Monday, March 22, 2010
Lance & Tony
Here it is. Lance Armstrong and Tony Kornheiser. I will leave it to you to decide what it means to you. I am not surprised that Mr. K hasn't been on a bike since he was a child. I was surprised that he has a daughter who bicycle commutes to work. Props to Lance for taking up the cause of the 40 yo mothers!
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He was very Patronising and Condescending when Lance Armstrong spoke to him. Lance was very Polite and did not give him a hard time but reminded him of the consequences of what he was advocating and that some Mad Motorists would actually knock down a Cyclist or Tip them as he said and in the process Kill the Person. He rowed back on what he said and said it was a big Joke and he did not mean it.
ReplyDeleteBut time and time again you get Different People in the Media Hate Ranting at Cyclists calling for Motorists to knock them down and Cyclists should not be on the Road .It is not only in the US that you get Nutcases like this there have been a few British Media People doing the same thing Ranting at Cyclists. These are the ones who usually Drive the big Flash BMWs or Mercedes and begrudge and infrastructure being given to Pedestrians and Cyclists.
When confronted by all the Furore from the Cyclists they quickly Recant and say it was just a Joke. But you cannot get away with anything any more when you say it over the Airwaves the Internet and Twitter. This Story has gone Worldwide and it has stirred up a lot of Anger from Cyclists. We are a force to be reckoned with, an International Brotherhood and Sisterhood of loosely Affiliated Organisations Rather like the Quaeda or Taliban only on two Wheels. As Mikael Colvile Anderson of Copenhagenize .com says The two Wheel Taliban.
I notice Kornheiser got very Palsy Walsy with Lance and Sympathised with him over the problems that Cyclists have and generally sucked up to Armstrong.
A lot of the Media basically Hate Cyclists,the Newspapers and Television are Choc full of Advertisments about Cars and nothing about Bicycles. Wouldnt it be a Grand thing if this was reversed,loads of Bike Adverts with Pretty Women on Bikes.
I wasn't expecting much from it and I wasn't disappointed. Lance did a great job of making sure that the discussion never strayed too far off track but he never had a chance to get this guy to admit in any substantive or sincere way that he was wrong and sorry. I doubt that Mr. K is sorry. His silly outburst gave him the power to get the most powerful man in cycling to call into the show from Europe.
ReplyDeletePeople who have spent any time on the air or in front of a camera know how to keep their cool and not say offensive things. When drawn out tirades like that occur, they are planned. Mr. K knew what he was doing, and I doubt he has any regrets.
"We are a force to be reckoned with....like the [sic]Quaeda or Taliban only on two wheels"
ReplyDeleteWHOA!!!
OK, if we're going to get all pissed off at some blowhard joking about running cyclist off the road with his car, then how about a little outrage at comparing the cycling community to a group of sociopath killers? How is that funny? Go watch the videos on YouTube of the Taliban hanging women to death in the Kabul soccer stadium for public dress code violations: yeah, that's hilarious!
Did Mikael Anderson really make that dumb remark about the "two wheel Taliban"? If that is true, then how is he being any less offensive than Kornheiser? (Why didn't he just compare us to Nazi Storm Troopers? Wouldn't that have been cute? )
Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.
Mikael was referring to the reaction some had to cyclists in Dublin as if they were terrorists. See it here, take it up there.
ReplyDelete( Sure, but the quote at the beginning of my post appeared here - see the first post above from our Celtic friend)
ReplyDeleteI just listened to the Lance and Kornheiser conversation.
Adrienne, did we listen to the same conversation? I thought it was a wonderful;it was mutually respectful, and I think it will prove to be very productive. It was quite clear that K knew he had acted like an idiot. He was obviously contrite; he definitely was approaching Lance with his tail between his legs.
One of the first things K said was that the cycling community was "properly offended" by his "rant" and that he had apologized. One of the first things Lance said was "We appreciate your apology and I think that we take that as a sincere apology".
What's not to like?
(May I respectfully suggest that perhaps part of the reason for your disappointment was exactly because of what you said above: "I wasn't expecting much from it...")
I'm looking forward to Lance and K. going on that bike ride together. I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few years from now K. hasn't evolved into a big cycling proponent...but then again, I'm an optimist.
One last thing: I was pleased to hear one of my contentions being validated by Lance, when he said "I heard this in your voice, that you did not mean this, obviously."
Cool...Lance is on my side! Not too shabby.
Andre, I sense that you may just be a wee bit reactive : ) I recognize the symptoms as it is something I have been known to suffer from myself. What you sense as "stupid" from our first commenter could also be construed as tongue in cheek except that sometimes it is hard to get that across on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI did not hear a person who has truly learned a lesson about the trials and tribulations of the average US cyclist, but I did get the sense that he now knows we don't just roll over when people say offensive things about us.
It is a good thing that Mr. K has someone who wishes to see him in a more charitable light than most others do. Please, use that same charitable light for those who post here. I have found them all to have some that I wish to hear. OK, maybe not the porn spammers, but everyone else.
Lance was great!
Hello Andre. Adrienne has explained it all. The quote was referring to two Pictures of Dame Street Dublin back in the 1960ties where a Group of Cars was surrounded by Cyclists ,hence the Quote the two Wheel Taliban Anarchists and Terrorists these Cyclists. The Cars back then were very much in the Minority and the Roads were full of Cyclists.
ReplyDeleteHowever since then the Reverse has happened and the Motorcar was allowed to Dominate and take over. The Car Lobbyiests thought they had a right to the Road and everybody else the Pedestrians and Cyclists had no rights at all.
However since about ten Years ago the Tide has turned again more and more Cyclists on the Road demanding better Infrastructure and the Government Recognising that People need to get out of their Cars. The People were starting to get Obese from lack of Exercise even some Children plus the fact of all the Pollution and the Streets being Blocked.
Any time new Infrastructure is brought in there is widespread Opposition from the Petrol Heads often leading to Outbursts from People like Mr Kornheiser and some Politicians who promote Car Dependency.
Cyclists are often referred to as Terrorists when they Assume dominent Positions in the Road so as to Survive the Horrendous Traffic on our Streets.
One situation, where you are approaching a Junction on a Cycle Lane which is mostly only a dashed Line in the Road if you stay on the lane you are likely to be killed by Traffic turning the corner ,so normally you have go to the right in our case and left in the US to block off Cars from running into you. But Car Drivers do not like this it drives them mad. But if they obeyed the Rules of the Road they would slow down and look for the Cyclist instead of Barrelling around that Corner without looking.
There are other instances where Cyclists literally have to Bend the Rules in order to Survive,that is why Motorists like to call Cyclists Terrorists and Anarchists.
I would like to see the Roads narrowed to accomodate Dedicated Cycle Lanes and more Traffic free Streets. Streets are for People and not Cars,if some Cars are to be allowed then their progress must be Curtailed. Like only Certain Roads for access and then only at 30KPH or 19MPH.
What, me reactive? (Guilty as charged)
ReplyDeleteI was being a little tongue in cheek too. The point I was trying to make (and bungled) was simply that we all can always find something to overreact too if we have a mind to do that. But we don't need to beat this to death...we're all learning.
Bottom line: I think Lance hit just the right tone of concern coupled with good hearted forgiveness. As has so often been the case with him, he gives a good example to emulate.
"l'homme au velo" My "stupid, stupid, stupid" line was just stupid, stupid, stupid on my part. My name might be French but my other half (the good half) is Boston Irish, and shouting off at the mouth half cocked is just a cultural proclivity for us; we get in each others faces that way all time but no one takes it very seriously, don't you know. My sincere condolences on the loss of Rocky.
Thanks Andre. It is last July since Rocky Died he was a great Dog sadly missed. That Blog I tend to forget about it,People could not Comment on it for some reason so I have not posted anything on it for a long time. I got tired of trying to fix it.
ReplyDeleteI try not to Irritate People by my Replies, only post what I feel about something which is Bike Advocacy and what is Funny to some might not be to others. Blogging and Replying to other Blogs is largely a fun thing for me and I also pick up on what is happening e lsewhere in the World of Bike Culture. So there you have it ,do drop by the Bike Blog from time to time you are very Welcome.
Sadly, these are the days we are living in. Hateful rants by the ill-informed. I've been frustrated all week at the attacks against those who voted for healthcare reform. Trying to provide healthcare to children, the working poor and people with pre-existing conditions has been called the work of the anti-Christ and an attack on freedom and liberty. Congressmen and women have been called ugly names and threatened, and I, of course, who supported reform am apparently not an American. I imagine these are the same people who think it just and fitting to run me off the road if I'm not pedaling fast enough. I know we have gone through times like this during other periods in history and the same old questions remains . . . when will we learn?
ReplyDelete