dont get me wrong, i believe in freedom of speech, but this is over the top…
i am from chattanooga and we just lost a local cyclist that did so much for chattanooga being struct by a truck. i moved to savannah and a local cyclist here was hit by a van, thankfully hes doing ok other than looking like he got in a bar fight. but then just yesterday (march 19th) we got an email that a local radio DJ from a station in Birmingham AL, was advocating hitting cyclist… below is the email…
Today (Thursday )on WJOX 94.5 Birmingham (around 11:50 AM) one of the DJ’s advocated hitting cyclists with cars. He said “I wish people would hit them, just clip them and send them flying over their handlebars.” The context was he was angry with cyclists riding in the road. I have called the station and have been put thru to voice mail with nobody responding. Maybe with added voices an apology and clarification will be achieved…
**PLEASE… PLEASE… PLEASE… LETS CALL TODAY, E-MAIL OR BOTH AND SHOW OUR DISGUST WITH THIS ATTITUDE AND COMMENT. **
**** JOX 94.5 FM WJOX
244 Goodwin Crest Drive
Suite 300
Birmingham, Alabama 35209 Business Office: 205.945.4646
Studio: 741-9450 or 800-239-WJOX (9569)
Fax: 205.945.3999 Program Director
Ryan Haney
Sales Manager
Lenny Frisaro
Promotions Director
Jennifer Dickson EEOBELOW IS A LINK TO THE ROUNDTABLE SHOW
I’m in. I live in Atlanta, know if of the station b/c I went to college at Auburn.
I know a bunch of folks that listen to the show, I’ll try and figure out who said it (Ian or Lance) and if I can get a better context of the entire topic.
Yeah. I got this. I live here in Birmingham. Nobody really listens to testicle (terrestrial) radio anyway so I doubt this got to too many people but hearing this I hope the guy that said it dies in a fiery crash.
I would be up for going down to the station and beating some ass if anyone else wants to.
A few weeks ago Rush Limbaugh made a comment about cyclists on his program. (Let me be clear) He never said anything as drastic as what is referenced above but I got the impression Rush isn’t very pleased with the cyclists in his town. I wanted to call the show and remind him that George Bush is now an avid cyclist.
Rush was complaining about “drunken beach bums on their bikes” - dont confuse that with cyclists.
Whoops, for some reason my reply didn’t go through.
Thanks for the clarification. It is dangerous for me to go by my feeble memory alone.
Didn’t hear the part where he was talking about the drunken beach bums. That would drive me crazy.
don’t be snide. I was out with a couple people on Sunday and one got clipped by a Honda Accord. He didn’t go down, but he has excellent bike handling skills.
If you would like to really pursue this, let their advertisers know how you feel.
I’d need to listen to the comment, or read a transcript. But if what you say is true, send the comments to the advertisers and ask them why they are sponsoring road rage. Nothing will get a station manager’s attention like advertisers pulling their support. Just knowing we are going after the advertisers will get the station’s attention.
If the advertisers are local, STers from out of town would have no effect. But if they are national, I’d be glad to ad my voice to your cause.
i just called again, and they told me the same (sounds like they are getting some calls on the subject), it was being taken care of internally…
this probably means congrats to the dj who’s increasing attention to their station.
here’s my take:
if you get all huffy, you wind up helping the guy with his ratings. all pub is good pub. so why not make into good, pro-bike pub?
show up at this guys office when he’s leaving. try to have 20-30 bikes there. let him drive his car in the middle of a peloton for a few blocks. get some horns, bells, etc. if possible, have a spare bike and let him do a few laps around the block with you.
Aside from Oak Mountain, I have not ridden outside since I moved to Birmingham 2 years ago, mainly due to the general population’s poor attitude toward cyclists. It also doesn’t help that no one knows how handle a car around a cyclist here. My fiance has been run off the road, had stuff thrown at him, had people sic their dogs on him, called every name in the book, been threatened when he tried to approach them about their poor driving, and even chased by a little old lady mad at him for ‘blocking the road and making her late to church’.
The moron on the radio just ‘helped’ these people feel that they are in the right to treat cyclists like nuisances; they will be hearing from my fiance and I.
Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know that www.alabamacyclingnews.com is on this as well. The guy that runs the website is a friend, and he has been working hard for a long time to make cycling safer around Bham.
The DJ who said this is a very close friend of mine. I was out west on vacation when I heard the news. My family eats dinner with his family at least twice a month and I can tell you that he is not a malicious person. The show is an ESPN syndicated program that has the best ratings in Birmingham. Lance knows of my athletic prowess and how hard I train and travel and is always asking about it and supporting me. It’s never what you say, it’s how you say it. People hear what they want to hear and although what he said was wrong, he followed it up by saying “as long as they wouldn’t get hurt”, still wrong, but he has two young children and is a great guy and feels horrible that he caused this mess.
I train quite a bit in Bham from the Tuesday Night Worlds, to the saturday rides from Mtn. Brook, Oak Mtn, and my tri-team rides from the Narrows/Mt. Laurel. I’ve been clipped quite a few times and have even thought of packin a little 2 shooter Derringer with me. If this had come from anyone other than Lance, I would be f-in pissed and ready to beat some ass. BUT, please take it from a loyal STer, he is a wonderful person and surrounds himself with some of the most influential pillars of our community.
I would however like to get his skinny ass on a bike and try to raise some money for cycling awareness. I would like some brain storming from those of you who are passionate about this and I will personally spearhead the endeavor. He is pretty fit for a guy who doesn’t workout yet, I think it would be great to dress him up in spandex and put him out on the back roads of Alabama to raise some money…I’m all ears.
Instead of him feeling horrible shouldn’t he come out on his show and said something like “hey, people, so and so day I said this, and it’s wrong. We HAVE to share the road with cyclists blahblahblah… I apologize to the cyclist community blahblah… Let’s not use our cars against them or throw things at them, it’s their right to ride, and they can get hurt blahblah…”?
Ok- so you know him, he trusts you - how about you and some of your biking buddies get to his house in the morning (or his work as he leaves) with a bike ready, and hopefully some photographers. Like you said, get his skinny ass on a bike - not just to get him fit but to show him what it’s like from teh other perspective.
A similar incident happened in Portland, Oregon in 2006. The DJ made some stupid, ignorant comments (mainly targeted at the hipsters that run red lights/stop signs) but, he redeemed himself by actually going for a ride downtown to get the perspective of a cyclist. I still listen the show regularly and when I do long runs I download the podcasts.