Also, thanks so much for the Bob Mould song as the song for the week! I used to listen to Bob and Husker Du “back in the day” and was very pleased to rock out with him a bit once again!

Thanks for a well-written and well-considered blog post. I re-listened to my story on the death at the Tour da Chicago, and while I stand behind what I said in general, I think that I should clarify a few points. I will do that here, on your blog, and on my next show.

First of all, I think we need to separate the issue of this race from the larger issue of traffic laws, especially since Mr. Manger-Lynch’s death was reportedly as a result of cyclists not following the most basic of laws (i.e. running a red light). So let’s talk about the race first and then we can discuss traffic laws.

I still believe that this so-called race (and others like it) should not continue. The simple fact that cyclists run red lights at breakneck speed just to win a meaningless event should have given someone a clue that a catastrophe like this was bound to happen. And it is bound to happen again. On that I hope we can both agree.

As for Mr. Wilson’s comments, I took them as presented by the local TV station in Chiacgo so I don’t know what questions were asked to elicit these responses or what answers were edited. So is it possible that they were taken out of context? Possibly, but I do know that there were two parts to his comments and that I tried to make this clear in the way I edited the piece. If it wasn’t clear, then I will endeavor to do a better job in the future.

In the first part of his comments, Mr. Wilson says that it is ‘an injustice’ to blame the victim because our culture is ’so imbedded into auto use and the convenience of autos that we are willing to let our friends and loved ones be killed.’ This is a totally specious argument when applied to this case. It implies that the SUV driver and/or our entire so-called car culture is to blame for Manger-Lynch’s death. Is it really fair to heap blame upon the SUV driver who was following the rules of the road and had no warning about a renegade bike race that was about to cross his or her path? Is it really fair to blame our car culture for causing the death of someone who chose to flout the laws and, thereby, disregard his own safety? I don’t think so.

The second part of Wilson’s quote talks about the inequity of traffic laws and it is here that I think we have some common ground. Wilson says, ‘the laws don’t reflect the liability of the vehicle.’ On this matter, he is absolutely right.

As you know, I’ve been doing The FredCast for over two years and I have talked time after time (and will continue to do so) about the attitude of motorists and the lopsided nature of our traffic laws. How many times have we all heard about a case where a cyclist is seriously injured or killed by a motorist’s inattention or negligence, and the motorist gets a slap on the wrist? How many times have we, as cyclists, felt that our lives were endangered by the careless, negligent or intentional actions of motorists?

The simple fact is that we need laws that make sense, laws that protect the rights and lives of cyclists, and a government and law enforcement community that understands the dangers we face as cyclists. I wholeheartedly agree with the League of American Bicyclists and their desire to add that additional E. As someone who has the ears of a great many cyclists, I will continue to talk about these matters on my show and to encourage my listeners to become involved in bicycle advocacy.

I hope that clarifies my opinion on this race, on Mr. Wilson’s comments, and on my ideas about our need for equality under the law. I welcome additional comments and would welcome Mr. Wilson on my show if he is willing.

Thanks for your comments and for listening to the show.

All the best.

David

This year’s Astana team has eight Discovery riders out of 30 total – but it has fifteen Astana riders from last year. That’s 50% Astana, 27% Discovery. Management is the same – some old Astana, some old Discovery. So overall, Astana 2008 is much more like Astana 2007 than any Discovery lineup.

I don’t have anything against Levi – he was just on the wrong team at the wrong time. A punisnment of a team shouldn’t be dropped because they signed up a popular, likeable rider.

If you’d like to contribute to the conversation in the future, please use a legitimate email address. It gives your comment more credibility and allows a real interchange of ideas.

Despite the above, I will respond to your comment.

The ban on caffeine by the NorCal High School MTB league is about the use of the substance DURING an event. They found that athletes were using highly caffeinated drinks (such as Red Bull) on the last laps of their events as a way of increasing their performance during the event. Their argument was that if they allow a practice such as this to occur, it creates the mindset among the kids that it is okay to use performance enhancers period. Hence the comment about caffeine as a gateway drug.

As old fashioned as it may sound, I believe that it is our responsibility as adults to mold our kids into becoming good people and, in this case, to understand the meaning of sportsmanship. Learning that the in-competition use performance enhancers is unsportsmanlike, unfair, and potentially unhealthy (no matter how innocuous those enhancers may seem), will serve these kids well later in life.

Now for the obvious argument against what I am saying. You are bound to ask me if I use caffeine, sugar, alcohol or any other performance enhancing substance in my daily life. The answer is obvious, but a distinction can and must be made. I am not using those substances to gain some sort of unfair, prohibited, or against-the-rules advantage in a competition. This distinction is, I believe, what makes your argument moot.

This isn’t a matter of waking ‘people up in the middle of the night [to] make them perform their sport when they’re groggy.’ It is about teaching kids the right, moral and fair way to live their lives and compete in sport. If this means that they have to refrain from using caffeine DURING the competition, then I am all for it.