The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Dan Maes just can’t get a break on the bicycle issue. The Republican candidate for governor—who accused his Democratic opponent, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, of allowing the B-Cycle bike-sharing program to infringe on the city’s “personal freedoms” because it is supported by the United Nations—will now be the target of what’s shaping up to be a massive mockery.
The Denver Cruisers are dedicating tonight’s weekly ride to Maes. The cruisers’ website currently features a massive light-blue U.N. emblem and a message thanking Maes “for helping us select the theme.”
The cruisers aren’t a skinny-tire or lycra-wearing brigade. They’re all about rambling, decorated, classic bikes (cruisers)—the kind with streamers coming out of the handlebars. In recent rides, they’ve honored “animals/furries,” “saints and sinners,” the World Cup’s hooligans, “knights & nighties,” and, of course, “clowns.”
It’s unclear how the riders will embrace the U.N. theme, but it seems reasonable to expect a few splashes of light blue on bicycle wheels spinning around the Mile High City tonight. The political impact is also unclear, but ColoradoPols takes a dig, writing that “hopefully” Maes “gets some good footage to shoot his next campaign commercial.”
The ride begins at 7 p.m. (as it does each hump day) at Brooklyn’s bar, near the Pepsi Center. Traffic alert: The cruisers’ rides are so popular they’re often a road clogger.