Small town Texas mayor thinks you’re dangerous

[GuyContinental]

I’m sorry, genetics already got even with that guy… wowza

[ebubar]

Wow…there are no words…

[Mark Blacknell]

Kenny Powers says “Forget you guys!”

[PotomacCyclist]

Wig or nature? That is the question.

(But at least the guy’s column was state in a reasonable, non-hysterical tone, unlike some columnists we’ve read elsewhere.)

[jrenaut]

I think it’s important to read things like this – insane or no (and don’t get me started on Texas), this guy represents the way a lot of people think. So when you’re out riding, you have to be aware that some people are like this. It doesn’t matter how many points he gets wrong in his misinformed and entitled screed – if he runs you over with his car, it’s still bad times.

So, assume everyone wants to kill you, channel Dirt, and have fun out there.

[rcannon100]

I have a good ol’ friend down in Bulverde. So I gave him so grief and he responded….

Surely you know that Jeff Foxworthy comes to our neck of the woods for redneck material!

[Drewdane]

I think his hair is dangerous.

[krazygl00]

Certainly not the worst anti-bike op-ed written. Misinformed? Yes. But I don’t detect any malice (assuming he is accurately portraying what happened in his “incident”) which makes it head and shoulders over other opinion pieces I’ve read. He falls into the “those guys in spandex joy-riding the expensive bicycles” trap. But he also acknowledges that cyclists have a right to ride in the road. This is the type of person who is at least reachable by some informed outreach/education. I don’t think he should be jumped on too hard.

And, I have to admit there are some roads I simply won’t ride on because they fit the description in the article and for precisely the reasons he cites. Fox Mill Rd. in Oakton for example; there is just no shoulder on that road. Check out the google street view of it. I tried once or twice to make a lunch loop out that way and just gave up. Any amount of car traffic at all is going to quickly back up behind a cyclist, and there is always car traffic there. Yes I have the right to ride there. But do I really want to ride with 5-6 cars stacked up behind me getting impatient? No. There are better routes.

[consularrider]

I took a look on Google maps, where the mayor was complaining about having cyclists is one of the few crossings of of US 281 which looks to be a four lane somewhato-limited access highway. In addition, it appears to other crossing may be busier roads and aren’t all that close. It looks more like somebody don’t cotton to them dagburn ELITE, spandex wearing cyclists ruining his town. Kinda like some folks out in Loudoun County, VA.

[Amalitza]

@krazygl00 50309 wrote:

Certainly not the worst anti-bike op-ed written. Misinformed? Yes. But I don’t detect any malice (assuming he is accurately portraying what happened in his “incident”) which makes it head and shoulders over other opinion pieces I’ve read. He falls into the “those guys in spandex joy-riding the expensive bicycles” trap. But he also acknowledges that cyclists have a right to ride in the road. This is the type of person who is at least reachable by some informed outreach/education. I don’t think he should be jumped on too hard.

And, I have to admit there are some roads I simply won’t ride on because they fit the description in the article and for precisely the reasons he cites. Fox Mill Rd. in Oakton for example; there is just no shoulder on that road. Check out the google street view of it. I tried once or twice to make a lunch loop out that way and just gave up. Any amount of car traffic at all is going to quickly back up behind a cyclist, and there is always car traffic there. Yes I have the right to ride there. But do I really want to ride with 5-6 cars stacked up behind me getting impatient? No. There are better routes.

I disagree with your first paragraph.

The last thing we want to do is to start ramping up citations for the littlest infractions to get you to notice.

He is the mayor. This is a threat.* Cyclists can stay out of my town willingly, or I’ll drive you out. I detect malice.

*(A legal threat, at least, not a physical one, so there’s that. Though if I understand his explanation correctly, he passed the cyclists without crossing the yellow line, staying within a narrow lane, and “had to pass them quickly” –translation; he gunned it– which is NOT safe, whatever he may say about “no close calls”.)

I understand, and in theory agree with, your second paragraph, but unfortunately we have to deal with real roads, not theoretical ones. In reality, if you do not live in an urban area there are often not very good choices of routes if you want to get from Point A to Point B. Much of suburbia is built on the cul-de-sac concept where you can’t get anywhere useful by staying on residential streets, while rural areas have either narrow, shoulderless, winding roads or multi-lane divided highways and not much else. And then there are the areas that used to be rural, the population has significantly increased but the infrastructure hasn’t kept pace, (*cough* PGCounty *cough*) so you get the old rural, narrow roads with heavy commuter traffic they weren’t designed to handle, and no better alternative.

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