Bicycling Madison Style: As Dumb As It Gets

You know what they think of us in Milwaukee - Madison is populated with tree hugging, tofu snorting, sandal wearing (winter too), calcified hippies who do not know the 60's are over.

I defend our city, mightily.

Until this week.

Readers of Waxing America know I pedal with the best of them and am the first to protect the interests of bicyclists against aggressive drivers, errant dogs, and dangerous street litter and potholes.

The bicyclists who braved the week's second storm should be taken out and shot. Spare them and the poor driver, when they skid on treacherous streets and slide under the wheels of a truck delivering fresh vegetables.

I will give them a pass on the first storm. Not because it was not forecasted (it was), but because every one gets a little giddy and reckless with the season's first major storm.

As I drove by the bicyclist on University Avenue and then the one on Park Street, it became evident that Milwaukee is right. Madison, as a community, needs some guidance. Confirmation of all this was clear as I headed up Glenway and saw city crews meticulously plowing the bike path at the top of the hill.

Guys, the one hundred block of Standish Court looks like the start of a new ice age, glacier included, and that was before tonight's storm.

As for the idiot on the moped on Mills Street, causing a 28 car back up as he crawled along at 3.7 MPH, I'd like to take the business end of my snow shovel and replace his seat.

None of the bicyclists were wearing those stylish clip-in sandals.

Comments

[Mauricio Babilonia]

I bicycled to work today, so I guess you'll just have to take me out and shoot me, asshole.

[Dan Sebald]

No dumber than sliding downhill on a cafeteria tray... whooooooo00000!

[Peter Gruett]

I think there are a few people in this town who, for whatever reason, don't realize that a bicycle is not an all-weather vehicle. I've had that horrible knot in my stomach, driving at night in a storm and noticing a bike in exactly the wrong place just in time not to slide into him. I suppose you've gotta go where you've gotta go but the buses offer better protection at least until the city can expose the pavement again.

As someone who lives near the path on Glenway, I'm glad the city cleared it (though the cross-country skiers who'd been enjoying it may not be). I hadn't had time to get to my sidewalk immediately Sunday morning and ended up having to attack it with an ice-chipper and a spade-shovel. If the city hadn't cleared the path when they did, it'd probably still be a skating rink.

[ME2]

Isn't there a UW professor working on a snowmobile that runs on healing-crystal energy? Hey, at least you guys can use your dream-catchers for snow shoes. ;)

[Emily]

Bicycling down a snow-and-ice covered street? Pretty dumb. Bicycling during the winter in general? Pretty dedicated and awesome, if you ask me.

There's a difference between the idiot who slides down a busy street and the person going to and from work via (thankfully) plowed bike paths. You should try a little harder to see that distinction.

[mad as hell]

"I think there are a few people in this town who, for whatever reason, don't realize that a bicycle is not an all-weather vehicle."

And a 2 ton SUV spewing out Carbon and other particulates, gobbling up gallons of gasoline to take one fat ass down to the convenience store for his beer and potato chips is?

a cyclist may be putting his or her life in danger but that person is not threatening you or destroying our planet.

[Boots and Snitchens]

I hope Brian Blanchard doesn't sic the cops on you for online trash talking like that idiot in West Bend.

[Martin]

Actually, the bicycle *can* be an all weather vehicle. As someone who did so for years, I can attest that riding around in the Wisconsin winter with the same tires and other equipment you used during the summer months, isn't a the best idea. That said, with the proper tires and technique, you can easily, and safely, navigate Madison's roadways - and without impeding traffic.

I commuted on Madison's streets year-round for eight years before moving to DC for two years. In all of those years the only accident I had was during the month of June. I've just returned to Madison, and with my studded snow tires once again installed, will be out slogging to and fro with the rest of you. Feel free to drive, walk, or take the bus on those days when you think biking isn't the best option for *you*, but perhaps you'll consider not being so divisive in your commentary - that is, since you seem to consider yourself a cyclist of such high esteem.

[nonheroicvet]

While idiots exist in all forms of transportation there is nothing to compare with an idiot on a bicycle in a snow storm. Those who say they have the right to cycle under such circumstances should know they have a real risk of being splattered by someone who can't see them. The problem isn't cyclists - it's idiots.

[Peter]

You know, some people ride their bicycles for a living. Maybe they should just collect unemployment money from the government rather than work. And those businesses that rely on bicycles should go out of business, too. And all the poor people who can't afford a car, who live too far away for effective bus service, they should just stay at home, get fired from their jobs, and try to live off food stamps.

Here we see the beauty of blogs. Now we can publish anything we want before we use our brains and think about it first.

[james wigderson]

Maybe we should impose a wheel tax on bicycles during the winter months to pay for the clearing of the bike paths.

Just trying to help.

[not paul]

Paul, Really ???

Remember gun control ? Now you want to shoot your fellow cyclists because some of them don't follow lockstep with your nuevo fascist mindset de jour ? I wonder if your rant might serve as justification for . I dunno , dooring a cyclist over on Speedway or head slapping another one on Bedford.... BTW, how have you outfitted your winter vehicle, with winter specific tires to keep you from inconveniencing anyone for even a second I hope, cause anything less would be an unconscionable dereliction of cicvic duty, and grounds for being shot....

[Michael J. Cheaney]

When Wisconsin gets around to socializing healthcare, Will my tax dollars be funding you morons who think its a good idea to cycle in the snow?

[james wigderson]

Does re-oiling the bike chain to get rid of the road salt contribute to global warming?

[Lyle]

Why would people with healthy lifestyles be a burden on your tax dollars? If anything, the health problems stemming from sedentary complainers is keeping my insurance premiums high. The fact that this discussion is even taking place is an affront to common sense. If you think riding a bicycle in the winter is a bad idea....don't do it. But you should consider putting your energy toward complaining about something with more merit than those who happen to have a higher tolerance for "inconvenience" than yourself.

[Dar Ward]

I don't think it is ever appropriate for anyone, especially someone who has a great deal of public influence, to ever suggest that ANYONE be taken out and shot. Never mind that some would say that those DRIVING CARS in recent conditions are the ones truly putting others in danger.

Not funny, not funny at all.

[Melanie Foxcroft]

After all the gas is depleted, alternative modes of transportaion such as biking will not be ridiculed or its proponents insulted by the likes of you. Biking is a very legitimate mode of transportation. Try it, you may avoid another heart attack. I biked to work Monday and Wednesday of this week. Think of all the pollution I did not create by biking instead of driving a car or truck (SUV). If you think global warming is not real, and that you and I cannot do something about it, or that biking in all weather is not a legitimate mode of transportation, then you are not worthy of respect. Assuming you able to move past your anger and irrational position, go read up on biking in Amsterdam or other bike-friendly cities. Learn how encouraging communter biking can lower city taxes by requiring less ploughing of huge swathes of roadway to accommodate unrealistic and pampered motorists. Including yourself.

[Kathryn Kingsbury]

Um, don't you think it's a bit inadvisable to be *driving* in these conditions? If you're so convinced you're going to skid into a cyclist, it seems just as likely that you'll skid into a pedestrian, an automobile (I lost count of how many cars I saw yesterday with no lights on), a lake or a building. So do everyone a favor and stay home during storms. Think of it as a public service, and add it to your resume.

[Flynn]

How is it that *so* much vitriol is aimed at cyclists who do little harm other than endangering themselves for a cause they feel is just, yet we shrug helplessly when some person in an SUV runs over a pedestrian or cyclist, slapping them with a moving violation at best?

Listen, the very fact that this blame-the-victim opinion would come out of the mouth of the mayor of one of America's most liberal cities shows how out of control our car culture is.

You're driving a 2000+ lb. vehicle. It can squash a human like a gnat. Deal with the responsibility associated with it and don't blame the source of your cognitive disequalibrium. If a driver loses control of their vehicle and squashes a cyclist, maybe *that* driver shouldn't be out in those conditions, hmm?

[Yucca]

Paul Soglin = (Cheney + Grandpa Simpson + Bush) - George Will = Aggressive, crotchety idiot, albeit liberal

[David]

Such compassion, Mr. Soglin. Let's murder people who are engaging in an activity that benefits themselves, society and the environment. What a great idea! Not to mention that encouraging people to get into a car for safety reasons is like suggesting that people take up smoking for health reasons.

[Charles Robinson]

You are a true fucktard for posting a rant like this. Take your SUV and ram it up your bunghole.

[Escape]

I would like to remind everyone that bicycles are NOT traffic obstructions. We ARE traffic. Bikes have equal rights on the road with all other vehicles.

[cyclomaniac]

Fat, grumpy, intolerant ex-mayors ought to be shot. Get some exercise, asshole.

[Michael J. Cheaney]

Melanie Foxcroft said:

If you think global warming is not real, and that you and I cannot do something about it.....

And the 1st thing that those of you who REALLY believe that global warming is real, is get off your Damn Bicycles.

Do you people have any idea just how big your carbon footprint is just by riding one?

you have the aluminum or steel which is stripped from the earth.

It is then shipped to the factory to be processed. (thisinvolves the use of fossil fuels)

The it is processed into coils, which are then shipped to another facility to be made into bicycle parts.

Then it gets shipped yet again to the bicycle factory, where it is assembled into a bicycle.
It then gets shipped to a warehouse where it sits in storage, until some store purchases it.
Then it is shipped to said store until somebody who IS STUPID ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE DOING THE ENVIORNMENT A FAVOR BY RIDING A BICYCLE While forgetting all the environmental damage that is done to make it a bicycle FINALLY BUYS IT.