GreenTech Geek Gone Wild

Fun at the Folsom Street Fair.

This past weekend a few people I know -- and many thousands of others -- headed to San Francisco for the bacchanalian boondoggle and flesh fest known as the Folsom Street Fair. A  little pink birdie landed on my windowsill and even told me that a certain former publisher was spotted there. (Wait, did I just say that?)

It was their weekend to have a wild time. "I'm missing out," I thought, as my weekend dawned and I looked ahead to spending it home in San Diego.

But then, as the weekend unfolded, I found myself caught up in the swirling storm of several momentous social struggles -- labor rights, bicyclist rights, and GLBTQ rights.

In all these events, I was in thick it, raising my fist, marching and cycling with fellow protesters, engaging in dialogue with elected officials, leading others to join in ... making a difference.

As the weekend wound down, and I finally caught my breath, it occurred to me that what had just transpired was a clear case of the GreenTech Geek gone wild. As wild, in my own way -- I dare say -- as the wildest exhibitionist on Folsom Street.

So just how wild was I? Find out, after the jump ...

San Diego's largest-ever march and rally against Walmart took place September 22, 2012.

Starting off Saturday morning, I hopped on my bicycle and headed to Golden Hill Community Park to join three activist bicycle gangs in town -- the Cretins, the Aware-Wolves, and the Occupy San Diego Riders.

They were joining forces to provide support -- and diversionary maneuvers to throw off the police -- for the largest march against Walmart ever held in San Diego.

Union workers, mistreated Walmart employees, local progressive  leaders, Barrio Logan residents, and assorted others marched from Golden Hill to the Sherman Heights/Logan Heights border, to the site of a new Walmart Super Center going in where the historic Farmer's Market building has stood for decades.

Yup, that's San Diego mayoral
candidate Bob Filner behind me,
doing an interview about improving
things for cyclists in the city.

The protest was to call attention to Walmart's well-documented deplorable labor practices and its heavy-handed tactics in destroying a portion of the historic building regardless of community opposition.

That took a lot out of me Saturday. But on Sunday I was ready to throw myself back into the fray.

Local TV news story about my bike ride with Bob Filner.

In the early afternoon, I hopped on my bicycle again, but I headed to Little Italy this time, for a community bike ride with San Diego mayoral candidate Bob Filner. Organized by BikeSD.org, the ride took us from Little Italy to Old Town. It gave the candidate a chance to hear our suggestions regarding making bicycling safer in San Diego. The Congressman was very attentive to our comments. I personally rode up alongside him and asked him if he'd appoint a Bicycle Czar if elected mayor. "Yes," he told me.

Zach spoke from the heart.

He also committed to adding more bike lanes, implementing a car-free Cyclovia-style event in the city, and pushing for a protected, cross-town bike route as a demonstration project to encourage more. He asked us -- and all bicyclists -- to submit to him ideas for what route they'd like to see tackled first (info@bobfilnerformayor.com). SDSU to the ocean was one suggestion that came forth.

But I wasn't done yet. I had to pedal back up the hill, home to North Park, to trade my bicycle for my vintage Vespa scooter.

Because on Sunday evening I was scheduled to lead my scooter club -- the San Diego Sqooterheads -- to a talk by Zach Wahls at the big Unitarian Church in Hillcrest.

Zach wowed the crowds at the Democratic National Convention. Watch him in action in this video. He has quickly has risen to national prominence as a heterosexual (and hot) champion of marriage equality and GLBTQ rights.

On Sunday we heard him speak from the heart about being raised by Lesbian parents, becoming an Eagle Scout, and fighting to end the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies towards gays.

A group he started called Scouts for Equality was recently instrumental in getting the BSA's largest corporate donor, Intel, to stop funding the organization until it changes its homophobic policy. His talk had special resonance for me. The GreenTech Geek, after all, is an Eagle Scout too.

Scooter crew on the loose.

After Zach's talk, my scooter crew and I headed to Babycakes in Hillcrest for cupcakes and cocktails. Which is why we called our outing a "Ride for Equality, Cupcakes & Cocktails."

And that was my weekend: A wild and wacky whirlwind of GLTBQ equality, labor rights ... and speaking truth to power on a bicycle.

As for the Folsom Street Fair? Meh. There's always next year.

Until next week ...

Posted in: #Occupy,bicycles,bicycling,gay rights,GreenTech Geek,labor,LGBTQ,Logan Heights,NOTW,Sherman Heights,Walmart