I just stumbled across this page from Joe Schriner's book. I met Joe in 2000 when he was passing thru Santa Cruz on his campaign for President of the US. An intelligent, articulate man, he surely had to know there was no way for him just to get on to the ballot, but it did get him good material for a book. Here is the piece he drew up about me and the National Bicycle Greenway...
Heard yesterday from the amazing Skot Paschal. And now that I have his permission, I am publicizing his below reply. For those of you who may have missed Skot's story, he is working to get to the other side of the cancer that has put him on the sidelines for now. Click here to hear the Podcast interview we did with Skot last August, and here to see his NBG bio.
If anyone can turn lemons into lemonade, Skot can. I mean here's a guy who took a ride, the Boise to Salt Lake City Mayors' Ride relay, that no one wanted to do because of the absence of services, things to see and relief from the elements, and turned it into a journey filled with fun, adventure and intrigue. Click here to see the awesome slide show that resulted.
Take a moment, if U can to shoot Skot an email. Tell the man we used to call the Pocket Mail Poet, that U want him whole and well once again. Tell him, we need him on the NBG team when we pedal across the USA in 2007 as per this site. Skot we love U guy!!
And we know that we will soon see you in the Winner's Circle of Life!!
THX 4 U Skot & just THX 4 all of U!!
At 6:51 PM +0000 11/15/05, Skot wrote:
Hello Martin/Dear Pal of Mine,
I am doing an experimental drug called erbatux. It is given every Thursday. Along with radiation every day there is much attacking the problem. I am still regaining the use of my lung from the operation, but everything seems to be going forward. I am a miracle.
I appreciate your keeping touch with me. In a year and a half, we begin one of the greatest adventures of all time.
Love +
Skot
- The City of Oakland, CA just got its biking report card on file with us here at the National Bicycle Greenway and I feel certain that you will see why they think their cycling is some of the best in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you go to the scorecard (here) we have on line for our 50 Mayors' Ride cities, you will see why Oakland, located across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, feels this way. We don't hear too much about Oakland cycling because they have been just too busy improving their two wheel infrastructure to let anyone know.
However, from my own personal experience, having been born there and having used its hills to train for my first TransAmerica bike ride, I can say that they deserve to be recognized as one of this nation's top biking cities. I have not found better hill riding located so close to a major city anywhere in the US. While San Francisco's hills run throughout the city and it is bordered on both sides by water, the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay, Oakland is relatively flat and is separated from the Bay and a heavily forested, watershed preserve by the several thousand foot ridge that rings the Bay Area.
In the Oakland hills, not only are the views unparalleled when one takes a break in his or her climb to the top, but the variety of ascents and their close proximity to the redwood shaded roads of Moraga, Berkeley and the San Pablo Reservoir, truly make for a bike riding heaven. And now Oakland officials are working hard to make the flats a worthy gateway to all of this two wheel splendor as their report proves!!
Here, btw, is the Podcast we recently did with Oakland bike activist, Ron Bishop
Last Thursday, we talked with the Mayor of what has long been regarded as America's #1 bike city, Davis, CA. In fact, as we reported in NBG News a few weeks ago, Davis recently achieved the highest ever awarded ranking by the League of American Bicyclists. They are now a platinum level Bicycle Friendly Community. And it it has been during Ruth Asmundson's many year' of service to her city (her deceased husband was also a Davis Mayor) that Davis's many years of hard work has finally earned them this recognition.
Listen to Ruth as she talks about the priority given to bicycling by its city officials. She also tells us how the Davis reputation as a bicycle city has grown far and wide (they even have eight sister cities located all over the world) to also establish themselves as the kind of quality of life community that developers are pushing to be a part of. And it is here that she touches on how they are working to make sure that the bicycle is given priority not only at its core but in its outer reaches as well.
To hear previous NBG podcasts including our conversation with other elected officials and bike leaders, go HERE.