ESPN commentator Tony Kornheiser complained last week about cyclists using roads, and suggested that “tapping” bikers from behind was a reasonable response from motorists. Lance Armstrong was not amused.
“Listening to Tony Kornheiser’s comments/rant on ESPN radio re: cyclists,” Armstrong wrote on his Twitter feed. “Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot.”
Lance Armstrong’s comments from Twitter on Tony Kornheiser’s biker bashing.
Kornheiser’s comments on bikers (included as an audio track on the YouTube clip above) were prompted by news that the center of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, from the White House to the Capital building, may be converted into a bike lane. The lane is part of an expanding network of bike lanes planned for the nation’s capital.
“The last time I looked, the roads were made for automobiles,” Kornheiser said of the plan.
“You get in Rock Creek Park [a parkway that runs north-south through the city], and three or four of these people start riding abreast,” he continued. “I swear to you, it’s all you can do to not run them down…get the hell out of my way!”
Kornheiser reportedly later apologized for the comments and Lance went on Kornheiser’s radio show to talk about the issue.
Andy Clarke, the president of the League of American Bicylists, was anxious about the outcome.
“Kornheiser got all the attention he wanted and so did the show,” Clarke wrote. “That’s what he’s paid to do. He got Lance Armstrong on his show – how cool is that?”
Clarke suggested that such incidents should be handled by talking to the station managers and owners, and not directly with shock jocks who make their living stirring up controversy.
“I probably would have encouraged Lance to call the ESPN owners to say he wouldn’t appear on their networks again until Kornheiser not only apologized,” Clarke wrote, “but also was taken off the air and made to do some PSAs [public service announcements] and public appearances (maybe even in spandex…) at local charity bike events.”
Looking on the bright side, DC cyclists are getting more bike lanes despite Kornheiser’s fear of spandex.
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