Soglin's ride

Pretty damn funny. But just to remind you the blog is all about me,

The former Madison mayor and summertime biking blogger raised more than a few hackles on Wednesday when he complained about his encounters with winter bicyclists following the pair of snowstorms last Saturday and Tuesday. "The bicyclists who braved the week's second storm should be taken out and shot,' he declared, genuflecting towards stereotypes about Madison hippies and other tired tropes about the town. "Spare them and the poor driver, when they skid on treacherous streets and slide under the wheels of a truck delivering fresh vegetables."

Predictably, a torrent of objections followed from commenters, though Soglin did receive one gleeful backslap from James Rowen, his former mayoral aide and onetime Madison candidate for the office, along with another chuckle from Waukesha conservative pundit James Wigderson. Most responses, though, were thoroughly negative, as bicycling supporters lambasted hizzoner for his flippant remark about shooting and his blind eye towards the dangers of driving in the snow. Negative responses came from bikers around the nation -- here, here, and here -- the general sentiment being "that kind of low-brow trash talk does nothing but dehumanize bicyclists and justify any harm that might come their way."

Soglin's an anti-cyclite. Who knew?