Show #150 – Speed Pro
Apr 23rd, 2010 | By Fredcaster | Category: Podcasts
THE FREDCAST CYCLING PODCAST
Episode 150
April 23, 2010
Listen now by clicking here:
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/thefredcast/The_FredCast_150.mp3]
This week’s show is sponsored by Keen Footwear, JensonUSA, and by listeners like you Thank you for your donations!
This episode of The FredCast Cycling Podcast features a preliminary review and impressions of the Dahon Speed Pro, and a list of some upcoming cycling events. In the news this week, a road raging cyclist turns us into them, NYC cop who body checked a cyclist goes on trial, Denver bike sharing program unveiled, Follow-up to Bahati Dana Point Grand Prix video, Pro cycling news, Hotel residents do what prisoners do, and more!
SPONSORED BY:
Click Here for Expanded Show Notes with Links
IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK
- Road Raging Cyclist Turns Us into Them
- Cyclist Killed by Train While Wearing iPod
- NYC Cop Who Body Checked Cyclist Goes to Trial
- Denver Bike Sharing Program Launches
- SRAM Announces New Products at Sea Otter
- A’ME Offering Heated Handlebar Grips
- Follow-up to Bahati at Dana Point Grand Prix
- Pro Cycling News
- One in Eight Dutch Bikes is Electric
- Hotel Residents Generate Electricity in Copenhagen
- Man Forced to Cycle Home When Stranded by Volcano
- Man Blames Google Street View for Missing Mountain Bike
THIS WEEK’S FEATURES
- Tour de ‘Drome – May 1, Ogden, UT
- Up The Creek Without a Pedal – May 8, Rome, GA
- Shorebird Metric – May 15, Salisbury, MD
- Davis Double – May 15, Davis, CA
PODSAFE CYCLING MUSIC
- Fan of the Bean by The Clintons (courtesy of Cadence Revolution)
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Don’t agree with your take about the road raging cyclist. Like most listeners, I have been riding on two wheels for years and year and years, and we all know what happens when you call the cops with a license plate number: Nothing. Nothing at all.
In this case, Foster, the rider, took the initiative stopped the car and forced the situation to escalate for the cops to come. Threatening someone with a rock? Bad idea that will get you in trouble. However, stopping a driver who recklessly endangered the lives of up to 20 riders? I’m all for it, as the driver got cited for reckless operation. If the riders had called with a LP number, Macintosh would still be driving around threatening people with nothing on his record at all. Whatever Foster’s intent — teach the guy a lesson, be a vigilante, act like a tough guy — now there is an established paper trail of the driver’s dangerous and threatening behavior.
Take away the words “car” and “cyclist” and replace them with them with the words “baseball bat” and “jogger,” respectively. If a maniac were running around threatening joggers with a baseball bat, and one of the joggers threatened him with a rock and had a stand off until the cops came, I’d support that jogger in the same way I support Foster’s actions (regardless of his intent).
My experience, and the law, would disagree with you. Any time I have called the police with te license plate number of a motorist who threatened or caused harm to cyclists or who drove recklessly around cyclists, they took it seriously and took appropriate action. This was in Los Angeles as well as Utah.
As for using a rock (or any other potentially deadly weapon), the cyclist was totally wrong. Once the danger (ie the car with the crazy motorist) passed, so did the threat. Nobody was under imminent harm until this guy put himself there by racing ahead and blocking the road.
Using your logic, substitute the word rock with pistol and see if you still feel the same way. If someone breaks into my home and threatens my family, I am justified in using whatever force necessary to stop them, including deadly force. Once they leave my home, I am allowed to close and lock my doors and call the police, that’s it. I can’t chase them down the street with a gun, a baseball bat, or any other weapon. That’s precisely what Foster did in this case.
Your analogy of the jogger and the baseball bat doesn’t work in this case. In your example, someone is chasing joggers and is a clears and present danger to this innocents. In that situation, like mine above, the use of force is justified.
In Foster’s case, the danger had passed. At that point, he let his emotions take over and became a part of the problem, not a solution.
Sorry about the typos in the comment above. Wrote it on my iPhone. ‘nuf said.
Great podcast, The Clintons rock! Just ordered the whole album