Spandex Indignation
July 18, 2007 on 8:54 am | In Local, Main, Media |There will be no blogging here until perhaps Friday, as I am headed to Boston this morning with my son to see the Bosox play the Royals tonight at Fenway. The weather forecast doesn’t look good for Roger’s 11th birthday, but I guess baseball and the threat of rain go hand-in-hand.
But before I take leave of my senses, I wanted to briefly address the controversy surrounding Jordan Cooke’s columns on cycling. In case you missed it, Jordan, our talented young sports reporter, wrote a satirical column on cyclists last month that drew some indignant responses, including letters to the editor (which, alas, we do not post online) last week and this.
I must say I was amazed at the reaction among cyclists who saw Jordan’s column as an assault on their way of life. Jordan wrote a clever and amusing column responding to the first letter and then was attacked as “petty” and “small-minded” in a subsequent letter that will appear in tomorrow’s print edition.
I must also say that even as a recreational cyclist myself, I share Jordan’s annoyance with cyclists who “clog the road.” When I am cycling, for example, I do everything I can to stay as far to the side of the road as I can so as not to disrupt traffic. This is not because I am particularly conscientious (I am not, actually), but rather it’s an unadulterated act of self-preservation. Common sense tells me the farther out in the road I travel, the greater my chances of getting run over. Why don’t more cyclists understand this?
When I see a pair of cyclists riding down a state highway side-by-side, I shake my head in disbelief, especially when after I pass them the pedaling duo looks at me as if I am intruding on their fun.
If the reax to Jordan’s column is any indication, cyclists must be a thin-skinned bunch. See you Friday …
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Oh, Terry. How you have opened up a can of worms…. I don’t mind sharing the road with cyclists, but I refuse to have to sit behind them because they think they because they are on wheels, they are vehicular traffic and can ride down the middle of the lane. Drives me nuts.
As you know, I was a school bus driver in Salisbury. My route took me down Taconic Road and up part of Twin Lakes Road. In the spring, there was a group of about 6 or so cyclists who I would consistently come across. They seemed to be having their own little Tour de Salisbury going on, as they were racing each other at high speeds down these roads. Never once did any of them stop for my red lights as I was letting off children at their stops, even though they are required to do so by law.
*Everyone* is required to stop for school buses, except for postal service trucks. (I don’t get it, but whatever.)
Not only did they not stop when they were supposed to, they were also riding dangerously: weaving in between cars, zipping around me as I was at a stop letting off children. I really wanted to report them, but how could I? They seemed to think that because Taconic is not a particularly heavily travelled area, they could do what they want.
Okay, enough with my rant. I respect cyclists, and anyone who gets out there and does something for themselves, but everyone needs to be respectful of others.
Comment by Amy — July 18, 2007 #
What do you expect from people who feel compelled to display their most intimate physical details behind a micro-thin layer of synthetic material?
Comment by Jake — July 18, 2007 #
I thought Jordan’s article was hilarious — and it would take a pretty dense and self-involved cyclist to not see the good-natured humor in it.
But maybe Jake is onto something….
Comment by Geoff Brown — July 18, 2007 #
Sorry …
Did I get that right Amy???
Postal Service trucks don’t have to stop for school busses???
HUH???
Comment by Michael J. Flint — July 18, 2007 #
You’re riight Terry–they are the single most self-righteous subset of sporting enthusiasts to slime the public consciousness since, oh, say sailboat people.
They do have cojones though. Coming south on 41 a while ago, a solitary pedophile, er, pedaller was coasting in the middle of the northbound lane with a 40-foot semi less than a coat of paint behind him, horn blaring and airbrakes screeching. The pedarist, er, pedaller
Comment by Doug Richardson — July 18, 2007 #
continued his 20 m.p.h. coast in the middle of the road while flipping the Digit of Derision over his shoulder.
I think we should maintain an “open door” policy towards our pedallists. That door would be the one on the passengers’ side of the car.
Comment by Doug Richardson — July 18, 2007 #
You got that right, Mike. Postal service trucks don’t have to stop. Something to do with them carrying federal property (i.e. the mail). Whatever. I don’t think that most postal service drivers know that, because there have been a few that have stopped for me.
Comment by Amy — July 18, 2007 #
I just emailed a link to this story to a friend of mine who is the State Steward of the Postal Workers’ Union in Vermont, with a query. I’ll get back with his reply.
That’s one of the beggest “WTF” stories I’ve heard in a long time.
Comment by Doug Richardson — July 18, 2007 #
Oh, Terry, how you have opened a can of worms.
I respond as someone who has been bicycling in the Northwest Corner for almost 20 years and thinks it’s one of the best places on the planet to ride.
I do try to ride on the side and do try not to inconvenience automobiles. I also look for back roads where there’s not as much traffic. When I’m riding with others, we ride single-file whenever a car appears.
That doesn’t matter to some motorists, though, especially the ones in the gas-guzzling, road-hogging SUVs who are irate that, while doing twice the speed limit, they may have to use their brakes for all of, oh, five seconds, in order to slow down to pass (exponentially increasing their time going home). Usually it’s within inches of you even though two-thirds of the road is available for them to get by.
Or you get the other kind, the ones who creep along behind you at a close distance, scared to pass no matter how far to the right you ride or how often you motion them to go by. These people usually start honking their horns, insinuating that you should pull off the road entirely and dismount while they pass.
There are poor drivers (a minority) and poor cyclists (a minority). I won’t defend some of the stunts I’ve seen by either group. But the road doesn’t belong just to motorists (many of whom are just as adept at using the Digit of Derision). After years of dealing with dangerous cars, anyone on a bicycle understands why some pedalers develop the attitudes they do.
Comment by Steve Barlow — July 19, 2007 #
I would first like to thank Terry for coming to my defense and, by doing so, pulling himself into this “war of the road.”
I would then like to defend myself by saying that, while I do loathe a subset of the cycling community, there are some of you who do abide by certain rules of courtesy while riding.
Note: I also have a problem with half the motorists on the road but, alas, competitive tailgating (last time I checked) is not a sport and is, therefore, out of my jurisdiction.
My column focused on one (fictional) cyclist and, while he may have represented a much larger audience, I certainly did not mean to imply all cyclists are bad eggs.
Really, I just wish everyone had a better sense of humor about this. If my vocal opposition bothered to read the rest of my columns they would find I poke fun at a lot of people –mostly myself– and the intention is simply to get my readers to laugh. It’s like I always say, “If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re probably not very funny”…and, considering the skintight wardrobes of local bicyclists, I don’t know how they can’t have a good chuckle when they look in the mirror.
Comment by Jordan Cooke — July 19, 2007 #
Terry….
Do you and the Red Sox now see the Yankees in your rear view mirrors!
Remember…
Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear!
Hope you had fun at the game!
Comment by Marshall Miles — July 19, 2007 #