Thursday, July 23, 2009

Au Revoir

Interpersonal feuds are rarely worth celebrating, let alone exposing to a wider audience, and blog-based feuds are almost always painfully presumptuous. However, a disagreement among the Beat Bike Bloggers has put me in the unfortunate position of having to quit this fine and worthy undertaking. Hereunder, a brief explanation.

You see, dear reader, we used to have a contributor named Rich. Some months back, Chillwill, our founder and Editor-at-Large, had a falling-out with Rich, over a personal matter wholly unrelated to the blog. At the time, Will sent Rich an e-mail expressing his anger and disappointment at Rich's transgression, and Rich denied that he had done this bad thing. Later, Will got some independent confirmation of said bad thing, and he and Rich pretty much ceased to be friends. Months later, while doing some administrative maintenance of this blog, Will recalled the offense and decided he simply didn't want to collaborate with someone who would betray his trust. So he removed Rich's posting privileges.

Will and Rich are both friends to me. I don't have any interest in the underlying facts of their dispute, although I certainly sympathize with both Will's feelings of betrayal and Rich's feelings of being wrongly accused. My feeling, though, is that none of it has anything to do with writing about riding bicycles in Hartford. I also feel that while the blog was Will's idea and he set it up, promoted it, and generally put much hard work into it, it belongs to all of us. (Not for nothing, but I've accounted for 29.7% of the posts to date, while Will has written only 15.3%).

I have put this matter to Will privately a number of times, telling him that the fair thing to do is restore Rich to posting privileges and put the matter to a vote of all the contributors. Most recently, a couple of weeks ago, I told him that I would quit if he didn't make this right. We talked today and he said he simply could not work on a shared endeavor with someone he feels has betrayed his friendship, that he didn't want to put the matter to a vote of the contributors (being justifiably concerned about needlessly airing personal matters), and that he would absolutely not resolve the problem by quitting the blog he founded (fair). So principle demands that I go. Oh well.

Thanks, dear readers, for your jolly comments and good advice. I think I'll start blogging at the New London Commercial Fishermen's Blog, which I started yesterday just so I would have a funny link in my last post. Come check me out over there, and keep riding your bikes!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the movies and cartoons of the 70's and 80's taught me anything (some would argue everything) it is that these disputes can be resolved with either a race or a breakdancing contest.

I hope that this matter can be resolved and we can save the community center from that evil developer and the creepy guy from the old amusement park.

I know none of the back-story of this particular feud, but I'm fond of this blog and I'd hate to see pride and ego make it less than it has the potential to be. I realize that's the prescribed trajectory for all things cool in Hartford, but that is a trend worth bucking.

Nicola said...

Sad to hear. : (

Brendan said...

I also vote race.

Kerri said...

Or resolve it with a breakdancing contest in the middle of the race. It's sad to see a personal feud interfere with a well-written blog.

Murbike said...

Sorry to see you go.

But seeing as how the BBB has lately had more content from Key West than Hartford, and too many posts about the hassles of riding between Hartford and Bridgeport, New Haven and Middletown, I was losing interest anyway.

Hope the new endevour works out.

MiraHartford said...

I vote for racing, as this is a biking blog and that seems like the proper thing to do. It's what Savage Steve Holland would do.

I must commend El Pres on a very brave move and declaration. As someone who was also caught in the middle of this melies, I agree that the original private matter needn't have affected the blog. While I commend Chillwill for founding the blog, promoting it, putting together a crackerjack team, I also feel when he left the Hartbeat he should have at least allowed the remaining beat bloggers to govern themselves. Sadly, feel let down by these high school antics. At least Rich and El Pres were posting about the 'Beat & surroundings, not from America's flaccid shlong.

Good luck to the other 'beat bloggers. I look forward to knowing more about the biking in the HartBeat.

chillwill said...

helder...
first of all, i am not posting from America's flaccid schlong. look at a map dude. key west is clearly the semen dripping from the once erect aforementioned schlong! semen! semen! i am posting from the dripping semen of america!