Press Conference is over and we did well. Because of the rain, we brought the ceremony indoors in the Council Chambers. To make this a real family affair, Mayor Cownie's daughter Suzanne (Susie) joined the ride with her dad and the cyclists to City Hall and also attended the proclamation ceremony. Some of the riders brought their bicycles upstairs to use as a backdrop to the walnut paneling that frames our official city business room, still set in its turn of the century decor. The ceremony was broadcast live and will be shown on local TV intermittently over the next several days. We will continue to broadcast it over the next year - keeping the NBG goal alive and well in Des Moines.
After Mayor Cownie read the proclamation he introduced Don Loomis to the crowd (25 to 30 people) in the Council Chambers and Don did a wonderful job explaining the goals of the NBG and giving details of his trip across America. The audience was made up of city employees and citizens, many who are planning to ride RAGBRAI next week. (Next year everyone present talked about how we need to try and coordinate the two rides so that the NBG can get its message out to the thousands who ride in RAGBRAI and then take their experience back to their own communities.)
Anyway, we have another year under our belts and the NBG mission is attracting many more participants. This year alone you nearly tripled in size in the number of cities you reached. Congratulations Martin! Looking forward to the NBG Mayor's Ride 2005. See you next year!
btw: Our Mayor just left with Don and Robert to go cut a railroad tie as he does a high profile groundbreaking for an eagerly anticipated bike trail center! Pictures of everything soon...
Lorna L. Davros, CPS
Exec. Admin. Ass't to the Mayor and Council
Member EO/AA Committee
(515) 283-4944
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Yesterday, many of you saw the report that Faye Sauunders filed for Don on his ride from Omaha to Des Moines. You can see that report and all the reports about Don's ride at:
http://nbg.bikeroute.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/Reports/Archives/cat_don_loomis.php#000292
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Steve Shaw is blazing toward the big celebration Indianapolis has in store for us tomorrow. In fact, he's not even in Indy yet and already newspapers are contacting us for resource material about his ride. You can see what we've already blogged for Steve at:
http://nbg.bikeroute.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/Reports/Archives/cat_cinci_to_indy.php#000291
This as high tech CEO, Victor Grinshtein, patiently rolls along on his Rowbike (http://rowbike.com)
For Immediate release Contact: Mike McDowell 800-730-9021
July 21, 2004 Jo Lynn Garing (317) 327-3690
Indy using Mayors' Ride to Celebrate Connectivity
Time: 11AM
Date: July 23
Location: 16th St. and the Monon Trail, near Frank & Judy O'Bannon Old Northside Soccer Park.
In a park like setting, a little over ten miles from NBG Sponsor, Valley Bikes, along the cherished Monan Trail, officials from the city of Indianapolis will receive cyclists, local and long distance, as well as a man who will have rowed in from Columbus, with speeches and the release of the city's most comprehensive bike map to date. Detailing all 150 miles of on street bike routes in this sprawling city of 850, 000, since Indy buses are all outfitted with bike racks, these maps will also show where bike arterials intersect with bus routes. And as a perfect model for what we here at the National Bicycle Greenway foresee for an interconnected two wheel America, this important piece of cartography also shows where their bike rideable roads connect with the extensive Indy Greenways (indygreenways.org) network.
Indianapolis officials, in 1989 a former City Councilman, Ray Irvin, now known as Mr. Greenway, wrote the business plan that began building Greenways in Indianapolis, have grown to treasure a trail network that, under Ray's guidance, has contributed greatly to the physical and financial health of a city once known only for its automobile speedway. At nearly three million unique visitor trips a year, they have sophisticated counting devices, Indy trails have greater attendance figures than all of its professional sports teams combined. This not to mention the fact that property values for those homes along its trail corridors have greatly enriched city coffers with increased property tax dollars. In fact, their Greenway system is so successful that Rays is asked to speak about it all over the country and next year's National Mayor's conference, which Indianapolis is hosting, will make a much requested visit to the Greenway.
Valley Bikes owner Mike McDowell, along with local cyclists, will join attorney and former Mayor Steve Shaw as well as Rowbike Rider and HiTech CEO, Victor Grinshtein, both of whom will have arrived from Monday's Cincinnati NBG Day. Victor's bike, called a Rowbike, has a seat that slides back and forth along a rail as you row to move the bike forward. Part of the Third Annual National Mayors' Ride which visits 42 Mayors this year, they will continue on to Chicago where this year's rally to call for an Indianapolis like America ends. More info at bikeroute.com.
- In Cincinnati, well connected civic powerhouse, Steve Shaw, who set up our meeting with his friend, the Cincinnati Mayor, had this to say about yesterday's Cincinnati NBG Day:
We met this morning with Mayor Charlie Luken who read and presented the Proclamation and expressed his whole hearted support for the goals of the NBG. We had two television station cameras present. No newspaper folks, but I plan to send them a photo and a short story. Mayor Luken tried out Marshall's Rowbike and we got news footage and photos of his ride.
Don Burrell from OKI (http://www.oki.org )attended as well. He then led Victor and I across the Ohio River over the "Purple People Bridge" a bridge that was destined for demolition, but was saved by private interests to provide a pedestrian/cycle bridge from Cincinnati to Covington, KY. We then headed West on Route 8 along the river, ending at the Anderson Ferry, a small flat boat ferry that regularly runs between Ohio and KY, just 8 miles from Downtown. After refreshments at the convenience store and review of Victor's directions, Victor set off into the sunset toward Indiana, while Don and I headed east back to our jobs and desks. I was tempted to ride off with Victor instead, but rationality returned too quickly.
Marshall has a bum hand and does not think he is quite ready for the hills of Ohio and Indiana, so he is not travelling on to Indianapolis. I may advance my trip to leave tomorrow, depending on the schedule of the rest of my family. I'd love to catch up with Victor along the roadway and enjoy a few beverages and stories one night.
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To which Marshall added this when he sent the great photos you can see at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004:
Attached photo's of the Mayor and us accepting the proclamation and the Mayor riding my RowBike. He told me that riding my bike is almost exactly like using the rowing machine at the gym he goes to for his workouts and that he would definitely be thinking about getting one for his fitness regime.
I had a flare up of my 'not so' old friend Arthur I. 'Tis in my right hand and it would have been very painful to continue on to Indy. When I was on the trail one of the bikers I talked to told me of a special set of gloves that he had seen that were similar to the ones gymnasts on the uneven parallel bars use to hold onto the bars. An upside down J that would take a lot of the stress out of my fingers and knuckles where I'm affected most. Have any of you readers out there heard of these gloves and know where I could get a pair?
Anyhow this Mayor's Ride for the NBG has been one of the best experiences of my life and I and going to try my best to help the cause in my area here in Lower Michigan. I am going to try and get Friday the 30th off work to join all of you in Chicago for the conclusion of this years ride. I know that the RowBike will never replace the bicycle in its many forms but it is the best exercise machine I have ever used and will never see the garage sale where all the other exercise equipment I've bought over the years has ended up. Steve Shaw didn't get a chance to ride my bike in Cinci but said he was interested in getting one for upper body conditioning maybe rowing every other day on a RowBike. If you see me on the trail any of you readers out there, you're welcome to take the King Crewzer for a test ride.
Be Safe I've got to Row :) Marshall
- We also met the Omaha, NE Mayor yesterday. His scheduler, Betsy Garbacz, was not only a joy to work with but she stayed in contact with our two riders to make sure they would be kept appraised of any last minute scheduling changes that might come up. And both Don Loomis and Robert Craddick, who is joining Don for his ride to the Des Moines reception he has helped to build, as per the next paragraph, really enjoyed meeting Mayor Mike Fahey.
- I caught up with Lorna Davros today. Scheduler for Des Moines Mayor, Frank Cownie, she is Big Power and knows who to call for what when things need to be done right away. And when Robert Craddick told her could get 80 Bratwurst sausages donated by Lewrights Deli for a barbecue he wanted to do at City Hall to honor Don and the NBG, she fully embraced the idea. She saw it as as a great way to help her Mayor, new this year, to be seen by his constituents as an aware part of the Quality of Life community out her way. Before long she and Robert were also able to make Thursday's reception a part of the Annual RAGBRAI, the celebrated week long bike tour of Iowa, by tieing a ground breaking for the Riverwalk to our arrival in town. So with Lorna's help, Don, Robert and the Mayor himself will ride their bikes to the dedication ceremony that is planned.
- UniHammer Pounds Rides Bike into Ground
Heard from the UniHammer yesterday! Patrick Thomas called me from 9,000 feet as he was nearing the top of Rabbit Ears Pass. We only talked for a few minutes before our connection vanished but I did find out that he had recently left the town of Steamboat Springs with not only the new air seat, bike shorts and backpack that Davis, CA bike coordinator Tim Bustos, had sent to Riley Polumbus from the Chamber there, but he was also taking on the Rockies with a new unicycle. If you ever seen this guy pedal, you will understand why this happened. I keep using the word 'fury' but no other word can better describe what his pedaling motion looks like when he is moving along at a mere five miles an hour.......
In the little time we had, he told me, just as he had started to dread the replacement of yet another spoke, another broke and soon nine or 10 failed all at once just as he approached the Steamboat city limits. He laughed as he described the spectacle he must have made for. His bike wobbled and swayed as he said he must have looked like the town drunk.
But having been in contact with Riley, he made it to the bike shop she had recommended, And yet as the Sore Saddle people started relacing his wheel, they found several stress fractures in the bike's fork. Before I could find out where he located a replacement unicycle, we got cut off..........
Patrick spent more time making sure I knew how immensely grateful he was to Riley, Tim, the bike shop and all the others who had helped him than talking about the particulars of his ride but I also remember him saying that he wanted to make the town of Kremmling (elevation 7.362) before nightfall!!
- If you are thinking about riding for us next year, wait until you see the truly epic slide show, over 200 pictures, we just loaded. They are of the DC to Pittsburgh relay connection. When U see it, you will know why organic farmer, Troy Bogdan, can't wait to do it again and why Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy made yet another trip on it just before he congratulated this year's riders. Troy did a great job of capturing the beauty and rich history that he and Nick Hein rolled thru every day. You don't want to miss this:
http://nbg.bikeroute.com/gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=Pittsburgh2004
- And id you're really feeling adventurous or just want to see more great photography, do get a look at Skot Paschal's 2003 Arcata to Napa run: http://nbg.bikeroute.com/gallery/Arcata2003
or his 2004 Boise to Salt Lake run: http://nbg.bikeroute.com/gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=Boise-SLC2004
THX for all of U!!