He says in a tweet: "I know I've been encouraging people to ride bikes more, but I didn't mean u could 'borrow' my wife's bike w/o asking."

McGinn, a former Sierra Club leader, frequently commutes by bike and often rides to events and meetings. He's a strong advocate of making Seattle more friendly to cycles and pedestrians. McGinn's spokesman says the mayor borrowed his wife's bike because he recently donated his own to a charity. It was taken from a city garage.