THE FREDCAST CYCLING PODCAST
EPISODE 135
September 14, 2009
Listen now by clicking here:
Earlier today the Twitterverse was alive with comments about James Martin’s article that was supposed to have been a review of the Tesla Roadster.
Embedded within the article was a fairly decent review of the impressive $100,000+ all-electric sportscar, but it was wrapped in hate speech against cyclists including the following:
“God, I hate those cyclists. Every last herbal tea-drinking, Harriet Harman-voting one of them. That’s one of the reasons I live in the countryside, where birds tweet, horses roam, pigs grunt and Lycra-clad buttocks are miles away. . . .
“Twenty minutes into my test drive I pulled round a leafy bend, enjoying the birdsong – and spotted those damned Spider-Man cyclists. Knowing they wouldn’t hear me coming, I stepped on the gas, waited until the split second before I overtook them, then gave them an almighty blast on the horn at the exact same time I passed them at speed.
“The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my rear-view mirror. I think this could be the car for me.”
Cyclists around the world, including professional cyclist Bradley Wiggins, were shocked by what they read and tweeted, blogged and Facebooked (is that even a word?) about it all day long.
I contacted Tesla to try to get them to comment on the piece for tonight’s edition of The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast, but didn’t hear back in time for the show.
A few hours later, however, I heard from Rachel Konrad, Tesla’s Senior Communications Manager. Rachel, a cyclist and occasional Critical Mass participant, was in Frankfurt for the upcoming Auto Show and offered to come on The FredCast to explain Tesla’s side of the story. This is the interview that resulted.