A Cycling & bikes forum. CycleBanter.com

Go Back   Home » CycleBanter.com forum » rec.bicycles » Rides
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

2004 Mayors' Ride FINAL Report



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 5th 04, 04:21 PM
Cycle America
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 2004 Mayors' Ride FINAL Report

Here I offer a synopsized version of the days that preceded Don Loomis's
entrance to Chicago so that you can see what the long distance bicycle
road is like. It ends with Don's experience of The Windy City itself
where he also met the man who had rowed his bicycle in from Columbus,
OH, Hi Tech CEO, Victor Grinshtein. Soon Victor will be filing his
report with us. If you want to see it, it will be in the rider blogs at
NationalBicycleGreenway.com. We also have unicyclist, Patrick Thomas, on
our radar. Heroically, he has pedaled all the way to Iowa and expects to
be in New York City by the end of the summer. His web noted below is
even now chock full of pictures...

The words below are taken from the wonderful reports that Faye Saunders
has created for Don's ride, all of which can be found at the blog we
keep for him (noted also in the end matter):

========================================
[..] Biking into Tipton, the owner of the Dairy Queen bought Don's meal
because Don was doing what the restaurant proprietor had wished he could
do. And as he was leaving, Don met a man named Dick who, like so many
others Don has met in this area, had ridden RAGBRAI. Somewhat familiar
with Don's needs as a result, Dick recommended that Don camp at his
granddad's memorial park, called affectionately, the Wally Wingert
Memorial Park. Dick also called the local newspaper resulting in an
article in the "Tipton Conservative" about Don's ride for the NBG. As a
fitting end to a perfect day, when Don did fall asleep, it was to the
sounds of crickets and frogs.

By the time he woke up the next morning, however, the sound of cows
chewing their cud just outside of his tent seemed to warn what was
ahead. A persistent head wind blew against him most of the day, making
the biking a little more challenging. Perpetual optimist that he is,
however, Don says the wind does does feel nice and cool.
He rode for a while on the Hoover Highway, named after the former
president Herbert Hoover who was born in Iowa. After having breakfast
in Lowden, Don enjoyed Beethoven's Symphony #4 which he feels is a
lively piece, good for riding. He found it on the local radio station.
You may recall that Don is still powering his radio, cell phone and
computer with the solar collector he runs on top of the trailer he is
towing.

In a convenience store in Calamus, he talked with a guy named Steve who
used to commute 130 miles into the suburbs of Chicago. Steve was able
to give Don some good recommendations on which roads to bike to get to
the Chicago metropolitan area. Soon after, Don stopped at a roadside
farm stand and ate an ear of raw corn-on-the-cob which he says was
excellent. A short while later, he picked up some lunch meats which he
ate a nearby park about 10 miles away from the Mississippi River in a
town called Clinton, Iowa. He climbed up a couple of really long hills
and found a nice campsite close enough to the river where this time he
could hear the frogs croaking to the distant rumble of far away
barges. All for only four dollars!

After settling in his tent for the night, he saw two eyes looking at him
from the darkness. He went outside his tent to see who it was and found
a raccoon sitting on the seat of his bike. The zipper of one of the
panniers had been left open and a plastic bag full of maps was strewn
about and a loaf of bread was completely missing.

Monday
The next morning he found a nice bike trail but was having difficulty
finding a bridge to go over the Mississippi, when a cyclist named Terry
took him to a crossing he could use. Many fellow bike riders have given
Don escorts for which he has been very thankful.

Once he was in Illinois and was climbing from the river bottom, when he
put the bike in the granny gear, the chain caught just like it had back
at Rabbit Ear's Pass in Colorado. Hoping it was just a fluke, he
continued on to Hwy 30 where there was a small shoulder he could ride,
nice after not having had that in Iowa. Unfortunately the shoulder
deteriorated soon after, and since there were a lot of trucks on this
arterial, he decided to take another road he saw on his maps. On it, he
came upon a store called the William & Mary Computer Center. As it
turned out, Bill and Mary had opened the store together but were later
divorced. Mary left and Bill didn't feel like hassling with owning the
business so he sold it and stayed on as an employee. Much to Don's
delight, he was able to get online and retrieve his email.
His joy continued when he rolled away on his bike - there was more
Beethoven on the radio! He arrived in Rock Falls on a side road and
wasn't sure where he was. A guy working in a car repair shop
recommended Don take Hwy 38 all the way to Chicago. He ended up in
Dixon on Hwy 38 not realizing at the time that Dixon is where 2002 NBG
rider, Andrew Heckman, was seriously injured after being hit by a car.

Along the highway there are signs documenting some of the local kids
sports accomplishments. Dixon, Illinois is also the place that Ronald
Reagan considered his home town. Don saw his home along the road and
decided to stop and take the tour. It has been restored and furnished to
appear as it did during that period.
Some people Don met at a grocery store suggested he camp at Rochelle,
which they thought was 40 miles away. On the way there, Don pulled off
the road to watch a firefly show. Rochelle actually turned out to be
only 25 miles away so he kept riding until he got to Franklin Grove.
There he met a cyclist named Andrew who took him to his place for juice
and candy bars and then directed Don to another park for camping. On
the way, he met yet another bike rider, a fellow name Mike, on a
recumbent. Mike pedaled with Don to a bike trail when all of sudden Don
realized he was in Chicago. Abandoning the idea of camping at the park
Andrew had suggested, he decided to get off the trail and camp in the
woods. Wanting to keep a low profile, Don decided to forgo the tent and
use DEET instead. But the insect repellent didn't deter the mosquitoes
for long. He pulled the nylon mesh on the inside of his raincoat over
his head and finally ended up getting a good night's sleep.

Tuesday
Don stopped at Walmart where he purchased socks, yogurt, jeans, and a
candy bar. Back on another bike trail he met Jim, a bike rider who was
collecting empty cans. Jim rode with Don for a while. He told Don how he
had been involved when the county decided to remove the railroad track
and it was he who had suggested they replace the tracks with what is now
known as the Great Western Trail that connects Sycamore with the Fox
River on the western edge of metro Chicago.
Don had arranged to hook up with his friend Gale, who used to live in
San Jose and now lives in Chicago. They met along the Fox River Trail
and biked to the end where her car was parked. However, they were unable
to fit Don's bike in her car and he ended up riding through suburban
Chicago to her house. There were no shoulders and lots of cars,
forcing him to pull off until traffic subsided a few times. He found
another bike trail, but it ended. At one point, he even had to lift his
bike and trailer to get over a set of railroad tracks. When he did make
it to Gale's house, her dog had challenged a skunk and the skunk won.
By the time he was finally able to let his guard down, they went out for
pizza. At the eatery, the walls were decorated with photos of customers.
The waitress took a picture of Don to add to them.

Friday, July 30 Chicago Proclamation Ceremony

Don woke up early to a rainy day but it was too warm to wear his
raincoat. On the way to the Chicago proclamation ceremony, he stopped
to visit with Ruby's parents and children. Ruby is his friend from San
Jose who saw Don off at the San Jose proclamation ceremony almost two
months ago. He then made his way over to the Millennium Park Bike
Station for the reception. There he met his brothers David and Gary as
well as Mayor Daley's Chicago Bicycle Ambassador, Carlos Cuarta.

Don was very impressed with the new Bike Station and the fact that they
had showers and offered bike repair services as well as bike rentals. As
testimony to Mayor Daley's commitment to Chicago cycling, the recently
dedicated facility, located in the center of downtown, was completely
rebuilt from an old car parking garage. With secure parking for 300 two
wheelers, this state of the art human powered haven is mostly
underground and will work year round. During the weekdays, it will give
employees at the many businesses located all around it a place to
freshen up after their ride to work as well as a safe place to stow
their cycles and on the weekends and weeknights it will offer secure
bike parking for concert goers and art patrons at the beautiful
Millennium Park. Adjacent to the lengthy Lake Shore Drive path, it will
support cycling there as well.

At the street level entrance, Carlos read the Mayor's proclamation and
presented it to Don and Victor. One of the cyclists at the reception
then invited Don to join him on the Critical Mass ride that evening.
After checking into the youth hostel, Don's brothers rented bikes from
the Bike Station and they all made their way through the city to the
start of the ride. Arriving a little late they had to hustle to catch
up with the group.
This was Don's first Critical Mass ride and he was surprised to see
around 1,000 bike riders participating. The bicyclists just take over
the streets. When they go through a traffic light the group just keeps
going until they are all through no matter whether the light has changed
or not. He felt this was a great way to see the city with no worries
about traffic.
He met many people at the Critical Mass ride including a redhead lady
originally from Istanbul riding a high wheeler. She had met Jim
Muellner when he came through Chicago on his 2003 NBG TransAm ride last
year. Someone else in the crowd asked Don if he was a part of the NBG
Mayors' Ride. Another man who goes by the name of XMan and makes
videos of the Critical Mass rides for CAN (Chicago Area Network),
interviewed Do. He promised Don a copy.

The ride ended at Foster Beach, about six miles north of downtown
Chicago. It was 9:30 at night and the warm lake water was just too
inviting for some to pass up, including Don. While Don was biking back,
he met Fred, who was on a BikeE. Fred was with his mom, who was riding
the trike he had purchased for her to help her with her osteoarthritis.
She was riding more and more every day and had just completed the entire
Critical Mass ride.

After dining with his brothers, Don got back to the youth hostel around
2:00 am. It had been a long, but fun day.

Report by
Faye Saunders
========================================

For Don his trip will continue to Washington, DC but for us yet another
Mayors' Ride season is complete. All of our riders have exemplified the
same class and polish that has made us welcome both on the road as Don's
ride has shown, and in Mayor's offices all across the US. As we close
yet another successful Mayors' Ride campaign, I want to say THX to all
of you who have made this exciting summer real.

From the riders, including those Mayors who biked with us, to the
amazing Mayors' staffs we have had the privilege to work with, to the
press that has promoted our effort with many many thousands of words, to
our sponsors who kept the phone lines open, to our volunteers of which
there are too many names to list, you guyz have all been awesome!! I
thank, bless and honor each any every one of you -- I love you all!!

THX 4 U!!

- 2004 Mayors' Ride http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004
- Don
Loomishttp://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c..._Ride/bios/don
_loomis.php
- Don's blog
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...Reports/Archiv
es/cat_don_loomis.php#000295
- Victor Grinshtein
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...bios/Victor_Gr
inshtein.php
- Andrew Heckman http://webpages.charter.net/200a/AndrewHeckman2.htm
- Millennium Park Bike Station http://chicagobikestation.com/
- Jim Muellner http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner
- Patrick Thomas http://www.pedalthewaves.org
- Rowbike http://rowbike.com
Ads
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Mayors to Ride, Unicyclists, Music, etc: 2004 Mayors' Ride Set to Begin Cycle America General 0 May 7th 04 06:52 PM
2004 Armadillo Hill Country Classic : Central Texas charity ride flatline Rides 0 May 4th 04 03:51 PM
2004 NBG Mayors' Ride Bursting at the Seams! Cycle America General 0 April 2nd 04 03:25 PM
Mayors' Ride Celebrities, Webcasts and Imovies, etc!! National Bicycle Greenway General 0 February 26th 04 09:58 PM
PowerOn Cycling brings Tampa to Mayors Ride Music & Excitement National Bicycle Greenway General 0 February 18th 04 06:31 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CycleBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.