are we going to have to avoid between now and September? Are we going to have this agenda crammed down our throats all summer? Will the forum be inundated with such threads, to the exclusion of those threads which might be of more use to those riders who might come to the forum for help with training or other, more cycling-related, issues?
What about once CO starts? It's been less than a week since the kick-off party, and there are two threads started so far, both by the same person. I personally do not feel that the Cycle Oregon forum is the appropriate place for pushing a personal vendetta, whether the ride is linked to a rodeo or not. If a Cycle Oregon participant chooses to go to the rodeo on the layover day in Pendleton, fine. If he or she chooses not to, for whatever reason, that's fine too. I don't care one way or the other. On the other hand...
Cycle Oregon is my vacation, and I don't care to have it disrupted by a crusade of any sort. I ride Cycle Oregon in part to get away from the politics, etc. that we are deluged with in the media every day. Yes, we have the choice not to read any thread whose subject we disagree with. Yes, you have freedom of speech. So do I. As such, freedom of speech also gives me the right to ask you to take your crusade somewhere else. Please do so.
No one forced you to sign up for the ride this year, and no one is forcing you to go to the rodeo, nor to approve of it. Your view of the world is yours, and you are welcome to it. But please leave those of us who did choose to do both alone to enjoy our vacation.