June 06, 2003
NBG Going Ballistic in Des Moines
This just in from Lorna Davros, Mayor Preston Daniels' scheduler. Too much excitement:
At 10:32 AM -0500 6/6/03, Davros, Lorna L. wrote:
Another news Flash! Fox 17, a local TV station is going to take footage of the ride from Bike World to City Hall. Everything is coming together. Even the weather is holding out. Josh is bringing an awning type tent in case of rain. Subway Sandwiches and Gatorade will be served on the front steps of City Hall. Josh has done a great job - I can't wait to meet him as well! Reporters are beginning to call. Only 96 minutes to lift off!
The Mayor came in this a.m. and said he met with Peter Borgen's mom (Peter is riding in from St Paul, ed) this morning at another celebration (National Dairy Month). Our own city cable station is also going to record the ceremony and it will play at various times throughout the year on our cable channel 7 so we will be able to keep the message in front of our viewers here in DM.
Even more good news - Our local CBS (Channel 8) and ABC Channel 5) tv stations will be here to tape the ceremony. DM Register and press Citizen are sending reporters. So we will be getting great coverage in DM The excitement mounts!
Trucker's Love
As per the below, NBG super star, Andrew Morton, who biked the Pacific Coast for us last year to honor Andrew Heckman as per http://www.bikeroute.com/NatRelayRide2002.html , who biked Reno to Santa Cruz in 1999 for our Swing for NBG and scouted Reno to Salt Lake for us in 2000, not to mention all the computer work he has done for the NBG and continues to do with the blogs and picture gallery he setup for us at NationalBicycleGreenway.com, had this to say about trucks. He sent it yesterday when Mark from Iowa announced that he wanted to connect up with Jim Muellner somewhere in Iowa. Mark had made this post to Jim:
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NBG": how can I contact Jim? nothing big, but I drive a truck through Western Iowa (on Mondays usually) and would love to at least see him somewhere. Any idea of his route from Des Moines? I might be able to suggest better alternate routes! I am BOTH a semi driver and an avid bike rider. Often carrying one of my bikes in my truck! Tell Jim that IF he sees a large Brown Kenworth (#94 on the side, Hill and Williams Bros Trucking) and the driver is wearing a "Teddy Roosevelt mustasche" he should be aware that the blast on the air horn is a friendly hoot! a greeting and Godspeed!
mark
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To which Andrew stated:
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I ended my transam with a lot of love for the truckers. The professional drivers (unlike the RVers) would give you all the space they could. I always got a kick out of it when the truckers honked, provided it was after they'd passed me ;)
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Nor could I agree with him more. I loved long haul truckers because we shared the same bond - A love for the open road!!
June 05, 2003
BikeParking.com to park Festival Bikes!
BikeParking.com, a supplier of bike parking racks for municipalities across the nation, including the City of Santa Cruz, just came on as not only a booth exhibitor at our 2nd annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest, but they are also going to provide us with a secure parking area for the hundreds of bikes we expect.
btw: Besides the Mayors' Ride rider reports you may find in here, the above and other news about our Festival and our ride can be found at http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/News
ZZip Design Donates a Fairing for Festival
Add a windscreen to the list of prizes available for our raffle at our 2nd Annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest http://nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival. ZZip Design http://zzipper.com makers of the world famous fairing that has won speed records all over the world will not only be at our August 17 festival, our list keeps growing, but they have also donated one of their prized go fast shields to our expanding list of of prizes. These include a Backsafer recumbent bicycle http://www.bikeroute.com/Backsafer, an S&B Recumbent http://home.pacbell.net/recumbnt and many other smaller prizes that will be raffled off as the bands set up.
Besides the Mayors' Ride rider reports you see in here, the above and other news about our Festival and our ride can be found at http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/News
THX 4 U!!
A Road Perk for Mighty Jim in Des Moines
Here is an example of the kind of surprises one can expect out on the open road! Hi Mark!! I forwarded this excitement to Jim Muellner on his Pocket Mailer:
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From: Lazybee45@aol.com
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 16:05:02 EDT
Subject: Re: Fw: Come on Jim
To: NBG@bikeroute.com
NBG: how can I contact Jim? nothing big, but I drive a truck through Western Iowa (on Mondays usually) and would love to at least see him somewhere. Any idea of his route from Des Moines? I might be able to suggest better alternate routes! I am BOTH a semi driver and an avid bike rider. Often carrying one of my bikes in my truck! Tell Jim that IF he sees a large Brown Kenworth (#94 on the side, Hill and Williams Bros Trucking) and the driver is wearing a "Teddy Roosevelt moustache" he should be aware that the blast on the air horn is a friendly hoot! a greeting and Godspeed!
mark
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Des Moines Mayor's Office Excited About Our Ride
In a note I got from Lorna Daniels, the Des Moines Mayor's scheduler, she communicated the excitement our ride is building in Des Moines:
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Anyway, as I was telling you earlier, I spoke with Jim Muellner today and he is in very good spirits and excited about tomorrow's meeting with Mayor Daniels. He has hooked up with Bike World and Forest and Josh. They are really the ones that are planning the reception for him. Unfortunately, what I can do on behalf of the City is only minimal - thankfully we have guys like Forrest and Josh to bring it together.
It is beautiful here today, we had a few showers over the lunch hour but not enough to deter the rest of the riders. I am looking forward to meeting them all tomorrow. This has been such a great experience and find myself already looking forward to next year's event. The Pocket Mailer reports bring some great comic relief to what is often a crazy world at city hall. The vivid descriptions of the countryside also gave me a chance to daydream as well. (Of course, I love the Iowa countryside and hope our riders will also.) I got a kick out of the "Flat land" they expected to see. Just wait until they hit western Nebraska/eastern Colorado! That is flat land! Anyway, as my part of the adventure is nearly over I wanted to say thanks for letting us be part of your dream! In the next few years we will all be celebrating the fruition of your hard work. The world needs more dreamers like you and all the members of NBG.
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Martin Krieg
June 04, 2003
High Gear Bike & Boulder to Give Mighty Jim Mueller Hero's Welcome
Martin,
I just spoke with Marni in Boulder. We are ready for Jim! I have a route scoped out to get from here to Boulder. Our recumbent group "test rode" it last month. Also, I have a place for Jim to stay if he gets here Friday, June 20. There is an apartment above High Gear Cyclery that may be vacant. He will have privacy, hot shower, refrigerator, etc. I will get a roll-away bed for him to bunk down in. In the unlikely event that someone is living there at that time, he can bunk down here in the store. He still will have a hot shower, refrigerator, etc. So no camping needed. If others are riding with him, there is room for all. The Mayor will issue a proclamation for us. I have a bunch of people interested in accompaning Jim to Boulder, many of them recumbent riders. In Boulder, Marni is arranging for a police escort to take us to the celebration. This is getting exciting. It is getting close. WOW! 2+ weeks. Wish I could get away to join him. What an great adventure.
Regards,
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Feldman
High Gear Cyclery, Inc.
504 Main Street
Longmont, Colorado 80501
(303) 772-GEAR (4327)
"Experience the Fun"
June 03, 2003
Portland to Eugene to have Amplified Music??
Cycle America TransAm rider superstar Mark Chen
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We currently have 5 riders but I am hoping to get some more of my friends in
on it. We have not yet decided the exact route and are thinking we might
take 99 down to Corvalis and then to Eugene. We also don't know where we'll
be staying each night, but I have this crazy idea to lug some powered
speakers with me on my trailer which unfortunately, or maybe fortunately,
would require me to find some type of place where I could recharge my
batteries each night, maybe motels even.
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Later fellow Portland to Eugene rider, Don Park added:
At the Seattle to Portland bike ride, there is a guy who carries a bob
trailer behind him. The trailer has a car battery connected to a car
stereo and a couple 6x9 speakers. it works Really Well and music Really
Gets People Going. We had this freight train of cyclists near the end of
the ride, all pushing 25mph. it rocked!
June 02, 2003
Buff Wear Fest Exhibitor Bio
Here is the profile of of one of the exhibitors that will be at our 2nd Anuual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest :
Jessica Menendez was born and raised in Misawa-shi Aomori-ken, Japan and Quito, Ecuador before finally attending her first American public school at the age of 10.
"It was a difficult transition - mainly because my command of the English language was not great." She spent the next two years in the US completing two years of education in 4 different schools and at age 12 moved to Madrid Spain. "I loved being back in a Spanish speaking country." Circumstances brought Jessica back to the US at age 15, which in turn led her to drop out of high school and leave home. "I landed in Santa Barbara - and although I grew up in many places around the world, I really grew up going through the school of hard knocks as a teenage runaway."
Jessica was fortunate to end up in Alaska at age 18. "The early 80's was a good time to be in Alaska. State resources were rich with opportunities for education, the economy was thriving and I desperately needed a chance to start out on a clean slate." Jessica began taking college courses at Santa Barbara City College and continued her education with the University of Juneau. In 1985 she received acceptance to New York University's film program. "As long as I can remember, I have always been interested in higher learning and especially experiencing new and different things. I've been very fortunate to have the freedom and opportunity to work professionally in many areas." Jessica has enjoyed positions ranging from work as a news producer, parks and recreation director, counselor, coach and legislative aide. Jessica often spent summers and evenings completing distant learning courses and specialty programs to compete in jobs where education and special training beyond general education requirements were necessary.
"In the early 90's, I was working in Juneau as the outpatient director for substance abuse services. I naturally gravitated towards working with high-risk youth largely because of my background and survival as a teen runaway. It was during a group therapy session with youth, where the subject of dropping out of school brought me to realize that my rebellious nature helped me to seek and continue with higher learning despite not having a high school diploma or GED. The assimilation of information was always interesting and easy for me - learning to start from a reasonable point was not and certainly going back was even tougher. A GED serves different purposes for everyone. We are the authors of our lives and for me; going back for my GED was about completing unfinished business - sorting through losses and regrets and acknowledging my spirit of survival. It also gave me the opportunity to embrace the wealth of experience and knowledge that I have attained from continuing to participate in both traditional and non-traditional learning environments."
Today, Jessica is a health and fitness professional, known for her active participation in raising money for AIDS research and services through riding her bike more than 3500 miles across the country. Her athletic energy, positive outlook and interests extend beyond marathons, triathlons and commercial fishing - she is recognized in the Juneau community and other bush communities around the state for her caring involvement with high-risk youth. Jessica's service to youth has been instrumental in helping families with issues such as substance abuse and eating disorders - working as a counselor in local schools and maintaining a private counseling practice. She has been an Alaskan resident since 1981, living and working in Juneau, Kotzebue, Nome, Dillingham and King Salmon.
Jessica's has combined her experience and education with entrepreneurial interests and is currently the President of Heart Zones Coaching and Software, a training and education company specializing in physical and emotional fitness and she is the creator of ZONEware T, a training and logging software program. She also owns Alaska Buff Wear, a line of versatile technical headwear worn and used for various sports and currently provides the official training program system for the Danskin Women's Triathlon series.
For her heart centered spirit, sacrifice of time, energy and service, and her belief in the importance of education, the Alaska GED Alumni Association is proud to honor Jessica Menendez as the 2003 inductee to the GED Hall of Fame.
Andrew Heckman Asks for Portland to Eugene Riders
Hello fellow cyclists:
Exactly one year ago today, I was run down by an inattentive motorist while
riding my bike in northern Illinois. I lived, but just barely. However, this
might not have happened had there been an established system of bike paths
and bike routes that connected major metropolitan areas of the United
States. Imagine how great it would be if you could cycle from state to
state -- or even across the country -- on pathways reserved for cyclists and
other non-motorized vehicles. And all along the path, there would be
wonderful places for you to eat, sleep and relax that catered to the needs
of cyclists.
YOU CAN HELP JUST BY RIDING YOUR BIKE!
Now you have a chance to help make that vision a reality, and have fun doing
it! How? Ride P2E (Portland to Eugene) for the NBG (National Bicycle
Greenway)! Each year, the NBG sponsors a cross-country relay that visits
many major cities and garners support from elected officials for just such a
nationwide system. Of course, nothing gets a politician's notice like a big
crowd. So let's make some noise as the NBG relay rides from Portland to
Eugene this year. The NBG has a couple of riders willing to make the trip,
but wouldn't it be great to send a big contingent showing big support?
HERE ARE THE DETAILS:
The relay is scheduled to arrive in Portland on July 18, depart on July 19
and arrive in Eugene July 21. Imagine that! A paltry 33 miles a day through
the beautiful Willamette valley. Sounds like a vacation to me! You can even
take the Amtrak back! Nor do you need to ride whole trip. We'll be happy if
you just show up at either end to support the good work of the NBG. How much
you'd like to ride is up to you. And while the NBG touts the recumbent bike
lifestyle, any pedal-powered vehicle is welcome...1 wheel, 2, 3, 4
wheels...it don't matter. Come and show the world how joyful it is to bike!
Click Here for the NBG home page:
NationalBicycleGreenway.com
Click Here For The Relay Schedule:
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide
Click Here To Learn How to Become an Official Rider:
http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php
Thank you everyone. And be careful out there!
Andrew Heckman,
Fan of the OHPV and the NBG
June 01, 2003
Minnesota NBG Riders Head for Des Moines
At 8:32 AM -0500 6/1/03, cyclogical recumbent bicycles wrote:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Longtin, cyclogical recumbent bicycles
507.456.6177
cyclogical@pocketmail.com
National Bicycle Greenway Mayors' Ride cyclists are off!
Mayor joins effort to form nationwide bike trail
Owatonna - Avid cyclists are crossing the U.S. as part of a nationwide
relayto gain support for a coast-to-coast system of interconnected bike-able
roads and paths.
The riders began May 2 in Washington, D.C., and a route was added this
year from St.Paul, MN to Des Moines, IA which will meet up with the route's
riders arriving from Chicago. Owatonnan, Jeff Longtin and Peter Borgen of
St.Paul will meet with St.Paul Mayor Randy Kelly on Tuesday June the 3rd and
head South on bicycles to arrive in Owatonna later that evening.
Prior to departing from Owatonna, Mayor Pete Connor will meet with
with riders Jeff and Peter and will present a proclamation noting the city's support for
the National Bicycle Greenway's efforts to promote a nation wide
network of bicycle-friendly, inter-connected roadways.
Jeff and Peter will arrive in Des Moines, IA on Friday, June 6 and will
join with riders who will be arriving from Chicago for a meeting with
Des Moines' mayor Preston Daniels at 12:00.
WHAT: Proclaiming the City of Owatonna's support for a coast-to-coast
bike trail.
WHO: City Mayor Pete Connor and cyclists Jeff Longtin and Peter
Borgen who are riding in the National Bicycle Greenway Mayor's Ride
WHEN: 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 4th, 2003
WHERE: Custom Coffee, Cedar Avenue, Owatonna
All cyclists are encouraged to attend with their bikes to show their
support, enjoy a roll compliments of cyclogical recumbent bicycles, and
following a group picture, escort Jeff and Peter out of town as they head to Iowa.
For more information on the Mayors' Ride and the National Bicycle
Greenway, visit: www.bikeroute.com
Regards,
Jeff
cyclogical recumbent bicycles
www.cyclogicalrecumbents.com