C
Cycle America
Guest
Skot Paschal finished his ride from Boise to Salt Lake City a day early.
This after he had spent the night previous camped on an island in the
middle of the Great Salt Lake. Never mind that he couldn't find
drinking water for almost 2 hours (he had entered on the wrong road), or
the fact that brine shrimp filled the shallow warm water of the massive
body of liquid he was surrounded by making it not a worthy escape from
the heat, the quiet, the sunset and the antelope and the bison that he
saw all made up for it. Nor could he wait to tell Lisa Romeny, the Salt
Lake City bike coordinator, how poorly the state of Utah accounts for
its cyclists. While the conditions did improve in Salt Lake City, Skot
tells us that, for him, the ride was over as soon as he entered Utah
where he saw not one bike lane or road sign that mentioned the existence
of bicycles. In fact it was so bad that he called me from a pay phone
and asked if he could end his ride a day early.
Not wanting to subject Don Loomis to the same torture, I called Lisa and
asked if she could greet him a day ahead of schedule. Always cheerful,
and always willing to help our cause, she cleared her own schedule and
went down to meet Skot for a photo op which U can see at
http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004/#Anchor-46384
Soon we will have Skot's always awesome pix on line and hopefully his
final report but for now, here is some Haiku from the man himself:
========================================
Out there in the air
is where it can be found.
children have it
all around.
Be a childkid once more
it is waiting
in a sound.........whrrrrrr(gear).
sk.
========================================
Don Loomis had made a heroic effort to get there on time and was poised
to do so when I called him to let him know he'd be better off avoiding
the Salt Lake City detour. He was disappointed but also relieved that to
make his next city, Steamboat Springs, he only has to do 60 miles days.
In Steamboat, Riley Polumbus, the Chamber of Commerce director there,
has a soak and shower waiting for him and Patrick in a downtown hot
springs. Maybe if they are lucky even a room night!! Besides the
reception with their city council....
We will close with Don's report, but first I want to tell U about some
of the other excitement that has been taking place.
- I just talked to Montana Norvell and his group of four cyclists (Matt
Yoder, Alex Montgomery and Andy Sapinsky) who just this morning got the
New York City Mayor's proclamation from Josh Kinberg and are biking it
down to Philadelphia. And all four of them were at the Tokio Ballroom in
Philadelphia until 2 in this morning for Janet Bressler's
(http://janetbressler.com) well received NBG show. Hopefully we can get
a report on that soon as well but for now Montana is pushing for Philly
and their reception there at Love Park tomorrow. Montana also tells me
that the Bilenky Boys, the popular Bilenky Cycle Works band, played last
nite as well!!
- On Friday July 2, Larry Black, widely celebrated owner of two east
coast bike shops that both have huge followings, will bike from
Baltimore to Washington DC on an attention getting antique late 1800's
High Wheel bicycle. His ride will be a part of the 3rd Annual 2004
National Mayors' Ride. Traveling with a supporting cast of other
cyclists, he and his group look forward to receiving the NBG Day
Mayor's Proclamation from DC Mayor Anthony Williams himself.
- Here is the text from the awesome New York City proclamation that
Mayor Bloomberg signed:
WHEREAS: ASIDE FROM BEING A WONDERFUL WAY TO MORE VISCERALLY ENJOY THE
SIGHTS, SOUNDS, AND SENSATIONS OF SUMMER, BICYCLING SIGNIFICANTLY
IMPROVES
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY. WHILE BIKES HAVE LONG BEEN THE
PREFERRED VEHICLE OF THE YOUNG, THOSE OF US WHO THOUGHT WE OUTGREW OUR
BICYCLES THE DAY WE RECEIVED OUR DRIVER'S LICENSE SHOULD RECONSIDER OUR
YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM FOR PEDAL-POWERED LOCOMOTION. BICYCLING PRODUCES NO
AIR
OR NOISE POLLUTION, DECREASES TRAFFIC CONGESTION, AND SAVES ENERGY,
WHICH IS
REASON ENOUGH FOR ALL NEW YORKERS TO CONSIDER BIKING WHEN MAKING TRAVEL
PLANS. FURTHERMORE, BICYCLING IS A LOW-COST MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION THAT
OFFERS INVALUABLE HEALTH BENEFITS. WHETHER YOU RIDE FOR YOURSELF OR FOR
THE
SAKE OF YOUR COMMUNITY, YOU ARE MAKING A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THE
WELL
BEING OF NEW YORK CITY.
WHEREAS: THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY REPRESENTS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN
THE VIABILITY OF BICYCLE TRAVEL. SINCE 1987, NBG'S DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS
HAVE BEEN WORKING TO REALIZE A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF BIKE-FRIENDLY ROADS
AND
BICYCLE PATHWAYS THAT WILL CONNECT CYCLISTS TO MAJOR CITIES THROUGHOUT
THE
UNITED STATES. THE NBG IS DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING A STANDARD FOR
CYCLE-SAFE
THRUWAYS THAT ENHANCES THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF THE CYCLIST. WHILE WE
LIVE
IN A WORLD DOMINATED BY THE AUTOMOBILE, THE BICYCLE SHOULD NOT BE
CONSIDERED
ANTIQUATED.
WHEREAS: TODAY, RELAY RIDER GEORGE REYNOLDS BRINGS THE NBG MESSAGE FROM
BOSTON TO NEW YORK AS PART OF THE NBG NATIONAL MAYOR'S RIDE. WEEKS AGO,
RIDERS SET OFF FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF AMERICA ON A JOURNEY THAT WOULD
PASS
THROUGH 40 MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS. THEY LEAVE EACH OF THE CITIES THEY
VISIT HAVING INCREASED AWARENESS OF THE MANY BENEFITS OF BICYCLING, IN
ADDITION TO MAKING THE CASE FOR THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY. NEW YORK
CITY IS READY TO HEAR THE MESSAGE MR. REYNOLDS BRINGS, AND WE WISH HIM
AND
HIS FELLOW RIDERS THE BEST OF LUCK AS THEY COMPLETE THEIR TWO-WHEELED
JOURNEYS.
NOW THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, IN
RECOGNITION OF THIS IMPORTANT EVENT, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM FRIDAY, JUNE
25TH,
2004, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AS
"NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY DAY"
========================================
- And last but certainly not least is the description Faye Saunders drew
up for Don Loomis's ride:
6/25 9:45am
I caught up with Don at a phone booth about 70 miles outside of Salt
Lake City this morning. Since Skot Pascal has already made it to Salt
Lake and picked up the proclamation, Don is going to head for Steamboat
Springs, Colorado. Since he has been feeling as though he was slightly
behind schedule, he has been pushing hard to get as many miles in as he
could. Now he will be able to relax a little bit and enjoy the ride.
The last time Don and I spoke, he was leaving Baker and had planned to
camp whenever the sun went down before arriving in Delta. As darkness
fell, a car stopped to ask if he needed anything. When he told them he
just needed a place to set up his tent for the night, they directed him
to a beautiful spot overlooking a canyon. By now, the night sky was
being lit up with stars and Don decided to do without the tent and sleep
under Mother Nature's blanket. He was so tired, he fell asleep in his
bike clothes and was awakened by a resplendent sunrise. This also made
for much quicker packing in the morning without his having to break down
the tent.
There has been a little rain, but not much, the result of which was the
most magnificent sunset Don has seen on his trip thus far. Normally
the sun going down would indicate that it is time for him to find a
place to camp, but since he had decided he would ride into the night
last night, he was able to leisurely take in the entire pink clouded
scenery. This tranquil setting was soon replaced with lightening bolts
surrounding him which were not close enough to cause any worry, but
provided a spectacular light show for his night time ride.
As he was leaving Baker, Utah, on Hwy 50 he saw a car stopped up ahead
with a person standing beside it. The person turned out to be a
bicyclist named George who was riding from Philadelphia to San
Francisco. George was on a mountain bike towing a Bob trailer and, like
Don, was carrying a heavy load of gear.
As for the the car, there were women in it that Don referred to as
Thelma & Louise, from the 1991 movie. They were both brain cancer
survivors from the state of Washington and had just visited Moab
National Park where part of the Thelma & Louise film was shot. They
even found the man who has the '66 Thunderbird used in the movie stored
in his garage and had their picture taken in it. Don told them about
Patrick Thomas, the unicyclist riding across the US raising money for
the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. They left a message for
him on his cell phone. When one of the women mentioned she had written
a book, Don told them about Martin Krieg's story and gave them the
bikeroute.com web address. Their message that stuck with Don: "It is
important to follow your dreams."
Don also ran into the pushamerica.org bike gang again. It appears they
are taking almost the identical route that Don is into Chicago. Their
plan is to arrive in Chicago two days before Don, so he will most likely
cross their path again.
A couple of guys passing in a car stopped to talk. One of the men told
Don about his Easy Racer and Bike Friday that he rides. The fellow was
from Marin and now lived in North Carolina. Don gave the gentlemen the
bikeroute.com website to look up when they get a chance.
Breakfast this morning was at the Family Tree Restaurant in Santaquin,
Utah, named so because the walls are covered with family portraits. The
home baked whole wheat bread with jam was delicious. Today he will take
Hwy 6 to Helper, Utah, connecting to Hwy 40 which will lead him into
Colorado. Don is curious to see what it will be like crossing the Rocky
Mountains. Now that he has some miles on his legs, will it be easier or
tougher than the Sierras were?
Don's quotes for the day: "I'm loving this." "I don't know if I'm
going to want to go back to work after this."
The stories that Don tells of the people he meets shows us that the
Mayor's Ride is a very effective way to spread the word of a vision of a
National Bicycle Greenway. As Don and Patrick and the numerous other
riders meet people out on America's roads, they are reaching people who
never would have thought of such a thing. Thank you Don, and all the
NBG riders for spreading this consciousness to everyone you meet.
This after he had spent the night previous camped on an island in the
middle of the Great Salt Lake. Never mind that he couldn't find
drinking water for almost 2 hours (he had entered on the wrong road), or
the fact that brine shrimp filled the shallow warm water of the massive
body of liquid he was surrounded by making it not a worthy escape from
the heat, the quiet, the sunset and the antelope and the bison that he
saw all made up for it. Nor could he wait to tell Lisa Romeny, the Salt
Lake City bike coordinator, how poorly the state of Utah accounts for
its cyclists. While the conditions did improve in Salt Lake City, Skot
tells us that, for him, the ride was over as soon as he entered Utah
where he saw not one bike lane or road sign that mentioned the existence
of bicycles. In fact it was so bad that he called me from a pay phone
and asked if he could end his ride a day early.
Not wanting to subject Don Loomis to the same torture, I called Lisa and
asked if she could greet him a day ahead of schedule. Always cheerful,
and always willing to help our cause, she cleared her own schedule and
went down to meet Skot for a photo op which U can see at
http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004/#Anchor-46384
Soon we will have Skot's always awesome pix on line and hopefully his
final report but for now, here is some Haiku from the man himself:
========================================
Out there in the air
is where it can be found.
children have it
all around.
Be a childkid once more
it is waiting
in a sound.........whrrrrrr(gear).
sk.
========================================
Don Loomis had made a heroic effort to get there on time and was poised
to do so when I called him to let him know he'd be better off avoiding
the Salt Lake City detour. He was disappointed but also relieved that to
make his next city, Steamboat Springs, he only has to do 60 miles days.
In Steamboat, Riley Polumbus, the Chamber of Commerce director there,
has a soak and shower waiting for him and Patrick in a downtown hot
springs. Maybe if they are lucky even a room night!! Besides the
reception with their city council....
We will close with Don's report, but first I want to tell U about some
of the other excitement that has been taking place.
- I just talked to Montana Norvell and his group of four cyclists (Matt
Yoder, Alex Montgomery and Andy Sapinsky) who just this morning got the
New York City Mayor's proclamation from Josh Kinberg and are biking it
down to Philadelphia. And all four of them were at the Tokio Ballroom in
Philadelphia until 2 in this morning for Janet Bressler's
(http://janetbressler.com) well received NBG show. Hopefully we can get
a report on that soon as well but for now Montana is pushing for Philly
and their reception there at Love Park tomorrow. Montana also tells me
that the Bilenky Boys, the popular Bilenky Cycle Works band, played last
nite as well!!
- On Friday July 2, Larry Black, widely celebrated owner of two east
coast bike shops that both have huge followings, will bike from
Baltimore to Washington DC on an attention getting antique late 1800's
High Wheel bicycle. His ride will be a part of the 3rd Annual 2004
National Mayors' Ride. Traveling with a supporting cast of other
cyclists, he and his group look forward to receiving the NBG Day
Mayor's Proclamation from DC Mayor Anthony Williams himself.
- Here is the text from the awesome New York City proclamation that
Mayor Bloomberg signed:
WHEREAS: ASIDE FROM BEING A WONDERFUL WAY TO MORE VISCERALLY ENJOY THE
SIGHTS, SOUNDS, AND SENSATIONS OF SUMMER, BICYCLING SIGNIFICANTLY
IMPROVES
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY. WHILE BIKES HAVE LONG BEEN THE
PREFERRED VEHICLE OF THE YOUNG, THOSE OF US WHO THOUGHT WE OUTGREW OUR
BICYCLES THE DAY WE RECEIVED OUR DRIVER'S LICENSE SHOULD RECONSIDER OUR
YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM FOR PEDAL-POWERED LOCOMOTION. BICYCLING PRODUCES NO
AIR
OR NOISE POLLUTION, DECREASES TRAFFIC CONGESTION, AND SAVES ENERGY,
WHICH IS
REASON ENOUGH FOR ALL NEW YORKERS TO CONSIDER BIKING WHEN MAKING TRAVEL
PLANS. FURTHERMORE, BICYCLING IS A LOW-COST MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION THAT
OFFERS INVALUABLE HEALTH BENEFITS. WHETHER YOU RIDE FOR YOURSELF OR FOR
THE
SAKE OF YOUR COMMUNITY, YOU ARE MAKING A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THE
WELL
BEING OF NEW YORK CITY.
WHEREAS: THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY REPRESENTS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN
THE VIABILITY OF BICYCLE TRAVEL. SINCE 1987, NBG'S DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS
HAVE BEEN WORKING TO REALIZE A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF BIKE-FRIENDLY ROADS
AND
BICYCLE PATHWAYS THAT WILL CONNECT CYCLISTS TO MAJOR CITIES THROUGHOUT
THE
UNITED STATES. THE NBG IS DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING A STANDARD FOR
CYCLE-SAFE
THRUWAYS THAT ENHANCES THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF THE CYCLIST. WHILE WE
LIVE
IN A WORLD DOMINATED BY THE AUTOMOBILE, THE BICYCLE SHOULD NOT BE
CONSIDERED
ANTIQUATED.
WHEREAS: TODAY, RELAY RIDER GEORGE REYNOLDS BRINGS THE NBG MESSAGE FROM
BOSTON TO NEW YORK AS PART OF THE NBG NATIONAL MAYOR'S RIDE. WEEKS AGO,
RIDERS SET OFF FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF AMERICA ON A JOURNEY THAT WOULD
PASS
THROUGH 40 MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS. THEY LEAVE EACH OF THE CITIES THEY
VISIT HAVING INCREASED AWARENESS OF THE MANY BENEFITS OF BICYCLING, IN
ADDITION TO MAKING THE CASE FOR THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY. NEW YORK
CITY IS READY TO HEAR THE MESSAGE MR. REYNOLDS BRINGS, AND WE WISH HIM
AND
HIS FELLOW RIDERS THE BEST OF LUCK AS THEY COMPLETE THEIR TWO-WHEELED
JOURNEYS.
NOW THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, IN
RECOGNITION OF THIS IMPORTANT EVENT, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM FRIDAY, JUNE
25TH,
2004, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AS
"NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY DAY"
========================================
- And last but certainly not least is the description Faye Saunders drew
up for Don Loomis's ride:
6/25 9:45am
I caught up with Don at a phone booth about 70 miles outside of Salt
Lake City this morning. Since Skot Pascal has already made it to Salt
Lake and picked up the proclamation, Don is going to head for Steamboat
Springs, Colorado. Since he has been feeling as though he was slightly
behind schedule, he has been pushing hard to get as many miles in as he
could. Now he will be able to relax a little bit and enjoy the ride.
The last time Don and I spoke, he was leaving Baker and had planned to
camp whenever the sun went down before arriving in Delta. As darkness
fell, a car stopped to ask if he needed anything. When he told them he
just needed a place to set up his tent for the night, they directed him
to a beautiful spot overlooking a canyon. By now, the night sky was
being lit up with stars and Don decided to do without the tent and sleep
under Mother Nature's blanket. He was so tired, he fell asleep in his
bike clothes and was awakened by a resplendent sunrise. This also made
for much quicker packing in the morning without his having to break down
the tent.
There has been a little rain, but not much, the result of which was the
most magnificent sunset Don has seen on his trip thus far. Normally
the sun going down would indicate that it is time for him to find a
place to camp, but since he had decided he would ride into the night
last night, he was able to leisurely take in the entire pink clouded
scenery. This tranquil setting was soon replaced with lightening bolts
surrounding him which were not close enough to cause any worry, but
provided a spectacular light show for his night time ride.
As he was leaving Baker, Utah, on Hwy 50 he saw a car stopped up ahead
with a person standing beside it. The person turned out to be a
bicyclist named George who was riding from Philadelphia to San
Francisco. George was on a mountain bike towing a Bob trailer and, like
Don, was carrying a heavy load of gear.
As for the the car, there were women in it that Don referred to as
Thelma & Louise, from the 1991 movie. They were both brain cancer
survivors from the state of Washington and had just visited Moab
National Park where part of the Thelma & Louise film was shot. They
even found the man who has the '66 Thunderbird used in the movie stored
in his garage and had their picture taken in it. Don told them about
Patrick Thomas, the unicyclist riding across the US raising money for
the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. They left a message for
him on his cell phone. When one of the women mentioned she had written
a book, Don told them about Martin Krieg's story and gave them the
bikeroute.com web address. Their message that stuck with Don: "It is
important to follow your dreams."
Don also ran into the pushamerica.org bike gang again. It appears they
are taking almost the identical route that Don is into Chicago. Their
plan is to arrive in Chicago two days before Don, so he will most likely
cross their path again.
A couple of guys passing in a car stopped to talk. One of the men told
Don about his Easy Racer and Bike Friday that he rides. The fellow was
from Marin and now lived in North Carolina. Don gave the gentlemen the
bikeroute.com website to look up when they get a chance.
Breakfast this morning was at the Family Tree Restaurant in Santaquin,
Utah, named so because the walls are covered with family portraits. The
home baked whole wheat bread with jam was delicious. Today he will take
Hwy 6 to Helper, Utah, connecting to Hwy 40 which will lead him into
Colorado. Don is curious to see what it will be like crossing the Rocky
Mountains. Now that he has some miles on his legs, will it be easier or
tougher than the Sierras were?
Don's quotes for the day: "I'm loving this." "I don't know if I'm
going to want to go back to work after this."
The stories that Don tells of the people he meets shows us that the
Mayor's Ride is a very effective way to spread the word of a vision of a
National Bicycle Greenway. As Don and Patrick and the numerous other
riders meet people out on America's roads, they are reaching people who
never would have thought of such a thing. Thank you Don, and all the
NBG riders for spreading this consciousness to everyone you meet.