General Cycling Discussion - Another "Lets hurt the cyclists" article!!

http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/kelso/0702/070902.html
This bold writer has given his e-mail addy at the bottom so lets all e-mail him and e-mail him often.

Have you noticed that he looks alike a fat old guy who's idea of exercise must be something like lifting a brewski to his mouth in the backyard?

Oh, gee, hahahah- what a shmuck. One of those tubby guys who probably hasn't ridden a bike since he was a kid and hasn't gone for a walk longer than a block since the Carter administration. I bet he looks pretty funny trying to get up a flight of stairs with his big belly, red face and loud wheeze, while those silly morons who cycle every day can run up the stairs like antelopes! I bet he'll also make the nurses laugh with his wit when he's in the hospital being treated for a storke or heart attack.

He bills himself as a humorist?

Yeah! At the same time he has a big fat sauer kraut filled hot dog falling all over his shirt yelling at the t.v screen with his mouth full.

Guys calm down.
Try to read between the lines.

This poor old guy is trying so hard to bash cyclists that he doesn't realize that he is screaming: "I wish I could be like them" at the top of his lungs.

Note his reference to "football". You see, he is trying to convey the image of a steak-eating manly man that rides his truck and probably has a beer-belly of steel like pro football players, and looks down on sissy bike riders in Lycra clothing.

The fact that he actually knows what Lycra is, and his misconception about Lycra's comfort means that he has made a feeble attempt to fit in one not so long ago.

On another note, I tend to agree with his point that it is rather ridicolous for all people to suddenly jump on their bikes and put on fancy clothing just because Tour de France is on. Then again I dunno if that's true, I don't live in Austin.

Hmm...anti-cycling sentiment from Texas - and recent too!.

You could knock me over with a feather.

Anyone notice his phone number next to his e-mail address? Heck with e-mailing him, why don't we all give this idiot a call. If he personally answers then we can voice our strong distaste to his article if enough of us do it he will go nuts, hopefully. If someone else answers we can drive that person crazy with messages to give to him. And if a voice mail answers, just leave a message. There has got to be a limit as to how many messages his voce mail can hold.

Either way he will get the message from us that his article, while a very poor attempt at being funny was a very bad idea. Even though it is a humour column imagine how many idiots who read this will take it seriously and attempt to do harm to cyclists, even if they don't already. They may think, hey a columnist says its funny and ok to do so, so I'll try it and maybe get a laugh out of it. Then they might realize it was not so funny after all but by then it is to late. One of us is either injured, maybe in the hospital or worse. And all because some schumck says its funny.

You'd think that will all of the cyclist deaths we have all been hearing and reading about this idiot would not have written this article. And I don't by the excuse he did not know about any of them.

Don't know about the rest of you but I for one am going to give this idiot a call.

Originally posted by Lumpy_Leg
Anyone notice his phone number next to his e-mail address? Heck with e-mailing him, why don't we all give this idiot a call. If he personally answers then we can voice our strong distaste to his article if enough of us do it he will go nuts, hopefully. If someone else answers we can drive that person crazy with messages to give to him. And if a voice mail answers, just leave a message. There has got to be a limit as to how many messages his voce mail can hold.

Honestly, why does anybody give a sh*t what this tosser thinks? I mean, I'd love to say something like "see you at the bottom of Springbrook and you'll die before we get to the top ya' fat turd!" I could also send him ******, but honestly, what's the point? E-mails and phone calls will only give this guy more ammunition. The readers of that article will never see the phone calls or whatever, but they will see his response to it.

I say, let him rave on for now and eventually the fat bastard will die of obesity anyway. I really don't think he's worth the effort of a phone call.

Somehow, I am drawn to these "articles" like a moth to the flame.

Unfortunately, this poor man may reap the consequences of his disdain for cycling: that he will never be caught dead on a bike, but on his Lazy-Boy.

Well...I had to write to him. No doubt he's stunned by my withering attack. Geez...I hope I didn't mis-spell anything!

Chris, I know that you don't care, but I wanted you to know that I'm not going to make any comments about your posting and how I think that you wrote that just to save the cash required to make a phone call to Austin from way down there where you are. Really I can't blame you. I'm not going to call him either. :D

Bill (who didn't know that you don't have to have a sense of humour to write a humour column) Clark :confused:

Why do you guys get so steamed up about this moron? Just stop buying the stupid rag so that you can ignore him.

He's not even mildly funny.

BTW sports apparel CONTAINING Lycra is not "rubbery".:sleep:

Originally posted by Nobby
Chris, I know that you don't care, but I wanted you to know that I'm not going to make any comments about your posting and how I think that you wrote that just to save the cash required to make a phone call to Austin from way down there where you are. Really I can't blame you. I'm not going to call him either. :D


Am I the only one totally confused by the above post here?

In all seriousness, what makes anyone think the fat turd is even going to read the e-mails? or that there won't be some dumb blonde on the phone to palm anyone off? Like I said, just ignore him and he'll die of obesity eventually.

I had to post this. It's a reply from my teammate to the article.

"In this time where cyclists are being killed by motorists in some very high-profile cases, it is sad to see someone try to defend the aggressive motorists' deadly road rage in a blindingly ignorant article written under the pretense of "humor".

The lack of recognition of cycling as a true sport (more popular throughout the world than baseball or American football) by ignoring the fact that many of the riders you see in Austin are regional, national or UCI pros that train there or in and around Everytown, USA.

The assumption that cycle clothing is worn only to emulate pros and that cyclists are an "annoyance" continues the impressive stream of ignorance and intolerance while encouraging aggression against cyclists on the road.

Don't you think the next Lance Armstrong could be riding along at 17mph when some motorist takes your comments like:
"Why not do the same thing with these Tour de France bicyclists? Think how much times would be improved if the bulls were set upon the riders. I'd watch the Tour de France if I thought I'd get to see a horn flashing and the sound of Lycra popping."
to heart and decide to cut off, strike, head into or swerve into that cyclist? Don't think it could happen? It has and does. Here is just an example:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/kprc/20020628/lo/1241305_1.html

I could take your editorial with a grain of salt if only you wrote with some actual wit. Instead, you choose to alienate a growing sport in Austin and the rest of the country while patting deadly driving on the back. Even more stupefying, only a week earlier, you write about a "2-wheeler biker chick" that visits "warriors" in the hospital. Well, there are dozens of "warriors" fighting for their lives because of reckless drivers with attitudes like yours.

Next time, try to write an article with actual humor. Lacking those skills, at least encourage tolerance with the pulpit you have been given. Ignorance on the caliber which you put on display simply should not exist for a legitimate newspaper man."

I just sent him an email, "if your were here in Toronto, I would surely ride over you with my bike, oscar

Originally posted by Chris L


I said, just ignore him and he'll die of obesity eventually.
Hope he dies soon, or somebody will ride over him with a bike

He sounds so stupid I feel sorry for him:( . Guys like this has no life without the hate for some groups of people. And to confirm his life he has to feel the support from people as small minded as him self. Without the support from likeminded, this guy is nothing. And he knows it. Therefore he must contiue writing this kind of bull. He´s probably a very prejudiced man, who love to show it off.

Anders K

Oh,Lets bash the cyclist.
You have to understand this guys mentality,he cant think of any thing funny so he has to take the piss out of a minority,you see it all the time.
Now i dont really want to lower myself to his level,but what the heek.
Why dont they get the bulls to chase him while hes running,it just might covert that fat into some brain power.
However I come across this type of cave man every day as I ride a recumbent.One comment that was made to me by a passanger
in a van as it went passed was ,LAZY WA__ER,and Im the one exercising.Just one example of what were dealing with.
If he rode a bike he would understand,that cars get in our way,
I was coming down a hill yesterday<on my upright>and a car pulled out in front of me,never even seen me,the person driving
was a old woman,about 300 years old,she then drove doen the hill so slow that i had to stop pedalling and slow myself with down.
She still didnt see me,and she drove in a way I just could not get past,a man saw my face on the way past ,and started laughing.

This guy, John Kelso, is the Mainstream. Mr.Lazy Luxury. We may dislike it, but he is the incarnation of the prevailing attitude in the society.

Some time ago smoking was the Mainstream also. Soldiers were receiving cigarettes as part of a daily ration. Movie stars posed with a compulsory cigarette.

Bicycle should become more than just a sport. I do not see any other way of containing smog, worsening of the city streets, global warming, obesity and other related problems.

Like with smoking the main attitude of society may change. A lot of work is needed for it, just like it was with the smoking.

Who knows, perhaps, one day we will see warning signs on the motorways: "The Surgeon General warns that driving a car is dangerous for you health and for the health of many other people. It is also extremely harmful to the nature. Use nearby bicycle trail instead."

Nevertheless, we need people like John Kelso. People who write articles in newspapers. If you call or e-mail him, do not antagonize him, try instead to convince him to change colors.

A good bike with wide tires may withstand even such ...hmm...well, such a large man like John. If he becomes a cyclist, he will do more for the cause, than an average cyclist. "...thus there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones..."

I am not sure that it will work though with this particular man. It seems to be the disturbed logic to compare cruel corrida torturing of animals with folks, who just select bicycle to get from point A to point B without destroying environment by this, without annoying people in the nearby homes with toxic fumes and rubber dust.

The automobiles exhaust not only toxic fumes, but the rubber dust from the tires too. This rubber dust, which John leaves after him on the street does much more harm, than lycra shorts.

We know the type. He's an instigator. That's how he makes his living. His knowledge base about cycling is a lot better than he lets on. The population he's exploiting isn't the cyclist. It's the reader who get's egged on while he holds his shotgun in one hand, morning coffee in the other.

He shouldn't be ignored. He should be bombarded and a local cyclists advocacy group in the area has the right to demand equal time. I sure hope they do. We can email this guy to death in the meantime and point out what a journalistic abuse he's perpetrating if you want to call it journalism. An article like this can cost a cyclist his life. There are a lot of crazies out there who don't need much encouragement, right?

Originally posted by Alexey
This guy, John Kelso, is the Mainstream. Mr.Lazy Luxury. We may dislike it, but he is the incarnation of the prevailing attitude in the society.

Mainstream? I don't think so. I'd say that he is more the minority. I don't know anyone personally that looks down on riding. There are those out there that look down on bicyclists but not as many as some might think. As much as some us would like to think, we bicyclists are not some fringe element that is so radical that no one can understand. It's no more radical than weight lifting or gardening for that matter. Some people get it and some people don't.

Chris L,
Why just sit back and do nothing? What does that accomplish? You know there was another article similar to this posted here. http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?threadid=11065
And it spawned a town meeting. There was a public apology made. The author of the article was made to look like a buffon. So with that in mind why would anyone miss out on the opportunity to see that happen to this guy?
Of course we could do nothing.

................................
WAIT THIS JUST IN SEE NEXT POST!!!

Biking blues come from seat, not heat
http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/kelso/0702/071402.html

Thanks for posting the follow up on his article. At least he had the kajones to join the Austin cyclists for a ride. Way to go Austinians.:beer:

Originally posted by naisme
At least he had the kajones to join the Austin cyclists for a ride.

Now if he could just work on his sense of humour...sigh...

Thanks for the update, Hunter!

He's a humorist. I found some of his articles to be funny. Humor is not one-size-fits-all.

Many of the reactions I read here smack of the 'it's because I'm [insert nationality/creed/sexual orientation here], isn't it?' school.

How are some of you able to balance your bikes with such enormous chips on your shoulders?

Caution! Some humor was involved in the statements posted above!

-Rob

Hunter posted the follow-up that John Kelso wrote, but here is some background based on the article http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/kelso/0702/071402.html

Mr. Kelso received a lot of feedback from unhappy readers so he DID actually get together with a local bicycle group for a short tour.

It seems they put him in US-Postal Service spandex and brought him bicycle touring.

Mr. Kelso's second article was more pleasant and I give him a lot of credit for actually going on a bike ride and writing a follow-up article.

Those of you who were motivated to write something nasty to Mr. Kelso or the Austin American Statesman newspaper would be ambassadors for bicycling if you wrote back and complimented him for his effort to actually bicycle and to publish a follow-up article.

Originally posted by mike
Hunter posted the follow-up that John Kelso wrote, but here is some background based on the article http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/kelso/0702/071402.html

Those of you who were motivated to write something nasty to Mr. Kelso or the Austin American Statesman newspaper would be ambassadors for bicycling if you wrote back and complimented him for his effort to actually bicycle and to publish a follow-up article.

Hear Hear! :beer: Good sportsmanship will never go out of style!

-Rob

Originally posted by RobCat2002


Hear Hear! :beer: Good sportsmanship will never go out of style!

-Rob

Thanks, Rob. Let me state that I did write to Mr. Kelso and complimented him on his follow-up.

Originally posted by Stor Mand


As much as some us would like to think, we bicyclists are not some fringe element that is so radical that no one can understand. It's no more radical than weight lifting or gardening for that matter. Some people get it and some people don't.

Still the absolute majority crank the car and drive. Though many of them could ride the same itinerary with a good bike.

It is more fun, takes about the same time as by car (including tanking, service, washing, warming engine, etc.)

I saw an ad on TV recently of a car (SUV), which takes 17 liters per 100 km. I do not get it - why smoking a cigarette in a public place could be outlawed and running such an engine can not be. A cigarette contains couple of grams of the burning material. Say, a man seats in an open air restaurant where it is illegal to smoke, 4 feet from him an engine runs, which emits thousand times more toxic fumes, and it is OK.

It is good that smoking is being outlawed more and more. However, excessive burning of fossil fuel is not touched for some reason. Though 5 liters per 100 km is enough to make a comfortable car.

I cycled last month from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA, and back. It was my first trip to the USA. The ride along the C&O Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage was splendid.

At the same time I noticed that the usage of an automobile is even more widespread than in Europe. The petrol costs the same as in Ukraine, though the average income is much lower here. I am not a medical researcher, but I can add 2 and 2. I saw strikingly many individuals who suffer from obesity. I guess it is the car, who did it to them.

Why John Kelso does not write about it? Neither he writes about road 837 near Pittsburgh. I cycled this road twice this year, because the bike trail is not completed there. The traffic is incredibly intense on this road and there are a lot of houses very close to the road. The inhabitants of these houses, who are to bear this endless flow of trucks, are not free. That was the thought, which came to my mind, when I cycled there; that these people are not free.

Do not misunderstand me, I am not bashing the US, in my country there are probably places much worse than road 837. I just wanted to notice that Mr.Kelso do not care about such issues in his column.

Wait a minute... Does any one know if the oil is processed in Austin? I mean - are there companies, which are involved in the fossil fuel business?

I have to admit that I don't find him to be that funny either- it's the same, baby-boomer, couch potato, middle class humor that is part of most daily newspapers. But I also don't think he's being HARMFUL- he just doesn't know what he's talking about. At least in his followup, he's humbled a bit and admits he's a couch potato and out of shape. SO he's proud of it, so what- at least he tried riding!

As for "trying to look like lance armstrong", I am not sure what's wrong with that. Better to aspire to looking like Armstrong than looking like Luciano Pavarotti!

Originally posted by Hunter
Chris L,
Why just sit back and do nothing? What does that accomplish? You know there was another article similar to this posted here. http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?threadid=11065
And it spawned a town meeting. There was a public apology made. The author of the article was made to look like a buffon.

... yes, and five minutes later another one comes along and does the same thing, so all that trouble was for nothing. The whole point is that you won't stop people from writing this crap whilever 'the great unwashed' are stupid enough to continue buying and reading it.

Originally posted by Chris L


... yes, and five minutes later another one comes along and does the same thing, so all that trouble was for nothing. The whole point is that you won't stop people from writing this crap whilever 'the great unwashed' are stupid enough to continue buying and reading it.

Ok I get it now. Anyone who is offended by this and responds are "the great unwashed" whatever that is and at the same time are stupid for reading, and buying it. I see now, thanks Chris L.

Originally posted by Hunter
Ok I get it now.

Apparently not, so I'll explain it one more time.


Originally posted by Hunter

Anyone who is offended by this and responds are "the great unwashed" whatever that is

The great unwashed refers to the stupid majority of people who generally follow fads without any thought whatsoever and as a result, probably would have found this article amusing, given the number of 'comedians' who have tried cyclist-bashing as a way to get some cheap laughs (it's more common than one might think). Let's face it, this guy is mainstream as another poster said earlier. This is what 'the great unwashed' means.

Responding to it is not going to stop it from happening again, so you might as well find something else to do. In fact, responses are what this guy wants because it shows people are buying this crap, which ultimately pays his salary. If you really want to stop it, you're better off simply boycotting the entire publication. Giving this guy the attention he wants will not change anything.

I thought the stuff about the bulls was funny - either that or it was a bunch of bull.

This guy was actually mildly amusing. He was kidding.

He was trying to be funny; he's just not very good at it.

As a soccer fan (in the US), this thread really makes me feel at home. Replace the word "cycling" with "soccer", and this thread is just like a zillion theads on BigSoccer. The thread title usually goes something like, "Yet another soccer-bashing article."

It makes everybody feel good to feel persecuted, get all incensed and write the guy, I guess. But it's wasted energy. It won't keep somebody else from writng an article like that, and it won't make the sentiment go away.

Those kinds of articles can't change YOUR enjoyment of cycling, unless you let it.

I saw the humour in it, but it was perhaps misguided.

Anyway what was Richard Attenbourgh doing an article on cycling for? Shouldn't he be in rehearsing the next Jurrassic Park?

The follow up was ok. I suspect he had failed to follow his approach through.

Man, some of you take this way to seriously. Do you spend most of your time stressed out about everything? His follow up had some interesting points in it, as did his original articule. His follow up said MOST Emails called him FAT, or cussed him out. I am sure that cast a favorable light on the cycling community as a whole. His first articule might actually be the view most americans have of cyclists. Maybe changing this perception would be more benifical than ranting about it? it would seem that we see these articules every now and then, but really none of the reverse. Let me ask this, are there no cyclists that write? It would seem the cycling community could come up with an articule to bring to light the cyclist side of the issues. But to work it would have to appeal to non-cyclists. Just some thoughts.

fofa,
What subjects people choose to tackle or what ever "gets them going" should not be open to crticism. If ones opinion on a topic anger's or frustrates them to the point of doing something to inact change them so be it. I do not understand your or anyone else's criticism on given topics. Why is it that there are always those who feel they must interject their negative and sometimes insultting comments on waht affects individuls? So what if people here take it seriously. That is there reaction. I am sure there are topics that you react to and would get angry if someone critcized you for it.
Since you brought it up however you write an article. Apparently there is some kind of motivsation behind the thought. So do it.

The fact that he did the second article about his 1 mile ride, demonstrated that he does, in fact, have a sense of humor. I agree that it is hard to tell when just reading what he writes.

I am inclined to give him a break because he meant the first article to be taken as a good-natured poke at the local cyclists who take themselves too seriously.

As to the remark about the bulls, We local cycle commuters have a tradition much like this in Detroit. It is called Rush Hour. It is played with SUVs instead of bulls, and it happens each morning and evening.

regards
Dan

Originally posted by Chris L
whilever 'the great unwashed' are stupid enough to continue buying and reading it.

I need to know ... is "whilever" a real word? :D

Originally posted by Stor Mand


I need to know ... is "whilever" a real word? :D

It is now.