Friday Musette
Advocacy, education, and 'toxic talk'...
This is not another talk radio anti-cycling rant. This one seems to be appalling ignorance, pure and simple, and to their credit, both the on-air personalities and the General Manager handled this well, though the GM's statements about moped riders could be equally applied to cyclists.
“The less wheels you have the less rights you have to the road” is bad enough, but one of the hosts came up the old ‘open your door into a cyclist’ chestnut.
The link goes to the North Carolina Coalition for Bicycle Driving webpage where the MP3 file can be heard.
http://humantransport.org/bicycledriving/thebigtalker.htm
The Big Talker Responds
The December 18, 2006 broadcast of The Town Hall radio show on The Big Talker 106.3 FM in Wilmington, NC drew objections from the cycling community when, after discussing a traffic incident involving a motor scooter, the hosts asked bicyclists to stay on the sidewalk and claimed that bicyclists do not have the right to operate on roadways because they do not pay license fees. The comments aired clearly indicated ignorance of state law and best bicycling practices.
Paul Knight, Vice-president and General Manager of Sea-Comm Media, responded to bicyclists' emails to the station with the email copied below, and provided a recording of the original broadcast in MPEG3 format, also provided here. While it appears that no malice was intended by the show hosts, cyclists in the area hope that the radio station will correct the situation by making its audience aware of the actual laws and safe practices related to roadway bicycling. Wilmington-area bicyclists are continuing a dialog with the station management to hopefully reach an understanding about the importance of safe driving and respecting cyclists' legal rights on our roadways.
Bicycling Education in the News...
Here's an oddity in bicycle-related news stories. The triumphant announcements of a new bike lane or path are a dime-a-dozen. I came across one glowing account of a new path that was only a quarter of a mile long, connecting a park and an elementary school. Sounds like a sidewalk, but it was built with cycling funds. Hmmmm.
Anyway, here's the Houston Chronicle story about bicycling education:
(LINK)
Dec. 28, 2006, 12:00AM
CYCLING NOTEBOOK
Course valuable tool for riders
Two-day session can benefit rookies and veterans alike
By STEVE SIEVERT
For The Chronicle
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to become a better all-around cyclist, the Road One course should be on your to-do list.
The course, which offers both classroom and on-the-road instruction, is one of the educational programs from the League of American Bicyclists, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit serving the interests of the country's 57 million cyclists.
Road One provides tools and techniques designed to give cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely in traffic and with other riders. The course covers bike safety, skills, general maintenance and crash-avoidance maneuvers. While the two-day, nine-hour session is recommended for novice adult cyclists, even riders who've been around the block a time or two can benefit.
"We find that a lot of people are using techniques that they learned when they were children, and they just never improved them as they grew up," said Houston's Peter Wang, a certified League of American Bicyclists instructor. "Some of them have even done quite lengthy rides. It's real simple things like use of gears, use of brakes, mounting and dismounting a bike properly. All of those things impact safety."
A portion of the classroom tutorial on the first day also covers equipment and how to make the right choices for the type of riding a cyclist is doing. Most of the second day of the course is spent on cycling drills and firsthand instruction on the road.
"We take them out on public streets that aren't lightly traveled streets," Wang said. "Many people have never ridden on a public roadway before, and they're amazed that they can do it and feel safe about it. That's a real eye-opener for a lot of people."
Wang also makes it a point to address some of the common mistakes he has seen over the years. For solo riders, the No. 1 error is riding too far to the right of the road.
"They tend to hug the curb too much," he said. "They need to get out two to three feet from the edge of the roadway. It makes you more visible to cars. If you ride out into the road in the righthand tire track, like a motorcycle, it's obvious to most drivers that there's no way they can get past you in the same lane, so they will change lanes and pass you that way."
In group-riding and pace-line situations, Wang believes the most common mistake is riders overlapping their front wheel with the rear wheel of cyclists in front of them. Crossing wheels significantly increases the potential for collisions.
The Road One course, which costs $36, is offered in Houston about six times a year through Leisure Learning Unlimited. The Rice Village location of Bike Barn has hosted recent classes, which drew about 40 students throughout 2006. The next session is scheduled for Feb. 10 and 11.
A brief, off-topic rant...
The following is from my pet peeves files. It's not the content, though there's precious little of it. No, it's the style that bothers me. Writing is a form of communication and if it's intended to reach as wide an audience as possible, it should be easy to read. This isn't. (Anyone who responds with similar vacuous comments will be tracked down and their telephone numbers given out to insurance agents trying to sell whole-life policies! Your phone will NEVER stop ringing!)
... on monday janna cum to my sci tuiton lah then she wear so hebat haha...then tat nite jee an call me... then he say.. kelly u ver gud rite or not help me... i say wat first... he say u sure help rite... then i say c first... he say call janna i was lik blur then d line cut off...so i call janna and say ... jee an ask me call u... she was like hah? then i sms jee an...he say ask janna stand in front her gate... so i tell janna... then dunno wat lah.. janna say jee an cum her house at 11 something on bicycle(cuz they live quite near) i was damn freakin envy...
This is not another talk radio anti-cycling rant. This one seems to be appalling ignorance, pure and simple, and to their credit, both the on-air personalities and the General Manager handled this well, though the GM's statements about moped riders could be equally applied to cyclists.
“The less wheels you have the less rights you have to the road” is bad enough, but one of the hosts came up the old ‘open your door into a cyclist’ chestnut.
The link goes to the North Carolina Coalition for Bicycle Driving webpage where the MP3 file can be heard.
http://humantransport.org/bicycledriving/thebigtalker.htm
The Big Talker Responds
The December 18, 2006 broadcast of The Town Hall radio show on The Big Talker 106.3 FM in Wilmington, NC drew objections from the cycling community when, after discussing a traffic incident involving a motor scooter, the hosts asked bicyclists to stay on the sidewalk and claimed that bicyclists do not have the right to operate on roadways because they do not pay license fees. The comments aired clearly indicated ignorance of state law and best bicycling practices.
Paul Knight, Vice-president and General Manager of Sea-Comm Media, responded to bicyclists' emails to the station with the email copied below, and provided a recording of the original broadcast in MPEG3 format, also provided here. While it appears that no malice was intended by the show hosts, cyclists in the area hope that the radio station will correct the situation by making its audience aware of the actual laws and safe practices related to roadway bicycling. Wilmington-area bicyclists are continuing a dialog with the station management to hopefully reach an understanding about the importance of safe driving and respecting cyclists' legal rights on our roadways.
Bicycling Education in the News...
Here's an oddity in bicycle-related news stories. The triumphant announcements of a new bike lane or path are a dime-a-dozen. I came across one glowing account of a new path that was only a quarter of a mile long, connecting a park and an elementary school. Sounds like a sidewalk, but it was built with cycling funds. Hmmmm.
Anyway, here's the Houston Chronicle story about bicycling education:
(LINK)
Dec. 28, 2006, 12:00AM
CYCLING NOTEBOOK
Course valuable tool for riders
Two-day session can benefit rookies and veterans alike
By STEVE SIEVERT
For The Chronicle
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to become a better all-around cyclist, the Road One course should be on your to-do list.
The course, which offers both classroom and on-the-road instruction, is one of the educational programs from the League of American Bicyclists, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit serving the interests of the country's 57 million cyclists.
Road One provides tools and techniques designed to give cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely in traffic and with other riders. The course covers bike safety, skills, general maintenance and crash-avoidance maneuvers. While the two-day, nine-hour session is recommended for novice adult cyclists, even riders who've been around the block a time or two can benefit.
"We find that a lot of people are using techniques that they learned when they were children, and they just never improved them as they grew up," said Houston's Peter Wang, a certified League of American Bicyclists instructor. "Some of them have even done quite lengthy rides. It's real simple things like use of gears, use of brakes, mounting and dismounting a bike properly. All of those things impact safety."
A portion of the classroom tutorial on the first day also covers equipment and how to make the right choices for the type of riding a cyclist is doing. Most of the second day of the course is spent on cycling drills and firsthand instruction on the road.
"We take them out on public streets that aren't lightly traveled streets," Wang said. "Many people have never ridden on a public roadway before, and they're amazed that they can do it and feel safe about it. That's a real eye-opener for a lot of people."
Wang also makes it a point to address some of the common mistakes he has seen over the years. For solo riders, the No. 1 error is riding too far to the right of the road.
"They tend to hug the curb too much," he said. "They need to get out two to three feet from the edge of the roadway. It makes you more visible to cars. If you ride out into the road in the righthand tire track, like a motorcycle, it's obvious to most drivers that there's no way they can get past you in the same lane, so they will change lanes and pass you that way."
In group-riding and pace-line situations, Wang believes the most common mistake is riders overlapping their front wheel with the rear wheel of cyclists in front of them. Crossing wheels significantly increases the potential for collisions.
The Road One course, which costs $36, is offered in Houston about six times a year through Leisure Learning Unlimited. The Rice Village location of Bike Barn has hosted recent classes, which drew about 40 students throughout 2006. The next session is scheduled for Feb. 10 and 11.
A brief, off-topic rant...
The following is from my pet peeves files. It's not the content, though there's precious little of it. No, it's the style that bothers me. Writing is a form of communication and if it's intended to reach as wide an audience as possible, it should be easy to read. This isn't. (Anyone who responds with similar vacuous comments will be tracked down and their telephone numbers given out to insurance agents trying to sell whole-life policies! Your phone will NEVER stop ringing!)
... on monday janna cum to my sci tuiton lah then she wear so hebat haha...then tat nite jee an call me... then he say.. kelly u ver gud rite or not help me... i say wat first... he say u sure help rite... then i say c first... he say call janna i was lik blur then d line cut off...so i call janna and say ... jee an ask me call u... she was like hah? then i sms jee an...he say ask janna stand in front her gate... so i tell janna... then dunno wat lah.. janna say jee an cum her house at 11 something on bicycle(cuz they live quite near) i was damn freakin envy...
Labels: bicycling education, writing
posted by Ed W at 8:15 AM
1 Comments:
What Santa and I have been vilified for by BOTH the ignorant police and the spandex-clad crowd, gutter-trolling:
"They tend to hug the curb too much," he said. "They need to get out two to three feet from the edge of the roadway. It makes you more visible to cars. If you ride out into the road in the righthand tire track, like a motorcycle, it's obvious to most drivers that there's no way they can get past you in the same lane, so they will change lanes and pass you that way."
Guys, take yer IGNORANT commie crap and SHOVE it up where da sun don't SHINE. Go git you sum skoolin'.
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