Mike Tomalaris is an idiot

[Gags]

"DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> The second point would also apply to motorbikes, but in my experience
> abuse is very rare because most motorists would be very aware of the
> potential results. They fear a motorcyclist, but they don't fear a cyclist
> (or at least think they can take off).
>

I would debate that last point about not fearing a cyclist.......I have had
quite a few guys give me a heartfelt apology once I caught up to them at the
next set of lights. My personal favourite was a young P-plater with his
equally young mate who decided it would be a good idea for the guy in the
passenger seat to scream in my ear as they went past in a fairly flash car
that I assume belonged to his dad. This was on Lower Plenty Rd while I was
going up the hill towards Watsonia. I was about 50m or so from the top and
as I knew that the lights on the other side of the hill at Rosanna Rd
usually stayed red for a while in peak hour I smashed myself up and over the
hill and saw the car stopped at the lights. The guy had moved across from
the left lane to the far right lane (I assume he was hoping that the traffic
would deter me??) and as I was rolling up to the passenger side the
passenger window went up!! I leant down and told the guy in the passenger
seat that if he didn't wind down the window I was going to snap the mirror
off and kick in the door. Funnily enough he wound down the window and I
proceeded to ask him if he thought he was Fcuk'n funny?? Surprisingly,
neither he nor the driver did think they were funny and they were very
apologetic. When I asked them to tell me why I shouldn't just kick in the
door a bit they came up with the classic "my dad would kill me" line - I
ended up leaving the car unscathed but I did have a bit of childish revenge
by squirting my water bottle on the kid in the passenger seat. A "grown up"
in another car who had seen the whole thing gave me a big smile and a double
thumbs up. Hopefully it may have deterred that pair from doing that sort of
stupid thing to cyclists!!

These days I am a bit more laid back and generally try to avoid chasing down
arseholes who are in obvious need of an attitude adjustment. I usually
resort to the side to side shake of the head that means "what a fcukin
idiot" or the "point at the offending ******** and waggle my finger from
side to side" trick that I have perfected on my kids over the
years.....everyone loves being treated like a kid!!!

Gags

 

[scotty72]

This is true.

I've twice felt the need to chase down morons (usually, I'm laid back but, everyone snaps occasionally).

Once was a couple of teens in daddy's new BMW who thought it would be funny to throw a plastic coke bottle at me. Fortunately, the passenger's aim was as good as his sense of humour. They sped off and were surpised as anything when about a km down the road I caught up. At first, they were all bravado and testosterone. The tone quickly changed when I grabbed my pump from the frame and explained that daddy wouldn't be happy with a broken window and scratches all down the side. They said how sorry they were.

The other was in Sydney city when a cabbie decided to plough through the group I was riding with. Chased him for about 2 kms through the outskirts of the CBD. Caught him, showered him with my water bottle through the window. He got out, pushes were exchanged. Keys were grabbed and threatened to be thrown down a drain.

Cops turned up and cabbie was delayed, and therefore out of pocket about 90mins. I was in no hurry and so felt the stack of fares he'd lose was worth my time.

Scotty

"DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> The second point would also apply to motorbikes, but in my experience
> abuse is very rare because most motorists would be very aware of the
> potential results. They fear a motorcyclist, but they don't fear a cyclist
> (or at least think they can take off).
>

I would debate that last point about not fearing a cyclist.......I have had
quite a few guys give me a heartfelt apology once I caught up to them at the
next set of lights. My personal favourite was a young P-plater with his
equally young mate who decided it would be a good idea for the guy in the
passenger seat to scream in my ear as they went past in a fairly flash car
that I assume belonged to his dad. This was on Lower Plenty Rd while I was
going up the hill towards Watsonia. I was about 50m or so from the top and
as I knew that the lights on the other side of the hill at Rosanna Rd
usually stayed red for a while in peak hour I smashed myself up and over the
hill and saw the car stopped at the lights. The guy had moved across from
the left lane to the far right lane (I assume he was hoping that the traffic
would deter me??) and as I was rolling up to the passenger side the
passenger window went up!! I leant down and told the guy in the passenger
seat that if he didn't wind down the window I was going to snap the mirror
off and kick in the door. Funnily enough he wound down the window and I
proceeded to ask him if he thought he was Fcuk'n funny?? Surprisingly,
neither he nor the driver did think they were funny and they were very
apologetic. When I asked them to tell me why I shouldn't just kick in the
door a bit they came up with the classic "my dad would kill me" line - I
ended up leaving the car unscathed but I did have a bit of childish revenge
by squirting my water bottle on the kid in the passenger seat. A "grown up"
in another car who had seen the whole thing gave me a big smile and a double
thumbs up. Hopefully it may have deterred that pair from doing that sort of
stupid thing to cyclists!!

These days I am a bit more laid back and generally try to avoid chasing down
arseholes who are in obvious need of an attitude adjustment. I usually
resort to the side to side shake of the head that means "what a fcukin
idiot" or the "point at the offending ******** and waggle my finger from
side to side" trick that I have perfected on my kids over the
years.....everyone loves being treated like a kid!!!

Gags

 

[[email protected]]

On Jan 17, 5:14 pm, "Theo Bekkers" <[email protected]> wrote:
> So what is the experience of the 50cc engined-can't-do-more-than-60 scooter
> brigade. Do they get harassed by motorists?

Speaking with my scooterist hat on (as compared with my cyclist,
driver or motorcyclist hat), I can say that I've had no trouble. My
scooter is actually electric (yes Theo, the carbon emissions!) but
falls in the same category. It may be that I live in a country town
where most drivers are pretty laid back and the speed limit is 50kph
anyway (also the scooter's top speed, limited by the no load speed of
a permanent magnet DC motor more than anything else).

I did have some trouble when I first got the scooter as despite the
optimistic speedo indicating 50 I discovered the actual speed was
43kph. I had two incidents of unsafe overtaking by frustrated
drivers, but after some spirited negotiations with the dealer (and
they in turn with the Taiwanese manufacturer) a replacement controller
was forthcoming which boosted the speed to about 55kph and all has
been well since.

I prefer to bicycle to work and I'd rather SWMBO rode the scooter
instead of driving the car. I've only been hassled once on a bicycle,
returning home down a slight hill doing 50kph a car heading in the
opposite direction lobbed two water bombs which stung like a *******.
I think it was a year 12 muck up day thing, but I would gladly have
beaten the snot out of the arseholes if I'd thought I had any chance
of catching them.

 

[DaveB]

Gags wrote:
> "DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> The second point would also apply to motorbikes, but in my experience
>> abuse is very rare because most motorists would be very aware of the
>> potential results. They fear a motorcyclist, but they don't fear a cyclist
>> (or at least think they can take off).
>>
>
> I would debate that last point about not fearing a cyclist.......I have had

That's funny Gags, because in my post i was going to say "except when it
is Gags chasing you down" recalling a hoon swerving at us near Doncaster
one day and then taking a left at the lights when he realised his red
light left you enough time to catch him. But I think the point still
remains valid. They have still done stupid things to you as a cyclist,
the fear has come after that when they realised it may have some
consequences. Whereas on the motorbike they don't do deliberate stuff in
the first place.

DaveB

 

[blah]

On Jan 16, 3:03 pm, Elmo <[email protected]> wrote:
> percrime wrote:
> > Jono L wrote:
> >> Elmo Wrote:
> >>> He may have an opinion that you disagree with but it's no reason to
> >>> call
> >>> him an idiot.
>
> >> Yes it is
>
> > Well lets put it to a vote. I make it 4 that think he is an idiot so far.
>
> > And Elmo dissents
>
> Well it's one thing to think he's an idiot an another to call him an
> idiot publicly. Mike has done a lot of work to bring cycling to us,
> especially the Tour de France, and usually when a person gets a lot of
> negative feedback they stop what they're doing, and I'd really hate to
> see someone like Mike stop doing his good work.
> Mike has my full support.
>
> Elmo

Mike gets a holiday every year. He is a moron who hasn't really gained
any knowledge of the sport of cycling in all of the years he's been
covering it. He has no idea and has somehow stayed around for years.
You just have to listen to him speak (and he has trouble with that
sometimes) to people in the sport to see he has no clues.

 

[Paul Yates]

"jur" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Some people are idiots all the time, and all people are idiots some of
> the time." - jur
>
> Therefore Mike is an idiot. If not all the time then at least that
> time.
>
>
> --
> jur
>
I vote that it was an ill informed statement akin to idiocy.

 

[ritcho]

Ok, probably not news to a lot of people, but he has a brief interview
in the TV section of the Herald Sun today.

Q. Should bikes be registered?

MT - Of course they should. It may stop cyclists from copping verbal
abuse from passing motorists.

Sigh.

DaveB

If only it were that simple... some people seem to change when they get behind the wheel. The respect they show for cyclists is no different to the respect they show other car drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians or anyone else on the road. As for the rest of "the motorists", they already do respect other road users.

Register and be damned! It won't make a jot of difference to cyclists copping abuse.

Ritch

PS. Why read the hun anyway?

 

[DaveB]

ritcho wrote:
> PS. Why read the hun anyway?
>
>

The Crosswords.

DaveB

 

[ritcho]

ritcho wrote:
> PS. Why read the hun anyway?
>
>

The Crosswords.

DaveB

What are they? The short letters on the op-ed page?

Ritch

 

[gravelmuncher]

Mike gets a holiday every year. He is a moron who hasn't really gained
any knowledge of the sport of cycling in all of the years he's been
covering it. He has no idea and has somehow stayed around for years.
You just have to listen to him speak (and he has trouble with that
sometimes) to people in the sport to see he has no clues.

C'mon, let's keep this thread on track. MT is INDEED a tool, and this quote sums him up to a T. The way he conducts his interviews with high profile individuals at the Tour is embarrassing to say the least. If he wasn't so dense, I'd say he was bordering on ignorant at times.

This guy is just a reporter, and only just. He's not bringing cycling to us - he's a poorly placed pawn by a network who's smart enough to take note of the swelling interest in cycling from this country, but not smart enough to see that their pawn is giving the world the impression that Aussies are a bit dense. After all, let's not forget that MT is ALSO the face of the Aussie audience.

And for those who are wondering: "reckon you could do a better job?" - well, for a paid trip to Europe in July, with access to the worlds elite athletes and VIP's, i'd say "MY BLOODY WORD I'D DO A BETTER JOB!!" Or at LEAST i'd put some EFFORT into it.

 

[not all there]

On Jan 17, 5:42 pm, flyingdutch <flyingdutch.33b...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> wrote:
> Theo Bekkers Wrote:
>
> > DaveB wrote:
> > > Zebee Johnstone wrote:
>
> > >> Why does the abuse happen? AS it hasn't happened to me (I get a
> > fair
> > >> bit of "cool bike" and jokes about "stop lying down on the job" but
> > >> no abuse that I have been able to decipher. It's possible some of
> > >> the inarticulate noises have been abusive but they were smiling and
> > >> waving so maybe not) I have no personal experience of the situation.
>
> > > Zebee I think it's a combination of two things. First is that we are
> > > there, can be abused, and the abuser can then take off. Second is the
> > > perception that because a bike can be more efficient in traffic, it
> > is
> > > therefore slowing the car down.
>
> > > The second point would also apply to motorbikes, but in my experience
> > > abuse is very rare because most motorists would be very aware of the
> > > potential results. They fear a motorcyclist, but they don't fear a
> > > cyclist (or at least think they can take off).
>
> > So what is the experience of the 50cc engined-can't-do-more-than-60
> > scooter
> > brigade. Do they get harassed by motorists?
>
> > Theo
> > I've been on runs with motorcyclists who wear black jackets and black
> > helmets. The ones that know how to spell harass think it's two words.
> > They've never experienced the -ment kind of harass.
>
> can we put tomalaris on 'the pine' with Gaby Gate
>
> personally i'd like to see Monsieur Ollie do the TdF coverage, but then
> people would miss out on doing his rides (another one to add to the
> personal 'must-do-in-lifetime-tasks...)
>
> --
> flyingdutch

Yes, I had a look at 'Sooty Park' last night (2nd time ever) - I
think it's up there for the prize for the most self-interested and
venal of all current TV programs AND IT"S OUR ONLY REGULAR CYCLING
SHOW! What a travesty! Credit where credit's due I suppose - good on
you Dave for having a go - getting any TV programme together is major
pain in the bum. But very bad on you for your incessant product
placement and pretty average production values (yes, I know it's
Channel 31 and not 9). Dean Martin singing 'That's Amore' as a backing
track for some pissy little Cat 4 climb featuring fatty and someone so
undergeared they're just about to fall off? Amore of what? Sore arses?
Do we really want to see more of your mates and clients riding up
mountains in Europe wearing 'Top Ride' jerseys and stumbling their way
through the time filler roller derbies? Shnorr . . . bring back
Cycling Central AND Mike Tomolaris, I say. Isn't there some rule (I
know RRR and PBS have one; 'Ride On', Mr Dutch? Now there's a blurry
line . . . ) about how much you can spruik your commercial interests
whilst presenting content through community media outlets?

SBS has a charter and is NFP, what is Channel 31's position on this?

N.A.T.

 

[treadly&me]

Yes, I had a look at 'Sooty Park' last night (2nd time ever) - I
think it's up there for the prize for the most self-interested and
venal of all current TV programs AND IT"S OUR ONLY REGULAR CYCLING
SHOW! What a travesty! Credit where credit's due I suppose - good on
you Dave for having a go - getting any TV programme together is major
pain in the bum. But very bad on you for your incessant product
placement and pretty average production values (yes, I know it's
Channel 31 and not 9). Dean Martin singing 'That's Amore' as a backing
track for some pissy little Cat 4 climb featuring fatty and someone so
undergeared they're just about to fall off? Amore of what? Sore arses?
Do we really want to see more of your mates and clients riding up
mountains in Europe wearing 'Top Ride' jerseys and stumbling their way
through the time filler roller derbies? Shnorr . . . bring back
Cycling Central AND Mike Tomolaris, I say. Isn't there some rule (I
know RRR and PBS have one; 'Ride On', Mr Dutch? Now there's a blurry
line . . . ) about how much you can spruik your commercial interests
whilst presenting content through community media outlets?

SBS has a charter and is NFP, what is Channel 31's position on this?

N.A.T.

I'm inclined to agree. The recent episodes of Sooty Park that I've seen have had more than the usual level of self-indulgent home video feel to them and have been pretty yawn-inducing.

And just because it's community television doesn't mean it necessarily has to have slack production values: the football show that comes on after Sooty Park looks much more professional.

If you ask yourself which show is likely to capture the attention of the casual viewer with only a passing interest in cycling, Sooty Park or Cycling Central? For all that Mike Tomalaris is an idiot, it's definitely Cycling Central.

(For what it's worth and well aware that I'm just standing on the sidelines and pointing.)

 

[John H Miller]

Mike Tomalaris is a good bloke, the genuine article and definitely not an idiot.

Maybe registering bikes isn't such a good idea but he must have reason to suggest it.

Maybe if you've ever had your bike pinched and a registration system had helped find it for you you'd think differently.

I'd be prepared to hear him out. His input into the coverage of the TDF has been first rate.

I'll tell you who the idiots are; the people who rush past me while I'm out running - without ringing their bells. Or they ring them so far away I can't hear them. These people aren't just idiots, they're dickheads. It really pisses me off.

So to all the smart Alecs and clever Dicks in lycra who are inconsiderate of other path users watch out; one day you'll get a stick in your spokes.

John Miller

 

[VadarStrikesBack]

Originally Posted by John H Miller .

Mike Tomalaris is a good bloke, the genuine article and definitely not an idiot.

Maybe registering bikes isn't such a good idea but he must have reason to suggest it.

Maybe if you've ever had your bike pinched and a registration system had helped find it for you you'd think differently.

I'd be prepared to hear him out. His input into the coverage of the TDF has been first rate.

I'll tell you who the idiots are; the people who rush past me while I'm out running - without ringing their bells. Or they ring them so far away I can't hear them. These people aren't just idiots, they're dickheads. It really pisses me off.

So to all the smart Alecs and clever Dicks in lycra who are inconsiderate of other path users watch out; one day you'll get a stick in your spokes.

John Miller

Hey John.

Go **** yourself.