Hampton Dellinger: how about a cyclist for Lieutenant Governor?
Bicycling is an issue that touches everything that is right and everything that is wrong with this country. Our achievements in the past and present as well as our potential for the future of this country come down to the place we afford the bicycle in our society. For starters, the bicycle is the greatest invention in western history, a tool of personal empowerment, and a vehicle of social liberation.
John Kerry and W knew this. That’s why in the 2004 election cycle they portrayed themselves as bicyclists throughout the campaign season. They both made headlines falling off their bikes and graced the pages of biking mags for refocusing national attention on one of America’s oldest and most popular forms of recreation.
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I met John Edwards at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center the Monday that the 2004 Democratic National Convention began. Practicing his stump speech before a receptive and local audience, he lauded the efforts of alternative fuel researchers from NC State University, calling them modern day pioneers — “today’s Wright brothers.” Surely you need no reminder that the Wright brothers used their skills as bicycle mechanics to invent human flight.
In this election cycle, Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate to explicitly mention bicycles in his campaign platform (although, Mike Huckabee reportedly rides his bike to the grocery store). In his Energy Plan, Obama states that as President he will build on his efforts in the Senate to encourage the development and use of Federal transportation monies for Metropolitan Planning Organizations to “create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country.”
 Obama on tricycle |
His Energy Plan goes on to state that Obama “believes that we must move beyond our simple fixation of investing so many of our transportation dollars in serving drivers and that we must make more investments that make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives.
Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
In fact, there are even reports that Barack Obama is your new bicycle.
And in North Carolina politics, we have a cyclist running for office.
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Hampton Dellinger, a 40 year old Durham lawyer, is one of the Democratic candidates for Lieutenant Governor. It’s because of a bicycle that he first got into politics, and now the whole family enjoys cycling on weekends. Dellinger agreed to be profiled as a Bull City Biker, answering the standard questions as well as a bonus query that engages his Lt. Gubernatorial aspirations.
Bike(s) you own and ride regularly: Giant Iguana (its 15 years old but still rides great). For long rides, like the Seagull Century, I borrow my dad’s Litespeed which was made in Tennessee (it is an amazing machine). My kids have Specialized Hotrocks and my wife Jolynn rides a Trek.
What’s your primary flavor of riding? Triangle bike paths.
What’s the length and frequency of your average ride? Daily with my kids whenever possible. We do neighborhood rides on weekdays, longer trail rides on the weekends.
Why did you start riding and why do you still ride? I wanted to see the world but not through a windshield….and I still do.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve seen while out for a ride? Fortunately it’s not unusual, but my favorite thing to see is my kids and Jolynn out riding with me.
How would your world be different if you wake up tomorrow and there are no more cars? Since I’ve been busy meeting with Democratic voters from Murphy all the way to Manteo, I’d eat a big bowl of Wheaties and pack a few extra bottles of water!
What’s one thing Durham could do to become more bike friendly? I’ve been living and biking in this area for decades, and I think Durham’s made enormous progress in becoming more bike-friendly. The new bike lanes are great. More bike racks would be nice, too. We’ve already got some wonderful trails like the ATT. With more planning at the local and regional level, we could create more useful and scenic bike “highways” connecting high-traffic areas.
What will you do as Lt. Governor to make bicycling a more viable transportation option in North Carolina?
There are some obvious infrastructure improvements that would make bicycling a much more attractive transportation option, like improved bike lanes and basic road upkeep – bike riders tend to notice potholes more than drivers do, after all.
But looking down the road (so to speak …) we also need to do a better job of changing our car culture to one that recognizes alternative modes of transportation, including bicycles. My education plan would replace Driver’s Ed with “Transit Ed,” which would teach students a broader range of public and non-motorized transportation options. Even those who don’t end up biking regularly could learn more about sharing the road with those of us who do.
You can catch Dellinger in a televised debate with other Democratic Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidates tonight, (Thursday, April 10th), at 10pm on UNC-TV. And, you can learn more about Hampton Dellinger on his campaign website — http://www.hdforltgov.com/.
Good luck Hampton, and I’d love to see you bike-commuting to the Hawkins-Hartness House in early 2009.
NB — If any of the other candidates for office are as comfortable or more behind the handlebars as behind the steering wheel, please get in touch. You too might be a Bull City Biker (if you live in Durham, that is), or at least can be profiled here as a cyclist first, politician second.
Posted on April 9, 2008
Tags , bikes, bullcitybikers, politics, urban design
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