Bay Aryan prose

An ex-Chico guy named Michael Foley, who has since moved to the Bay Area, has published a book entitled 'Bicycling Beyond City Limits: A Journal of Endurance, Friendship and Discovery'. Seems interesting, eh?

It is about he and his buddies' bicycle trip from Chico to South Carolina. Gene has a good writeup on it here, and the Chico ER covers it here.

Being that I am from Atlanta, Georgia and lived there 23 years, and I continue to love and cherish all the misconceptions about the South that thrive out west, I have to give you this dogmatic assertion from Mr. Foley:

"It almost feels like we've entered a foreign country," Foley writes. "From ...racial remarks (to) the little kid yesterday who waggled his middle finger at us. ..." And then there's the fried foods. "Fried chicken, fried chicken fingers, fried steak, hush puppies, french fries, and fried potatoes. Oh yeah, and white bread." One waitress responds to their complaints: "But it's fried in real grease!"

Georgia is not much better. "People in this part of the country, especially the young men in their pickups, carry firearms. We remind each other — more so, the guys remind me — to keep our mouths shut and our middle fingers on the handlebars."

I love it! Typical bigotry from the California coast, this time published in a cycling book! I'll likely read it just for those sorts of wonderful passages.

Mr. Foley must've never known any local Chico dudes in his time here. Chicoans carry as many guns in giant pickup trucks as anyone I've ever met. That's why it's such a great, safe place to live... and he must have never ridden to or through Cohassett!

Get over yourself Mr. Foley. Before you espouse California Bay Aryan holier-than-thou garbage in the pages of a book, you should get to know the locals of the places you ride (and write about) first. Open your eyes sir. The Bay Area is just as plagued by racism, classism, and fat as any other area in this country.

I can only hope that passage has been taken out of context. I will follow up this post once I read the book.

And on a more positive note, Team USA '92, eh? I'm thinking Team JuG '08. Although I'd rather ride the west coast than through the Midwest. Maybe Mr. Foley can come along, and we'll take him to Cohassett, Susanville, Modoc, etc.