Bull-Free Rodeo—Don’t look for the corral at this weekend’s Bike Safety Rodeo at Helen M. Knight Intermediate School; this rodeo is for bicycles only. Plus, unlike other rodeos, the point here is to make sure no one gets hurt.

I don’t know who originally came up with the idea to call these one-day safety clinics rodeos, but that’s what they’ve been since I was a kid. Whatever the reasoning, it worked on me — I wanted desperately to attend. However, my father feared all his hard work teaching me to use the road safely would be undone, and I never got to go.

That was probably good thinking on his part. After all, that was an era when kids were often taught to ride against traffic, I suppose so that you could see death coming and you’d have time to begin a prayer. In the intervening decades, advocates have made great advances in educating police and traffic officials about the safest way to ride on the streets — which is to behave as any other vehicle.

So, on April 16, from noon to 2 p.m., a group of volunteers will be on hand in the HMK parking lot to inspect kids’ bicycles, teach them how to fix a flat, and make sure they have the bike handling skills to ride safely on the road. Kids should bring a bike and a helmet; some helmets will be provided by the Safe Routes to Schools Committee for kids without them.

If your child is using the roads and sidewalks to get around by bicycle, you should mark this event on your calendar using indelible ink. It is sponsored by the Safe Routes to Schools Committee, and one of the main organizers is Moab Police Detective Craig Shumway, who was instrumental in starting the Moab Police Bike Patrol. Everyone involved knows how to use a bike for transportation. While a short clinic can’t impart all of the necessary skills to use the roads safely, this is an excellent opportunity to introduce the notion of traffic safety to Moab’s young riders.

Move Away from the Bicycle—Just in case you weren’t following the details of the most recent state legislative session, this is something you should know:

An operator of a motor vehicle may not knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly operate a motor vehicle within three feet of a moving bicycle, unless the operator of the motor vehicle operates the motor vehicle within a reasonable and safe distance of the bicycle.

That’s the language of House Bill 49, which was signed by the governor March 18, making it law. If my experience on the road since that date is any indicator, many of you weren’t paying attention. Or, if you were, maybe you believe you fall into the “unless” clause, which was added after the bill failed its first attempt.

Well, no distance less than three feet is “reasonable and safe,” so get out your tape measure and learn that distance. For reference, it’s about the same distance as the reach necessary to move your hand from the steering wheel to the bag of Krispy Kremes on your passenger seat. Put another way, if I swing a bike lock while sitting in the saddle, and it hits your taillight, you’re too close.

If this seems too onerous a requirement in your harried life, be glad you don’t live in Europe. The European Parliament has just passed a resolution which makes drivers responsible in any collision with a non-motorized road user.

Sure, the legislation will cost some innocent drivers money. Think of it like affirmative action, which has surely cost a few white people jobs or education. It may not be entirely fair, but it doesn’t even come close to making up for the inequities suffered by the vulnerable population it seeks to protect.

As Annick Roetnyck, secretary general of the European Two-Wheel Retailer’s Association says, “Many accidents happen because of the dominant attitude of motorized users, as a result of which they seriously lack attention for non-motorized users.”

Of course, if you just give cyclists three feet of space, this won’t be necessary.

Good Work, Officers—I’d like to personally thank the Utah Highway Patrol, the Grand County Sheriff’s Department, the Moab City Police Department, and all of the government agencies in the chain of command all the way up to the governor.

These are the same people who were lambasted in a letter to the editor from what may be the least gracious guest Moab has ever hosted. This arrogant visitor asserted that his right to violate us had been violated by all of them; he actually believed that by paying for a few nights’ stay at an RV park, he’d purchased a pass entitling him to spit on whomever he chooses.

He was upset that he received a ticket for driving his open-wheeled vehicle on the road. I’m upset that he was on the road. Those fat tires with their deep tread can carry rocks the size of fists, and I sure don’t want to be pummeled with those as I trailer my little girl around town.

He also made the ludicrous suggestion that a friend of his was pulled over without cause to investigate a potential DUI infraction. It is hard to believe that during Easter Break a local officer would conduct a field sobriety test out of boredom. No, I’d say that officer was performing admirably, standing up at a time when most of us would rather crawl under a rock (not over one) and hide out for a week.

Bike Rage—Mountain biker Michael DiMarco probably won’t be coming back to Moab any time soon. In an email to all of the Moab bike shops, DiMarco is requesting information leading to the identification of another rider, one who threw his bike off a cliff.

While only one side of the story has been told, there doesn’t seem to be any justification for what happened to DiMarco. He says that he was descending the Jackson’s Singletrack off of Amasa Back when a group of riders came up fast behind him, startling him enough to cause him to wreck.

Rather than making sure he was okay, most of the group rode around him, off-trail. He managed to get up and confront the last rider of the group, and an altercation ensued. The rider, described as about six feet tall, around 200 pounds, with a ponytail and goatee, wearing black, on a black downhill bike with a gold fork, ended the argument by throwing DiMarco’s bike off a cliff and riding away.

DiMarco admits he stopped the rider out of anger, so it’s hard to say who escalated the confrontation to the point of bicycle abuse. However, DiMarco is certain enough of his position that he’d like a judge to decide the issue in civil court, so he’s looking for the big man in black on the black bike. If you know him, or you are him, you can contact DiMarco at mdmnurse@hotmail.com.

You can reach Ron Georg with comments or information regarding this column at 259-3052, or send email to ontwowheels1@earthlink.net.