Posted in the topic
No Media Coverage, WHY? in the forum
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January 15, 2014 12:35 PM PST
Izzy .. My wife and I were also at the BACA charity ride. Like you, I was dismayed at the lack of coverage by the media even tho we did at one point see a uplink truck. But what I really did (or, actually didn't) notice was the lack of promotion for the event .. even tho there were 3000 registrations.
I did not hear one iota about the event until some friends mentioned it to me. They were members of the Blackwater Riders who had been participants the previous year. After they invited us to ride with their group, I hunted around various websites looking for any information about the event. All I was able to find was an inaccurate article in the Orlando Sentinel. There was nothing on any of the local rider magazines, Slick's Scooter Schedule, Cyclefish or even FaceBook. I also checked the national BACA website and found no information. So, I kinda blame the organizers of the event. It appears they only got the word out to previous registrants and let them spread the word. And, I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not that was intentional.
One other thing .. and this is my personal observation/rant .. they had the Highway Patrol provide the escort and intersection blocking and I think they did a poor job of it. I don't know if its just that the FHP doesn't know how to do an event like that .. or if they were just under manned for the event. My bike was approx 3/4ths of the way back in the procession. And, by the time we got to some of the turns, there was no FHP. We had cars barging into the procession, breaking up the procession into small groups who simply had to make their was as safely as possible from Downtown Disney to the Harley Dealership. Actually I saw probably only two or three FHP cars blocking intersections. There were maybe another 2 or 3 blocked by Fish & Wildlife trucks .. and those guys have probably never been involved in an event like that before. Personally, I think they should have let the county sheriff handle all of the escort duties. Those guys are more familiar with charity rides and the like. But that's just my opinion.
