Famous German Bike Queen to Ride with NBG Mayors' Ride Busycle

Ines Brun, the beyond epic German bike acrobat sensation, who can do things on a bicycle that challenge one's imagination as well as the ability to explain that which has occurred, has accepted an invitation to ride the Busycle here next Tuesday night! The excitement for what is ahead is very hard to contain. I mean we're talking about an athlete and body movement magician whose performances are so powerful, and at the same time compelling with their artistic grace, that they fill entire sporting arenas back in her home country. WOW!!

A humble giant, intoxicated with all things bicycle, one would never know that outside of the unprecedented bike tricks she can do, she is a much in demand practicing physicist on assignment in China. And yet it is easy to see why she is coming to us here in Palo Alto, just south of San Francisco and the home of Stanford, to ride our 15 person truck/bike. As a real cyclist, her blood boils so hot for bicycles that in the knowing that what we do here in the U.S. is copied the world around, she wants to use a part of her American vacation to help call attention to the the National Bicycle Greenway vision.

Toward that end, Ines might also join me for all or part of my Mayors' Ride/Author Tour from San Francisco to Boston next summer at http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR . While I do have her assurance that she will help us send the event off next Spring!

When she comes out in five days time, she will join us as we pedal across town to hear the also legendary band, Norton Buffalo, play the second to last show in the Palo Alto summer concert series. And since she will ride with us on the way to the park and we can't say where or when, spontaneous street theater will surely occur along the way. Bearing witness to a few minutes here, a few seconds there, all as yet on a route or at locations that we will not know until we reach them, the select group of cyclists chosen for this Busycle ride or those who come along as escorts (all invited) will be privy to excitement that few people ever get a chance to view.

If you want to see why I am so excited for us to be entertained by the Babe Rube of cycling, a woman who stands so tall above other champion cyclists that she has no equal, do get a look at her web at

http://www.trick-bike.com

For details, including the location of the Busycle garage: NBG@bikeroute.com

Yahoo Ines!!

THX 4 all of U!!

Washington DC Most Improved Biking City in the Nation!

Washington DC Most Improved Biking City in the Nation!

When I rode solo from the West Coast to Washington DC in 1979, after being celebrated in newspapers and with innumerable acts of kindness that included free meals, hats and t-shirts, etc, I got to the edge of the Nation's Capitol and had to hitch hike to get inside the Beltway freeway system that encircles the city. Once inside, I found myself dodging buses and taxis on a loaded touring bike. Every where I went, people looked at me with pity. I don't remember seeing anyone else on a bicycle.

It was a sad, depressing end to the victory I had won in biking across the US to prove that I had come back from my head injury. Like my long journey back from two months in a coma and paralysis and all the other many debilitations that resulted, Washington, DC is well on the way back to its return to health.

In the chapter of my new book,“How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto”, where I talk about Washington DC, I say:

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it takes the persistent work of the Washington Area Bicyclist’s Association (WABA) to make it possible for cyclists to effectively move about here.
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And indeed they have come a long way. Toward that end, HERE is the Podcast interview I did with WABA director, Eric Gilliland, as WABA was, unbeknownst to them moving toward this award.......

Too exiting!!

6th Annual Pgh to DC Canal Ride Needs Riders

When Nick Hein stepped forward to offer his services as a rider/scout last week, our plan to use this year to keep our focus only on our 22 Mayors' Ride cities changed. This is so because Nick has led rides for us before and since this will be the fourth time he will have done this ride, he knows exactly what we need from him with little or no input from us. He knows when and where to take photos, how to get them to us in the most expedient way and he always keeps us abreast of his maneuverings with timely reports.

So, if you want to learn from an old pro and have 360 miles in your legs, do consider taking part in this years Mayors' Ride relay which makes use of back roads and the historic C&O Canal Trail to get you from Pittsburgh City Hall to Washington DC City Hall. A fully self contained cycle camping journey., every year that we have done this ride, the stories and the photo galleries have all been epic.

Here for example are slide shows for all but the first year:
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=DC-Pgh2006
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=DC-Pittsburgh2005
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/Pittsburgh2004
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors

From the Pittsburgh Mayor's send off on July 7th to the Washington DC Mayor's reception a week later on June 14, this will easily be one of the most memorable bike rides you will have ever done!!

Nick will be out of email contact next week, but he can be reached by cell at 304-276-0213

If U wan to do this ride contact me at NBG@bikeroute.com so we con coordinate with you as well as put your name at our schedule/scorecard at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008

THX 4 all of U!!

Cincinnati Mayor to Honor Burgeoning Bike Movement

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory will be at City Hall on Tuesday May 1 at 1:30 to issue a proclamation to local cyclists and leaders in the bike movement who have helped his city earn the distinction of being made a stop on the National Bicycle Greenway's route from San Francisco to Boston. As testimony to his commitment to making Cincinnati a green leader, in addition to the 218 page Green Action plan that he and his staff published on June 19, he will soon go on record with the following words:

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Whereas, the City of Cincinnati recognizes that increased bicycle ridership has significant positive impacts in increasing the livability of a city because bicycling produces no air or noise pollution, decreases traffic congestion, saves energy, and moves people toward self sufficient, sustainable personal practices that have city-wide consequences; and

Whereas, bicycle transportation routes reduce taxpayer burden by using land and road space more efficiently while also alleviating parking demands; and

Whereas, the bicycle is a serious mode of transportation and bicycles offer low cost transportation to the non-driving public, including the young; and

Whereas, bicycling increases mobility, saves individual's money, improves personal health and sense of well being, teaches responsibility to our youth; and

Whereas, OKI, the Cincinnati Cycle Club, Ohio Bike Federation, MOBO Bike Collective, Bio Wheels, Reser Bicycle Outfitters, Campus Cyclery and the Bike/PAC have all played a part in making cycling an important part of the Cincinnati transportation mix; and

Whereas, the Purple People Bridge travels 2.670 feet across the Ohio River to make it the longest bike/ped bridge in the United States as it also connect Cincinnati cyclists with another city and another state; and

Whereas: The city of Cincinnati has been chosen as one of the main stopping off points on the National Bicycle Greenway's (NBG) proposed bike way from Boston to San Francisco.
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With this year as a prologue to NBG director Martin Krieg's 2009 Author Tour from the Golden Gate city to Beantown, his organization will be using this year to show how far Cincinnati has come since Krieg's 1986 ride across America for the National Head Injury Foundation came through here.

As the Queen City Bike Month has shown, the Queen City of the West has come a long way down the two wheel road over the last 22 years. From the MOBO Bike Collective to the Bike/PAC and Purple People Bridge, etc , many developments that favor the cyclist have come about during that time. This as organizations that help bike riders such as OKI, the Cincinnati Cycle Club, and the Ohio Bike Federation have all grown in size and influence.

And many of these organizations will be represented when Mayor Mallory issues his resolution in support of the National Bicycle Greenway's goal of first joining San Francisco and Boston with a bike way before it then inter-connects, the rest of America with a network of bikeable roads and paths.

See the 6th annual 2008 national Mayors' Ride at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008

Omaha Mayor's Exciting Bike Bridge Celebrated at NBG Day

When I asked Karen Anderson, of the National Park Service, what she knew about the Missouri River Bike Bridge, she told me that while she sees it being built out her office window, that she didn't know any of the specifics. However, she did promise to get back to me with some links. And WoW, did she hit a home run! Look at this pdf that she found hidden deep within the belly of the HNTB Architecture, the bridge's builders, web site:

http://www.hntb.com/documents/pdf/news/02_Modern%20Steel%20Construction_0308.pdf

It even commends Mayor Fahey for the strength of his will in making this landmark structure affordable for the city.

Pictured below are the people who came out to honor Omaha's connection to the San Francisco to Boston National Bicycle Greenway route, as they also gave face to an important historical precedent. When Thomas Stevens became the first man to pedal a bike across America in 1884, he had to hire a boat to get him to Council Bluffs. Now THX to the persistence of Mayor Fahey and many of those at City Hall for Omaha NBG Day pictured below, for the first time in history, man will be able to walk or bike from one state, Nebraska, to the other, Iowa!!

L-R, Al Lin, Recreation Coordinator for the Univ. of Neb. Med. Center, Julie Harris, Activate Omaha, Karen Anderson, National Park Service, Gerry Bowen, Papio-Missouri Natural Resources District, Mayor Fahey, Denny Duer, Bikeable Communities! Patrick McNamara, Omaha Community Foundation, Kent McNeil,, Bike Shop Owner, Kerri Peterson, Our Healthy Communities Partnership, Vickie & Jim Rubeck, Omaha Bike Pedalers

The NBG celebration of Omaha biking can be found at: http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGBikingCities/Omaha

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell Greets Reno Bike Leaders

Most all of the important shakers and movers from the Reno cycling community were out in force for Reno NBG Day last Thursday May 8. There Mayor Bob Cashell presented them with the 2008 Reno NBG Day proclamation detailed at the end here. The two wheel giants that you see pictured with Mayor Cashell below are from L to R:

Tim Healion (Commander in Chief of the Tour de Nez bike race), Mike Galioto (Maker of GSR bicycles)
Cliff Young (Member of Nevada Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee), Bob Cashell (Reno Mayor), Dave Aiazzi (City Councilman) , Ernie McNeill (Vice President-Procrastinating Pedalers), Mike Damon (Former president-Reno Wheelmen), Mark Trujillo (Owner of Waldens Coffee Shop - gathering point for many local cyclists)

You can learn more about Reno cycling at the Reno NBG Biking page: http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGBikingCities/Reno

At the present time, we have 15 of the 22 cities I will be visiting (with my Mayors' Ride Author Tour) in the summer of 2009 up and on line. With Salt Lake city as our next stop as per our schedule/scorecard at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008 , we expect to have all 22 of our NBG Biking cities fully fleshed out by the Fall.

As for Reno, soon the following document will replace http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGBikingCities/Reno/RenoProc.php

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Reno NBG Day May 8!

WHEREAS, the bicycle was the first personal transportation vehicle
and a century ago was an important part of American culture; and

WHEREAS, the City of Reno recognizes the National Bicycle Greenway
(NBG) mission to build our city into its network of bike-friendly
roads and bicycle pathways that will connect Boston with San
Francisco as America returns to the rich two wheel heritage that
this country once enjoyed; and

WHEREAS, cyclists from the National Bicycle Greenway annual Mayors'
Ride will making their sixth visit to our city; and

WHEREAS. Greg Lemond, learned the biking skills he needed on Reno's
roads and back roads to go on to become the first American to win
the Tour DeFrance thereby revitalizing bicycling in America; and

WHEREAS. the Reno based Tour De Nez, showcases clean energy for more
and more Americans every year with its festivals, expos and bike
races as it keeps the spirit of Greg Lemond's message alive.
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THX 4 all of U!!

6th Mayors' Ride Begins with Shake up of SF this w/e

- Our ride from San Francisco to Boston starts (unofficially) tomorrow night when our Busycle, probably the most photographed vehicle in the world, will be at the head of Critical Mass this Friday and will be giving demonstration rides for San Francisco Bike Coalition (SFBC) members in Golden Gate Park on Sunday as per http://www.sfbike.org/?chain. At present, we are working out the details for riding it up Market St and to City Hall for a reception we are trying to get together with Mayor Newsom but his office does have their 2008 proclamation ready for us and all systems are up, operational and set to go for the 6th annual ride to Beantown! I don't know if our ride to the Civic Center, a ride that is sure to shake up the city, will take place on Monday, 4/28 or Tuesday, 4/29, but do know that I will keep you posted!!!

In other news (there is so much to talk about so I will be brief):

- Our 15-person pedal truck, the Busycle that Matthew Mazzotta and Heather Clarke gave birth to in Boston and raised, in part, at MIT, has been invited to the Maker Faire, an event that is growing in popularity by explosive leaps and bounds. They are so excited to have us that they are paying to have our machine towed to their event at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. As such, we will be able to give their attendees, who come from all over the world, the chance to enjoy our human powered hayride. Look for us also on the Today Show when it stops in on Friday morning to capture the excitement for TV viewers also all over the world.

- Our ride from Oakland City Hall to Berkeley City Hall will, as most of you already know be ushered by Oakland Councillor Nancy Nadel and Berkeley Councillor Kriss Worthington. What's new is that we will be riding to our reception with Mr Traffic Calming, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates (hear the podcast I did with mayor Tom HERE) with youth from the Waterside Workshops and possibly the Rosa Parks elementary school as well as staff from the city of Emeryville! This after we cross over possibly one of the most famous and celebrated pieces of bicycle infrastructure in the world, the bike bridge over 880 that connects Berkeley's Marina with the San Francisco Bay!

- From there Tom Ayres, PhD, who also created the Berkeley to Napa bike route that your can find at our schedule/scorecard will be joined by Allison Chalken, PhD, and Barry Burr, two more dynamos that you can learn more about as well at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008

- Our ride from Sacramento to Folsom on 25 of the best bike miles in the world, just keeps getting better. Peter Wagner the Bike Guy of Davis, CA just signed on. He will be riding one of his zany and thoroughly capable machines with us to the picnic reception that the city of Folsom is working up for us.

Peter Wagner

- We also just heard from Rancho Cordova Mayor Linda Budge. She has "deputized" some of her Public Works" staff to ride the rest of the way to Folsom with us (Rancho Cordova is at the half way point) as well as make sure we are refreshed with fruit and cold drink once we reach the beautiful park that is their part of the river bikeway

- If you've not been to our maps yet, THX to Grey Lowell, they keep getting easier and more and more fun to use. Toward that end, even our instructions are improving:

For Fun:

- How BIke aware are you:
http://www.maniacworld.com/Awareness-Test.html

- Why driving is raising the cost of food
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/04/02/cstillwell.DTL

- Car Free Sat GG Park starts 4/4 for 6 mos
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/04/MNTQ1008J2.DTL

_ The documentary feature that the Korean TV station did of our Busycle is now out!! It is fabulously done and exciting to see. Soon I will get it on to Youtube so all of U can see what I mean. Toward that end, Dan Kottke, employee Number One at Apple Computer and Steve Job's one time best friend, has offered to help me get it digitized...

- Here is the visit we did to the home.museum of lving legend Jack Castor:
http://www.bikeroute.com/Castor/Castor4-6-08.php

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
~ Winston Churchill ~

Tow Vehicle Needed - Cops clear Busycle ?

Our 6th Annual National Mayors' Ride starts Mon April 28 from San Francisco City Hall hopefully with Mayor Gavin Newsom's blessing. We will be using two Busycle rides on the weekend that leads into that Monday to bring attention to NBG Day with two demonstration rides as per our schedule/scorecard at http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008

On Friday April 25, we will have the Busycle at the Justin Herman Plaza start of the monthly Critical Mass ride for people to try. And then on Sunday April 27, Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss and outgoing Palo Alto Mayor, Councillor Yoriko Kishimoto, will be leading a bike ride from here in the Stanford city to Golden Gate Park where we will meet the San Francisco Bike Coalition. Their membership will be enjoying demonstration rides on the 15-person reconverted Dodge van that will be going back to Boston in 2009 as a part of my Author Tour at http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR .

You can help us make San Francisco happen if you have a strong vehicle with a tow hitch that can move our Busycle from here in Palo Alto to the Golden Gate City. Gerry Barnett from down in the San Bernardino area has donated a two bar that we are trying to work out a way to get up here. And yet if we can't get that up here and then mounted in time, we could still rent a tow dolly or even a car trailer from U-Haul, as we have in the past, However it works out, we still need a vehicle we can tow with. We can even supply the driver if you can help!

In a perfect world, we will also be able to find a place where we can leave it in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday nite. Does anyone have any ideas/leads here?

In addition, that Busycle like pedal car (an '86 Buick Regal) up in Canada that got cited for being on the road, got laughed out of court. Click on the image below to see the video of it getting a ticket.

Here is what came of the citation:
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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/04/04/pedal-car.html?ref=rss

'Flintstones' car case thrown out of court
Last Updated: Friday, April 4, 2008 | 9:22 AM ET

A man who was facing charges for driving a pedal car won a victory in a Toronto courtroom on Thursday.
Trevor Baldwin was pulled over on a Toronto street last October for operating an unsafe vehicle on Queen Street West.

The Buick he was driving looked more like a car from The Flintstones animated television show, in which the driver and passengers use their feet to propel the vehicle.

Artist Michel de Broin built the so-called shared propulsion vehicle to make a point about gas consumption.

The hollowed-out car has no engine or transmission and uses candles instead of headlights. It does, however, have hand brakes.

The car, which has a top speed of 15 kilometres an hour, requires all four occupants to pedal and work together ó a sharp contrast to the solitary, effortless experience of a typical car.

As the Crown prosecutor tried to make his case Thursday, the court erupted in laughter, and the charges were thrown out.

Baldwin's legal representative, Terry Fox, said the arresting officer never should have pulled the car over.

"Where's the evidence it was illegal? There was no objective standard here. Just his opinion is what it was, and that's not good enough. It's speculation he based it on," Fox said outside court.

Baldwin said he was happy with the decision. And what did he want to do after leaving court?

"I'm thinking its a really nice day, so we might go for a drive," he said.

That's exactly what Baldwin did. He grabbed three friends, pulled the car out of storage and took it for a spin.
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THX 4 all of U!!

Perfect love drives out fear - John 4:18

Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author
2009 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"
http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR
'79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides
Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor
NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist

3-31-09 Mayors' Ride News

A) Bio Diesel Bus Wanted
B) 79 inch wide trailer and Tow Bar need for Busycle
C) Scott Campbell maps Napa to Sacto
D) Important changes to NBG Maps - add video instructions, Firefox download, etc
E) Internet Explorer Code Masher wanted
F) San Francisco Train Station to to Golden Gate Bridge bicycle joy ride
G) Cal Train to GG Bridge Slide Show
H) New Home page
I) Little Mexico bypass routed
J) Little Mexico bypass photo documented
K) Folsom Heating up
L) Oakland Councillor Nadel to ride us to Berkeley Councillor Worthington
M) Emeryville CA might be a stop on Oak to Berkeley ride
N) Barry & Allison to join Tom Ayres on Berkeley to Napa ride
O) Awesome Busycle tune up BBQ party
P) Tow Vehicle & Driver Needed for 4/27 Car Free GG Park
Other news
Q) Ines Brunn blog
R) Pledge not to drive to school - get a Free BIke
S) Jack Castor Webbed
T) Why Joe from the SJ Merc doesn't drive
U) Backwards John

A) I posted the following at the SF Bay Area Craig's List and have not heard a peep:

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The 15-person Busycle needs the services of a bio-diesel bus so that it can expand the consciousness of kids and adults through out the San Francisco Bay Area. It lives now in Palo Alto Ca but needs to circulate in the Bay Area cites as a dry run for the Author Tour across America it will do in 2009 with Martin Krieg's new book, “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto”.

In the summer of 2009, either the bus we find ourselves able to use now or another, larger one, will support Martin's 6-person crew and the HiWheel bicycle he will be riding. Details about the 2009 ride can be found at http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR . The only one of its kind Busycle can be found HERE!
========================================

Any ideas or leads out there?

B) We need a trailer to haul the Busycle that can accommodate a wheelbase 79 inches in width. The average width for most vehicles is 76 inches. However when the engine was pulled from the 79 Dodge Cargo van that is at the heart of our machine, the wheels splayed out an additional three inches. We can rent such a car trailer from U-Haul when we are careful to make sure they can supply that spec but the time and expense involved only adds to the complexity of getting our machine to more cities where it can be enjoyed. Does anyone have such a trailer we can buy? This will be an especially important requirement when my '09 ride finds us moving the Busycle from San Francisco to Boston and all the 25 cities we will be visiting with demonstration rides.

In addition, we need a removable tow bar that we can run off of the front of our machine. This would be helpful when we get invited to events that are to far to pedal to and yet too far to go through the trailer mounting ritual.

The above is an example of what I have in mind. Can anyone help here?

C) Toward the end of getting our entire Mayors' Ride route on line, Scott Campbell got Napa to Sacramento on line for us. See: http://www.bikeroute.com/BRdC/routeViewer.php?routeid=124

D) Behind the scenes, we keep making little improvements to our maps. If you can get over to our interactive maps at http://www.bikeroute.com/brdc, you will see that there is now a Firefox download site that you can readily access. Since our maps only run in Safari and Firefox (a truly better web browser), if you run a non Apple machine, we now have an easy way for you to upgrade your internet life as you position yourself to become a part of the National Bicycle Greenway rock with our maps. We also now have video instructions on line that you can access at the 'How to Use' part of of our maps.

E) We still need someone who knows how to work with Google map code. Grey, our map magician, just does not have the time needed to set these up so that they also run on the IE platform. Who knows someone who can help here?

F) One of the most truly epic and memorable rides I have ever done in my life is along the San Francisco Bayfront from the Cal Train station at 4th and King all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. HERE it is at our maps. Sights along the way include The Giants baseball park, the massive Bay Bridge (which you pass under), Justin Herman Plaza (where Critical Mass starts), Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Aquatic Park, the Fort Mason Great Meadow, Marina Green, Crissy Field, East Beach, Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cal Train devotes one entire rail car to bikes for cyclists coming to San Francisco from the peninsula. This route stops by the Ferry Building where cyclists can board a ferry to Oakland, Sausalito, even Vallejo - or on the last Friday of the month partake in Critical Mass..

G) HERE is what the above route looks like in pictures.

H) While we were out there doing our photo documentary of the above ride, I felt inspired to do a short No Hands run on the Golden Gate Bridge on my HiWheel bike. The resulting photo came out so good, I decided to make it the centerpiece of my home page. In doing so, I was actually heeding the advice I had been getting to simplify our web presence. See http://www.bikeroute.com

I) HERE is how we are going to get around the little Mexico bottleneck when we do our 4/27 ride to San Francisco with outgoing Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto:

Here is Faye's reaction to it:
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At 9:41 AM -0800 2/28/08, Faye Saunders wrote:
Ah, nice not to have to ride thru little mexico, all the bumps and rr tracks, cars parked, having to take the lane, etc. That route from PA-SF has certainly needed some tweaking by us. Although I will miss the smells of tortillas cooking!
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J) HERE is what our detour above looks like in pictures.

K) At Folsom City Park, next to City Hall, the Mayor and his staff, in conjunction with Mary Ann Mcalea of the Folsom Tourist Bureau, and Karen Pardieck of Karen Pardieck & Associates, have a picnic spread reception planned for us. Besides food and drink, they will provide secure bike parking so we can also explore the highly regarded city zoo/sanctuary that we will be given free access to! We are half filled. The first 25 get a free lunch compliments of the people named above. Sign yourself HERE!

L) Caught Oakland City Council person, Nancy Nadel, in between meetings and she tells that while she has a budget meeting later on on Thursday 5/1, she still looks forward to getting her trike out to ride us from Oakland City Hall to Emeryville! Car Free Berkeley Councillor , Kriss Worthington, who always also makes this ride with us, will then bring us to his City Hall seven miles away! Sign yourself on HERE

M) Peter Schultze-Allen the Environmental Analyst for the City of Emeryville signed on to ride with us in the Evite noted above. And since Emeryville is such a forward thinking bike city as well as a city that we will pass through on our way to Berkeley, I asked Peter if he would like to invite his Mayor to receive us with a proclamation.

N) Barry Burr, the Barry's Beams start up CEO and Allison Chalken, an MIT educated PhD Physicist, just signed on to ride the 37 mile Berkeley to Napa relay that Human Factors Consultant, Tom Ayres, Ph.D, is lining out for us. Keep your eyes peeled for the Evite that will get you an opportunity to join these gentle giants as they make their way to the wine country.

L-R Allison, Barry, Tom

O) The Spring Tune up that we held on March 16 to get the Busycle ready for the events of spring and summer was a flat raging success. So much got done and so many people were there that it got an entire web page. See http://www.bikeroute.com/BusycleWestCoast/BusycleSpringBBQTune-Up.php

P) As soon as we can get a few people over here to build a frame to support our new 'above the riders' sign, the Busycle is ready to make people smile. Hopefully we can get it out before then, but it's first official event is April 27th when, in conjunction with the SFBC, we do demonstration rides in Golden Gate Park as per this note in their "Chain of Events":

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http://www.sfbike.org/?chain
Busycle Rides in Golden Gate Park *
Sun., Apr. 27 | 2-5pm, Car Free JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park
The world famous 15-person Busycle will be giving demonstration rides on Car Free Sunday stretch of JFK Drive. Rides are free and on a first come, first serve basis with priority given to SFBC members. The National Bicycle Greenway is using this event to call attention to the National Mayors' Ride that leaves for Boston on the following day from City Hall with Mayor Newsom's blessing. Info: www.bikeroute.com -- Questions: nbg@bikeroute.com
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That said, might there be anyone who can help us get it up there? We can supply the trailer, but we need a vehicle and a driver (I don't have a driver's license) who can get our vehicle to and from Golden Gate park. If you can help, NBG@bikeroute.com

Q) The fully astonishing trick cyclist, Ines Brunn, sent me an alert to let me know that she now has a blog in place where her fans can now follow her. Do get a look at http://blog.trick-bike.com . I say keep an eye on this woman. She takes for granted all the many different worlds she lives in, but I suspect that we are seeing her before her many talents take her to many new unthought of heights..

R) Ripon College, a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin, is launching an innovative new program this fall. In exchange for promising not to bring a car to campus, incoming freshman will be offered a brand-new Trek bike, equipped with helmet and bike lock!

http://blogs.jsonline.com/education/archive/2008/02/13/ditch-the-car-get-a-free-bike.aspx

S) I was finally able to pin the legendary Jack Castor down long enough to get a representative listing of some of his many two wheel exploits. See the NBG Scout web that resulted:
http://www.bikeroute.com/JackCastor

T) San Jose Mercury News reporter, Joe Rodriguez, is Car Free now and has been for the last year. He authored an excellent article for his newspaper entitled:
Why I don't drive
WITHOUT A CAR, LIFE MOVES AT A MORE NATURALLY HUMAN PACE
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8511346?nclick_check=1 .

It is an excellent read!

U) I saw John Eaton on his way home from dinner with friends on what looked like an early 1950's Schwinn Phantom. I asked him if he could ride it backwards too when he said, "well I just had a few drinks so I'm not sure". He turned around, sat on the handlebars and took off. In traffic. And he kept riding and riding for block after block. I did manage to get a few shots of him with my iPhone as I rode. Too much fun. Here's John:



This and other Mayors' Ride news can be found at: http://nationalbicyclegreenway.com/News

The 2008 Mayors' Ride begins in less than a month now. See our 2008 schedule/scorecard !!

Rider(s) Needed, Video, Maps, NBG Bios, Histories. 48 Days till Lift Off!!

1) Who will ride SF to Boston and get a video made of their ride this year?
2) Ride Reporter Needed for a Don Loomis type journal
3) Mayors' Ride questionnaire fixed
4) Randy Mitchell filed a bio with us!
5) Why Mark Lind is Hooked on our Mayors' Ride relays
6) Will pay $$ for Map Code Masher who can get our maps to run in Internet Explorer
7) Please input your utility, recreation and training routes to our maps
8) Karen Pardiek to get us Folsom River Ride lunch
9) The doorway to California - Emigrant Pass from my book
10) Mike Damon makes child's play of Emigrant Pass
11) Little Mexico bypass routed
12) Riders/Routes for Napa to Sac Needed
13) Where to find City Histories, NBG Biking Pages, etc at Schedule
14) Express interest in my book to help me get funding for 009
15) New photo for my book and home page communicates hope
16) HiWheel Light show by Michael's Light Toys
17) Tom Kabat to donate Dumpster Verathene
18) Interstate Subway map
19) 101 tear old Marathoner

1) We need one (could be a small group) coast to coast cyclist to carry the the NBG torch from San Francisco to Boston in this year's 6th Annual National Mayors' Ride. Your reward for doing a self supported tour for us as per the parameters laid out at our Get Started page will be much notoriety and a 20-30 minute on line slide show like this one that we did for Scott Campbell, our 2006 rider at:

http://revver.com/video/139587

Complete with sound track, your ride will be featured in the 2009 banner for all our  BikeRoute.com web pages as well as circulated at Revver.com, the usenet and by all those who want just to share a good thing. In addition, as yours to keep for a lifetime, it will be something you can:

- use in a resume
- entertain guests with
- use with presentations to bike groups, service clubs and school kids, etc
- help you get a book about your journey sold to a publisher
- offer to an employer, before you ride, as a way to get the time off
- establish you as a cycling authority
- etc

If interested, please reply accordingly to me at NBG@bikeroute.com or just fill out our Mayors' Ride questionnaire

2) Because Faye Saunders keeps finding herself more and more in demand at Apple Computer, we lost the word crafter we needed to keep the efforts of our coast to coast cyclist(s) in real time as well as archived. HERE is the ride series she created for Don Loomis three years ago.

We have been unable to replace Faye because the word has not been well enough out there for interested writers to know that this opportunity even exists. And it is a great way for someone trying to build a by line portfolio to get their writing skills known about. This, as such a person also gets to vicariously ride a bike across America from the comfort of their living room, or wherever their computer may happen to be.

All that is required is for such a word scribe to make regular phone contact with our rider every two or three days and find out how he or she has occupied their time. And then to to make a report however long or short they may feel is warranted..

3) Unbeknownst to us, the questionnaire that we use to get a feel for who is out there on the roads for us was broken. Seems our ISP made some software changes on their end that affected us. It's all fixed now. So if if you sent in a form and have not heard back from us, that is why. Please contact me directly at NBG@bikeroute.com if this was the case and do know that I apologize very genuinely for our oversight. The form is at - http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Forms/newriders.php

4) Legendary HiWheel cyclist, Randy Mitchell, now has a bio with us!! If you want to see a little bit more about this amazing, former professional stunt man, turned professor, go to http://www.bikeroute.com/RandyMitchell . You might also recognize one of the pictures that you see there. It comes from the BikeRoute.com home page....

     

5) Our Mayors' Ride relays have created a Monster. A Bike Monster that is. See Why Mark Lind, pictured below is smiling about the upcoming Palo Alto to San Francisco Mayors' Ride relay that he gets to ride in. HERE is is in his own words



6) Our cutting edge bike route maps are at as crossroads. Grey Lowell, the software consultant who built them for us, has fully run out of time. As many of you have seen, they work great in Firefox and Safari, but not in Internet Explorer where the lion's share of Internet activity takes place. Who can mash some code so that our maps also run on that platform? Grey will be happy to turn the keys over to someone so qualified. If you can't do it, please let us know if you know someone who can!! We can pay such a person on an ad commission basis.

7) Our maps are similar to the others that have begin to show up on the web. Many of the the features and ways in which you plot, zoom and undo at other map routing sites are all in place on ours.

So that we can seed them as a way to ultimately turn them into bike, and not car, centric maps, we encourage you to upload as many of the utility, training and/or recreational cycling routes that you can.

Once we have established a well travelled path to our maps, as well as a a large data base of such users we can begin our search for the funding that will make the next edition possible. Once underwritten, our plans call for a a site where bikeable roads and paths will stand out on the screen as the principal routes of travel and not freeways, expressways and boulevards.

When we bring our Phase Two level of service on line, cyclists will be able to plan door to door bike routes in the same way car drivers use the mapping sites that exist on the web today to locate the fastest way to get places in their motor vehicles. In time, Google and other map services will offer Bike Road coding for their maps based on those roads that our users will keep regularly identified as being acceptable for cycle travel. More

8) Since we will be helping them showcase the river playground that they have built their city around, the City of Folsom wants to make sure we are warmly received this year. Toward that end, Karen Pardieck, of Karen Pardieck & Associates, a consulting firm that acts as a steward to assure that when lands near and around the river are developed, they are done so wisely, has begun talks with the Mayor's office on our behalf. Do stay tuned!. Besides the 2008 Sacramento, Rancho Cordova and Folsom Mayoral proclamations, a plethora of picnic food and drink, possibly music and other festivities, will reward us for our exhilarating 26 mile water side ride from the state Capitol on Sunday, May 4. Too exciting!! You don't want to miss this!! Details at our Evite. Sign yourself up while you are there!!

9) If you want to lean a little bit about the history of the road Don Loomis and unicyclist, Patrick Thomas, pedaled for us in 2004 to get over the Sierras and that I will be biking (how much I will be walking remains to be seen) in 2009, go to:

http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide2008/Reno/EmigrantPass.php

You can also learn about Reno while your are there.....

10) The above is child's play to Mike Damon, outgoing Reno Wheelmen president. At 35 miles, Emigrant Pass, is just one of the many challenges that make up the 164 miles that Mike will be pedaling when he makes the RETURN trip from Folsom to Reno in ONE day! HERE is Mike's NBG bio.

11) Last Friday, I did some advance scouting work for our Palo Alto to San Francisco ride. I wanted to figure out a way around the stretch of Middlefield Rd where it enters Redwood City that many refer to as Little Mexico. It is here that one must take the lane, because even though they are slow speed, cars are still frequent. What I found is a wee bit out of they way but far more peaceful as well as pretty: HERE is that route!!

It is an alternate route within the Palo Alto San Francisco route

12) Our 2008 Mayors' Ride does not start until the end of April and yet that date is fast racing to the immediate. Despite all this, we still do not have a route for Napa to Sacramento. Or for that matter, a rider or group of riders to make the 65 mile relay. We'll be happy to get you a marquis presence at our schedule for your efforts. As well, we could use your map knowledge of this connection. If you can help with either please let me know at NBG@bikeroute.com . And/or fill out or Mayors' Ride questionnaire ..

13) Whether you know it or not, our 2008 Schedule is chock full of information. When you get there, those cities that are represented by an image, have an NBG Biking page. As works in progress. you will find everything from our NBG Biking Report Cards, to histories to things to see and do to the bike shops, bike routes and etc, for each of these cities. HERE is an overview of the NBG Biking cities we have on line. All of the population centers you see see there will be complete in time for my 2009 ride..

14) If you want to help me make my 2009 Author Tour real, please express interest in my new book. The sequel to "Awake Again", it is called “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto” . Here is the overview where you can use the link at the bottom to communicate your desire to buy the book when it comes out.

15) The picture below will be on the front cover of “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto” as well as make up the bulk of our BikeRoute.com home page, The caption it will bear is:


Fully Recovered from Catastrophic Head Injury. Next Up: National Bicycle Greenway .

There is a lot in this picture and in this choice of words. While the photo represents a feat that only the ablest of body can hope to master, in its simplicity it is stunning causing most who view it to want to know more. This is especially so when the word 'recovery' is associated with it. And as such, when people see how far I have come from having to learn how walk, talk and balance myself, etc, etc, all over again, the vision I now hold for the National Bicycle Greenway becomes far more believable. It also goes a long way toward the reason I feel I got better - to inspire people to know that we are only limited by how big we allow ourselves to think!!

16) If you find yourself riding at night, do give Michael's Light Toys some consideration. The Bicycle Light Show below (40 seconds) was made possible by MichaelsLightToys.com. A major supplier for Burning Man exhibitors, their lights work on all kinds of bikes. And with the EL light string variety especially, the AA batteries last a long time. HERE is the movie




17) Tom Kabat, the Palo Alto city engineer who shows people who want to know how to to build a bike in the worst possible way, how to do so at his web site http://woodenbikes.com tells us that he will likely be at our Mar 16 Spring Cleaning Party for the Busycle with a 1/2 gallon of the Liquid Verathane that he rescued from a dumpster. Keeping in the spirit of our 15-person car-bike where all of the components have been recycled from other uses, Tom reminds us that, if as environmentalists we need toxic stuff like this, that we should only put it to use if we find it otherwise headed for the landfill. THX Tom!!



18) Saw Don Loomis, our 2004 coast to coast rider on his way home from work at Apple Computer last week. He told me about the subway style map that had been made of the great interstate system.



Double click on the above to see a bigger image. When you get to http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/75-a-diagram-of-the-eisenhower-interstate-system , you will learn some interesting facts about the system of highways that Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law in 1956 to provide easy transport for military purposes.

19) The guy pictured below is 101 years old!! What's more is that he plans to run a marathon. Double click on the photo to read the story. And after you do, ask yourself what's keeping you off a bike or maybe even signing up to ride one of our relays..