Precision Pedal

https://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/k...02/070902.html
This bold writer has given his e-mail addy at the bottom so lets all e-mail him and e-mail him often.

velocipedio

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?

wabbit

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.

ljbike

He bills himself as a humorist?

Precision Pedal

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.

Amir R. Pakdel

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.

bikerider

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

You could knock me over with a feather.

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.

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.

Chris L

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.

LittleBigMan

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.

Nobby

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.

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

Harry

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:

Chris L

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.

RacerX

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:
https://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/kprc/20...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."

orguasch

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

orguasch

Hope he dies soon, or somebody will ride over him with a bike

Anders K

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

ORBIT

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.

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.

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.

oceanrider

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?

Stor Mand

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.

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. https://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!!!

Hunter

Biking blues come from seat, not heat
https://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/k...02/071402.html

naisme

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.

Nobby

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

Thanks for the update, Hunter!