Friday, May 16, 2008

Give My Regards To Your Grandmother

5/18 update - I happened by this intersection yesterday. There is no sidewalk - a clear indication that our DJ friend Andy has a different set of issues that he's transferred to a battle between his 4,000lb vehicle and a someone else's 10lb vehicle. I hope you get those fixed soon Andy.

In case it matters - I think it sounds like the cyclist failed to perform the legally required yield when riding a bike in a crosswalk. Of course I find the rest of the language disturbing.

Andy - radio DJ @ HOT 104.7 - words spoken on the morning show, May 15. Download mp3 from this page.

I'm getting up on my soapbox...

I'm going to torque off a couple people here but I really don't care. Here's the thing. It's just one of these, 'I think somethings dumb, other people think it's awesome.' One of those things. The only difference is I'm on the radio so I get to tell the world about it and they get to call and yell at me.

Yesterday I'm driving home from work. Pull off the interstate off I-229 at Cliff to turn right. I get to the bottom, it's a red light...

6:30, sunny day, nice day.

There's a little bit of traffic left over from rush hour coming down Cliff and I'm just waiting for my opportunity to turn right at the red light and a Lance Armstrong wannabe, wearing a yellow jersey and biker shorts and a helmet with one of those little doctor things that hangs down...a mirror.

Back when I was 12 and rode a bicycle I would just look back, but anyway.

This guy crosses the street in front of me. I have no problem with that, he's trying to get to the bike trail. Instead of getting up on the curb, you know, OUT OF THE STREET...you know, when I was 12 my mom told me don't play in the street. Instead of doing that, he camps out in the middle of my turning path. Waiting to cross Cliff Ave to get over the bike path.

And I was losing my mind. Now granted this is a small thing to be upset about. BUT STILL, I'm driving a 4,000lb car, you're riding a 10lb bicycle. Get OUT OF THE STREET.

I guess there's some law in Sioux Falls that you can't ride on the sidewalk. I didn't know that before and someone called an yelled at me last time I complained about bicyclists but at least keep up with traffic.

...

So this guy is just sitting there and I am staring at him waiting for him to look. He didn't have enough time because he doesn't have an engine - to cross the street. I, have a motor and can turn into the right lane. The problem is all the traffic coming from the north on Cliff is all in the left lane. So I could have turned right into the right lane as soon as I got there. But this clown is camped out right in my way. If I had gone I would have hit him. Well, I'm not going to get a ticket for vehicular manslaughter or getting 50 points for smoking a bicyclist. But still, if you're waiting to cross the street I think you're allowed to be up on the curb with your bicycle.

Ok, and I'm not, I know this is like bicycle town USA in the summer with our 800 miles of bike paths that's fine. Tomorrow is ride your bike to work day which I'm going to do but mines going to have a motor. Yeah, I'm riding my bike to work. It's still better mileage than a car.

All I'm asking bicycle guy in your pretty tight shorts, showing me every curve of your butt...I was only staring at is because I was like "if I had a bee bee gun right now, he would be yelping and calling the cops."

...

Call #1:

But they're not a car. That's my problem. They're like my grandma in a car. That's what bugs me. Bicyclists are like old people driving cars. Either throw a motor on that pedal-bicycle, yeah they're not a pedestrian, but yet they are riding a pedal-bike. They're using their feet, which I believe is where the ped comes from. That's why you go to a podiatrist when you got a bad foot. You're a pedestrian not a car.

When they're going down the street and they're keeping up I have no problem with them. But when they're going slow in front of me and making me...that was all he had to do was get up on the curb, get out of the way and let me turn. If it would have been a car in front of me well then I'm just screwed.

4 comments:

Glanzer77 said...

The most disturbing part of this whole post is that you were listening to HOT 104.7 FM. Is your I-Pod battery dead?

Kidding of course.

G

KCJeff said...

So, it would have killed him to wait?

mytzpyk said...

Someone alerted the FAB forum. The show is podcasted. I listened to it on my iPod.

Here's my note to Andy:

Andy:

Thanks so much for your thoughts on bicycles in Sioux Falls. Very enlightening. I've listened hard to your arguments. I have a few thoughts.

How was your motorcycle ride to work? Do you wear a helmet when you ride? I toured J&L a few weeks ago with my fourth grader. Our guide ran down a list of essential gear to have when riding a motorcycle. You think bike shorts are weird? How about all that leather in 80+ degree weather? I guess there are things about motorcyclists and what they wear I don't understand. I do know that motorcyclists and bicylists share some of the same roadway concerns.

It sounds like your bicyclist friend performed a left turn from the right lane by first stopping in the intersection and waiting for clearance. This seems to violate the law that "bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as all other vehicles." I agree that your frustration is valid.

Please know the legal definition of a vehilcle does not care if the vehicle has a motor.

I do have some jabs for you. Your willingness to talk about your understanding of the law without bothering to even read up first- makes you sound incurious. Like George Bush.

Your request that the cyclist take to the sidewalk doesn't work. There is not a sidewalk in that spot. To get to the sidewalk a bicyclist needs to cross Cliff Ave. If you'd like to petition the city to put sidewalks on both sides of all streets you'd become a big fan of a lot of people.

Finally, your talk of using a gun in your situation - really sucks. Even if it is just a bee bee gun.

Thanks Andy. If you'd like to have a couple local cyclists on your show sometime I could get you a couple pretty quickly. They'd be smiling, happy and entertaining but would still encourage you to, you know - come here and say those things to my face - instead of our lycra covered asses.

CoalesceKid said...

This same situation was going on with one of the local news stations as well, if people want to open their mouths and show what CroMags they really are then let it happen... im sure Andy enjoys living up to his NeoCon image. Congrats to him.