The Reader Makes a 180° Change
Posted By Sam Ollinger on December 29, 2010
Nearly a year and a half ago, a (now former) staff writer, Josh Board, for the San Diego Reader wrote about wanting to attack the cyclists who chose to attend the monthly critical mass rides. In the article and subsequent comments, (which were pulled from the website – the link above is a cached version maintained by a BikeSD reader), the sheer hatred devoted toward cyclists was nothing short of jaw dropping. The fact that cyclists rode on the streets en masse for a few hours once a month on a Friday evening constituted at best, a minor inconvenience. But the venom with which Board and his cohorts devoted to planning to injure innocent cyclists was extremely inhumane.
I along with many others wrote to The Reader decrying the hate speech being promoted by Board.
At some point between the publishing of that article and the subsequent retraction of the article, the writer, Josh Board, was fired as a staff writer.
Now, nearly a year and a half later, The San Diego Reader has a cover story about San Diego’s growing bicycle scene.
San Diego Reader Cover Story on the San Diego Bicycle Scene. Image from the Reader
And maybe, just maybe, if recent stats can be believed, the time of the urban biker is nigh. According to Kiplinger’s magazine, Gen Y-ers, the biggest generation in U.S. history — 80 million strong — aren’t buying cars as they used to. Drivers aged 21–30 now account for only 14 percent of miles driven, compared with 21 percent back in 1995. They’re more willing to catch the bus or train. But are they riding bikes to work? Back in 2006, SANDAG (the San Diego Association of Governments) estimated that only .03 percent (point three of one percent) of San Diego county commuters were bike commuters. Compare that to Copenhagen, where nearly 40 percent bike to work. Then again, in ’06, Critical Mass attracted only about 35 riders…
The article covers our local “Freddies“, our bike polo scene and the risks and thrills that go with riding in a city that is blessed with perfect cycling weather (despite our current steady drizzle).
I, for one, commend the Reader on both letting Josh Board go and for trying to redeem itself with San Diego’s growing bicycling community. It is nothing but a step in the right direction
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The new Reader article by Mr. Bill Manson is excellent. It really does the San Diego bike movement justice.
However, it’s important to note that former Reader writer Josh Board didn’t just ‘want’ to attack cyclists, he actually did it:
‘I took the gum out of my mouth and threw it at one rider. Then I picked a rock up off the ground and hit another. ‘
I notice with some amusement the Reader managed to publish a multiple page article about cycling in San Diego without reference to, or quotation from, Kathy Keehan of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. How’d THAT happen?
It’s even funnier because I can see her in the cover picture. She’s the one in the yellow helmet on the folder with the front wicker basket.
Manson’s piece is misinformed and inadequately researched. There are a number of factual errors and misconceptions that will unfortunately be parroted by uninformed readers. It’s too bad; this could have been an opportunity for an excellent article. It does go to show how arcane cycling still is in the eyes of the average person.
Not to mention poorly written and juvinille in perspective.
Actually, I would say that the “Reader” continues to print out crap articles that fill pages while helping them sell ad space.
I know there was no particular ‘attack’ in this article, but it was, to me, not a redemption piece but collection of rambling misconceptions.
Don’t put too much stock into this and stay focused with your connections at Forward Magazine, etc and making this blog a legitimate source of cycling information.
My post that preceded Everett’s was deleted. I commented that the Reader article was poorly written and researched and that many of the misconceptions presented therein are sure to be parroted by the misinformed. I am prepared to refute the misconceptions point by point.
wpstoll: Apologies, it was inadvertently deleted last night (easy to do as WordPress gives no confirmation when comments are deleted in admin mode).
wpstoll, did you present your debunking of the article’s factual errors anywhere on the web? I’d be interested to read it, if you’re moved to post here or elsewhere.
I posted a lengthy and complete correction on sdbikecommuter.com in the Bike Advocacy thread. There’s no reason to take up so much cyberspace by reposting it here. Needless to say, it did result in the usual slagging I get for being overly “pedantic,” but my response was not unsolicited. Several posters to that forum asked me to specifically comment on what was wrong with the article. If a high school student had handed this in as a term paper it would have earned a failing grade for poor research, not to mention the several mechanical errors. I don’t apologize for being thorough. I have no patience for imprecision of verbal expression.