Slow News Day, Bikes Make 'News' Twice

Must have been a slow day at 9News today as there were 2 bike related stories on the site today. The first one talked about Denver's efforts to promote safe cycling routes by spray painting arrows on the street (see Sharrows story here.)  The second story talked about Denver's new bike sharing program called Bcycle. The city received a grant to promote this program as a pilot with city employees. Now they're rolling out the kiosk style rental units city wide (see Bcycle story here.) The quality of journalism or level of importance of these pieces notwithstanding, the point is that Denver is again trying to promote bicycling as a healthy, sustainable alternative to automobile travel around town. And with all of the environmental, health, fitness and practical justifications for these efforts the anti-bike group of trolls was nonetheless out in force on the comment boards spewing their litany of bike riders are a nuisance bile. There are a couple doozer comments out there in these forums, which I can easily sum up here for you to save you the reduction in IQ from reading them yourself.

• Cyclists never stop at lights or stop signs.
• Cyclists don't abide by any of the rules of the road.
• Cyclists should ride on the sidewalks.
• Cyclists don't pay taxes.
• Obama wants everyone to ride a bike.
• The socialist Dems want us to look like Amsterdam with its bikes, whores, drugs and health care (that one is practically a quote.)
• Cycling is stupid.
• Not everyone can ride a bike so cycling is stupid (see point above).
• I live 45 miles away from work so cycling is stupid (see points above).
• When the end of the world comes the riders of the apocalypse won't be on horseback...guess what they'll be riding...?
• Bike programs are stupid because the "environment is a hoax"...the environment itself that is...another gem of a quote.
• blah, blah I'll just run those cyclists over...teach them a lesson

Its usually at the point where some degenerate threatens, anonymously grant you, to just run them cyclists over that I stop reading the comments. I understand that we Americans have a dark, cynical sense of humor where making fun and ridiculing stuff we either don't understand or don't agree with is funny. But when it comes to threatening violence against someone for a mode of transportation I almost give up...and start looking at homes in Amsterdam...bikes, whores and health care...bring on that apocalypse!