Upsurge in Flow of Mayors' Ride Volunteers and Ideas and NBG Passion!!

To see the entire newsletter go to: http://www.BikeRoute.com/MayorFestNews/3-24-03.html

A) WPFI promises to rage in Pittsburgh
B) Who can help get Bob Giordano's Missoula bike program video on line?
C) Bike World Forest may rep Des Moines
D) Trailers vs Panniers edited http://www.BikeRoute.com/S2k-7TrailPann.html
E) Normal, IL Mayor = Bike Shop Owner, hmmmmmmm..........
F) Bike Routing Riddle Solved at NBG Web!!
G) NBG Field Reps Needed
H) To NBG Web: Contact info for elected officials and......
I) Jerome Hediger getting ready for Indy to Chicago
J) Handcyclist(s) Queuing up for Portland to Eugene link
K) Jody Fitch slaves over web content
L) Joe Zaleski Empowering Jim Redd's web efforts and mine
M) Boulder Moves up a day, Plans for Market arrival
N) Buzz Readies the High Gear Cyclery Troops
O) Andrew Morton saves NBG web developers time with his code shortcuts
P) Faye Saunders Lining out the Earth Day troops
Q) Mobile Earth Day Meeting on Penninger Recumbent tandem
R) Marielle Stoellinga adds her excitement
S) Wes Anthony sez he'll help again!
T) Pat Franz of Terra Cycle forwards his Portland connections
U) Jim Muellner of Just 2 Bikes Meets Andrew Heckman -- Might ride again!!
V) Dominic Casey may ride Chicago to Des Moines for his friend Andrew
W) Cars Kill 14 Pedestrians a day

X) Heard from Michael Sobowiak of the powerful Western Pennsylvania Field Institute almost as soon
as I got last week's newsletter out in which I playfully challenged them to match up to Columbus.
Here is what I got:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin,

Quick update... We have reserved the Market Square - which is in the middle of downtown to host a
festival for the riders as they come in. We will have a stage, music, loudspeaker, etc. There is
normally a large crowd there for lunch to hear the free music. I have been talking with the latest
ride OraSue about working with our group of riders to start planning out the route. I have been
talking with local bike folks about the ride into town part. I have a bunch of things in the fire
and in early April I can devote a lot more time to getting everything ready. I will also post things
on the website at that time - we will be posting our summer schedule, Great Outdoors Week, Venture
Outdoors - so please don't be disappointed that we haven't posted anything yet - give me two weeks
and things will really start to come together. I'm not worried about Columbus...

Michael Sobkowiak
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Y) Found Bob Giordano's awesome Missoula Free Cycles bike program video in my mailbox last week. And
I am wowed!! In relative terms, only a small part of MIST (Missoula Institute for Sustainable
Transportation), this creative event, a way for Missoulans to build themselves a free recycled
bike, continues to grow and is without question a powerful example of how the bicycle can truly
enrich a community.

Truly a visionary way to reapportion resources, this needs to be emulated by bike activists
everywhere. The six minute video, complete with a lively folk music soundtrack shows trucks (I'd
like to see us do this with fleets of bike bike trailers) full of bike frames and bike parts
arriving and various stations equipped with bright signage such as the cleaning, tire repair, and
bike jewelry areas. Filled with happy smiling faces and bikes in various states of disrepair and
bike art everywhere, it is a story of hope.

Who can help me get this video out there so Bob can just point people to it? At 65 Megs it pushes
the envelope of my own resources here. For one I don't think I want to devote all of my bandwidth to
this great resource nor do I have the software tools to cut away the 1/4 of it that does not apply
to the recycle a bike program that bike activists would want it for. The section, toward the end,
for example on dogs and on the bike stunt show could be cut out. We'd be happy to host 30 pretty
tight megs if someone could do the needed pruning or even happier if someone could host all 65 at
their site!!

Can some one help get an inspiring bike resource out there??

Z) Caught up with Forest Ridgeway, the owner of the Bike World in Des Moines, Iowa last week where
he runs a successful chain of three highly regarded stores. A lot of Forest's success surely
comes from the size of his attitude. Not only is he a TransAm vet, he TransAm'ed with Lon
Haldeman's PAC Tour group in 23 days, but his interest in pushing the limits had already led
him to serve as crew member on several Race Across America Rides before he even steamrolled
across the US under his own power. He wanted me to get him an idea of how we can work together.
Last year he had wanted to do something but the week we gave him was just not long enough for
him to react

Z) As our cyclists ready for their bike tours, here from our on line book "How to Bike America"
<http://www.bikeroute.com/HowBikeUS.html>, are all the answers they (and you if you need them)
will need to the great Trailer vs Panniers debate:

http://www.BikeRoute.com/S2k-7TrailPann.html

An important read for our Cycle America 2000 campaign
<http://www.bikeroute.com/CycleAmerica2000/2000Report.html>, I have just reworked this chapter and
am satisfied with how well it now flows.

Z) On the front page of the industry periodical that I receive, "Bicycle Retailer", was a photo of a
man in a suit being sworn into office. And it was an office that directly relates to what we are
doing here. And it was being taken of a man who does what we do here. Chris Koos, the articles
reports, the new mayor of Normal, IL, is the owner of Vitesse Cycle Shop. They've got a web
<http://vitessecycle.com>, but it does not appear as tho they are e-mail accessible.

Is anyone here familiar with this shop? Normal, a town I rode thru during my 1979 TransAm, is the
home of Illinois State University. Since, according to the article, Chris Koos has a proactive
interest in Greenways, does it not make sense that we try to include them in our Mayors' Ride? And
Normal sits almost right in the middle of Indianapolis and Des Moines. So besides sending riders
from Indy to Chicago, we could also send another group to Normal and then Des Moines. What do
people think?

Z) When Jody was over here the other night, we couldn't seem to figure out a way to catalogue bike
routes at NationalBicycleGreenway.com in a way that would make them accessible for those looking
for such information. In answer to that riddle, until the mapping software exists that lets us
start getting this stuff mapped, and toward the end of fulfilling our mission of connecting
cities, here is how this can be accomplished:

We can start with all of our mayor cities, hereinafter referred to as Anchor Cities, and determine
the most requested north, south, east and west bike connections that take them to a big population
center or attraction within say a 40 mile radius. Here, for example, in Santa Cruz, people always
ask how to get:

South: Monterey http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingRidesFolder/CA-SantaCruzMonterey.html

North: San Francisco (they can take Hwy 1 to Half Moon Bay were they can work backwards from
http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingRidesFolder/CA-PA-SF.htm) East: San Jose
http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingRidesFolder/CA-SantaCruzLosGatos.html

West: Take a boat to China

For each Anchor, we can use our regional reps (talked about below) to identify what those
connections are for their area. As we keep adding connections in such a way, we will also be filling
in all the blanks in between.

Z) In order to make the above a reality, as you have likely seen, we need field reps in major
population centers across America. And yet at the outset, the place to start is with our anchor
cities, the 22 cities thru which our soon upcoming mayors' rode will be passing through. If you
want to be an NBG Field Rep and can address the routing talked about above, please reply to
[email protected]

Z) For our NBG web, Jody had already planned to to make the address to government officials
available for the petition he foresees and yet Faye Saunders went one step further. She suggested
we include contact info for the elected officials and other key decision makers in each of the
NBG Anchors we establish. In such a way, we can direct people to them for any improvements that
need to be made for cycling in these areas.

For example the Santa Cruz to Monterey connection needs a lot of help in the Moss Landing area. And
if Congressman Sam Farr, the local chambers of commerce and the County of Monterey's contact info
were associated with the Santa Cruz to Monterey connection we could direct people to voice their
dissatisfaction and/or proposed improvements for this area...

Z) Talked to Jerome Hediger of Wicks Aircraft Supply http://www.wicksaircraft.com last week. Jerome
has long been slated to bike the Indianapolis to Chicago link that Jim Muellner of Just 2 Bikes
rode for us last year. Well he's not only going to do that ride but he is going to bike to Valley
Bikes <http://www.valleybikes.com>, the hysterically fun sponsors of the Columbus to Indianapolis
link, where he will pick up the city proclamations (4) that will have accrued. After he completes
his tour to Chicago, he then tells me he'll ride back to his shop in Highland IL near St Louis.
Because it performed so effortlessly last time, he's going to do the ride on his company's Hed
Turner, a short wheel base rocket that can be found at: http://www.trimuter.com/hedturner.htm.

And just to make sure he's ready, he just now is starting to train for our ride by putting 50 pounds
of weight in the BOB trailer that he will be towing.

Z) Well as per this item in our 3/10 newsletter:
<http://www.BikeRoute.com/MayorFestNews/3-10-03.html#Anchor-48213>, Bill Morrow can't handcycle
Portland to Eugene after all. However, well liked guy that he is, through Back in Motion, his
business servicing the needs of physically challenged people, he already has two other
handcyclists interested in maybe taking his place. I'll let you know when it's all a GO!!

Z) While most people sleep, Jody Fitch has been busy slaving over content, often even the exact
words contained in some of it, that the phenomenal web site he is helping us to create will use.
Back around Christmas he began poring over the voluminous writings I have scattered all
throughout BikeRoute.com over the last decade. While over the last month, he has been working to
consolidate them into one place - NationalBicycleGreenway.com. The clarity thru which this man
sees what I've been writing about for years transcends the word 'astonishing'. It's almost other
worldly, almost as tho he's been delivered to us from a different dimension that knows exactly
what has to be done to make this dream real -- WOW!!

Z) Joe Zaleski, another member of our web team is empowering Jim Redd's efforts by trying to break
things. And it is this form of "proof reading" that will guarantee for us that our web will be
far more bullet proof when our rider's tires hit the asphalt here in just over a month!!

Z) Now that we have gotten closer to Boulder by switching the reception that precedes it from Omaha
to Grand Island, Marni Ratzel, the Boulder bike coordinator has been able to move our reception
up a day. To Saturday 6/21. This will allow us to take advantage of the crowds that will have
assembled in their downtown for their weekly Boulder County Farmer's Market.

Z) And this still works for Buzz Feldman who is staging a ride from his store, High Gear Cyclery
<http://highgearbike.com>, in Longmont 15 miles away. An enthusiastic supporter of the NBG
effort, Buzz plans to have a fair number of riders (he has a widely attended monthly ride that
takes place around the time we will have arrived and only has to move it up a day as per
http://www.bikeroute.com/RecumbentRides.htm#anchorCO) on hand as well as a send off from city
officials in his town! Buzz even tells me that the route to Boulder is a most enjoyable one that
even makes use of car free pathways as it get closer to Boulder.

Z) Andrew Morton is on spring break from his studies at the U of Portland where he is studying
Computer Science. And for this we can be glad. He used the R&R time he had earned to help Jody
and Jim out with some programming short cuts. This not to mention the code that he is just about
done writing that will connect our rider's Pocket Mailer to the Blog he has developed. If you
don't remember what we said about this or for that matter don't know what a blog is, see
http://www.BikeRoute.com/MayorFestNews/3-10-03.html#Anchor-49575

Z) The ever indefatigable Faye Saunders, last year's Santa Cruz NBG Fest booth coordinator, is using
her creative genius to pull our Earth Day booth together. Much respected by all those who
exhibited at our last August event <http://www.bikeroute.com/SCNBGFest/8-11Report.html> as the
woman who contributed to how well it flowed, she is bringing the same excellence to our soon
upcoming presence for the planet in San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz on Sunday 4/27. Here is how we
foresee the booth as coming together:
http://www.BikeRoute.com/MayorFestNews/3-17-03.html#Anchor-53283

Z) I got Faye out on my Penninger Recumbent tandem
<http://www.bikeroute.com/Penninger/PNGRFairingTandBeach.jpg> on Saturday and I was able to kill
two NBG birds with one stone. First of all , we rode to K-Mart where I purchased a 14 x 12 foot
canopy for our outdoor NBG events. And on the way she took notes as we brainstormed the Build a
Free Bike part of our NBG event. Ten round trip miles later she had filled up 4 full pages! We
came up with a ton of great ideas and were able to see how to involve more of the community in
this exciting part of both our Earth Day presence and at the NBG Bike Fest in August! To the
tandem picture noted above, add a Blue Sky trailer and whoaaaaaa..........!!!!!!!

Z) And Marielle Stoellinga wants to help! A lively Car Free cyclist from Holland, she is studying
for an advanced degree at the university here. Excited about bikes, here she is on one of Gardner
Martin's Easy Racers at our last Fest. It made the entire top half of page 2 in the Santa Cruz
Sentinel: http://www.bikeroute.com/SCNBGFest/8-11Postscript.html

Z) Ever vigilant for ways to help the NBG cause, local saxophone celebrity Wes Anthony has offered
to help at Earth Day as well!

Z) I sent out a call to help to my contacts in Portland for some key email addresses. Well Pat Franz
of Terra Cycle http://terracycle.com not only hooked me up with the information I needed but he
responded with a full page explaining the in and outs on all of his many other Portland
connections.

Z) Jim Muellner of Just 2 Bikes http://JusttwoBikes.com tuned in last week. Jim, as I said above,
rode the Indy to Chicago connection for us last year. Well, he told me he journeyed out from
Minnesota to Portland last month to meet NBG celebrity Andrew Heckman
http://webpages.charter.net/200a/AndrewHeckman2.htm and his wife Lisa. Jim was, as to be
expected, impressed. So much so that we wants to ride for us again this year. But he doesn't as
yet know where or when as he tells us he may likely go where we need him!!

Z) One of Andrew Heckman's friends, there seems to be no end to them, Dominic Casey, sent us a query
about the Chicago to Des Moines link. When Dominic saw that Jeff Reser is working to build it as
a benefit for Andrew, he wanted to know how he can help. I put him touch with Jeff. Good stuff
should be the result!!

Z) Every year motor vehicles kill over forty thousand people; fourteen on an average day.
Thunderhead Alliance

M A R T I N K R I E G : "Awake Again" Author Bent Since '83, Car Free Since '89, Attacking with
Love Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor '79 & '86 TransAm Vet - Invites you to:
http://www.BikeRoute.com/SCNBGFest N A T I O N A L B I C Y C L E G R E E N W A Y