REI Corp. Throws Cyclist Safety Under the Bus for a Questionable Political Statement

Or, why does it have to be "guns or helmets" just in time for Bike Month?

I went down to REI yesterday to look for some tires for the cross bike, as I wanted something a little fatter than those 700-32's that left my teeth chattering during a recent downhill ride on a rocky trail. Sure enough, a set of Donnelly MSO's were beckoning to me and some electrons substituting for greenbacks changed hands.

When we sell guns like we sell cars, 
what does one expect?
Bushmaster ad, discussed by 
David Yamane

 What was not beckoning to me was the wide variety of bike helmets and Camelbak water systems that usually grace REI's shelves. Why? Because REI has decided to boycott Bell, Giro, and Camelbak products until those companies parent corporation,Vista Corp, cleanses itself of the sin of guns. Vista owns Savage Arms, which makes "black rifles" and Vista owns several ammo companies; Federal ammo helps underwrite the sometimes sophomoric and obnoxious NRATV. As far as Savage, it makes a lot of traditional rifles, as well as those euphemistically referred to as "modern sporting rifles" whose actual "sporting" purpose is overprinted onto a design based on shooting people in combat, benign civilian sporting use notwithstanding (of course, so many guns are based on "weapons of war" designs that this can be a meaningless, political phrase, too). But to fill in the blanks, the modern US military "black rifle" was originally designed by Eugene Stoner and the Armalite company (hence "AR" actually originally stood for Armalite Rifle although it has been generalized to black rifles of all types). Civilian, semiauto-only versions have proliferated in the decades since and although the vast majority never make the news, some, as readers know, have been used to ghastly purpose (Newtown, Pulse, Las Vegas, Parkland, etc). For the record, I don't own one; my interest here is in policy, not hardware.

Now its popular right now to make extreme political statements for and against guns and organizaations. I agree that gun violence, and how to reduce or suppress it, is a valid topic for conversation (and policy). But according to various sources, one here, handguns make up the lion's share of guns used in murders (and by inference, criminal activity in general); that number being around 7000 in 2016. Rifles of all types, ARs included, make up a minimal fraction of murders, a little under 400 in the same year. Several thousand firearms murders were undetermined as far as gun type. If you ask people in violence-drenched cities like Chicago, St. Louis, or Baltimore what gets people shot, they will likely respond that its lunatics armed with hand cannons doing the bloody work. The roughly 100 million law-abiding American gun owners are scratching their heads wondering how to get out of no-man's land in this discussion.

Oh, and back to helmets.  According to the CDC, there were over 1,000 bicyclists killed and close to half a million bicycle-related injuries in 2015; head injuries are serious business. One can thoughtfully ask what the cost-benefit is to society of having unrestricted civilian ownership of ARs (how many mass shootings does it take to negate whatever benefit these have in unrestricted distribution) but why would REI compromise the safety envelope of a huge number of bicyclists to do so, helmet wars notwithstanding?   Especially when REI doesn't sell guns. Perhaps a letter writing campaign to Vista or a movement to get bike products out from under the Vista umbrella, and meanwhile, keep the brain buckets on the shelves. Note to readers: Vista may be considering dumping Savage and Stevens Arms but not its other gunsport stuff.

I think REI is ignoring cyclist's safety needs to make its Board of Director's point (less than 25k petition signatures, not all REI members, out of 6 million co-op members does not a majority make). I would suggest that any cyclist worried about wearing a helmet, or about getting a little dehydrated this summer on a long rural or mountain ride, ought to take his or her business elsewhere and I say that as an REI member.

Road deaths per 100,000 people. (source: Angie Schmidt article in Streetsblog).

Netherlands

3.4

United States

10.6

Since we are talking about public safety, if REI is really worried about the safety of its client base, perhaps it ought to dissuade people from driving to its stores. Replace those parking lots with parks and trees and multiuse paths.  I suspect a lot of the deaths and more serious injuries suffered by bicyclists are due to the misuse of a certain four-wheeled contraption called a motor vehicle rather than misuse of something with a breech and muzzle called an assault rifle. Especially since the safe operation of either is determined by the operator, not the item itself. Given my time behind the wheel or handlebars in Santa Fe, its more likely to be a distracted, drunk, or clueless motorist who is going to kill me. Meanwhile, this weapon of urban destruction is still legal and acceptable at REI:

More of the Rail Trail

I decided to turn around at the top of the descent down to Lamy. The trail was getting really rough and primitive and my teeth were knocking as I rode on those 700-32's. Plus, as the going got slower, the water in the Camelbak was not being used up any slower. Between the Camelbak and a water bottle, I got back home with about an ounce in the tank. But nice ride.

I suppose if I had taken a map and realized I was about a quarter mile from my destination, I would have bombed on down...

The Sins of Urbanhood

So I finally dug out the mountainbike and explored the La Tierra Trails today. Nice, if not as rocky and technically challenging as North Mesa. But there is a lot of riding to do on La Tierra and it is only a mile from the house by mountain bike. A lot of the trails are pretty mellow as trails go but you can still find rocky sections and technical places where a biff is probable if you are not on your game. But its not Bayo Canyon, either.  Another angle on Bayo Canyon and North Mesa here.

I put the ancient but still in great shape Richey Speedmax tires on even though they are a little small for this bike. At an alleged 26x2.1 they are a lot smaller than my usual mud grinders but since its a mile on tarmac to and from the trails and since even the "technical" trails are dry and fairly smooth right now (see below), these have plenty of grip except on coarse, heavy gravel sections but those are rare. Meanwhile, they are fast and fun.

This is a nice way to burn off some stress on an afternoon that is windy as all getout and not much fun on a road bike!

Looking south from somewhere or other on the La Tierra Trails

View from a little knoll towards the S. end of the La Tierra Trails
Nice view of the rift volcanics to the S. near Albuquerque

Just a reminder that we really can be that stupid. 
We live in the shadow of some really dumb decisions.

And of course settling in to dinner and the evening means dialing in Dave Brubeck on Pandora. Sigh. I must be getting old.

Tour de Subaru 18 Month Service

The 18 month Subaru service doesn't take too long but sitting in the waiting room only encourages me to think about buying cars that I don't need. Not to mention, turning more carbs into fat cells. So I threw the newly re-purposed 'cross bike in the back and took it on a short adventure while the service guys were doing their thing on the Forester.

I checked the trail maps before leaving home and decided to find my way to the Spur Trail and from there to the Rail Trail, which will be a future adventure. This ride involved heading up Cerrillos to Governor Miles Road from the dealership, riding to Richards, down Richards past the Community College to the Spur Trailhead, and then off to my destination, the junction with the Rail Trail. Were this a 60k check, I would have time to ride all the way to Lamy and back. But today my purpose was to simply ride to the Rail Trail, poke around a bit, and head back to get the car.

I ran into some mountain bikers at the Spur/RailTrail junction and they told me that the trail was  pretty smooth to Lamy except for some rocky stuff near the Lamy end. They said the ride could be easily done on a cross bike without losing my teeth fillings. So that will be a future ride.

I've been missing BombTowne, but frankly, there is a boatload of cool biking to do down here in Fanta Se.  Might take a while to get bored.  Oh, and since I am nearly to Social Security age, I just joined Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes, since in addition to being well into geezerhood, I have often been called an SOB anyway.

Heading South on the Rail Trail. Smooth as a baby's bottom up here.
At least compared to the singletrack on N. Mesa I am used to (see masthead).
The cross bike was ideal.

Foothills on the other side of the tracks

Heading back towards town on the Spur. 
My main problem is I'm pretty inept when 700-32 Ritcheys meet deep gravel

Nice panoramas along the route

Back to the dealership with 16 miles on the odometer. 
Salsa LaCruz in current form
That's a 48/34 on front and 11/34 on back.
Tires are folding Richey Speedmax Pro, 700-32.
45 psi front and 55 psi in the back.
They ride fast. I wish I did...
A little more flotation in deep gravel patches would have been nice.

Bicycling in and around Fanta Se

Well, I finally unpacked enough boxes that I can find the bicycles, helmets, and shoes in the mini-garage in Estate Solana (the previous owners had converted about a third of the small garage to a laundry/spare bathroom, so its really a motorcycle/bicycle garage now).  So it was off to the hills.

There are plenty of places to go as one rides north from Casa Solana. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, some are not paved. I rode up Camino de las Montoyas and then onto Tano (east) Road, followed the access road north, swung north past Tesuque on Bishop's Lodge Road, and up NM 592 into the Sangre de Cristo foothills. At the top of the climb, one can get on Pacheco Canyon Road and take that forest road up to the ski hill at 10k feet (see last summer's post for the destination). Unfortunately, Pacheco Canyon was so washboarded that after a half mile, I thought my fillings would fall out so I gave up and turned back. Not the place for 700-25 Vittoria Open Pro tires on an aluminum race bike.

On returning home, I decided to return one of the commuters to its roots as a cross bike. Let's see how that works next. Besides, since I am now commuting from Fanta Se to BombTowne, there is that other bike set up as a commuter to ride.

Up Santa Fe County Road 76. It looks nice.

Not the ideal washboard bike.
Stock photo from last summer.

End of Mr. Pavement at the top of NM 592.

Salsa LaCruz back to its roots. 
I think a set of 700-43's might be better, but these Richeys were hanging in the garage.
Still a bunch of boxes to unpack, but not today.

Cyclists raise safety concerns at Santa Fe City Council meeting

Carl Gable addresses the Santa Fe City Council. 
Sami Edge, Santa Fe New Mexican, photo credit

Good coverage of Carl Gable and company in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Sent this to Mayor Webber and the Santa Fe City Council

I apologize for missing last night's Council meeting but wish to second Carl Gable's concerns for safe cycling.

Traffic safety for bicyclists is a complicated issue. Road design, enforcement priorities, and both driver and cyclist competence come into play. I think all of these functions have to be working in order to have safer streets. A BTAC has to have real power to influence outcomes beneficial to bicyclists.

As far as behavior, little things matter.  Police have to put a high priority on deterring texting, distracted driving, and moving violations by both motorists and bicyclists. To fellow motorists, risky behaviors usually result in bent metal. To bicyclists and pedestrians, serious injury or death.

During my 12 years on the Los Alamos County Transportation Board, I made a point of working with Public Works, the Police Dept., and County Council to pass policies such as the Complete Streets and Bike Plan and worked one on one with Public Works and the Police Dept leadership towards safer streets. I hope to apply to the BTAC for membership in Santa Fe, if there is an opening.

We (spouse, cats, dog, me) are still getting our bearings in the City Different, tripping over boxes and bumping into walls, so I missed this meeting but agree with Carl Gable as quoted in the New Mexican story this morning. We have owned a home in Santa Fe for about 3 years and finally moved in full time. So far, my cycling experiences in Santa Fe have been good ones and indeed, I twice reviewed favorably Santa Fe's application for Bicycle-Friendly Community status for the League of American Bicyclists. I really do appreciate the five minute bike ride to my food co-op rather than the 15 mile round trip bike ride from my former Los Alamos home to the LA co-op! But as the recent spate of incidents suggests, we are not finished with the job of making Santa Fe a Bicycle Friendly Community.