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Dear Urban Cyclists: Go Play in Traffic
The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 2, 2011 | P.J. O'Rourke

Posted on 04/02/2011 6:48:43 PM PDT by OddLane

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To: Melas
Sorry, I'm a roadie. :-)

Cheers!

101 posted on 04/10/2011 6:45:01 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Melas
I love Cannondale, myself, but the family has a several Specialized bikes too.

I'll have to tell you sometime of how I got my Cannondale "hybrid" and how my son literally ripped the cranks off of his mountain bike.

Cheers!

102 posted on 04/10/2011 6:59:06 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers
Holy moly!

Over a hundred replies in response to an op-ed about bicycles.

This must be some kind of record.

103 posted on 04/10/2011 7:13:56 PM PDT by OddLane
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To: pnh102
Except that in most places roads are funded through fees and taxes directed specifically at drivers.

In Texas I know for a fact that is not true, and I strongly suspect that most everywhere else, roads are paid for from the general fund. Furthermore, you incorrectly assume that either one is exclusively a cyclist or exclusively a motorist. Even if a cyclist owns a car but never drives it, all of those fees and registration are paid for by the individual who is also a cyclist. If anything the amortized costs of those registration fees are more than made up for because the cyclist uses far less space and has zero effect on the pavement.

Cyclists, unless run-over and injured by hatefilled Freepers with their 3/4 ton pickup trucks fitted with grill guards, are less burden on the health care system than the typical burger chomping motorist. Cyclists aren't killing people on the roadway by cycling drunk or texting instead of driving, yet motorists routinely jeopardize others by their careless behavior. Bicycles also don't contribute to road wear and pot holes, nor to smog. So from a social economic standpoint, motorists are costing cyclists in increased road-repair, health and energy costs. Where is the love?

I simply believe that users of the roads should pay for them

The city often spends tax money on parks, baseball and soccer fields, pools, ice-rinks, community centers, July fireworks, children's exercise programs and a vast host of other recreational venues and activities. So its OK when you use the tax-payer paid park or library without paying a "user fee", but somehow its sinful and evil for a cyclist to use a tax-payer paid roadway to go to work or the store. That is a remarkably bigoted view towards a class of people.

You pretend that only privately owned passenger vehicle operators use the roads. How do you think products get to the store? Magic? How do kids get to school or to any of the aforementioned tax-payer paid for "free" recreation venues? Teleportation? How about Emergency services? Trash pick-up? Should elderly people and the handicapped who are shut in be refused the mail, paper delivery, sanitation, emergency services because they aren't making regular contributions to the roadway through vehicle registration taxes? All of Society benefits from paved roadways, and it is silly to assume that roads are only for you.

Why aren't you throwing rocks at people who ride the bus? According to you, they aren't paying their fair share. And why aren't you all up in arms whenever a teenager hits the streets with her friends going to the mall? They aren't paying road use taxes since they don't own or rent property. Why don't you get outraged when kids play basketball down in the cul-de-sac? Same roadway, they are using it for recreation and yet you aren't screaming at the top of your lungs demanding that they get the hell off the street unless they pay tribute.

Are you out on the city or state limits ready to shake down any out of state driver who might just happen to use the roads but not buy something as they are just passing through? Is there pent-up rage towards the operator of a Volt or Leaf?

Nah, its just better to hate some anonymous stranger who is innocently pedaling along minding their own business. For all you know that cyclist might be pedaling to work while many motorists are just tooling around shuffling their offspring from one taxpayer paid for "free" recreation venue to another.

104 posted on 04/10/2011 7:52:26 PM PDT by The Theophilus (Obama's Key to win 2012: Ban Haloperidol)
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To: grey_whiskers

I can forgive you for being a roadie. ;)

I had a carbon fiber road bike until recently. I rode it twice a year so decided that I should part with it. Now all of my road riding is on a Cannondale Bad Boy. Not as light, not as fast, but more like riding my mountain bike on the pavement.


105 posted on 04/10/2011 8:49:34 PM PDT by Melas
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To: tanknetter

Yep, a Santa Cruz dual suspension. I noticed it the minute my wife walked in the room. Amazing how that works.


106 posted on 04/10/2011 8:50:51 PM PDT by Melas
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To: grey_whiskers

Do tell. I can listen to bike stories all day.


107 posted on 04/10/2011 8:53:41 PM PDT by Melas
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To: Melas
OK, it's when I lived in another state, and there was a 20-mile bike trail. My wife and I were doing some late-season riding (October), and were towing the cubs along in a Burley. In this state, the wind shifts to blow in your face no matter which way you're riding; and I *swear* that when we reached the 20-mile point and turned around, the wind shifted directions for the sole purpose of continuing to taunt us by blowing in our face all the way home.

Anyway, after the ride, we were pretty worn out, and we stopped a C-store for carbs and such. The bikes were on a cheapy rack on the back of the car. We hear a scraping CRUNCH and ran out. Yep, some clown had backed into our car.

And yes, I *do* mean a clown. It was right before Halloween, and the driver of the other car was in a clown suit. Obviously on his way to a party, as we were nowhere near Washington DC.

After we got the insurance information, we surveyed the damage: despite the fact our car had been hit so hard it had left skid marks on the ground, it was undamaged. As luck would have it, all the damage was to my new Cannondale R800.

Well, after yanking around the insurance company, they agreed to give the price of a USED bike of that age. But that's when the bike shop stepped in, and appealed to Cannondale, who has a pretty good replacement program. However, since this was a rural area, the bike shop wasn't officially an authorized Cannondale dealer. So Cannondale hedged: they sent a replacement frame, but required the dealer to salvage all our old components, cogs, shifters...

And, as luck would have it, since it was so late in the season, Cannondale didn't have the exact frame anymore, so they gave me a free upgrade to the next higher frame, the R1000. So I had the Shimano 105 components from the R800, on the R1000 frame. A "hybrid" if you will.

And it's the same main road bike I'm riding today in events (MN Ironman, MS 150, etc.)

Cheers!

108 posted on 04/10/2011 9:32:43 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers

Wow, seems like everything went your way. There is nothing as satisfying as a free upgrade. I still treasure my off-road bike just to hear comments about the lefty fork. I can’t count the times that someone has insisted that it can’t be safe.


109 posted on 04/12/2011 8:35:13 AM PDT by Melas
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To: warsaw44

“I ride in Boston. Spring, Summer and fall every day”

If you fall every day, then you should wear a helmet, or maybe get some training wheels... ;-)


110 posted on 04/12/2011 8:44:42 AM PDT by CJ Wolf (I like it that FR still spell checks "obama")
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