Time for some sanity...

If you're reading this, you've probably already seen Zack Colman's article in the State News (Bicyclists need to stay on the sidewalk). Check it out if you haven't. It's causing a LOT of controversy in the cycling community and on Michigan State's campus. (Bike Snob NYC even wrote about it.)

This article really angered me, but it also made me wonder who this "Zack Colman" character really is, and why he would write such a hateful piece as this. After all, he goes to school only a short car ride away from Ann Arbor!

Well I actually contacted Zack through e-mail when someone tried to (prank) subscribe him to the Michigan Cycling e-mail list. Not expecting to hear any reply, I sent him this message:

Zack,

One quick question: it seems like there's some confusion between whether you were being sarcastic or genuine in your article. Could you clarify? Was the article really meant to threaten cyclists, or were you trying to create some sort of strawman for a viewpoint that you don't share?

Maybe we'll see you on a ride one of these days, either on your bike or in your Saturn!

Oh, and also, we have 7 friends in common on Facebook. Small world!

Happy riding,
Brendan Benson

He actually responded within a few minutes, and here's what he had to say:

Brendan,

The fact that anyone could have possibly thought that was open threat is beyond me. I have no idea how. Things can get sensationalized pretty easily, so when my column got sent to a bunch of cyclist forums with the description "HE IS THREATENING CYCLISTS," people undoubtedly read the column with the preconceived notion that it was a threat. All of the writing was sarcastic, and I can't even begin to count how much hate mail I have received — at least 300. How it got to be that this was a threat, I don't know. But it upsets me to no end, and it also puzzles me. I thought the sarcasm was obvious — who would actually advocate vehicular manslaughter? That's the one thing I don't understand.

Haha and you can ask [Facebook friend] about me. I think he would tell you I'm far from a murderer.

-Zack

He also wrote this in a following e-mail in our conversation:

I realize now the word choice in the column was harsh for those who wouldn't detect the sarcasm, and for the many people who have been injured or who know people who have been injured by motorists I am sure the sarcasm was impossible to detect. I was unaware it was such a big problem in the cycling community.

It's relieving to hear that Zack is not the angry person he seems to portray himself as. I'm glad to know he's normal and that if I ever encounter him on a ride, he's not going to run me off the road.

At the same time, I wish he had not published that article. After all, every law-abiding cyclist experiences dangerous drivers, which explains the crazy backlash from the cycling community. Many people on bicycles are injured or killed by reckless driving. In my opinion, sarcastically writing about hitting a cyclist is in poor taste.

Regardless, it's good to bring some sanity to this argument.