The idea of cycling to get around really triggers the right wing. This is how God intended us to avoid walking...
this post was submitted on 07 May 2026
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This is how we imagined a mayor should be when we were a kid and glad our kid self was right eventually :3
Yeah actually in every kind of kids media mayors are like the representitives of people instead of some stupid politician, and thats how it should be.
The NY Post is going to have a full meltdown.
Don't get me wrong. I like his politics but is it because I am European that I find this really cringe?
Edit: It's not the cycling but the fake smiles and waving like they haven't seen somebody for weeks
What's cringe about it? I watched with no sound, but it just appeared that he was having an event to promote bike riding. Was the dialog weird or something?
Americans smile at and greet strangers.
Yeah to us he is just doing something that we see every day and we are supposed to find it appealing...
Over there seeing a politician on a bike is a novelty, thats the sad reality.
Well, it's specifically a novelty for politicians in MAJOR cities. Small towns (and even plenty smaller cities) have mayors with real civic engagement.
Fun anecdote from an unspecified Chicago suburb: My coworker and I always made small talk with the same guy in line at our Friday lunch spot. One day after getting his food he turned around and said (paraphrased), "Hey...did you see the proposal to repave [street] with a bricks? It will be so expensive and harder to maintain! Aahh! All right gotta run!"
We looked at each other like wtf then the shop owner said, "you know that's the mayor, right?" Nope, we sure didn't!
I would never want to live in that town specifically (wealthy but with an inferiority complex because of wealthier neighboring cities lol) but I love civic leaders who practice what they preach
For me, it's not the cycling but the fake smiles and waving like they haven't seen somebody for weeks
Lol this is social media. It's inherently cringe. You want me to pull up some European examples?
Hey man, don't take it personally, it's just a different perspective.
I mean it's not a different perspective is the point of the comment, politicians are cringe everywhere.
It’s refreshing to see a politician putting something out there that’s rooted in positivity.
Idk if "cringe" is the right word here. Maybe corny?
My European city went from being bike-friendly before it was cool to being unfriendly and is now bouncing back a little, so...
I wondered this too (also European) but came down the other side. For one, most people probably wave when they see the popular mayor go by, so it'd be pretty weird if he didn't at least wave back. For the other, biking is less common in the US, so the EU equivalent is probably a mayor participating in a Critical Mass or something, which would be pretty special.
It's not the cycling but the fake smiles and waving like they haven't seen somebody for weeks
Yeah that's kinda what Americans expect from their politicians. It is political theater, but it's socially expected political theater
Caring about cringe is the real cringe.
It's not the cycling but the fake smiles and waving like they haven't seen somebody for weeks
I don't care what your reasoning is lol
I genuinely find it sad that you would find this cringe because a human is.. being a good human.
In fact, I think it is incredibly sad that humans don't want to interact with each other like in the video above. I'm not saying every single person out there should be treating their fellows like in the video of course, but damn do I dislike how closed off everyone has become these last 20 years.
"Ugh, I can't believe that weirdo smiled and waved at me!" kind of energy.
Nothing against you, OP! Just made me think a little.
Its not that. But the smile is unnerving. That said, I guess it is a cultural thing. People do smile at each other, in other places, and are genuinly kind, just not as "extremely" and "superficial" as this.
beautiful
perfect song choice