Conference noted::bicycle

312.0. "Hell's Angels?" by AMUN::CRITZ (Nuke all snakes!) Tue May 12 1987 10:18

Associated Press Mon 11-MAY-1987 02:58                           Cycle Fiasco

parX11-MAY-8702

   Fights, Falls Bring Early End To Cycle Race
   DALLAS (AP) - About 2,600 cyclists turned out for a 23.5-mile
bicycle rally, but police put the brakes on the event when the
festivities turned into a fiasco of fights and falls.
   ``We were afraid someone was going to get killed,'' said Dan L.
Johnson, special events planning officer for the Dallas police.
   ``I lost count of the accidents. (Cyclists) were treating it as
a race and not a tour.''
   Saturday's rally around White Rock Lake, the largest such event
ever in Dallas, was called off about 10 miles into the ride,
Johnson said.
   He said it became apparent there were not enough officers to
control the large number of bikers, and more than 300 riders bolted
past a lead car into unsupervised traffic.
   By then, officers had investigated a collision between an
unidentified woman cyclist and a motorist who told police that the
woman's husband punched him in the face. No one was arrested and
the woman did not require medical treatment.
   An undetermined number of cyclists received minor injuries from
crashes in bottlenecks throughout the rally. Several riders blamed
the lead car for the bottlenecks.
   ``They kept the pace too slow. Everyone kept bunching up, it was
like a cork in a bottle,'' said Brent Mayberry, 27. ``If they would
have nailed the first few riders that passed the lead car no one
else would have passed.''

    BOOK-EM DAN L.

    First, I was not at this event. I went over to Fort Worth for the
    Cowtown Classic, but I have talked to several people who were there.
    
    The blame cannot be laid at any one group or individual's feet but is
    deserved by all three parties, the police, promoters and cyclists. The
    promoters did not stress/emphasize that this was a "tour" (read rally)
    not a race ot "tour" as in Tour de France. The police were unprepared
    for what happened and over-reacted. The cyclists probably deserve most
    of the blame for acting like a bunch of goofballs. 
    
    All in all, it was a shameful affair. Right now, the future of mass
    cycling events in Dallas is in question. The sad part of it all
    is that is didn't have to be this way.
    
    Gary