Community relents over bikes

If you think there’s an anti-bike prejudice in this country, spare a thought for riders in The Woods community, Jacksonville, Florida. Local law prevents them riding on private roads. Even if they live there.

Instead riders like Bill Francisco have to push their bikes over half a mile to public roads before they can start them up. Not easy when your machine of choice is a 220kg (483lb) Harley-Davidson.

Riders have been verbally abused and even had eggs thrown at them. Just for wheeling their bikes through town.

” The people around here seem to think that just because you have a bike it means you’re a Hells Angel or something ” , says Francisco, a 44-year old airline pilot.

But there’s hope on the horizon. The homeowners association has just voted to lift the ban from January 1 in an experiment. Its president Steve Thomaston says: ” We’re going to see how it works. If residents complain we’ll re-instate the law.

” The people that ride the motorcycles will make or break this. ”