http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/bicycle-tour-benefits-from-new-rules-police-presence-1.2256746
Bicycle tour benefits from new rules, police presence
By Jon Vanderlaan
News Editor
Published: Monday, May 3, 2010
Updated: Sunday, May 2, 2010
About eight months after the littering, Tasering of a Texas Tech student and the ultimate break up of the biannual bicycle ride Tour de Tech Terrace, the organizers hosted the spring tour largely without incident because of a stronger police presence and more rider awareness.
Sgt. Kelley Pirkle, with the Lubbock Police Department, said the main concern of officers at the event was the safety of people participating, including bicyclists getting in the way of traffic.
“I think when they get more intoxicated, the problems will increase with the level of intoxication,” he said.
Some riders yelled insults at the officers, but most were respectful and engaged in conversation with police.
However, many changes were instituted in the tour this year, including more crowd control to the side of the road, portable toilets at every other stop and the presence of Tech Terrace Neighborhood Association representatives.
Austin Keith, the organizer of the event, said about 600 people showed up for the event, compared to the 1,250 who showed up for the fall event.
The smaller size of the event is because he said he wanted to bring it back to its grassroots origins.
“It was always going to happen,” Keith said. “It’s just that this year we didn’t advertise publicly on the social networking pages.”
Although some bad publicity somewhat ruined the reputation of the tour at the last running, he said, he is hoping this tour will help it regain some of its legitimacy.
The fall tour got out of hand enough to draw complaints from Tech Terrace residents about littering, trampling yards and public urination. Police intervened and the tour officially was broken up after the eighth out of 10 stops.
The real controversy happened when a Tech student was pinned to the ground and Tasered by police, which was captured on a cell phone video by one of the participants in the ride.
Assistant Police Chief Thomas Esparza, who is in charge of the patrol division, said about 15 to 17 officers were patrolling the area for the safety of everyone involved this year.
Although he worries about safety in events like the tour, he said, most people seemed to be having a good time.
“I think everybody involved in this situation is a little more aware of what happened (in the fall),” Esparza said, “and is trying to keep it from happening again.”
Police officers in cars and on bicycles and motorcycles flanked the tour throughout the several hours, including a patrol car that brought up the rear of the pack, to keep an eye on the events.
Helen Liggett, a Tech Terrace Neighborhood Association representative joining in the tour, said she was there to act as a presence of support from the association and to help in any way possible.
She said rumors circulated that the association was not supportive of the tour, but she was there in part to help it remain safe.
The organizers also did a good job even though they were denied off-duty police officers and a permit for parade status, Liggett said.
The police officers at the event had the ability to arrest those participating, she said, but instead decided most of the time to issue citations and allow those people to continue in the tour.
“I have huge respect for what the police are doing,” Liggett said. “They are showing restraint, in my opinion.”
Keith said he and other volunteers tried to stay on top of the situation more this year and tried to help bicyclists realize they have a responsibility to stay safe and follow the law.
He said because word of mouth about the event spread so much, the group approached the neighborhood association saying they could not stop the event despite being denied a parade permit.
One student was arrested, Keith said, but he was told the student later was released a few blocks down the road instead of being taken to jail.
He will begin planning for the event as soon as possible, he said, in hopes to earn more sponsors for portable toilets, trash bins and he hopes he can attain a parade permit for the next running of the event.
