C
Cycle America/N
Guest
THX to Andrew Morton we at long last are just now getting you our Final 2003 report. Apologies in
advance if you've unsubscribed in the past as we have made what we feel is the last switch in this
regard. If you want to be removed, there is a link at the bottom you can use to do so. So now with
all of our pictures and names and etc in place, here is how our NBG summer ended:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story in Pictures: Festival - http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003
Mayors' Rides - http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/gallery
The Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest that took place Sunday August 17 was a fitting reward for all those
cyclists who gave of their time, resources and other efforts and energies to more firmly establish
our second annual National Mayors' Ride as a yearly two wheel institution. As it celebrated our long
haul cyclists, it also served as a fitting backdrop to Congressman Sam Farr and Santa Cruz Mayor
Emily Reilly http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0752 both of
whom did an inspiring job of validating our efforts. And despite the fact that our near flawless
production was under attended (1500 people throughout the day), it drove home the message that our
Mayors' Rides are there to communicate that cycling is is not just about recreation and fun in those
areas where cars do not exist, but that two (and three) wheel travel is a needed and important way
to connect population centers.
Our festival also served to underscore the fact that we have not even scratched surface in this
regard. From the stage I talked about the fact that Skot Pascchal
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/BioPix/SkotPascgalBest03.jpg couldn't safely make the
300 mile connection on those remote roads that stood between Arcata and Chico because of unsafe
conditions and then Bill Haluzak of Bicycles by Haluzak http://www.haluzak.com in Santa Rosa could
not find a rider to bike a mere 46 miles to get to Napa from Santa Rosa because off the danger
factor there as well. And all of the performers, volunteers
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/200Volunteers.html , NBG relay cyclists that were there
(here is our entire 2003 roster: http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/2003Riders.html),
exhibitors and guests could be seen nodding their heads as I held up these examples to indeed prove
that there was something very wrong with the way we move ourselves around.
First up on the stage was Ruby Rudman's
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0460 very practiced
rendition of the National Anthem. She was only up for five minutes, but from the back of the
performance platform as I looked out on the morning crowd that had already assembled, I could see
the authority that her words commanded from most everyone I saw. Heads bowed and hands were crossed
over hearts as all of us were privy to a performance that easily could have opened a Super Bowl or
really any televised sport anywhere.
Soon Ruby was followed by another professional of the highest order - Prince Lawsha
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0722 . A world class jazz drummer, Prince sang a most memorable version of "Amazing Grace" before he
and some of the top musicians
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 759 this area has to
offer, Roger Anderson on percussion, Jack Bowers on piano, Steve Larkin on bass and 16 year
old sensation Tianisha Fitzspatrick
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0464 on violin, did
a jazz set that let all those in attendance bask in he classy act that the Prince brings to
all those whom he touches. What an honor to have the gift of his music!
I used the break to to send out raffle prizes. With the help of Faye Saunders' kids, Chloe and
Schuyler, as well as Brionna Machado who we'll talk about next and other kids that came and left
through out the afternoon, during the course of the day we gave away 18 different prizes
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/2003Prizes.html . It was fun to see the excitement of
the kids as they jumped off the stage and run to give away a prize after it was won. It was also fun
watching people crowd the raffle table, manned for most of the day by the super helpful Scott
Campbell and elegant Faye Saunders,
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0710 for a one dollar
chance to win one of the many prizes that many of our exhibitors had so generously donated. It was
also enjoyable to watch the striking Jeanelle Martin
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/Pizz aJeanelle , she was helped
by others, jump into action whenever I reminded the crowd that the payment spit we had arranged with
Tony & Alba's pizza was one of the ways we paid for the day's festivities.
Claire Machado's http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0709
beauty then graced the stage. Not only is she stunning to look at but her voice borders on the
angelic. She was joined on stage by Randy Hudson, of the This Hear Band http://thishearband.com who
played mandolin. And THX to David Handloff, of More Music, a local musician's supply store, Claire
played confident and strong on a Renaissance guitar made by Rick Turner. Last May someone ran a
spear thru Claire's heart when they stole the classical Spanish guitar on which she had composed a
lot of the music we were hearing. Believing in people, when it still hadn't returned as our show
grew nearer, the More Music people volunteered to help her with the instrument she needed for our
show. And if Claire's performance was not enough of a show stopper, when her 8-year old daughter,
Brionna, http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0726 who had
already sung "Between the Sun and the Moon" with her mom, closed out the Machado Girls set with a
solo rendition of "Over the Rainbow" made famous by Judy Garland, it seemed as if everything else
stood still. All eyes were focused on the stage as Brionna stood there in her little Alice in
Wonderland dress merrily signing away.
Jessica Menendez http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/jmat t_buffwear
, the emerging darling of the bicycle festival set, got on stage next. And as the stage behind us
was readied for the Keen Cousins, Jessica had me hold the microphone as she wowed the audience with
all the many ways once can use a buff. And what a story Jessica
is. She came from a tough beginning to start her own company, Alaska Buff Wear
http://menendeznet.com . And with it, she travels around the US doing triathlons and selling
buffs. No more than an oversized head with colorful designs that can be stretched to serve as
a pirates cap, a tube top or a mini skirt and many other ideas which she demonstrated, a buff
is Jessica's winning personality hard at work. Easy going, happy and charming, everyone just
loves Jessica!
A short act that followed brought the audience even closer to the stage as she offered her wares. On
display was a masterful female physique
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0735 . Gabrielle Nicander's several minute posing routine showed why she is fast becoming a shining
star on the regional bodybuilding circuit. Her powerful presence was the subject of
innumerable cameras that pressed forward to get a view of her in action. After she was done,
I made sure to ask her a few questions so that those in attendance could see that this
massively muscled woman was also a sweetheart. And she told the audience that there is a lot
of cross over between bicycling and bodybuilding and encouraged those in attendance to
consider such weight training as a way to make them stronger more fit bike riders.
The Keen Cousins were next. With Phil Kleinheinz
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0737 on stand up bass (that
he even stood on on occasion as he played) and Eric Keene
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0738 on guitar, the two of
them held court for the next 45 minutes as people kept asking me who they were and where they came
from. Handsome and young with slicked back hair, in tight jeans with the cuffs roiled up, their
retro look fit perfectly with the 50's era rock and roll that they so comfortably and expertly
played. Nor was percussion even necessary as Phil would pluck his strings in a way that made his
instrument produce a light drum beat when that was necessary. Great kids and extremely personable,
these guys are going places too.
I gave away a bunch more of the smaller prizes as kids bounced on and off the stage all around me
when I then spotted Congressman Sam Farr D-CA
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/Sam_ MK and Santa Cruz Mayor,
Emily Reilly, mixing with the crowd and talking to exhibitors. A couple prizes later, I blew their
cover when I asked them to come to the stage. Sam took a few minutes to tell the crowd that we have
got to act. He talked about the importance of contacting elected officials with letters; that ours
must be a proactive position. I then asked Sam to tell the audience about his own use of the bicycle
to produce results. In 1972 he was the main organizer for a ride down the California Coast that was
largely responsible for much of the coastal protection legislation that is in force today. And as he
spoke about how much pain the bike seat caused him and how much press there was for the hundred or
so riders that kept growing in number, I could see that he was endearing himself even more into the
hearts of those who have kept him in office for the last ten years.
Emily Reilly, dressed in a beautiful flowing dress showed why she is such a popular mayor here in
Santa Cruz as she as well was able to put herself at the level of the majority opinion. With great
ease and charm, she talked about how much the City of Santa Cruz supports cycling (which it does)
and later went on tell us how we can access those legislators that Sam had been talking about. And
her insight is something I'd like to see us deploy at NationalBicycleGreenway.com. In sum, she
recommended that we go to the US Congress website (http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home) and
locate the transportation committee. It lists all the various congressman that are working on that
committee and the district they serve. From these names she had the great idea that we get the word
out to people we know who live in the districts served by these politicians and have them write
letters to these elected officials asking them to support those bike bills we are working on. Later,
Emily walked the two wheel talk herself as she became a part of the Festival by listening to and
meeting other performers and even visiting more of the exhibitors that were there. How lucky we are
here in Santa Cruz to have political leaders like these two.
Andy Santana, who used to live and wow audiences here in Santa Cruz, came all the way down from
Mendocino 230 miles away to play for the NBG cause. And like Prince and Claire above and Wes who we
will describe next, Andy has played for us before. In fact Andy played our very first Swing for NBG
back inn 1998 at Moes Alley and at our Year 2000 send off to DC
http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGLighthouseParty. And it was on his snappy tunes that I cut my swing
dance teeth when swing had become all the rage in the mid 90's. Alive and powerful, his tunes drove
my feet into motion. So much so that the free form dancing I used to do to the fire he brought to
the stage easily evolved into swing when partner dancing then became popular. What an honor to be
blessed by his love and the West Coast Playboys he had pulled together to play with him for us!!
As August West led the charge to ready the stage for the next act, Banned Together, as he did so a
couple of outrageous kids in their early 20'a showed what kind of excitement can be created with
instruments normally reserved for less spirited music. Flying all over the stage in high top tennis
shoes, Anton Patzner's violin came alive with excited energy as his brother backed him up with an
equally fiery stand up bass accompaniment. Calling themselves the Patzner Boys String Metal,
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/patz ner_001 they were only on
stage for maybe 15 minutes, but they had everyone buzzing about what they had just seen.
Our music offering ended with Wes Anthony's Banned Together. To give you an idea of the size of
Wes's contribution to the NBG, he drove me and my bike a couple weeks before all the way up to
Berkeley for our reception with Mayor Tom Bates and councilman Kriss Worthington, supplied the sound
system that all of our musicians and speakers used on this day and now here he was with his band
driving out one perfectly crafted swing tune after another. And unlike most dance bands, instead of
the drummer, Mike Shannon, who played powerfully and impeccably, setting the tempo, Wes controlled
even that too with his very studied saxophone as Steve Czarnecki also powered away on organ. Knowing
how to make his horn do things that far transcend the ordinary, this man lives music. Armed with a
masters degree in music, Wes also teaches local youth how to play sax and he's always playing
somewhere either in his own band or with someone else as he is much in demand. A visit to his house
or a drive in his car finds him not just listening to the music he plays (swing and salsa) but
studying it for each and every nuance and variation. And like the Prince who started our day, people
love to play with Wes because they know he helps them bring their music to another level. What a
fitting end to our day of music -- WoW!
The people we built this event for were next. Andrew Heckman
http://webpages.charter.net/200a/AndrewHeckman2.htm, the man we dedicated last years's ride to
before he then miraculously survived being run over by a car, in most eloquent fashion, talked about
how bicycling removes all those barriers we use to keep ourselves separate; how it is the great
equalizer. And in closing he left us with this reply he had received earlier in the day when he had
seemed surprised that someone would thank him for surviving:
When someone gives you the daisies, It is better to appreciate them NOW Than when you are in
the ground
Andrew was flanked by other NBG Giants we had come to celebrate As I gave certificates of honor to
each of these powerful parts of the NBG effort I took few minutes to talk about each of them. There
was Max Chen who rode to DC for us in 2000 http://www.omsi.edu/bikeusa with his brother Mark and
then again this year to here from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Jim 'Parky' Wetherell
http://inevergiveup.org was also acknowledged for this ride here from SF as he courageously fights
an unrelenting battle with Parkinson's Disease. Mighty Jim Muellner,
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner the 67 years young man who had met and
exchanged with 15 mayors and mayors offices on his ride here from Washington DC on his company's
tricycle http://justtwobikes.com and inspired a whole nation of admirers and well wishers was
formally thanked by the NBG. Our Pocket Mail Poet was also rewarded with a certificate for his
effort both this year and last. Skot Paschal who braved the fires that raged out of control between
Boise and Portland last year, this year rode from Eugene to Napa and took many many captivating
pictures that now make his ride one of the most visited galleries
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/Arcata2003 at our site. Rocky Brown also appeared on
stage with Dirt Bag (DB) http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0747 , the rubber lizard that was such a big part of the Pocket Mail descriptions
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/Reports/Archiv
es/cat_2003_leg_12_boise_id_portland_or.php of his ride from Boise to Portland this year. He rode
last year from Salt Lake City to Boise and was acknowledged for both of those rides.
We also certified some non riders this year. Jody Fitch, the man who designed the cutting edge web
site NationalBicycleGreenway.com for us and who serves as our indefatigable high tech trouble
shooter got an award. As did Claire Machado who played for us this year and last and went beyond
that call of duty by pressing special CDs of her music for each of our honored guests . And lastly I
honored one of the biggest NBG believers not with a proclamation but with a kiss. And I think I even
surprised her. Faye Saunders
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0458 , who as Jim Muellners
pointed out, spoils me terribly with great food and many other forms of support and who helped us
get riders, took care of a lot of the raffle details, got our riders lunch in San Jose, Palo Alto
and Santa Cruz and who is always there to help in whatever way she can in between the demands placed
on her in her fast paced highly demanding job at Apple Computer also deserves a thank you from
cyclists everywhere.
Conspicuously missing from the awards ceremony were Jim Redd
http://www.cyclechicago.org/pocketmail/jimredd.php of Chicago and Andrew Morton http://drewish.com
of Portland both of whom rode for Andrew Heckman last year and who this year were and are a huge
part of building NationalBicycleGreenway.com. Special THX also needs to go out to Ro Fischer in the
Pittsburgh Mayor's office, Lorna Davros in the Des Moines Mayor's office, Berkeley Councilman Kris
Worthington Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas and Kristine Shigley in the Portland Office of Transportation.
We also feel indebted to Jeff 'Bubba' Stephens and Dan Trevas from Columbus, the powerful Western
Pennsylvania Field Institute http://wpfi.org, our major sponsors, John Brown of Family Cycling
http://www.FamilyCycling.com, Tom and Pattie of Connection Magazine and Bonnie Smith of Kool Stop
http://koolstop,com , and to all of our other sponsors and riders who helped to make our 2003
Mayors' Ride and Festival a rousing success!
Next year, we will certainly be honoring Scott Campbell who worked our event from 7AM to late that
nite and to Don Loomis who captured a lot of the days events on his video camera. Of which, if
anyone has bandwidth we can access, we can put it all on line!! Can anyone help here?
We ended the day by raffling off the grand prizes. J Matt (he is pictured visiting the Buff Wear
booth above) won the Kool Stop Papoose Caboose trailer
http://www.koolstop.com/trailers/caboose.html, a world class magician named Ken Martin
http://mrmiraculous.com won the amazing S&B Malibu recumbent
http://home.pacbell.net/recumbnt/page82.htm and Peter Campbell
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 758 won the top prize of
the day the long awaited Backsafer recumbent http://www.backsafer.com that I plan to review at some
point soon!!
Next December we start again where we left off. If you are interested in riding next year please
visit http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride . And indeed it promises to be far
bigger and far better than ever before!! THX for all of U!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again for all your kind words and for inviting me to Friday's and Sunday's festivities. You
are a real inspiration. Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly
Great event Sunday, that's a coup and a tribute to you to get Sam Farr and Emily Rielly out there to
bring the political clout to the party. Also I loved the music, particularly Andy Santana, the lead
guitar player is awesome. Pete Campbell
Thanks for organizing this whole event! Marielle Stoellinga
Thanks to you and others for putting this year's Bikefest together. I really enjoyed meeting the
people there and it was great! Donald Loomis
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com 79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle
Greenway CEO Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it? Really die? By moving thru
clinical death and reversing paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.
advance if you've unsubscribed in the past as we have made what we feel is the last switch in this
regard. If you want to be removed, there is a link at the bottom you can use to do so. So now with
all of our pictures and names and etc in place, here is how our NBG summer ended:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story in Pictures: Festival - http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003
Mayors' Rides - http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/gallery
The Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest that took place Sunday August 17 was a fitting reward for all those
cyclists who gave of their time, resources and other efforts and energies to more firmly establish
our second annual National Mayors' Ride as a yearly two wheel institution. As it celebrated our long
haul cyclists, it also served as a fitting backdrop to Congressman Sam Farr and Santa Cruz Mayor
Emily Reilly http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0752 both of
whom did an inspiring job of validating our efforts. And despite the fact that our near flawless
production was under attended (1500 people throughout the day), it drove home the message that our
Mayors' Rides are there to communicate that cycling is is not just about recreation and fun in those
areas where cars do not exist, but that two (and three) wheel travel is a needed and important way
to connect population centers.
Our festival also served to underscore the fact that we have not even scratched surface in this
regard. From the stage I talked about the fact that Skot Pascchal
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/BioPix/SkotPascgalBest03.jpg couldn't safely make the
300 mile connection on those remote roads that stood between Arcata and Chico because of unsafe
conditions and then Bill Haluzak of Bicycles by Haluzak http://www.haluzak.com in Santa Rosa could
not find a rider to bike a mere 46 miles to get to Napa from Santa Rosa because off the danger
factor there as well. And all of the performers, volunteers
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/200Volunteers.html , NBG relay cyclists that were there
(here is our entire 2003 roster: http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/2003Riders.html),
exhibitors and guests could be seen nodding their heads as I held up these examples to indeed prove
that there was something very wrong with the way we move ourselves around.
First up on the stage was Ruby Rudman's
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0460 very practiced
rendition of the National Anthem. She was only up for five minutes, but from the back of the
performance platform as I looked out on the morning crowd that had already assembled, I could see
the authority that her words commanded from most everyone I saw. Heads bowed and hands were crossed
over hearts as all of us were privy to a performance that easily could have opened a Super Bowl or
really any televised sport anywhere.
Soon Ruby was followed by another professional of the highest order - Prince Lawsha
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0722 . A world class jazz drummer, Prince sang a most memorable version of "Amazing Grace" before he
and some of the top musicians
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 759 this area has to
offer, Roger Anderson on percussion, Jack Bowers on piano, Steve Larkin on bass and 16 year
old sensation Tianisha Fitzspatrick
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0464 on violin, did
a jazz set that let all those in attendance bask in he classy act that the Prince brings to
all those whom he touches. What an honor to have the gift of his music!
I used the break to to send out raffle prizes. With the help of Faye Saunders' kids, Chloe and
Schuyler, as well as Brionna Machado who we'll talk about next and other kids that came and left
through out the afternoon, during the course of the day we gave away 18 different prizes
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/2003Prizes.html . It was fun to see the excitement of
the kids as they jumped off the stage and run to give away a prize after it was won. It was also fun
watching people crowd the raffle table, manned for most of the day by the super helpful Scott
Campbell and elegant Faye Saunders,
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0710 for a one dollar
chance to win one of the many prizes that many of our exhibitors had so generously donated. It was
also enjoyable to watch the striking Jeanelle Martin
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/Pizz aJeanelle , she was helped
by others, jump into action whenever I reminded the crowd that the payment spit we had arranged with
Tony & Alba's pizza was one of the ways we paid for the day's festivities.
Claire Machado's http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0709
beauty then graced the stage. Not only is she stunning to look at but her voice borders on the
angelic. She was joined on stage by Randy Hudson, of the This Hear Band http://thishearband.com who
played mandolin. And THX to David Handloff, of More Music, a local musician's supply store, Claire
played confident and strong on a Renaissance guitar made by Rick Turner. Last May someone ran a
spear thru Claire's heart when they stole the classical Spanish guitar on which she had composed a
lot of the music we were hearing. Believing in people, when it still hadn't returned as our show
grew nearer, the More Music people volunteered to help her with the instrument she needed for our
show. And if Claire's performance was not enough of a show stopper, when her 8-year old daughter,
Brionna, http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0726 who had
already sung "Between the Sun and the Moon" with her mom, closed out the Machado Girls set with a
solo rendition of "Over the Rainbow" made famous by Judy Garland, it seemed as if everything else
stood still. All eyes were focused on the stage as Brionna stood there in her little Alice in
Wonderland dress merrily signing away.
Jessica Menendez http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/jmat t_buffwear
, the emerging darling of the bicycle festival set, got on stage next. And as the stage behind us
was readied for the Keen Cousins, Jessica had me hold the microphone as she wowed the audience with
all the many ways once can use a buff. And what a story Jessica
is. She came from a tough beginning to start her own company, Alaska Buff Wear
http://menendeznet.com . And with it, she travels around the US doing triathlons and selling
buffs. No more than an oversized head with colorful designs that can be stretched to serve as
a pirates cap, a tube top or a mini skirt and many other ideas which she demonstrated, a buff
is Jessica's winning personality hard at work. Easy going, happy and charming, everyone just
loves Jessica!
A short act that followed brought the audience even closer to the stage as she offered her wares. On
display was a masterful female physique
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0735 . Gabrielle Nicander's several minute posing routine showed why she is fast becoming a shining
star on the regional bodybuilding circuit. Her powerful presence was the subject of
innumerable cameras that pressed forward to get a view of her in action. After she was done,
I made sure to ask her a few questions so that those in attendance could see that this
massively muscled woman was also a sweetheart. And she told the audience that there is a lot
of cross over between bicycling and bodybuilding and encouraged those in attendance to
consider such weight training as a way to make them stronger more fit bike riders.
The Keen Cousins were next. With Phil Kleinheinz
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0737 on stand up bass (that
he even stood on on occasion as he played) and Eric Keene
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0738 on guitar, the two of
them held court for the next 45 minutes as people kept asking me who they were and where they came
from. Handsome and young with slicked back hair, in tight jeans with the cuffs roiled up, their
retro look fit perfectly with the 50's era rock and roll that they so comfortably and expertly
played. Nor was percussion even necessary as Phil would pluck his strings in a way that made his
instrument produce a light drum beat when that was necessary. Great kids and extremely personable,
these guys are going places too.
I gave away a bunch more of the smaller prizes as kids bounced on and off the stage all around me
when I then spotted Congressman Sam Farr D-CA
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/Sam_ MK and Santa Cruz Mayor,
Emily Reilly, mixing with the crowd and talking to exhibitors. A couple prizes later, I blew their
cover when I asked them to come to the stage. Sam took a few minutes to tell the crowd that we have
got to act. He talked about the importance of contacting elected officials with letters; that ours
must be a proactive position. I then asked Sam to tell the audience about his own use of the bicycle
to produce results. In 1972 he was the main organizer for a ride down the California Coast that was
largely responsible for much of the coastal protection legislation that is in force today. And as he
spoke about how much pain the bike seat caused him and how much press there was for the hundred or
so riders that kept growing in number, I could see that he was endearing himself even more into the
hearts of those who have kept him in office for the last ten years.
Emily Reilly, dressed in a beautiful flowing dress showed why she is such a popular mayor here in
Santa Cruz as she as well was able to put herself at the level of the majority opinion. With great
ease and charm, she talked about how much the City of Santa Cruz supports cycling (which it does)
and later went on tell us how we can access those legislators that Sam had been talking about. And
her insight is something I'd like to see us deploy at NationalBicycleGreenway.com. In sum, she
recommended that we go to the US Congress website (http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home) and
locate the transportation committee. It lists all the various congressman that are working on that
committee and the district they serve. From these names she had the great idea that we get the word
out to people we know who live in the districts served by these politicians and have them write
letters to these elected officials asking them to support those bike bills we are working on. Later,
Emily walked the two wheel talk herself as she became a part of the Festival by listening to and
meeting other performers and even visiting more of the exhibitors that were there. How lucky we are
here in Santa Cruz to have political leaders like these two.
Andy Santana, who used to live and wow audiences here in Santa Cruz, came all the way down from
Mendocino 230 miles away to play for the NBG cause. And like Prince and Claire above and Wes who we
will describe next, Andy has played for us before. In fact Andy played our very first Swing for NBG
back inn 1998 at Moes Alley and at our Year 2000 send off to DC
http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGLighthouseParty. And it was on his snappy tunes that I cut my swing
dance teeth when swing had become all the rage in the mid 90's. Alive and powerful, his tunes drove
my feet into motion. So much so that the free form dancing I used to do to the fire he brought to
the stage easily evolved into swing when partner dancing then became popular. What an honor to be
blessed by his love and the West Coast Playboys he had pulled together to play with him for us!!
As August West led the charge to ready the stage for the next act, Banned Together, as he did so a
couple of outrageous kids in their early 20'a showed what kind of excitement can be created with
instruments normally reserved for less spirited music. Flying all over the stage in high top tennis
shoes, Anton Patzner's violin came alive with excited energy as his brother backed him up with an
equally fiery stand up bass accompaniment. Calling themselves the Patzner Boys String Metal,
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/patz ner_001 they were only on
stage for maybe 15 minutes, but they had everyone buzzing about what they had just seen.
Our music offering ended with Wes Anthony's Banned Together. To give you an idea of the size of
Wes's contribution to the NBG, he drove me and my bike a couple weeks before all the way up to
Berkeley for our reception with Mayor Tom Bates and councilman Kriss Worthington, supplied the sound
system that all of our musicians and speakers used on this day and now here he was with his band
driving out one perfectly crafted swing tune after another. And unlike most dance bands, instead of
the drummer, Mike Shannon, who played powerfully and impeccably, setting the tempo, Wes controlled
even that too with his very studied saxophone as Steve Czarnecki also powered away on organ. Knowing
how to make his horn do things that far transcend the ordinary, this man lives music. Armed with a
masters degree in music, Wes also teaches local youth how to play sax and he's always playing
somewhere either in his own band or with someone else as he is much in demand. A visit to his house
or a drive in his car finds him not just listening to the music he plays (swing and salsa) but
studying it for each and every nuance and variation. And like the Prince who started our day, people
love to play with Wes because they know he helps them bring their music to another level. What a
fitting end to our day of music -- WoW!
The people we built this event for were next. Andrew Heckman
http://webpages.charter.net/200a/AndrewHeckman2.htm, the man we dedicated last years's ride to
before he then miraculously survived being run over by a car, in most eloquent fashion, talked about
how bicycling removes all those barriers we use to keep ourselves separate; how it is the great
equalizer. And in closing he left us with this reply he had received earlier in the day when he had
seemed surprised that someone would thank him for surviving:
When someone gives you the daisies, It is better to appreciate them NOW Than when you are in
the ground
Andrew was flanked by other NBG Giants we had come to celebrate As I gave certificates of honor to
each of these powerful parts of the NBG effort I took few minutes to talk about each of them. There
was Max Chen who rode to DC for us in 2000 http://www.omsi.edu/bikeusa with his brother Mark and
then again this year to here from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Jim 'Parky' Wetherell
http://inevergiveup.org was also acknowledged for this ride here from SF as he courageously fights
an unrelenting battle with Parkinson's Disease. Mighty Jim Muellner,
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner the 67 years young man who had met and
exchanged with 15 mayors and mayors offices on his ride here from Washington DC on his company's
tricycle http://justtwobikes.com and inspired a whole nation of admirers and well wishers was
formally thanked by the NBG. Our Pocket Mail Poet was also rewarded with a certificate for his
effort both this year and last. Skot Paschal who braved the fires that raged out of control between
Boise and Portland last year, this year rode from Eugene to Napa and took many many captivating
pictures that now make his ride one of the most visited galleries
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/Arcata2003 at our site. Rocky Brown also appeared on
stage with Dirt Bag (DB) http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_
0747 , the rubber lizard that was such a big part of the Pocket Mail descriptions
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/Reports/Archiv
es/cat_2003_leg_12_boise_id_portland_or.php of his ride from Boise to Portland this year. He rode
last year from Salt Lake City to Boise and was acknowledged for both of those rides.
We also certified some non riders this year. Jody Fitch, the man who designed the cutting edge web
site NationalBicycleGreenway.com for us and who serves as our indefatigable high tech trouble
shooter got an award. As did Claire Machado who played for us this year and last and went beyond
that call of duty by pressing special CDs of her music for each of our honored guests . And lastly I
honored one of the biggest NBG believers not with a proclamation but with a kiss. And I think I even
surprised her. Faye Saunders
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 0458 , who as Jim Muellners
pointed out, spoils me terribly with great food and many other forms of support and who helped us
get riders, took care of a lot of the raffle details, got our riders lunch in San Jose, Palo Alto
and Santa Cruz and who is always there to help in whatever way she can in between the demands placed
on her in her fast paced highly demanding job at Apple Computer also deserves a thank you from
cyclists everywhere.
Conspicuously missing from the awards ceremony were Jim Redd
http://www.cyclechicago.org/pocketmail/jimredd.php of Chicago and Andrew Morton http://drewish.com
of Portland both of whom rode for Andrew Heckman last year and who this year were and are a huge
part of building NationalBicycleGreenway.com. Special THX also needs to go out to Ro Fischer in the
Pittsburgh Mayor's office, Lorna Davros in the Des Moines Mayor's office, Berkeley Councilman Kris
Worthington Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas and Kristine Shigley in the Portland Office of Transportation.
We also feel indebted to Jeff 'Bubba' Stephens and Dan Trevas from Columbus, the powerful Western
Pennsylvania Field Institute http://wpfi.org, our major sponsors, John Brown of Family Cycling
http://www.FamilyCycling.com, Tom and Pattie of Connection Magazine and Bonnie Smith of Kool Stop
http://koolstop,com , and to all of our other sponsors and riders who helped to make our 2003
Mayors' Ride and Festival a rousing success!
Next year, we will certainly be honoring Scott Campbell who worked our event from 7AM to late that
nite and to Don Loomis who captured a lot of the days events on his video camera. Of which, if
anyone has bandwidth we can access, we can put it all on line!! Can anyone help here?
We ended the day by raffling off the grand prizes. J Matt (he is pictured visiting the Buff Wear
booth above) won the Kool Stop Papoose Caboose trailer
http://www.koolstop.com/trailers/caboose.html, a world class magician named Ken Martin
http://mrmiraculous.com won the amazing S&B Malibu recumbent
http://home.pacbell.net/recumbnt/page82.htm and Peter Campbell
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/santacruznbgfest2003/IMG_ 758 won the top prize of
the day the long awaited Backsafer recumbent http://www.backsafer.com that I plan to review at some
point soon!!
Next December we start again where we left off. If you are interested in riding next year please
visit http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride . And indeed it promises to be far
bigger and far better than ever before!! THX for all of U!!
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Thanks again for all your kind words and for inviting me to Friday's and Sunday's festivities. You
are a real inspiration. Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly
Great event Sunday, that's a coup and a tribute to you to get Sam Farr and Emily Rielly out there to
bring the political clout to the party. Also I loved the music, particularly Andy Santana, the lead
guitar player is awesome. Pete Campbell
Thanks for organizing this whole event! Marielle Stoellinga
Thanks to you and others for putting this year's Bikefest together. I really enjoyed meeting the
people there and it was great! Donald Loomis
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com 79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle
Greenway CEO Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it? Really die? By moving thru
clinical death and reversing paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.