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The next president of the United States could be... a cyclist!
So says a report from Bikebiz.com, speaking of Democratic challenger John Kerry. It also turns out he's a bit of an environmentalist...
Thanks to cycle industry trade site www.bikebiz.com where this story first appeared.
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Dubbed 'JFK the Second', Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has claimed victory in the latest US state caucus to choose a Democratic challenger to President George W Bush. Kerry is pro-Green and is now far ahead of the other five candidates and could sweep Bush from office in November's presidential election. The ultra-fit Kerry takes part in lots of sports but has impressed many with his marathon bicycle rides in tough conditions.
Kerry isn't just a 12-mile RAGBRAI rider (fellow democratic contender Howard Dean pedalled just a short distance in the famous US ride, the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) he's a long-distance specialist. The 60-year old senator from Boston rides many charity events. In August, he finished the 110-mile Pan-Massachusetts Challenge as 37th of 3000 riders.
Senator Edward Kennedy was amazed when on one freezing winter day his friend turned up at Chez Kennedy, blue from the cold. "It was the end of the coldest ride I have ever had," Kerry told Sports Illustrated magazine. "It was a [charity] ride from Boston to the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport -- about 80 miles or so. [Three-time Tour de France winner] Greg Lemond was riding [with us] and he said it was the worst conditions he'd seen for bicycling. But, you know, it was a challenge. I liked that. There was no way I was going to quit."
Burley's international sales manager Val Hoyle witnessed Kerry's stamina and doggedness at first hand: "That day was the coldest for a charity bike ride I can remember. We were all freezing and most people, even experienced riders, didn't finish the ride. But John Kerry was adamant he would finish, and he did. I was really impressed by that."
A soccer player (he learned of the JFK assassination whilst playing a game) and endurance windsurfer, Kerry had an operation for prostate cancer last year and his doctors put his rapid recovery down to his strength and fitness. Kerry has cycled in the oddest of places, including down Berlin's Kurfürstendamm during the Cold War in the 1950s, where his foreign service officer father was stationed. Kerry's bikes have also been sold at charity auctions, along with bikes from Greg LeMond, Michael Jordan and Robin Williams. If Kerry becomes president, the bike sold at the Celebrity Bicycle Auction in Washington D.C. last year to benefit World T.E.A.M Sports could become a valuable collector's piece.
Kerry has been endorsed by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, the "Congressman on the bicycle", a noted environmentalist. In the first 100 days of a Kerry Administration, the cycling senator will rollback President Bush’s "assault on clean air and clean water and work to strengthen our nation’s environmental laws," said Blumenauer. "As a member of Congress dealing with the consequences of the Bush Administration everyday, the choice of a candidate for president was simple. John Kerry is one person running who is best qualified to be our President...[He] has the best record of environmental leadership, period."
Kerry has strong Green credentials. He wants to create a cleaner and greener America. In a speech given at the University of New Hampshire in October 2003, Kerry said:
"Protecting the environment isn’t just the cause of a campaign. It’s been the commitment of a lifetime. George W. Bush is ... the kind of politician who would cut down a tree and then climb on its stump to give a speech about conservation. The difference between us and George Bush is one of vision. Where we see a pristine wilderness or a scenic coast, George Bush sees an oil field. Where we see a beautiful mountaintop, George Bush sees a strip mine. Where we see a pristine old growth forest, George Bush sees toothpicks. And where we see an opportunity to join the global community to fight global warming, George Bush sees a chance to curry favor with his buddies in the oil business. Under President Bush, America’s environment has become threatened, endangered, and imperiled. I’m running to keep clean the water we drink, the air we breathe, the yards and parks in which children play and laugh, and the communities in which we live. This is our commitment – and we won’t back down. I will be “the true environmental President,” but when I say it, its not just rhetoric – I have the record to back it up. As soon as I step into the Oval Office, I will transform the White House into a hub of inspiration and innovation and lead America on the great endeavor of creating a cleaner and greener nation."
Kerry's website is at http://www.johnkerry.com
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Posted on 09 February 2004
Your comments ...| From: Ralph Williams ([email protected]) on 09 February 2004 |
Being a fitness fanatic and a charity cyclist does not
automatically make someone an environmentalist.
Although it is hard to imagine a US president more disasterous for the environment than the current one,
I have heard similar speeches from politicians closer to
home that came to precisely nothing in office. I will
be impressed when President Kerry introduces an across
the board carbon tax at a rate equivalent to $5 a gallon of gas. |
| From: Rudi Jenner ([email protected]) on 09 February 2004 |
| They are all sponsored by the car industry. So there is no hope. |
| From: John Shackford ([email protected]) on 10 February 2004 |
I would think that it would be virtually impossible to be an environmentalist and a Millionare-even in dollars!
John.
http://www.pbase.com/john28july |
| From: S. (etc) on 10 February 2004 |
ooh you beastly cycnics!
If he's a cyclist he must be a decent human being thinking only of the best interests of his fellow men etc. |
| From: antony (pedalcars) on 10 February 2004 |
"Being a fitness fanatic and a charity cyclist does not automatically make someone an environmentalist."
True enough, but not having a team being paid millions of dollars by oil companies and massive conglomerates to whom your team then awards huge contracts for, er, everything and anything, has to be a significant improvement!
Seeing as currently we have the absolute worst of a bad lot, the best (or even a mediocre one) of said bad lot would be an improvement. And if he turned out to be better than that, that's an added bonus. |
| From: jes (@pedalcars.info) on 10 February 2004 |
At least this guy sounds like, when he's cycling, he probably has more brain cells than wheels unlike the current incumbent (a.k.a. "President Moron")...
If I was an American I would probably rather vote for someone who at least knew what cycling was rather than someone who didn't.
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| From: Span Tally ([email protected]) on 11 February 2004 |
Sir,
Have Senator Kerry and Herman Munster ever been seen in the same room at the same time?
Thought not. |
| From: Antony (again) on 11 February 2004 |
If the choice is between a man who looks like Herman Munster and thinks, or a man who thinks like Herman Munster, my vote goes for the former.
If I had a vote, of course. Which I believe I ought to, being a citizen of America's 51st state (namely, "Rest of the World"). |
| From: Seamus King ([email protected]) on 12 February 2004 |
BIKE RIGHT 9& 1/2....see down the page aways...
Tomorrow (Friday 13th) HURRAH!!!! |
| From: Legs Larry (at yahoo dot com) on 13 February 2004 |
| Happy birthday, Seamus! |
| From: S. (etc) on 13 February 2004 |
And a very Happy Birthday to you too, and Tom Riley.
|
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 13 February 2004 |
Donald Rumsfeld as a kid was a Unicyclist!
Does this make him a better person? |
| From: Carlton Reid ([email protected]) on 13 February 2004 |
Being a cyclist DOES make Kerry a better person!
And seeing a serving US president on a long bike ride (just imagine all those secret service yonks plodding on beside him) would be good for cycling. That's why I wrote the story. Not that I expect him to get on his bike much, but it does help to explain how somebody so old (in Western leader stakes) can be so fit... |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 15 February 2004 |
Lance Armstrong ist the best if buddys with Georg W. Bush.
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| From: Andy Scaife ([email protected]) on 16 February 2004 |
but Lance Armstrong isn't a cyclist, he just rides racing bikes as a job.
If Richard Ballantine was a mate of Tony Blair's I'd be concerned, but if Chris Boardman was, I wouldn't think anything of it. |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 16 February 2004 |
I used to drive trucks for a liveing.
Does this mean, that I then was not a motorist? |
| From: Ben - Kinetics ([email protected]) on 17 February 2004 |
| They're both from Texas, which probably explains a lot... |
| From: andy scaife ([email protected]) on 20 February 2004 |
| Ralf, asd many velovisionaries know, I am a retired pro rally driver, so I'm not claining any high ground here, but if i'd only ever driven the rally cars in competition and never driven ordinarily, then no, I wouldnt have been a motorist. Lance rides as a job (see the title of his biog), When a racer does his racing, then drives home, he's not being a cyclist in the terms in which I meant it and most evertyone else understood it. Why do you always seem to mis-understand me Ralf? |
| From: Rall Grosser ([email protected]) on 21 February 2004 |
I am 100% for getting rid of George Bush, but the point I wanted to make is, that just because Kerry sometimes rides a bike, this does not mean that you should not ask questions about what kind of politics he stands for.
Ridding a bicycle does not make anyone a saint.
Ike Eisenhower for example cycled around Camp David and around the lawn of the White House.
He did so not because he wanted to promote cycling, but on advice of his doctors.
|
| From: Mikes245 ([email protected]) on 21 February 2004 |
I warm to people in senior position who use a bike as I do - as a form of transportation. It says something about their approach to life and to this materialistic world which I find appealing. But being a cyclist might not always be a political plus. 12 years ago I stood for parliament as a Lib Dem and I kept on upsetting my campaign manager by cycling everywhere. He said it gave the "wrong image".
He was also upset about my bike - a Brompton - because he said it "looked odd" and voters would think that I was odd.
I lost - but still got more than 10,000 people voting for me. |
| From: S (etc) on 23 February 2004 |
Like Andy says.
It's like the notion that BHPCers promote recumbent cycling by driving their cars to races then racing around the track for a couple of hours. That's not promoting recumbents at all.
Turning up at events like Spokesfest, Cyclefest and Bike Right and riding on the roads in the public eye, that's promoting recumbents. |
| From: Legs Larry (etc) on 23 February 2004 |
| I think you'll find, "S", that most BHPC racers DO ride on the road in the public eye... |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 23 February 2004 |
I agree with "S (etc)".
His comment reminds me of the time a few years back when they had the tour de Sol, a competition for Solar powerd vehicles come to Darmstadt.
For the stage leaving Darmstadt the next day, I followed the tour up the road to Frankenstein Castle on my AM 14, and got caught in the tour caravan.
It was a damp morning, with steam and fog raising from the sounding woods, that mixed into smog with the exhaust fumes from the queue of two dozen or so Support cars and camera vans following the solar cars up the hill at about 10 KMH.
I passed these, and then also passed the solar cars struggling up the hill. I then set up my camera top of the hill .
The pictures I took were all ruiend, because all they showed was bits and pieces of solarcars coming out of the haze.
The next day they had a report on the tour in the local paper, with comments by a member of the local Government here in Darmstadt, about how nice it was to hold such an environmentally friendly competition in the county of Darmstadt-Dieburg .
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| From: Andy Scaife ([email protected]) on 24 February 2004 |
A-AH! That's what I meant! You see, our wavelengths WERE in tune after all. The best way to promote cycling is ,in fausto Coppi's words, "Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike"
Graeme Obree is a fine example from the racing world. A real pedalhead, and 'one of us'. Is he a subscriber Peter?
He should have a free subscription! |
| From: Dave Connelly ([email protected]) on 24 February 2004 |
| Who would be more likely to support (rather than delete) transportation enhancements funding in general and the safe-routes-to-school program in particular: a charity-ride cyclist or someone who drives his SUV around the ranch? |
| From: antony (at pedalcars dot info) on 25 February 2004 |
Ooh 'eck! I see I've been inadvertently promoting recumbents by riding mine to work. Not that this is a bad thing, obviously, it's just I do it for training (and, I suppose, to get to work...) rather than any promotional / publicity purposes.
:-) |
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