by storm. Being curious about the business plan, I asked him about liability concerns, and he quickly put all fears to rest. Basically, their treat their party bike like an antique car, and they drive at an average of 5 miles an hour. So you’re probably more likely to get hurt on the dance floor than on the Pedal Tavern.
But that hasn’t stopped people from getting nervous. The Tennessean just ran an article titled “Nashville Pedal Tavern rides into Music City and safety issues arise.” So what do you think? Is Nashville ready for this?
I think we need a brave councilperson to draft an ordnance especially for these guys that goes something like this … “whereas Nashville ranks 14th on a list of top DUI cities, and whereas TN ranks as the 2nd fattest state, and where as Pedal Tavern’s offers a safe and healthy way for tourists and residents to enjoy our cities finest establishments, we extend all rights of the road to Pedal Taverns that are currently enjoyed by motor vehicles in the State of TN.”
Note: this would allow passengers to drink while riding. After all, it’s legal to drink as vehicle passenger in the state of TN. Shouldn’t we go ahead and extend the equal rights to Pedal Tavern passengers?
STOP TWEETING and get on your bike!
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Vulnerable Users Should Be Protected
Why do cyclists and pedestrians get scorn for traffic accidents when they are the vulnerable users? When a steroid using ball player beats up on the competition, we all cry foul. Or how about when an oversized bully attacks an underclassman and steals their lunch money, do we side with the bully? Absolutely not.
Then why would someone side with a car that runs a cyclist off the road? And why does a motorist barreling down Gallatin or Nolensville Pk assume they have more right to the road than a citizen trying to walk across to get to the grocery store?
This is a problem we need to address. The Tennessean recently reported on an increase in accidents between motorists and cyclists citing the increase in cycling. But one glaring problem with the article was that they failed to recognize the overall increase in cycling in the past 3 years. They make it sound like cycling in Nashville is more dangerous than it was three years ago (345 accidents in 2005, 476 accidents in 2008). This is false, and should not dissuade new cyclists.
Yes, as a whole, we have had more reported accidents, but we also have proportionately more cyclists and pedestrians on the road. But one accident is one too many. Our city is growing, and our cycling infrastructure is slowly improving. This gives more opportunity to travel on two wheels, and we need new policies that will protect users.
The city and law enforcement should act to prosecute motorists more aggressively in accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians. If there is an accident, the question should be – how did this happen? Not “why in the world were you biking on this road??”
Instead of blaming cyclists and pedestrians for accidents, we need to protect them.
STOP TWEETING and get on your bike!
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