Jim slogs to Indy -- Denise Hill's Columbus Friday

To: We begin with Jim Muellner's Day 2 from Columbus to Indianapolis. He has been on the road
since May 2 from Washington DC. 67 year old Jim, last year's Indy to Chicago relay rider
<http://www.bikeroute.com/SCNBGFest/ChicRecep.html>, is the inventor of the Smart Carte
shopping cart system that passengers rent to shuttle their baggage around at airports. He is
riding the trike, made by his company, Just Two Bikes <http://justtwobikes.com>, that folds to
fit in a suitcase.

If you want to contact him, you can reach him on his Pocket Mailer, a handheld device donated by NBG
sponsor Pocket Mail <http://pocketmail.com> that sends and receives email, at
<[email protected]>. If you want to start from the beginning and/or follow Jim and our other
NBG relay riders (Fred Kirchner leaves for Indy tomorrow for example) as they move forward in the
National Mayors' Ride at <http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide>, point to their blog at
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/reports.php>. All of this excitement will
al be consummated at the second annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival>:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All you wonderful people!

Somehow I must be grasping the meaning of biking better. Yesterday as we started I had a valve
problem and had to change the tube. I did it so fast that I even forgot to mention it. It is no
longer a big deal, you just deal with it and move on.

Step two in my conditioning. I followed David's advice about setting up my tent and even though it
rained quite hard last night I did not get wet inside of it -- thanks David. When I first heard the
rain my emotions did not get my heart pumping, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

The route along US 40, the National Hwy, is a very quiet road and its drivers are mainly courteous.
One driver blew his horn at me in a section that only had two lanes, as if he expected me to
disappear. Such drivers thankfully are rare.

There are lots of very, very quiet little communities along this route, big houses for sale or being
auctioned off. Some driveways to these over built mansions have signs like, no exit, dead end or no
turn about. Some others, even older, seem deserted and run down. It seems unfortunate that these
parties could not get together and create a more vibrant community. Lots of signs say private
property keep off, no trespassing. These are such negative words that they make me want to hold a
class on salesmanship. Who would want to buy such an unfriendly property?

The sun is beginning to break through and so I may have a chance to dry out a few things here in
Vandalia, Ohio. The center of town has a sign that says Original Cross Roads, one road runs east and
west, while the other runs north and south. I can just see the wagons greeting each other at this
juncture in the early pioneer days.

As I mentioned earlier, I feel like a bike pioneer and this morning that was reinforced. After I
packed up I was hoping to find a coffee shop within a few miles. Twenty miles later I am still
looking, so I stopped and ate my last grapefruit from John and Ruthie in DC -- thanks. I also had
the cookie Eve and Greg gave me in Columbus. Imagine being in a covered wagon going at best 10
miles a day and hoping to see someone or some civilization after a period of time on the trail. We
will never really appreciate the hardship these pioneers faced. I know I am spoiled, even with the
meager conditions I am traveling under. In comparison to a covered wagon I am traveling at the
speed of sound.

Left my camp site this morning with 646.7 miles on the old computer. It seems so little in compared
to the days on the road, but I am able to smell a few more roses along the way.

By the way the sun did not come out, it rained like you can't imagine and my new raingear was a
failure. Any suggestions anyone? I wanted to get to the Indiana border today and here I am in
Richmond. Tonight I opted for a motel, the rain is just too hard for me to set up a tent.

The new fenders Paul at my company sent are working well. I can see a little water flying up, but
none is hitting my arms as was the case every time it rained or we went through mud back on the C&O
trail. Thank you Paul. Cannot report on any flowers or many birds, they were all in hiding.

There were however several huge tree farms and sod farms. They must be great salesmen as I continue
to see huge lawns and everyone cutting grass. I tried counting, but I gave up after I saw 30 plus. I
cannot imagine being tied down to lawns as big as the ones I am seeing.

Today at a small ice cream shop, a customer was telling me about Clair, a 95 year old biker from
Chicago. He has a tough time walking, but he is a real terror on a bike. He comes to Ohio for the
bike events and does 30 miles with the group. Wish I could have gotten his last name, but no one
knew it. That's all folks, Jim 

------------------------------
Jim's mobile message sent using PocketMail. Sign up for unlimited e-mail at www.PocketMail.com.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's Denise Hill on her Columbus reception experience:

Location: the back seat of a rental car, en route to Pittsburgh.

well, we made it! this morning Dave, Mike and I woke up in our motel room, climbed past empty pizza
boxes and beer bottles and wandered out to the front office, where they serve coffee and donuts
24-7. we waited for Bubba Jeff there.

he arrived soon thereafter, and we hung out and played with Mike's heart rate monitor and talked
about bikes, riding them, etc. finally we located Jim, who was staying at a motel not too far away,
and we packed and left.

on the ride out to meet Jim the sky was opaque white, but it was kind to us and the sun came out
soon enough. we 5 continued on to a parking lot just at the city limits, where we met the rest of
our velocade. there were a LOT of people there! tandems, recumbents, etc. it looked like 2 or 3
dozen had come out to meet us. we met Fred, Jim's leg-mate to Indianapolis. talk about a cool dad:
he even pulled his son out of school for the 2nd half of the day to come ride on the back end of
his tandem.

City Council member Maryellen O'Shaughnessy was there to meet us, along with many members of
various central Ohio bike clubs. Mike, Dave and I polished off the rest of the previous night's
beer, and took our pictures with the "Welcome to Columbus" sign. Bubba Jeff spoke to everyone about
why we were all here today. clearly, the man's spoken to groups before; he was really motivating to
listen to.

we all circled the parking lot and took the right lane all the way to the city center. it was like a
Critical Mass ride there were so many of us! our reception in Pgh was great, but there we rode down
a relatively hidden trail to the ceremony; here, we were in full view for the whole 8 miles to City
Hall. we even managed to pick someone up on the way; a guy in a suit saw us going by and thought it
looked like fun, so he jumped on his bike to catch up! go commuters!

at City Hall, we had our ceremony (see the photos at
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/Columbus). not far away, the city's Cultural Festival
was going on, so we were happy to sample all kinds of foods from Africa and Asia, among others. we
hung around there for a while, enjoying the brilliant weather. Mike found us a rental car for cheap,
so we piled our stuff in it, and Dave and I rode to the Blue Nile for Ethiopian food. it's amazing
how fast you are when your bike is 35 lbs lighter!

the Ethiopian meal was great; if you've never had it, do yourself a favor. it's delish. after our
meal, we walked over to get ice cream. then we took off our wheels, said goodbye to Dave (who's
riding back home, and I'm jealous) and headed east.

whew! I don't know what I'm going to do to follow that much physical activity! I'll have to find the
time to go on daily 50 mile rides. at least on Sunday, it's Pedal Pittsburgh, an annual ride around
the city's neighborhoods. I'm leading the 25-mile route, which should be fun. there'll be over 2000
riders there.

ok, last time, the numbers:

total bike problems on this ride: NONE! remaining hills: about 0 total mayors collected: 3 down...

best of luck and best of weather to everyone on the rest of this relay ride! we make it happen!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

btw: If you want to become a rider, we need you!! Go to
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php>, to find out how!! btw2: We
have pictures from the Pittsburgh to Columbus leg on line at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors btw3: If you want to see who these
cyclists are, go to <http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios>.

--
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.