New bike lanes in St. Pete

Some riders have been grumbling about the torn-up pavement on 4th and 6th Streets South lately. Well, I can tell you your patience will be rewarded as the city is putting down smooooooth pavement and a fresh bike lane.

It's kind of a shame in a way. I grew to love that bumpy section of pavement as you turn on to Pinellas Point Drive. It was a tiny taste of the Spring Classics.

Comments

[Bill Cotney]

And speaking of the Spring Classics and racing ... come clean, Adam! How'd you do racing this past weekend?

[Adam Newman - Spoke N Word Editor]

Haha, not so well. Guess I better keep training!

[Kimberly]

Hey Adam!

Don't be embarrassed! The bad thing about races is that there is only one first place.

Give yourself credit for getting out there and trying!!!

Rah, Rah, Adam! Go get 'em, Adam. Rah, Rah, Rah!

[Red Light Runna]

I'm still wondering about the horse?

[Mel]

Racing is nothing like doing these morning rides! There is no where near the intensity needed for racing. Even on the "Fish Fry" on Wednesday morning. Most good racers ride alone more than half of the time and almost completely avoid group rides. There are a very small handful of men/women in this area who know how to train effectively for races and do well on a consistent basis.

Oh! And P.S - you will NEVER learn how to train properly out of a book or a magazine. It's all way too individualized.

Red Light Runna - I must have missed something with the horse thing!! ??

[Red Light Runna]

Geez, Mel. Sounds like you have been reading a lot of those magazines about how to be a good racer. How would you know what it is like?

[Adam Newman - Spoke N Word Editor]

Hi folks. I know trash talking is a major aspect of cycling, but if you're going to do it here, I'd rather you direct it towards me, not each other. Otherwise, if you can't say it in person, don't bother. Thanks!

[Red Light Runna]

Don't worry Adam, I tell Mel the same thing every time I see her.

[Mondo]

Dang!
So much for da fun!

[Mel]

I'm standing in a puddle of tears! boohoo. You need me RLR!! Watch it! I've covered you so many times. For example: who took all that gruff from Juan Saintabaldi a few months back when it was YOU who was breaking all the laws!

It would take more than you have in your repertoires to hurt my feelings, RLR...(or anyone else, for that matter). I've been pushed around by the best of 'em.

Thanks anyway, Adam. Is it OK as long as we don't cuss?? :D

It's all in good fun..I'm certain that no one means 1/2 of what they say here. In person, I'm one of the nicest, kindest women in cycling and so is RLR. Except when his buddy comes around to the coffee shop on Saturday's and Sunday's, then he can be down right mean!

[Kimberly]

If people want to talk trash with each other, think about who it effects, and leave innocent people out of it, I'm fine with letting people do it.

Also, trash talkers need to make sure a person, who visits this blog for the first time and isn't into trash, doesn't get a negative impression of cyclists and this blog.

Here's why they could get a bad impression:

In public school, everyone was required to participate in team sports during physical education classes. For jocks, the classes made them feel better during and after the game. For me, during and after the game was miserable because my abilities were deplorable (and still are) at catching, throwing, running, jumping, etc. The only skills I can do well are balance and put one foot in front of the other. I received a lot of put downs for being a failure, for "making my team lose", etc.

It took years and years to get over the way kids on the other team and my team treated me. When I hear trash talkers, I no longer cringe. There are other people with the same experiences.

I understand that you're all friends and it's just a verbal King of the Hill game. But people, who haven't recovered from the way they were treated in school and people who don't know you, would probably get a bad impression of cyclists.

There are other effects, too.

I support all kinds of bicyclists for all the reasons they bicycle. Even though I really don't care about who wins or loses at a sport because of the negative experiences, I do what I can to understand and support the people who compete in races.

Every day, I'm getting out there with my body on the roads educating people about bicycle and motorist laws and safety techniques for bicyclists and motorists so they'll operate safely around you.

I've talked to motorists who have restarted bicycling because they saw me doing it. There's nothing like getting out on your bicycle to get the experience necessary to understand and increase in patience toward on-road bicyclists. That's very good for bicyclists who like on-road racing.

There are things I've read about history, unions, suffragettes, civil rights, etc. that help me understand what needs to be done to make bicycling more appreciated in our area and get more bicycle facilities installed. Ten years ago, we had one bike lane about five blocks long and were lucky to see one bicyclist once a week. That was it. Now look at what St. Petersburg has: http://www.stpete.org/bicycle/index.asp . Go out bicycling on our side streets for a few hours any day of the week, especially weekends, and see all the bicyclists. We were the first city in the county to get a Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, too.

Growing up on a family farm with no brothers helps me understand other things, too. Hey. I was out chasing full grown bulls when I was nine-years-old, and I was even shorter then, too.

Unfortunately, when the bicycle racers start trash talking about how I ride a bicycle, it emboldens the wrong people to devalue bicycling and fight against bicycling. These people don't see any distinction between commuters and racers; they devalue all.

When you recently started talking bad about my bicycling and saying that you disagreed with it, you should have seen the things that some motorists started doing to me. I'd better not tell you everything.

But this morning, a passenger called me the most unique, vulgar thing I've heard in 44 years. ...Not repeating it because we're trying to keep this G rated. I just smiled nicely, waved, and told him to have a great day.

Thank goodness Adam removed all the crud so the wrong kind of people wouldn't have it to read and be influenced by it. And, I'll keep doing what I've been doing, being nice to the motorists, educating and encouraging everyone I see to jump on their bicycles and learn how to operate safely, and looking for ways to assist them. There are a lot of motorists who are really nice, mature, patient people and deserve the assistance:

A lady motorist had a car stalled on Roosevelt Blvd. in a very busy right turn lane. No one else was helping her. I stopped and pushed her car off the road as she steered.

I bought St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area maps because of encountering so many lost motorists.

Recently, I said "hi" to a motorist at a stop light. He was obviously stressed out and needing to talk. So, I had him pull off in a parking lot to see what I could do. He had been unemployed and looking for a job for over a year and was getting really distressed about coping with the finances and other things. (Gee. This is a situation I really understand!) I gave him info about www.211.org , the St. Vincent de Paul Food Center, and ideas for how to reduce expenses. Who knows. Maybe it will help prevent him from trying to jump off the Skyway and a LEO from having to try to talk him down from it.

There are more things that I can do to pay motorists back for the good things they do when I'm out on the roads.

[Kimberly]

Oops. Don't want to give wrong impression.

There are a lot of people who have worked together to get the bicycle facilities and other things in St. Petersburg: Cheryl Stacks, Joe Kubicki, many people who probably don't want me to name them, a lot of recreational and commuter and racing bicyclists, etc.

Even though we don't all agree with some things, we do agree that we have more stuff.

[Enhancement Smoker]

Geezus, lady. Get your own blog!

And by the way Mel: "I'm one of the nicest, kindest women in cycling and so is RLR". Snap! You just called Red Light Runna a woman. Ha ha ha

[Red Light Runna]

I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. Maybe we can all cuddle at that light on MLK. I know Mel and I cuddle all the time. STOP BEING SO SENSITIVE!

It is hard enough dealing with Mel. Oh, and by the way...get your own blog! Your rambling on gives me gas!

[Mel]

hahahah! Yep! We're in trouble AGAIN! Expect that these comments will b e delted within the hour, RLR!

Snap! wt? Dude, that's so 80's! I'll bet you still have your Wham album!

Wake me up before you go go cause I'm not planning on going solo...Wake me up before you go go take me dancin' tonight!!

Trash talking is a big part of cycling. Again, it's all in good fun. Cycling is NOT a sport for sissies! If you can't take the heat, trade in your Huffy for a tennis racket!

[Enhancement Smoker]

Wham! album or no, you still called RLR a woman. That's funny; is it a Freudian slip? Conflicted feelings?

[Mel]

Red Light Runna is NOT a woman, I can assure you of that... QUIT QUESTIONING GENDER here, OK??!! There are much more serious issues to be addressed here on this blog like women being raped on back roads, horses (?), new bike lanes in St. Pete and Lance's come back to racing. darn it...

[Thee Hare Krishna]

I want to cuddle with someone

[Kimberly]

Talking trash is good-natured fun among competitors on an equal footing.

But, there's an etiquette to it.

It's abusive and unsportsmanlike to do to people who are not at the same level. It hurts the sport because it drives away new entrants who have the ability to improve and become competitive.

You don't see major league ball players trash talking minor league players.

John Sinibaldi, Sr., was in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics and was riding in the Training Ride until his mid-70s. Remember how well he treated people who were not at his competitive level?

[Mel]

That's why, if you notice, it's mostly me & Red Light Runna picking on each other. And I'm sorry, but if some yahoo gets on here and makes a comment so dumb that it deserves a smack in the back of the head, then by god, they're gonna get one from me! I can't tolerate stupid. Sorry.

I fully expect that if I post something that opens myself up for a jab, then I'm prepared to take the lumps. Like whats name up there who said I called Red Light Runna a woman. OK. Ya got me! No biggie.

[Kimberly]

If it's only between Red Light Runna, you, and other people who similarly want to talk trash, that's ok with me. Do it among yourselves.

Unfortunately, innocent people have been dragged in by making crude remarks about them as you insult each other. They’re dragged in because too many Americans have been taught to be afraid of or to look down on people who are not in their culture or socio-economic group.

Get out talking with people so you understand what their lives are like and why they do what they do. Yes, sometimes they are making bad decisions. But other times, they are dealing with factors that you don’t have to deal with and they’re making the best decisions they can considering the factors.

Example: speaking in degrading terms about homeless and low-income people.

[Kimberly]

Here are things I've learned about homeless and low-income people.

The economy has been getting worse. There are people in Pinellas in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s who lost their jobs and can't find another one or have finally found a job but at much lower pay.

The only reason these people still have a place to live, have a car, are being looked up to, etc. is because they're being supported by parents or are charging everything to credit cards.

But parents are losing jobs, living on fixed incomes, acquiring expensive illnesses, etc. The parent piggy bank is almost ended. If these 20s through 50s don’t don't start giving up some of the things they have, they’ll be homeless, too, and with hideous credit card bills they’re unable to pay.

Due to lay-offs in Pinellas, we've got constant foreclosures. I heard that 30 families are becoming homeless each week in Pinellas.

My parents and their friends were children in the Great Depression when unemployment was double digits, 24.9% in 1933. They didn’t make derogatory remarks just because a person was homeless.

[Kimberly]

Then, there was the insulting comment trash talkers made about boat people. Some boat people are Haitians.

I worked in Haiti for eight years, the last six years in a school for Haitian children who couldn’t afford to go to school. The courtesy and respect most Haitians show to other people makes a lot of us Americans look like social clods.

Pretty much without exception, the most important thing to Haitians is their families. It’s not money, cars, houses, ipods, or any other object. The only reason they jump in a boat is because the Haitian economic and political situation is so terrible.

I have a lot of stories to tell that would help Americans understand why Haitians risk death in a boat rather than stay in Haiti.

Feel free to ask me to tell you some of the stories.

If trash talkers want to be derogatory to anyone, they’ve got each other. I haven’t heard of any animals getting upset by what is said, either. However, the PETA people might start asking for your address.

[Kimberly]

And concerning using old slang....

Here's some really old slang from the 1930s that you'll want to keep out of the trash talking:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma04/hess/Slang/slangmenu2.html