Show #21 – Looking Back, Moving Forward
Jun 14th, 2006 | By Fredcaster | Category: PodcastsFor the week of June 12, 2006
In this show’s news: Results from the Dauphine Libere and Tour of Switzerland; Drug Scandal widens, PowerBar Donates to LiveStrong; Timbuk2 Supports Film Festival; Tragedy at the Sierra Century; and more.
In the feature section: A new segment: ‘Bents on the FredCast; Tour de Nez needs you; Listener response to my question about Astana; More on elevation map creation; Upcoming Rides; More on rear-mounted bike carriers; Shouts outs.
Podsafe Cycling Music: Lost at Sea by The Well Wishers
You can listen to the show directly by clicking here, you can subscribe to it in iTunes, or you can use the RSS feed in whatever pod catching client you use.
Show Notes are available HERE.
While my heart goes out to the family of the guy who was killed in the Sierra Century, I also feel terrible for the trucker who killed him. From the story Dave related, it seems clear that the cyclist was clearly in the wrong. I would hope that guy wouldn’t have tried that same maneuver in his car. Why would someone think its a better idea on a bike when we have absolutely zero protection? Why is it so often that you get a bunch of roadies together and suddenly they may as well be Hell’s Angels. I ride with perfectly respectable, middle class folks. Put them on a bike, and suddenly pack riding is acceptable and stop signs mean nothing. Very often calls of “car back” elicet no response. I’m sure none of these individuals would roll through a stop sign in their cars. More often than not, when I see a group of roadies riding and they approach a stop light, they’ll pull right past all the cars up to the light. All this does is irritate drivers when they have to pass those same cyclists in the first 50′ when the light changes. IMBA spends a great deal of time and literature trying to get mountain bikers to be courteous to other trail users, probably because they’re now involved in a fight to even be able to ride these trails. If we as road riders don’t shape up we may find ourselves in the same battle. The city of Berkely Lake, Georgia has already attempted to discurage cycling through licensing proposals, none of which have so far stood up to legal challenge. Its a small area around a lake that does attract some pretty fast cyclists and apparently there have been some incidents with cars, which were in their own lanes, and out of control bikes which swerved over the center line. I think we, as cyclists, need to start policing ourselves before the govenment does it for us. Unfortunately I’m just one small guy trying not to get dropped when the rest of the ride blows through that stop sign. Yes, I guess I’m a weeny because I will stop AND signal even when there’s not another vehicle around. You never know who’s watching from inside a house and saying “There goes another of those cyclists. For some reason they never stop at that stop sign.”