Time to add my two cents worth, in brief fashion ...

NPR is not a bad thing; Marvin Kalb is not necessarily a bad person (I've never met him personally, have you ?). Mr. Kalb expressed his opinion (our constitution guarantees that), an opinion which was TOTALLY UNACEPTABLE to me and to many others like me, on a LOCAL PROGRAM which aired on NPR. Once again, in my opinion, NPR is a good thing (let's not begin to compare NPR with the miscreants at Clear Channel).

Understand please, that I am a longtime bicyclist, recently "re-born" into cycling and bicycling advocacy while getting into bicycle commuting; I would consider myself to be "EXCEPTIONAL" in the class of motor vehicle operators. That said, I will share two stories - (1) in the city where I live in Northern IL (population @155,00), I have twice driven up behind the same group (about 12-15) of lycra clad cyclists, riding high end aero bikes (I'm pretty certain that this group of bicyclists is affiliated with the local bicycle club !!!), on a two way heavliy travelled secondary residential street with parking lanes in both directions - a wide road in either direction (lanes separated by double yellow lines). As I approached the group from their rear, they were travelling 4-5 wide, 3-4 deep, occupying the entire lane (including parking lane); both times, riders in the rear looked over their shoulders at me more than once, but but did nothing to move the group into a narrower formation so that I might go on by them - they rode like this for about 3 or 4 city blocks, before they turned onto another road. (2) I operate a motor vehicle and have begun commuting a little in Madison, WI, long held as a very "Bike Friendly" city. On MANY an occasion, when I am driving in Madison, I experience what I have to term "kamakazee" bicyclists weaving dangerously in traffic, cutting dangerously between vehicles stopped in traffic, blowing through red lights in heavy traffic, moving from street to sidewalk to street (in and out of parked cars) trying to get ahead of traffic.

The type of bicycling behaviour described above is what causes operators of motor vehicles to become angry with bicyclists, and promotes motor vehicular retaliation and resentment of bicyclists; this is what leads stodgy old opiniated folks like Marvin Kalb to say what he says, and causes others to harbor similar if not more severe feelings towards bicyclists. There's good and bad in everything, but we (bicyclists) need to worked just as hard to police "our own", as well as to voice our opinions to Mr. Kalb and to those responsible for the "local" Washingotn radio segment which aired Mr. Kalb's opinion.


msm