He's Not Running For Office: He's Pedaling For The Vote

Why do political candidates "run" for office?

That's a question David John Wilson might ask.

He is one of 16 candidates on the ballot for the mayoralty of Minneapolis, the city that gave us Prince and launched the career of Hubert Humphrey. It's perhaps no surprise that in such a city a candidate--namely Wilson--could run on a "Rainbows Butterflies Unicorns" ticket.

Also not surprising--especially considering that Minneapolis is perennially rated as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the US, and even the world--is that Wilson is conducting his campaign from, if not the seat of his pants, then the saddle of his bicycle.

Most days during his campaign, he has dressed like a unicorn, complete with horns--and American flags.  He calls this persona, if you will, "Votey McVoteface."  He has alternate costumes as well, including one of George Washington.  But, not surprisingly, it's Votey that gets him the most attention.

Creating Votey, and coming up with his platform, was a way of appropriating a term of derision, in much the way young blacks call each other the "n" word or gay man refer to each other, and sometimes themselves, as "faggots".  (Proponents of "queer studies" claim that they are appropriating the "q" word in a similar way.) Wilson says he's often heard the phrase "rainbows, unicorns and butterflies" used to mock people who express ideas and points of view that are progressive, or merely different.

At the start of the campaign, he pledged to ride 1000 miles around the city as Votey.  He admits that he has no chance of winning the election. The purpose of his campaign, he explains, is to "make a difference" by helping to increase voter turnout and getting young people interested in politics:  things he couldn't do in years past, when he worked at the polls.

"I would like to dream that I could be mayor but that's not really what this is about," he says.  "This is about getting out the vote, this is about embracing the city that I love."

In other words, it's not about the destination; it's about the journey:  the way of a cyclist.

When Using "Bicycle Infrastructure", Be Sure To Take "Proper Precautions"!

Sometimes the bicycle infrastructure we get is worse than no bicycle infrastructure.  Three lawsuits that have been filed, and another that was recently settled, in San Diego bear this out.

Eight months ago, Clifford Brown won a $4.85 million for injuries he sustained in a crash on a tree-damaged sidewalk.  City officials had been notified about the damage five months before the September 2014 crash, which left Brown with several lost teeth, torn spinal cord ligaments and brain damage that has rendered him incapable of functioning independently.  

In San Diego, as in other cities, cyclists sometimes use sidewalks because they feel safer on them then on streets that are designed for vehicular traffic and thus have no shoulders, or even passing or parking lanes.  Cyclists might also feel safer on sidewalks than on some bike lanes, especially one like the Balboa Avenue path where a man who has filed one of the pending lawsuits crashed head-on into another cyclist.  

That man, Douglas Eggers, suffered injuries similar to Brown's.  His suit alleges that the accident resulted because the lane, which runs along the north side of Balboa, is built only for eastbound traffic.  According to the suit, the city should have built that lane wider, with a divider in the middle, to accommodate bicycle traffic going both ways, or a separate westbound bike lane on the south side of Balboa, one of the city's busiest thoroughfares.  

Michael Cizaukas, who filed one of the other lawsuits, was launched into a move most BMXers would admire when he was thrust into the air from a section of a bike lane buckled by a tree.  Not being a BMXer, though, he was thrown from his bike and, as a result, suffered fractured bones, a separated shoulder, muscle tears, hearing loss and a concussion in the May 2016 incident.

Warning: Shock Hazard!

Unfortunately, I've heard of crashes like the ones Brown, Eggers and Cizaukas endured.  But the third lawsuit filed I'm going to mention involves something I never before would have envisioned:  injuries sustained at a bicycle parking rack.  Oh, but it gets even better: Jasper Polintan says he's suffered damage to his upper extremities and other injuries that have reduced his earning capacity when--get this--he was electrocuted while locking his bike to a city rack.

His suit alleges that the city didn't properly install, maintain or provide adequate safeguards for that rack. In preliminary responses to Polintan's, Cizaukas' and Eggers' cases, however, attorneys for the city say that officials were unaware of the problems and the injured cyclists didn't take "proper precautions."

Sometimes, it seems, "proper precautions" involve simply avoiding bike lanes and much else of what's offered up as "bicycle infrastructure" in too many places.

If The "Beer Bikes" Had Been Like This...

The other day, I wrote about the "beer bikes" that have just been banned in Amsterdam.  They were essentially pedal-powered rolling bars that could accomodate a dozen or so revelers.  City residents got tired of having to contend with drunks weaving in and out of bicycle, pedestrian and motorized traffic on the narrow streets in the city's center.

Maybe there wouldn't have been a problem if the "beer bikes" were like this: