A local conservative talk show host has riled up many in the cycling community with a post about his disdain for cyclists and their “privilege.”

Here’s a snippet of what James T. Harris posted on his show’s blog:

I do not like bikers. I’m not talking about real bikers, like Harley riders. I’m talking about bicyclists, the privileged weekend riders of Southern Arizona… the real 1%-ers of Pima County.
In his post to complains about a bicycle crossing in Oro Valley and The Loop.
In the city of Tucson, home of car-killing potholes, bikers rule the roost. Thanks to the largess of the Pima County Taxpayer and the visionary misappropriation of tax dollars from county administrator Chuck Huckleberry, cyclists in Pima County don’t have to risk life, limb or rim. They get to ride on the smoothest roads in town!
The post has no option for comments, but cyclists have been responding to the post on Facebook, which is embedded below.

7 thoughts on “Conservative talk radio host riles up cyclists”
  1. Pima County per capita income: $25,524
    Cost of a Harley Davidson: starting at $7,000
    Who’s the 1% again? 
    And in case it wasn’t clear, people ride bicycles on the same crummy and potholed roads that people drive on, with the caveat that we ride in the parts that are covered in broken glass, gravel, debris, and diapers. So, so many diapers.

  2. If you ride in ” parts that are COVERED (a little melodramatic) in broken glass and you know it well that’s just not very smart. Push for a bicycle tax and use the money to sweep the bike lanes.

  3. I am an avid bicyclist and use the Loop trail constantly.  The bicycle trails are some of the best in the world here in Tucson.  I absolutely love them.  HOWEVER, James T. is 100% correct in his assessment of the complete misappropriation of tax dollars.  The streets in Tucson suck.  Those streets should absolutely come first.  There is no way the bike trails should always be in the most perfect of conditions and the city streets literally caving in.  

    This is just a continuation of the mismanagement of the city resources which brought us the worthless street car downtown.  It is all about feel-good liberal policies over the actual correct priorities.  I am glad James T. had the courage to write this.

  4. 4funinthesunaz1 Those are different funding sources, though. Loop was largely built with stimulus funds that could not have been used for filling potholes.
    A bigger issue is that a lot of the taxes collected in Pima County go up to Maricopa and never come back. That’s why the roads are in such better shape in Maricopa County.
    Bike paths are also in better shape because 1) they are generally newer than the roads in midtown; 2) don’t have heavy and fast vehicles hammering potholes into the surface; and 3) might be better designed than a lot of the crummy Tucson roads.

  5. Offroadrider You put CAPs to ‘covered’, jeez, I don’t know why I’m bothering. But broken glass on any road shoulder counts as covered… Please respect others.

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