Remember to VOTE in the SC Primary Tuesday June 10, 2008. Polls are open from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The primary will decide many statehouse seats. Please participate and ride your bikes to the polls if possible.
1) State Party Scenic Ride of the Western Carolinas
2) Upper Green River Kayaking Photos and Video
3) NAACP wants bike rallies to continue
4) N.H. leaders focus on motorcycle safety, not helmets
5) Please keep the Mercer family in your thoughts and prayers
6) Pappy's Run organizers continue the cause on Memorial Day
7) Measure reinforces SC bicyclists' rights to the road
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1) State Party Scenic Ride of the Western Carolinas
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http://www.fastfreds.com/trips/statepartyride/index.htm
State Party Scenic Ride of the Western Carolinas
A small yet dedicated group of riders departed at 10:00 AM Saturday from the ABATE of SC State Party for a scenic ride. Bad Bob came along and even took a few of the photos. Our first stop was Cowpens Battlefield complete with live musket fire ...
Full Story, Photos, and Video >> http://www.fastfreds.com/trips/statepartyride/index.htm
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2) Upper Green River Kayaking Photos and Video
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http://www.fastfreds.com/trips/uppergreen20080607/index.htm
Upper Green River Kayaking Photos and Video
Beating the heat on a hot day on the Green River in Henderson County, North Carolina. The Tuxedo Powerplant released 100% from 7:00 AM until 12:00 PM. The afternoon was spent playing on the lower green and surfing at Little Corky ...
Full Story, Photos, and Video >> http://www.fastfreds.com/trips/uppergreen20080607/index.htm
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3) NAACP wants bike rallies to continue
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http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/09/naacp_wants_bike_rallies_continue/
NAACP wants bike rallies to continue
Monday, June 9, 2008
MYRTLE BEACH — The NAACP and some local black community leaders say it would be a mistake to end the spring biker rallies that take place each year near Myrtle Beach.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported Sunday that some local officials have suggested it may be a good idea to eliminate the events altogether. Racial tensions have long underscored the bike rallies, with the Atlantic Beach Bikefest drawing a predominantly black crowd and the Harley-Davidson rally the week earlier brining mostly white bikers.
A Coastal Carolina University student was shot to death during the weekend of the Bikefest.
But former Atlantic Beach town councilman John Sketers said he hopes improvements can be made to both rallies. He echoed the NAACP's concerns by saying that ending the events could "send the wrong signal in terms of race relations."
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4) N.H. leaders focus on motorcycle safety, not helmets
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http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local_story_160020224.html?keyword=secondarystory
N.H. leaders focus on motorcycle safety, not helmets
By Terry Date
Staff writer
Stow that helmet if you want.
Charlie St. Clair, executive director of Laconia Motorcycle Week, and many other motorcyclists say they only wear a helmet in states where they are forced to do so.
New Hampshire isn't one of those states.
In these parts, many people think education — not mandatory helmets — will save lives. That education is focused on public awareness and motorcyclist training, said Peter Thomson, head of the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency.
The state's safety awareness campaign goes into full swing in May and June, before Motorcycle Week from June 14 to 22. It includes roadside safety messages, the distribution of bumper stickers and an annual rally on the State House steps.
The information blitz urges the public to share road space with motorcycles, and riders and drivers to be aware of each other.
The state police always urge motorists to increase following distances, not to crowd the center line and not to drink and drive, said Sgt. Steven Ford.
Ford, himself, rides a motorcycle in his personal life and always wears a helmet. His experience responding to accidents tells him that helmets save lives.
"Some are so devastating that it wouldn't make a difference, but if you have a serious head injury ..." he said, pointing out a helmet wouldn't help in that case.
State safety officials also urge motorcyclists to attend the Motorcycle Rider Training Program, offered by the state Division of Motor Vehicles. Two private companies also offer the class.
About 64,000 motorcycles are registered in New Hampshire. Last year, about 3,000 people took the classes through the state, and another 650 through the two private companies, Thomson said.
He said the program helps novices and older people who haven't ridden for years. While motorcycles have become faster and bigger, he said, older riders' reflexes have slowed with age.
Course coordinator Katie Daley said the class includes instruction on turning, stopping, avoiding vehicles, shifting and wearing a helmet.
"(We) absolutely recommend everyone wear a helmet," she said. "No one goes through our course without one."
Nonetheless, the state has no intention of enacting a helmet law for adults, lawmakers say.
New Hampshire champions the rights of individuals to choose for themselves. St. Clair, Thomson, and Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, are among those who support an adult's right to choose whether to wear a helmet.
Is it ironic, that the state won't enact a helmet law but it also won't let you take its safety class without one?
No, Letourneau says.
Those who take the basic course never leave the parking lot, he said. The helmet is needed for liability reasons, he said.
He and St. Clair both said that helmet manufacturers claim their product provides only limited protection.
An industry figure given out in the 1980s maintains that a helmet provides limited protection up to 15 miles per hour, St. Clair said.
"No greater than that," he said, saying that helmets have not changed much since then.
The New Hampshire Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Task Force was formed in 2004, after motorcycle fatalities tripled to 27 from nine in 2003.
The task force decided from the outset that it would push for driver and rider education as a means to reduce fatalities — and not press the Legislature to enact a mandatory helmet law. The state only requires helmets for motorcycle riders under 18.
"If I rode (a motorcycle), I'd wear one," Thomson said. "But I wouldn't push for a law."
At least one task force member thinks mandatory helmets would save lives.
"Although a mandatory helmet law isn't a popular subject, it makes sense when it comes to saving lives," John Kohler said.
Kohler, who offers private motorcycle safety courses, said that at "a minimum new riders should be made to wear a helmet for a period of time."
Letourneau, who has been riding motorcycles for 40 years and owns a Harley-Davidson touring bike, estimates that about half, maybe a little more, of motorcycle riders in the state wear helmets. He bases this on personal observation.
He wears one — on occasion.
St. Clair said most motorcyclists prefer not to wear a helmet. They can be cumbersome and interfere with what some motorcyclists describe as a spiritual experience.
"I am much more comfortable without one," he said.
Many of the riders pouring into the state during Motorcycle Week will be riding without helmets. St. Clair expects about 300,000 visitors from June 14 to 22.
But with many more motorcyclists in the state during Motorcycle Week, the chance of accidents and fatalities rises. There were 10 fatalities during bike week 2006, and five last year.
To help counter the number of deaths, state police go into full patrol mode during Motorcycle Week and help out around Laconia. Trooper days off are cancelled. Vacation days only are allowed for special circumstances, said Ford.
Meanwhile, some say the Legislature would never enact a mandatory helmet law because it would hurt attendance at Motorcycle Week and cut into the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by visitors.
Letourneau acknowledges that a mandatory helmet law would "do a lot of damage to" bike week. But, he said, the issue is a matter of adults being free to make their own choices.
"This is the Live Free or Die state," he said.
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5) Please keep the Mercer family in your thoughts and prayers
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Please keep the Mercer family in your thoughts and prayers. ABATE of SC BOD member Richard "Roach" Mercer's mother passed away Saturday while he was away on ABATE business.
http://www.legacy.com/myrtlebeachonline/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=111210015
Shirley M. Mercer
GEORGETOWN | Shirley M. Mercer, wife of Donald O. Mercer, died Saturday, June 7, 2008 in Georgetown Memorial Hospital.
She was born April 13, 1939 in Georgetown County, South Carolina, a daughter of the late Ellis Jones and the late Rhoda Moyd Jones. Mrs. Mercer was first a member of Sampit Pentecostal Holiness Church, where she taught the Junior's Sunday School Class for two years, and presently was a member of Georgetown Church of God, where she taught the Children's Church for twenty years. She was a homemaker and a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Surviving are her husband; six children, Richard O. Mercer and his wife, Carla, Darrell K. Mercer and his wife, Rebekah, Donald R. Mercer, and Jeffery A. Mercer, all of Georgetown, and Julie R. Mercer-Shila and her husband, Sonny, of Marion, and Tammy M. Swails and her husband, Lindy, of Pawleys Island; two sisters, Rhoda M. Freeman of Georgetown and Peggy Jones Pollard of Mobile, Ala.; one brother, Ellis K. Jones of Georgetown; 13 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a number of nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by a son, Berry Greg Mercer; and a sister, Barbara Jones Gardner.
Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 11, 2008 in the Georgetown Church of God. Burial, directed by Graham Funeral Home, will follow in Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in the Kent community. The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at Graham Funeral Home.
Please sign a guest book and send private condolences to the family at grahamfuneral home.org or at MyrtleBeach Online.com.
Graham Funeral Home is assisting the Mercer family.
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6) Pappy's Run organizers continue the cause on Memorial Day
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http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/montville_times/archive/2008/06/08/pappy-s-run-organizers-continue-the-cause-on-memorial-day.aspx
Pappy's Run organizers continue the cause on Memorial Day
It’s become an annual Memorial Day tradition: the motorcycle run to remember Donald Pittsley, Montville, also known as “Pappy,” for his fight to give motorcyclists, at least adults in Connecticut, the “freedom to choose” to wear a helmet.
Close to 3,000 motorcycle riders made the 2008 homage down Depot Road to Comstock Cemetery, where Pittsley is buried. Now in its 33rd year, the name change to Memorial Run from Pappy’s Run didn’t alter the event’s significance, according to organizer Erv Doubleday of Norwich, who has been involved in the past three year’s rides. He works at the Sprague Road & Gun Club, where the riders met.
Pappy is credited as one of the driving forces that made it possible for Connecticut and other states to repeal universal mandatory helmet laws by decoupling U.S. Department of Transportation funds to states from the state helmet laws. Pappy died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1975, shortly before the Connecticut state law that required all riders to wear helmets was repealed.
The current Connecticut statute requires riders under the age of 18 to wear a helmet. There have been legislative efforts to reinstate the mandatory helmet law for adults in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2003 and 2005, according to www.pappysrun.com.
Twenty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require helmets for all riders, regardless of age, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey require helmets by all riders. Another 27 states required the use of a helmet for a specific segment of riders, usually under age 18. Colorado, Illinois and Iowa do not require helmets, according to a February 2007 NHTSA fact sheet.
Citing head injury as a leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes, NHTSA’s position is that motorcycle helmets provide the best protection from head injuries for motorcyclists involved in traffic crashes. It encourages states to have and enforce laws that require all motorcycle operators and passengers to wear helmets.
Repeal of state universal helmet use laws has resulted in fewer riders wearing helmets.
As of 2005, barely half of U.S. motorcycle riders wore helmets, dropping from 71 to 48 percent, according to the National Occupant Protection Use Survey.
Doubleday said the increased numbers of riders in the three years that he has been involved as a direct reflection of the riders’ interest in supporting existing helmet status in Connecticut. Last year’s ride drew about 2,000 riders, he said.
“You can see by the amount of people who come that they like to have a choice, that they don’t want to be told that they have to have a helmet,” he said. “There was a big variety in riders, including women and teenage riders. It was great.”
The Memorial Run was accident-free, Doubleday pointed out, noting that most of the riders came from Connecticut and surrounding states. Organizers held fundraisers earlier in the year to pay for the police escort on side streets and to the Comstock Cemetery. The Baltic Fire Department also donated its time, he said.
David Hutchins, co-chairman of the Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association (CMRA) spoke at Pittsley’s grave on Sunday. CMRA is a grass-roots advocacy group that acts to protect and advance the interests of motorcyclists in the political process. Its agenda includes improving motorcycle safety through education, motorist awareness and the defeat or repeal of all motorcycle related legislation that it considers unjustifiably restrictive. It also aims to improve the public's perception of motorcycling.
For more information, see www.pappysrun.com, www.thecmra.com and www.nhtsa.gov.
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7) Measure reinforces bicyclists' rights to the road
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http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/09/measure_reinforces_bicyclists_rights_roa43900/
Measure reinforces bicyclists' rights to the road
A newly passed bill awaiting Gov. Mark Sanford's signature would clarify that cyclists have as much right to the state's roads as motorists do.
If he signs it, the new law would successfully cap the Palmetto Cycling Coalition's two-year-long push to make South Carolina's roads safer and more accessible to bikes.
"This bill is about all road users sharing the road," coalition Executive Director Natalie Cappuccio Britt said. "It's about motorists and cyclists riding safely, respectably, predictably and lawfully so we can all go home to our families at night."
The bill says bicyclists may ride in the road or on the shoulder, and that they also may ride on the road instead of a multi-use path. When a road has a bicycle lane, the bicyclist must use it unless there is an obstruction. If there's no such lane, the bill says the bicyclist should keep to the right as much as possible except to avoid potholes or to make left-hand turns.
Bicyclists also would be allowed to simply point instead of using more formal hand signals to show their intention to make a turn.
The bill also says cyclists need brakes but not bells on their bikes, and any motorist who harasses a bicyclist by honking or throwing something at them could face jail time.
Cappuccio Britt said most motorists don't want to injure cyclists, but federal statistics show South Carolina is No. 7 in the nation in bicycle fatalities per capita. "There are those who, no matter what we do, don't think we have a right to the road and put us at risk."
If the bill were to become law, it would take cycling advocates time to educate the public and work with law enforcement to spread the word. One possible local impact is that it makes it clear that Kiawah Island's signs forbidding bicycling between the island and Freshfields Village could be successfully challenged in court.
The town put up the signs a few years ago after a few cyclists got hit, but Cappuccio Britt said the signs are among the most discriminatory steps she has seen. "I am sure the people that passed it had the best intentions, they just weren't thinking."
State Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-James Island, said he agreed to be a cosponsor because it's important to share the road as a growing number of people use their bikes for transportation.
"There are lots of people riding their bikes up and down Folly Road," he said. "I see a lot more people walking to stores. I see a lot more people biking to the store and back, and I think we need to expand the rights of those people. As gas prices grow, I think you're going to see a lot more people use alternative methods to get to the store and back."
While Sanford himself has biked around the state, it's unclear if he will spot a problem with the legislation. House Bill 3006 is one of about 60 bills that landed on the governor's desk during the session's waning days, and Sanford hasn't reviewed it yet, spokesman Joel Sawyer said Friday.
But Cappuccio Britt is optimistic overall about the state's fledgling efforts to build a culture supportive of cycling. She noted when the coalition began to push for expanding cyclists' rights a few years ago, people already were voicing concern about oil reaching $72 a barrel and a gallon of gasoline costing about $2.75.
"We have a long battle ahead of us, but we're making good strides," she said. "You're going to be seeing more and more people riding bikes," she said, "and they're not going to be people in their Lycra."
Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@post andcourier.com.
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