According to the stats, there should be more available membership slots than applicants in a few years...so if you've always wanted to spend thousands of dollars on a gym membership and watch Beavers games from private outfield bleachers, the opportunity will soon be yours...

odd, I thought the only club that mattered in pdx was waverly.

I'm tellin' ya,

Recreational pedal pushers like those Stevens encountered are the reason motorists get pissed - the whole morally superior activity BS mentality causes no end of trouble for responsible cyclists. It's beyond MAC membership - but obviously not limited by it.

What's amusing(?) is that a large percentage of these self-absorbed jerks drive somewhere to "exercise" and park their SUV's, BMW's, Subaru's (an easy tip-off) while they slow traffic and abuse drivers as Stevens describes.

If I have to license my cat in MultCo, then why shouldn't cyclists be subject to this simple requirement? Licenses don't seem too onerous to me - at least, one would have some means of indentifying the "bad apples"...

...not that anyone would do anything about them.

Ricky, ricky, ricky. Ragg, ragg, ragg.

I drive a Subaru. I'm a recreational rider. I've never flipped anyone off while riding my bike. I suspect the reason the "self-absorbed jerks" drive somewhere to exercise is that they have to stay away from people like you who have a BIG chip on your shoulder as it regards the alleged moral superiority of cyclists. A lot of people park and exercise. Just check out the parking lots of the various health clubs around town.

I, simply, like to ride my bike. It's been good for me physically and mentally. I don't care what you think of me, I just don't want you to mow me down while in a rage based on assumptions. Chill, please.

What grabs me is that our one city commissioner who belongs to the club says he pays the club a significant chunk of his taxpayer-provided salaryh to swim alone in an Olympic sized swimming pool.

Hey Dan, while you are swimming laps, other MAC members are meeting in one of the club's posh restaurants and plotting new ways to grab more PDC money for projects like Pearl and SoWhat.

the whole morally superior activity BS mentality causes no end of trouble for

... the world.

From self-absorbed cyclists to self-serving world leaders, egos are destroying the world.

Okay, I know this off subject but I have to tell you about the dream I had last night. Many of your readers and commenters were in a cafeteria type restaurant and we all chiming in on what your new reconstituted blog should contain and what it should like. Someone suggested video links to recaps of Yankee games and I, being a die hard Red Sox, loudly objected. There was an odd woman sitting next to me and she kept talking about squirrels and was pretty adamant that you include reviews of all the restaurants you eat in.
Ohmygod, what does this mean?

I think Wiederhorn's assertion that other members of the MAC Club have criminal pasts deserves some exploration. I find vague disciplinary codes that enforce politeness problematic (if notdownright unconstitutional), because they allow the good oles to prosecute the bad oles for matters of form while the good oles can steal with flourish and a smile. I remember on the old Phil Stanford program someone referred to Portlanders as "Charlie Tuna people" who have good taste, but that's as far as it goes.

Cynthia,

It is not unconstitutional for a private club to have behaviorial standards for its members, and to enforce them.

You have confused a private club with the government, here.

I will continue to visit enjoyed the reading thanks

If I have to license my cat in MultCo, then why shouldn't cyclists be subject to this simple requirement?

I agree. I think they should be required to carry liability insurance as well.

I also think they should also enforce keeping them off the sidewalks downtown...

Private action isn't normally subject to the constitution, but it is with significant government involvement. Under the City of Portland's Developer Welfare Program, some MAC members are paying their membership fees with government money essentially gifted to them.

While not a winning legal argument, it's fun to envision the MAC honoring the City as a fees source by naming drinks after various City attributes. Who wouldn't want to imbibe a Bizarro Robin Hood, a Visioning Vodka Martini or a Pension Fund Financial Kamikaze?

You're right, Al. Apologies. While reading the article, I was thinking of a situation where there is state action: the Oregon State Bar's practices before Oregon became one of the last states to adopt the ABA model disciplinary rules in the days when Stephen Houze and Marc Blackman and friends were using vague disciplinary regs to reward friends and punish foes.

Imagine if the the CoP Charter provided that the Mayor must be a member of MAC, as a precondition and that if he/she is expelled from the club that he/she must relinquish their elected position.

Hum? It is just that sort of thing that faces our good auditor. Pass a test and and be all ethical, they proclaim, in the eyes of the head cheeses.

The city loyalty to the internal rubber-stamper club was used to keep me from gathering 1,000 5's, don't you know. Ain't this fun? We could also demand membership in the Association of Realtors, or the "private" hat of the state bar, or the Society to Celebrate Loony Toons.

Watch for our city auditor to be expelled from office soon, as the price for not placing my name on the ballot.

Molly, Molly, Molly, golly, golly, golly,

Despite the fact that you drive a Subie, you're obviously not one of the cyclists to whom I was referring and I promise not to "mow you down". Come to think of it, I don't believe I threatened to mow anyone down; that's your assumption, no?

It's not my assumptions that create ill will between cyclists and drivers - it's the behaviors of a relative few of both. I readily acknowledge that there are "bad drivers" but I've never seen them in groups as is often the case with "bad cyclists". Neither puts me in a "rage", but at least I can get the license number of a car being operated recklessly and turn it in - even if the driver is a menber of the MAC.

This has to be one of the strangest of the "strange bedfellows" situations where, except for the "bad bicyclist" parallel, Mac members and the usual supects in the "cycling advocate" community (think zoobombers) have few other traits or attitudes in common. The bicycle as the great equalizer? In this case it seems to be the lowest common denominator.

And...

If one chooses to ride for recreation on the island, or NW Skyline, or any number of other narrow, dangerous streets (where there are no shoulders at all - let alone bike lanes), at least one should show a little consideration toward those who don't have the choice to drive elsewhere. As far as I'm concerned, those who can go anywhere to ride, decide to ride where they know they're likely to impede traffic, and then behave badly like those described in Jack's post, actually make you less safe by their actions.

I think all responsible cyclists should be quick to condemn those few whose lack of sense creates problems. What I see instead, is the attitude that you demonstrate; that all drivers who have any issues with bicyclists(however justified) are reflexively assumed to be "...in a rage..." and ready to "...mow you down..."

Calm yourself.

Consider me becalmed. You're not driving anywhere near the Springwater Trail this weekend, are you?

No, but I'll be riding it on Sunday on an old Fuji Royale.

WATCH OUT!

Can I have my cyclist spayed or neutered? I figure they would be more likely to stop at red lights that way.

Maybe even dissuade them from zoobombing.

Ledbury:

I think you are about as ready to serve as CoP's auditor as Wiederhorn...That said, if you manage to get Mr. Rubber Stamp tossed out, I will buy you a steak at El Gauchos and you can fill me in on all the rest of your conspiracy theories.

"Can I have my cyclist spayed or neutered?"

License them, it then if they don't have a tag, round em up and take them to a holding facility for three days, then its off to OHSU...in whatever state they can be most useful...There's a plan that shows real compromise among local players.

Mister Tee,

I think Teddy could pick Wiederhorn to serve on the OIC, if he could stomach the public outrage. It couldn't be any worse than it already is. All we would need to do to protect the beneficiaries is give Wiederhorn the sole discretion to determine the amount to borrow via the Orrick-proudly-designed scheme that is called Pension Obligation Bonds. Wiederhorn would not have left any pension beneficiaries harmed at all if his fund, like that of the OEA's, were called an "independent" state agency. He is at best petty level in the bigger scheme of things, which must underly his disappointment, and has caused less harm than that which continues unabated. Link to Ready to Serve.

Guess who wants to add more RISK to the taxpayer, not the beneficiaries, via oddly named HEDGE funds. Transferring risk is the name of the game.

Ron Ledbury,

I think you may have the wrong idea how "hedge funds" work.

gl,

I will assume it is a pedagogical problem. Feel free to let me know where your level of understanding leaves you baffled by my argument and I will coach you through it piece by piece.

Kitty, Cynithia,

You two are hilarious! I almost sprayed half-masticated blueberries on my keyboard while reading your comments! Eew, now there's a thought...maybe I should be neutered...

That's Waverley, if it matters.