The great thing about our society is that even people who don’t have a clue can get their own radio talk show.
Take this bike-hating Tucson “news personality.”
Please.
I do not like bikers. I’m not talking about real bikers, like Harley riders. I’m talking about bicyclists, the privileged weekend riders of Southern Arizona… the real 1%-ers of Pima County.
That’s how KQTH’s James T. Harris starts out a typically uninformed rant on the station’s website.
Never mind that many of those 1% ride a bike because it’s their only form of transportation. And that compared to cars, bikes receive an infinitesimal amount of funding and an even smaller amount of real estate.
So who’s the real privileged ones?
It takes a special kind of asshat arrogance to be a rider in Tucson. I almost killed a few on Hwy 83 a few weeks ago.
Note that he says that without the slightest touch of irony.
Bikers don’t care. Bikers own the road. Deal with it (it’s called enabling…)!
Maybe he’s right. Maybe Tucson is the one place in North America where bike riders outnumber motor vehicles, and those poor unfortunate drivers are rudely shunned off the road by arrogant, entitled cyclists.
It could happen, right?
So what’s got our friendly news personality’s panties in such a twist?
Pavement.
To wit, smooth new pavement where a bike path crosses a street, while the poor unfortunate drivers must content with crappy asphalt.
Look at this “intersection” at Overton between La Cholla and La Canada. Look at how smooth that path is where bikes cross to ensure a smooth ride…No potholes. No buckles, chips or peeling asphalt. Just smooooooth.
Note to the unintelligent, unimaginative and uncomprehending: Any new pavement is going to be smooth.
Granted, they could make the crossing rough and potholed when they pour it, if that makes him feel better. But it will get that way soon enough in the Arizona heat.
But what’s really driving — and I use the term advisedly — his online apoplexy?
The reason why I have disdain for cyclists in this town is not because they are engaged in a healthy activity. It’s because they are being catered to on the taxpayers’ dime!
Naturally.
Because as we all know, people who ride bicycles don’t pay taxes. There’s actually a box you can check on your 1040 Form that indicates you ride a bike, and therefore get back every penny of your withholding.
And when we make a purchase, all we have to do is whisper “bicycle” to the clerk, and the sales tax magically disappears.
No, really.
Then there’s the undisputed fact that no one who owns a car would ever dream of getting out on two wheels. So bike riders never pay the same registration fees and gas taxes that everyone else does.
Rants like this seem like just so much hot air and clickbait.
Except they can do real damage when equally uninformed people nod their heads in agreement, and take out their anger on the very people trying to make the streets safer and more welcoming for everyone.
Or worse, on those who have the misfortune of sharing the roads with them.
As Arizona resident Brendan Lyons, who tipped me to Harris’ bike-hating bile, put it —
This is the stark reality so many law-abiding, vulnerable road-users (cyclists) face on a daily basis. He fails to recognize the tragic consequences of the distracted motorist. He fails to comprehend the families who are left-behind, forced to pick up the pieces. He fails to recognize that beyond the lycra-clad cyclist briefly impeding his commute- is the law enforcement deputy who serves & protects, the firefighter who responds to his emergency, the soldier defending his country, the teacher educating his child, the scientist fighting to cure cancer, or simply his neighbor (a father, mother, son, or daughter) who want to get home safely to their family.
Maybe someone could explain to Harris who the real privileged ones are, on the roads of Arizona, California or Kalamazoo.
But I doubt he’d get it. Or even listen, for that matter.
Nothing affect hearing like a closed mind.
………
A nice memory of Prince, as he rode his bike from an LA rehearsal to a grade school to invite a seven-year old girl to perform onstage with him after discovering she was learning one of his songs.
………
Evidently, there’s a lot of big hearts out there.
Like the Virginia TV station that teamed with a local bank to replace a boy’s bike after he was tricked out of his by older boys.
And the Michigan bike shop that unwittingly bought a hot $2,500 custom bike, then gave it back to the retired Marine it was stolen from, eating their $800 loss.
………
Somehow, bike racing keeps making the news, even this early in the season.
A crash by the great Dutch rider Marianne Vos is caught on video as she hit the barrier while sprinting towards the finish like at the Dwars door Westhoek; fortunately, she wasn’t seriously hurt in what was just her fifth race back after missing all of last season with a hamstring injury.
Former world time trial champ Michael Rogers wisely retires from racing after doctors detect a heart arrhythmia, combined with a previously discovered congenital aortic valve malformation.
American pro Andrew Talansky says a rule preventing top riders from participating in lower level races is hurting cycling in the US, since fans now only get to see the WorldTour riders compete in the Amgen Tour of California.
Peter Sagan can do anything on a bike. Except finish his first mountain bike race in seven years in Austria.
And former Giro winner Danilo Di Luca says he had to dope to finish first, but he has no regrets despite receiving a lifetime ban. Nice to see everyone continues to follow Lance’s lead and blame the sport instead of taking responsibility themselves.
………
Local
Bike the Vote LA invites you to attend the debate between candidates for L.A. County Supervisor District 5 tomorrow night at the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena.
The first ever Los Angeles Bicycle Festival scheduled for May 8th has exceeded its fundraising goal; as funding increases, organizers can donate more free tickets to people who might not otherwise be able to attend.
CiclaValley offers a nice photo-recap of last weekend’s all-too-brief Burbank open streets event.
Work on widening Agoura Road in Conejo Valley, including adding bike lanes, is nearing completion and should be completely finished by August.
State
The bicycle industry has raised $60,000 to help promote Calbike’s proposal to offer a rebate up to $1,000 on the purchase of a “utilitarian” transportation bike. Of course, if would be nice if they’d show the same support for bicycling issues that don’t benefit them directly.
A Turlock letter writer says backpack bans in retail stores discriminate against bike riders, who have to carry their belongings with them.
Sad news from Sacramento, as a woman riding her bike has lost her life in a hit-and-run.
National
A new study from the University of Duh says roof racks may be a great way to transport your bike, but it’s bad for gas mileage.
Elly Blue says placing bike racks outside local businesses is one of the most revolutionary, yet simplest, ways to advance the bike movement.
Next City says as cities invest more in making way for people on bicycles, investing in bike equity must be more than just talk. The LACBC was one of the first organizations to start that conversation on both a local and national level, and continues to lead the way.
USA Today notes where to bike by bikeshare when visiting cities around the US. Except in Southern California, of course.
An Iowa lawyer tries to exclude a TV interview in which his client admitted to driving drunk when he allegedly killed a cyclist, because he didn’t have a lawyer present. Even though Miranda rights only apply to law enforcement, not the news media.
The 18-year old man who shot two people outside a Wisconsin prom over the weekend arrived there by bicycle, armed with a rifle.
Once again, the anti-bike bias of the NYPD rears its ugly head, blaming a fallen cyclist for riding the wrong way, even though a witness riding behind her says she was riding with traffic.
International
Strava wants you to log your commuting miles on their Global Bike to Work Day on May 10th, the week before LA’s Bike to Work Day on the 19th.
Rio’s mayor says the bikeway that collapsed and killed three people will be rebuilt in time for the Olympics. Hopefully they’ll build it as if lives depend on it this time. Because they do.
When a London lawyer insists bike lanes will increase pollution by increasing auto congestion, a local councilor correctly notes that cars cause pollution, and asks why she’s not campaigning for restrictions on motorists instead.
Thousands of Budapest cyclists ride to call attention to bicycling and point out the lack of bicycling facilities in the city.
Police in Sydney, Australia crack down on bike riders on the city’s most dangerous street for cyclists. But drivers, not so much.
Shanghai cyclist are ticketed for riding in the roadway instead of a bike lane where they have to dodge pedestrians.
Finally…
If you’re going to haul a trailer on your bike to commit a burglary, remember to take them with you when you run away. If you’re riding salmon with drug paraphernalia, pills and three jars of dope in you backpack, just get on the damn sidewalk when the cops tell you to.
And a new bike cam turns on automatically when your heart rate spikes.
Of course, by then it’s probably too late to catch the Arizona news personality that caused it.
