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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

In defense of bicyclists

Last week, I wrote about Zack Colman's anti-bicyclist column in The State News, the student newspaper of Michigan State University. Today, I point out a rebuttal column by State News copy editor Scott Myers that was published Monday.

Myers' column is written in the same style as Colman's original column. For example, here's the opening salvo:

White 2009 Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno.

That’s the bike I ride — and if you’re a motorist on the road and plan on running me over, I hope you have a good lawyer, because I might sue you.

Intentionally.

Because you see, with all these dangerously inattentive motorists on the road nowadays, doing things like changing songs on their iPods, sending text messages while driving or falling asleep because they can’t get enough sleep to function on the same schedule as 90 percent of the rest of the world, I’m tired of getting run over.

And, considering I’m exactly where I should be, I’ll win the case.

Not surprisingly, Myers' column got a lot of praise from the cycling community, at least judging by the comments. It also got a lot of comments from the anti-cyclist crowd, complete with the stereotype that all cyclists disobey traffic laws because a few do. While some cyclists do disobey traffic laws, so do some motorists.

As for the original Colman column, word about the column has spread far and wide. The League of American Bicyclists even has included Colman's column in its Trash Talk feature. "In what we can only hope is a sorry attempt at satire, the author says that bicyclists should get off the road. If they’re not in bike lanes or on sidewalks, Colman promotes distracted drivers running over bicyclists with “big, people-killing cars” to show who rules the road," LAB pointed out.

Labels: advocacy, Michigan, newspapers, safety

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:38 AM

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bicyclists need to stay on sidewalk

I'll give Zack Colman credit for one thing. At least he has the courage to put his name and photo to asinine comments about bicycling.

Unlike most of the clowns who post comments anonymously or under fake names on newspaper articles about bicycling, Colman didn't hide his identity in a recent column that appears in the State News, the student newspaper for Michigan State University. Here's what he said about bicyclists:

Black 2001 Saturn SC2. That’s the car I drive — and if you’re a bicyclist on the road but not in a bike path and you see my car, I hope you’re wearing a helmet, because I might run you over.

Maybe not intentionally.

But you see, with all these things I can do in my car nowadays, such as choose a different song on my iPod, send a text message while driving or fall asleep at the wheel because I had to wake up for a worthless 8 a.m. biology lab, I might not notice you.

And, considering you are where you should not be, I might hit you.

Not surprisingly, the column has drawn a lot of comments. Mary Dougherty of the League of Michigan Bicyclists is urging people to e-mail Colman and set him straight.

In the column, Colman is under the mistaken idea that bicyclists should ride on sidewalks rather than streets, where they have a legal right to be in Michigan. In many Michigan communities, it's illegal to ride a bike on sidewalks. It's even illegal to ride bikes on sidewalks on Michigan State's East Lansing campus!

Here's another choice nugget from Colman's attempt at writing a column:

Bicyclists on the road are a driving hazard to people in automobiles, since many bicyclists make turns without using hand signals and ride too close to other vehicles when there is no designated bike path.

For example, I was driving to work Tuesday when a bicyclist pulled up in front of my car in the right lane on Farm Lane going northbound where it intersects with Shaw Lane. There is no bike path at this portion of the road, and I needed to be in the right lane to avoid the left turn only lane, but the bicyclist was in the way.

Some will say I could be more patient on the road.

But roads are for cars, not bicyclists. The bicyclist should not have been in the car lane.

Some people have come to Colman's defense, saying that it was intended to be satire. If it was, it was a pretty poor attempt. I speak from experience. I once attempted satire while I was still a college student writing for the Southwestern Journal, a weekly in Brighton, Ill. I failed miserably. Satire is a difficult form of writing to master, and satire clearly isn't one of Colman's strong suits.

I hope Colman learns from his mistake and grows up to be a responsible columnist.

Labels: advocacy, Michigan, newspapers, safety

Roger 3 comments links to this post 2:18 AM

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Own a piece of history — and an example of my handiwork!

The Belleville News-Democrat, like an overwhelming number of U.S. newspapers, sold out Wednesday because of the election of the junior senator from the great state of Illinois, Barack Obama, as president of these United States.

In response to that, the News-Democrat is selling commemorative items to mark the historic election.

You can download the Nov. 5 edition of the News-Democrat, including the historic front page reporting Obama's win, by going to the News-Democrat E-Edition. For $1.50, you can download the entire Nov. 5 edition, but that offer is only available through Tuesday, Nov. 11.

You can purchase a commemorative item showing the front page of the paper reporting Obama's win by going to The BND Store. Posters, sweatshirts, polo shirts, baseball jerseys, bags, cups, even beer steins are available — for prices as low at $11.99, and each item will show the front page reporting Obama's historic election.

In case you haven't figured it out, I designed the front page of that particular edition. While a lot of papers went with big, impressive poster fronts, which you can view at Newseum's front page archive from Nov. 5, we decided to put other stories on our front page that were important to our readers in addition to the big news about Obama. I was happy with the page.

And in case you're wondering, no, I do not get a commission if you buy one of those nifty commemorative items!

Labels: Belleville, newspapers, politics

Roger 0 comments links to this post 2:28 PM

Monday, June 23, 2008

Back from the Katy Trail

As you can see, the Missouri River keeps on rolling along -- albeit a bit higher than normal -- along the Katy Trail.

Yes, I did ride the Katy Trail last week. I hope to have the full article up on the Web site later this week, but here's a brief summary.

In some ways, it was the kind of ride where everything that could go wrong did. For example, I wasn't happy to find out that when I got to Hermann, Mo., last Monday that I had left my towel and comb at home. Ugh.

At our final camping spot in Liberty Park in Sedalia, a heavy thunderstorm blew through town and knocked down my tent, drenching everything in it.

And yet, it was a rewarding ride. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources does a first-rate job of supporting cyclists, and it's hard to top the Katy Trail for scenery in this part of the world. The bluffs near Augusta and Rocheport are very scenic, but I also found the rolling plains between Sedalia and Clinton rewarding as well.

Flooding on the Missouri River did force a couple of detours, as I expected, but the flooding on the Missouri is nothing like the flooding on the Mississippi right now.

I really didn't have the opportunity to find Internet access during the trip, and that was a blessing in disguise. I found I really needed to take a break from the Internet, e-mail and blogging. I spent way too much time on this computer this spring because of organizing work I did for the Tour de Stooges and The Gerry Frierdich Road to Recovery Bicycle Ride, and it was great to spend time on a bike!

My mountain bike made it through the trail OK, although I probably would have been happier on a lighter hybrid or at least with less-aggressive mountain bike tires on the crushed limestone surface on the Katy Trail. I do now have a name for my mountain bike, a Raleigh -- Behemoth!

Another reason I was glad I didn't access e-mail or the Internet last week was because the parent company of the Belleville News-Democrat, McClatchy Newspapers, announced that it was eliminating 1,400 jobs nationwide through layoffs, voluntary departures and attrition. The News-Democrat will be cutting 12 jobs. I am grateful none of them are in our newsroom, but I feel for those who will lose jobs in other departments.

It is discomforting when you think about the troubled state of the newspaper industry. Recently, fellow bicycle blogger and journalist Jill Homer reported in her Up in Alaska blog that her newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, is indefinitely cutting retirement benefits.

Yes, a week away from reality did do me a lot of good!

Labels: bicycling, Katy Trail, Missouri, newspapers, tours

Roger 1 comments links to this post 11:51 AM

Sunday, February 24, 2008

My 'baby' sister in the news

About a week and a half ago, I gave kudos to my older sister, Teresa Parod, for her new Web site featuring her artwork. Now it's time to give some props to my younger sister, Karen Brooks.

Karen's picture was on the front page of Sunday's edition of The (Alton, Ill.) Telegraph. Photographer Jim Bowling caught my sister in the act of tying balloons to hand out to visitors on Saturday afternoon for the Toddle Towne Learning Center’s 20th-year reunion on Humbert Road in Alton. Karen has been a nursery teacher at Toddle Towne for 14 years.

Anyone who can put up with preschoolers eight hours a day for 14 years deserves a lot of credit in my book!

It's the second time that Jim has taken a photo of someone in my immediate family, and it's the second time the photo was on Page One. Back in 2005, my mom, Jean Kramer, attended an event honoring Charley Kevilus, an Alton man who has cerebral palsy, but makes a living collecting aluminum cans in the Alton area. Both my mom and Karen, collect cans for his business.

Even though I'm a hardened veteran of the newspaper business -- I can take it or leave it if my name's in the paper -- I still get excited when someone in my family makes the paper.
Way to go!

Labels: family, newspapers

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:43 PM

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Belleville dog is Numero Uno

The world's second-most famous beagle -- sorry, Snoopy remains No. 1 -- was bred and born right here in Belleville, Ill.

Tuesday night, Uno won Best of Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

"We knew from the very beginning that he is a special one," Uno's breeder and owner, Kathy Weichert of Belleville, told the Belleville News-Democrat before the win. Weichert owns K-Run Kennels in Belleville. "He is the kind of dog every breeder dreams of producing. There is no other way to put it. He is what you strive for."

The Page A1 I designed for the News-Democrat was a bit of a headache because the award wasn't given until about 10 p.m. CST Tuesday. I'm supposed to have our first edition Page A1 out by 11:30 p.m. Plenty of time, right?

Not really.

We had one picture taken Monday already in the slot, but I was hoping for a photo from that evening to put in there. The photos from The Associated Press didn't start trickling in until about 10:15. I had picked one of Uno howling after his victory, but I was hoping for something better.

The photo we ended up using came about 10:40, but there were a few problems. One, the original photo was a horizontal photo, and the photo had to be a vertical because I had no time to do a completely new layout. Two, Uno's genitalia were clearly showing. Three, Uno's handler had one of his hands very close to Uno's crotch.

I took a few moments to crop the photo to what I needed and rushed it to our pre-press department for toning to make sure it reproduces correctly on our printing press. Many thanks to Jill Beiter for taking the late photo and working so quickly to get it right.

It took a few more minutes to make final crops to the photos and cuts to the stories to make everything fit. It was 11:05 p.m. before I could print proofs for my copy desk colleagues for our last chance to catch mistakes before they go to print. There were other deadline pages that also needed to be proofed, so I did let go of the page until 11:34, four minutes late.

After deadline, several of us had a late drink at the Blue Agave club in downtown Belleville. One of my colleagues, Dale Parker, seemed really excited about the beagle's victory.

"They ought to put a statue of the beagle on the Public Square!" Dale exclaimed. "They should have a parade for the beagle!"

Given that it doesn't take much for Belleville to have a parade and that they're well-attended by the public -- people chain lawnchairs to sign posts more than seven hours in advance of the city's annual Shrine Circus Parade in June -- I would not be surprised to see Uno atop a Belleville firetruck cruising down Main Street.

Labels: Belleville, dogs, newspapers

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:24 PM

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Post-Dispatch Tour of Missouri preview

Today's edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an eight-page special section about the Tour of Missouri.

As an employee of the Belleville News-Democrat, it's not every day that I recommend that you buy a competing newspaper, but you really should if you're a cycling fan.

You can get most of the information in the special section online, but the print edition of the guide is well-designed and packed with lots of good information, maps and photos. It'll be handy to have around as you follow the race.

Other Missouri newspapers also had stories about the Tour of Missouri today. These included

• (Springfield) News-Leader
• (Jefferson City) News-Tribune
• Kansas City Star
  

Labels: Missouri, newspapers, St. Louis, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:41 AM

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Cyclists like safety push in bill

This topic -- the effort by California cyclists to get state lawmakers to pass a bill that would require motorists to give cyclists at least 3 feet of clearance while passing cyclists -- normally belongs to the expertise of Fritz's Cycle-licious blog.

But the reason I noticed this front page today was that a copy of it was hanging in the Belleville News-Democrat's newsroom. We're looking at front pages from throughout the country to get ideas for refining the look of our paper.

(For you newspaper junkies out there, there are slight similarities between the look of the San Jose Mercury-News and the News-Democrat already. That's because the same person, master newspaper designer Deborah Withey, led the redesigns of both newspapers several years ago. The newspapers share a common tie, the GriffithGothic family of fonts.)

As you can see, the Monday edition of the Mercury-News has a graphic illustrating what the law means. Just click on the image to see the front page in more detail (PDF file), and then you can read the full story.

Several states have approved similar laws to what is being proposed in California, but the bill faces stiff opposition.

Opponents, including the Teamsters Union, worry that drivers forced to swerve around cyclists would place themselves on a collision course with oncoming traffic, especially on narrow roads.

"The bill puts drivers, particularly commercial drivers, in a very difficult place since you're expected to keep a certain distance from bicyclists, and bicyclists are not required to keep a certain distance from you,'' Barry Broad, a lobbyist for the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, told the Mercury-News.

Labels: cycling, newspapers, safety

Roger 3 comments links to this post 12:53 AM