Killing the Bicycle Buddha

"Tony Kornheiser is an idiot. And that’s fine, because Tony Kornheiser is paid to be an idiot: He’s a sportswiter and commentator for ESPN, and it’s his business to entertain. I spent many years in radio, so I know entertainment sometimes means provoking people. Kornheiser is pretty good at that. Now and then, he goes too far. These episodes usually culminate in an apology, a slap on the wrist from management, and robust ratings.

I’m really not here to drag Kornheiser through the mud. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has already taken care of business. He called out the ESPN host, extracting a rather comprehensive mea culpa for a rant last week in which Korneiser went off on cyclists and suggested motorists “run them down.” As a fulltime commuter cyclist — I haven’t driven a car since last June, and rely upon bicycles for transportation — I found Kornheiser’s comments to be repugnant.

Here in the United States, bicyclists and motorists are still learning how to share the road. It’s an awkward and sometimes tense state of affairs. The last thing we need is a broadcaster giving some unstable motorist justification for aggressive behavior when they pass a bike during rush hour..."

What we can learn from a blowhard

But I also found Korneiser’s rant instructive, because it gives us some insight into the unreasonable motorist rage we cyclists sometimes encounter on the road. Washcycle, a DC-based bicycle advocacy group, has prepared a rough transcript of Kornheiser’s remarks. Here are his basic complaints:

* Cars are losing lanes to cyclists in congested areas
* Bicycles have no legitimate place on the road
* Cyclists ride “three or four abreast”
* Cyclists look stupid in their bike clothing
* Cyclists are poseurs
* Cyclists deliberately impede traffic
* Cyclists are deliberately rude to motorists"

Read more of "Killing the Bicycle Buddha," by Chris Baskind,  here.