[NBG-News] Paschal Haiku, HiWHeel Relay, NYC Proc, NY to Philly & Non Stop Don

Sun Jun 27 13:29:02 PDT 2004

Skot Paschal finished his ride from Boise to Salt Lake City a day 
early. This after he had spent the night previous camped on an island 
in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Never mind that he couldn't 
find drinking water for almost 2 hours (he had entered on the wrong 
road), or the fact that brine shrimp filled the shallow warm water of 
the massive body of water he was surrounded by making it not a worthy 
escape from the heat, the quiet, the sunset and the antelope and the 
bison that he saw all made up for it.  Nor could he wait to tell Lisa 
Romeny, the Salt Lake City bike coordinator, how poorly the state of 
Utah accounts for its cyclists. While the conditions did improve in 
Salt Lake City, Skot tells us that, for him, the ride was over as 
soon as he entered Utah where he saw not one bike lane or road sign 
that mentioned the existence of bicycles.  In fact it was so bad that 
he called me from a pay phone and asked if he could end his ride a 
day early.

Not wanting to subject Don Loomis to the same torture, I called Lisa 
and asked if she could greet him a day ahead of schedule. Always 
cheerful, and always willing to help our cause, she cleared her own 
schedule and went down to meet Skot for a photo op which U can see at 
http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004/#Anchor-46384

Soon we will have Skot's always awesome pix on line and hopefully his 
final report but for now, here is some Haiku from the man himself:

========================================
Out there in the air
is where it can be found.

children have it
all around.

Be a childkid once more
it is waiting
in a sound.........whrrrrrr(gear).
sk.
========================================

Don Loomis had made a heroic effort to get there on time and was 
poised to do so when I called him to let him know  he'd be better off 
avoiding the Salt Lake City detour. He was disappointed but also 
relieved that to make his next city, Steamboat Springs, he only has 
to do 60 miles days. In Steamboat, Riley Polumbus, the Chamber of 
Commerce director there, has a soak and shower waiting for him and 
Patrick in a downtown hot springs. Maybe if they are lucky even a 
room night!! Besides the reception with their city council....

We will close with Don's report, but first I want to tell U about 
some of the other excitement that has been taking place.

- I just talked to Montana Norvell and his group of four cyclists 
(Matt Yoder, Alex Montgomery and Andy Sapinsky) who just this morning 
got the New York City Mayor's proclamation from Josh Kinberg and  are 
biking it down to Philadelphia. And all four of them were at the 
Tokio Ballroom in Philadelphia until 2 in this morning for Janet 
Bressler's (http://janetbressler.com) well received NBG show. 
Hopefully we can get a report on that soon as well but for now 
Montana is pushing for Philly and their  reception there at Love Park 
tomorrow. Montana also tells me that the Bilenky Boys, the popular 
Bilenky Cycle Works band, played last nite as well!!

- On Friday July 2, Larry Black, widely celebrated owner of two east 
coast bike shops that both have huge followings, will bike from 
Baltimore to Washington DC on an attention getting  antique late 
1800's High Wheel bicycle. His ride will be  a part of the 3rd Annual 
2004 National Mayors' Ride. Traveling with a supporting cast of other 
cyclists, he and his group look forward to receiving the  NBG Day 
Mayor's Proclamation from DC Mayor Anthony Williams himself.

-  Here is the text from the awesome New York City proclamation that 
Mayor Bloomberg signed:

WHEREAS: ASIDE FROM BEING A WONDERFUL WAY TO MORE VISCERALLY ENJOY THE
SIGHTS, SOUNDS, AND SENSATIONS OF SUMMER, BICYCLING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY.  WHILE BIKES HAVE LONG BEEN THE
PREFERRED VEHICLE OF THE YOUNG, THOSE OF US WHO THOUGHT WE OUTGREW OUR
BICYCLES THE DAY WE RECEIVED OUR DRIVER'S LICENSE SHOULD RECONSIDER OUR
YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM FOR PEDAL-POWERED LOCOMOTION. BICYCLING PRODUCES NO AIR
OR NOISE POLLUTION, DECREASES TRAFFIC CONGESTION, AND SAVES ENERGY, WHICH IS
REASON ENOUGH FOR ALL NEW YORKERS TO CONSIDER BIKING WHEN MAKING TRAVEL
PLANS.  FURTHERMORE, BICYCLING IS A LOW-COST MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION THAT
OFFERS INVALUABLE HEALTH BENEFITS.  WHETHER YOU RIDE FOR YOURSELF OR FOR THE
SAKE OF YOUR COMMUNITY, YOU ARE MAKING A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THE WELL
BEING OF NEW YORK CITY.

WHEREAS: THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY REPRESENTS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN
THE VIABILITY OF BICYCLE TRAVEL.  SINCE 1987, NBG'S DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS
HAVE BEEN WORKING TO REALIZE A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF BIKE-FRIENDLY ROADS AND
BICYCLE PATHWAYS THAT WILL CONNECT CYCLISTS TO MAJOR CITIES THROUGHOUT THE
UNITED STATES. THE NBG IS DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING A STANDARD FOR CYCLE-SAFE
THRUWAYS THAT ENHANCES THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF THE CYCLIST.  WHILE WE LIVE
IN A WORLD DOMINATED BY THE AUTOMOBILE, THE BICYCLE SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED
ANTIQUATED.

WHEREAS: TODAY, RELAY RIDER GEORGE REYNOLDS BRINGS THE NBG MESSAGE FROM
BOSTON TO NEW YORK AS PART OF THE NBG NATIONAL MAYOR'S RIDE.  WEEKS AGO,
RIDERS SET OFF FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF AMERICA ON A JOURNEY THAT WOULD PASS
THROUGH 40 MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS.  THEY LEAVE EACH OF THE CITIES THEY
VISIT HAVING INCREASED AWARENESS OF THE MANY BENEFITS OF BICYCLING, IN
ADDITION TO MAKING THE CASE FOR THE NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY.  NEW YORK
CITY IS READY TO HEAR THE MESSAGE MR. REYNOLDS BRINGS, AND WE WISH HIM AND
HIS FELLOW RIDERS THE BEST OF LUCK AS THEY COMPLETE THEIR TWO-WHEELED
JOURNEYS.

NOW THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, IN
RECOGNITION OF THIS IMPORTANT EVENT, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM FRIDAY, JUNE 25TH,
2004, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AS

"NATIONAL BICYCLE GREENWAY DAY"

========================================
- And last but certainly not least is the description Faye Saunders 
drew up for Don Loomis's ride:

6/25  9:45am

I caught up with Don at a phone booth about 70 miles outside of Salt 
Lake City this morning.  Since Skot Pascal has already made it to 
Salt Lake and picked up the proclamation, Don is going to head for 
Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  Since he has been feeling as though he 
was slightly behind schedule, he has been pushing hard to get as many 
miles in as he could.  Now he will be able to relax a little bit and 
enjoy the ride.

The last time Don and I spoke, he was leaving Baker and had planned 
to camp whenever the sun went down before arriving in Delta.  As 
darkness fell, a car stopped to ask if he needed anything.  When he 
told them he just needed a place to set up his tent for the night, 
they directed him to a beautiful spot overlooking a canyon.  By now, 
the night sky was being lit up with stars and Don decided to do 
without the tent and sleep under Mother Nature's blanket.  He was so 
tired, he fell asleep in his bike clothes and was awakened by a 
resplendent sunrise.  This also made for much quicker packing in the 
morning without his having to break down the tent.

There has been a little rain, but not much, the result of which was 
the most magnificent sunset Don has seen on his trip thus far. 
Normally the sun going down would indicate that it is time for him to 
find a place to camp, but since he had decided he would ride into the 
night last night, he was able to leisurely take in the entire pink 
clouded scenery.  This tranquil setting was soon replaced with 
lightening bolts surrounding him which were not close enough to cause 
any worry, but provided a spectacular light show for his night time 
ride.

As he was leaving Baker, Utah, on Hwy 50 he saw a car stopped up 
ahead with a person standing beside it.  The person turned out to be 
a bicyclist named George who was riding from Philadelphia to San 
Francisco.  George was on a mountain bike towing a Bob trailer and, 
like Don, was carrying a heavy load of gear.

As for the the car, there were women in it that Don referred to as 
Thelma & Louise, from the 1991 movie.  They  were both brain cancer 
survivors from the state  of Washington and had just visited Moab 
National Park where part of the Thelma & Louise film was shot.  They 
even found the man who has the '66 Thunderbird used in the movie 
stored in his garage and had their picture taken in it.  Don told 
them about Patrick  Thomas, the unicyclist riding across the US 
raising money for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer  Center.  They 
left a message for him on his cell phone.  When one of the women 
mentioned she had written a book, Don told them about Martin Krieg's 
story and gave them the bikeroute.com web address.  Their message 
that stuck with Don:  "It is important to follow your dreams."

Don also ran into the pushamerica.org bike gang again.  It appears 
they are taking almost the identical route that Don is into Chicago. 
Their plan is to arrive in Chicago two days before Don, so he will 
most likely cross their path again.

A couple of guys passing in a car stopped to talk.  One of the men 
told Don about his Easy Racer and Bike Friday that he rides.  The 
fellow was from Marin and now lived in North Carolina.  Don gave the 
gentlemen the bikeroute.com website to look up when they get a chance.

Breakfast this morning was at the Family Tree Restaurant in 
Santaquin, Utah, named so because the walls are covered with family 
portraits. The home baked whole wheat bread with jam was delicious. 
Today he will take Hwy 6 to Helper, Utah, connecting to Hwy 40 which 
will lead him into Colorado.  Don is curious to see what it will be 
like crossing the Rocky Mountains.  Now that he has some miles on his 
legs, will it be easier or tougher than the Sierras were?

Don's quotes for the day:  "I'm loving this."  "I don't know if I'm 
going to want to go back to work after this."

The stories that Don tells of the people he meets shows us that the 
Mayor's Ride is a very effective way to spread the word of a vision 
of a National Bicycle Greenway.  As Don and Patrick and the numerous 
other riders meet people out on America's roads, they are reaching 
people who never would have thought of such a thing.  Thank you Don, 
and all the NBG riders for spreading this consciousness to everyone 
you meet.

=
-- 
    M  A  R  T  I  N     K  R  I  E  G :  "Awake Again" Author
           http://www.bikeroute.com/AwakeAgain
  Bent Since '83, Car Free Since '89,  '79 & '86 TransAms        
           Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor 
               Can You Change it with Love? 
    N A T I O N A L   B I C Y C L E   G R E E N W A Y