Podcasts Fixed - 2005 National Mayors' Ride Begins

We are off and running as our 4th Annual National Mayors' Ride began
Friday April 20 from Miami. And as our very own Peace Pilgrim, Concetta
Curtis, lifts the spirits of all those who are flocking to help her with
her ride, the phone interviews we are doing with her have at long last
begun to reach broadcast quality. And this is huge. It wasn¹t until Joe
Monzel at the Palo Alto Apple store suggested I try a different setting
in one of the pieces of software I am using to make this happen (I use
four and there are literally dozens of settings) that I was able to give
both voices equal strength. Why is this such big news?

Now you can do other things with your computer while you tune into our
ride! For that matter you don¹t have to be at your computer at all. You
can download our Podcasts onto your MP3 player and listen to them on
your way home, on the train or on your bike, at the gym or whenever you
have time. And talk about entertainment! Now you can hear the real life
magic of our adventure as it occurs. With this exciting new medium, the
emotion and color in our riders¹ voices will let you vicariously ride
with them. This as you hear the wind and the cars, even the people
visiting the stores of urban and backroad America!*

This will also allow me to let you hear some of the people you have seen
me write about for years now as we build the NBG and the National
Mayors' Ride. Look for interviews with Ro Fischer, Pittsburgh Mayor Tom
Murphy¹s senior aide, TransAm vets, Andrew Morton (our computer wizard),
Don Loomis (our TransAmerica routing magician), Skot Paschal (our Pocket
Mail poet), Joe Richey (Never say Die) and Max Chen (Artistry in Steel),
etc, etc. Heck we might even try to get Andrew Heckman, the man who
nearly lost his life for the NBG, to say a few words!!

To a whole new level we soar!! Yahoo!! Yahoo!! Yahoo!!!!

Southeast Flank
A) Miami Mayor helps us Kick Off 2005 National Mayors' Ride*
B) Miami Herald features our ride and the NBG
C) Concetta Captured Again on Audio (Pre-Broadcast Quality)
D) Tampa NBG Day stars NBG Pilgrim - Concetta Curtis
E) Power On Cycling also has kudos for Concetta
F) Oehl family & Suncoast Cycling celebrate Concetta
G) Fred Foxx Invites Concetta
H) Organic Engine Dan Plans a Hearty Welcome for Concetta
I) Tallahassee Completes Biking Report Card!
J) Roswell NBG Day?
K) Roswell Mayor a Bike Activist
L) Atlanta Bicycle Campaign Rox Atlata - Gets on Board for NBG Day
M) Knoxville Mayor a cyclist
N) Knoxville Completes Biking Report Card!

Northeast Flank
A) Boston Completes Biking Report Card!
B) Boston Bike Fest Director Powering out Boston NBG Day
C) Noah Budnick Begins long journey back from head injury
D) Transportation Alternatives to publicize NYC Noah Budnick NBG Day
E) NYC DOT working on NYC Biking Report Card

East to West
A) Morgantown to Pittsburgh route on Line
B) Nick Hein holding meetings for ride - sets up mailing list
C) Morgantown NBG Day News Release
D) Nick Hein to help Concetta find free lodging in DC
E) Marty Wilson returns for Folsom to Davis HiWheel Run

Southwest Flank
inactive

Northwest Flank
inactive

NBG General:
A) Repost: How to Run an NBG Day event
B) Repost: NationalBicycleGreenway.com Blog Moderator wanted
C) Repost: 2005 riders order your FREE sunglasses from SlipNot Eyewear
D) Repost: Individual 2005 NBG Rider Business Cards now Available !!
E) Repost: 2005 riders order your FREE Copy of ³How to Bike America²
F) Repost: Find a Ride Partner - Place an ad at our classifieds




Southeast Flank
A) Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, a personal friend of Backsafer Recumbent
Bicycle CEO, Paul Lester, sent Concetta Curtis off on her long journey
to us here in San Francisco, as the 2005 National Mayors' Ride began on
Friday April 15 in Miami. Miami-Dade bike coordinator, Dave Henderson,
who was also on hand with Paul and others of the Mayor¹s staff, then got
on his bike and graciously escorted Concetta to the edge of the city.
She tells us it was a great boost as she continued on to the roads that
would take her to Tampa. If you get there soon, we have the great Miami
NBG Day photo that their city photographer, Jorge Perez, took of the
event at the Cycle America home page: http://www.bikeroute.com where we
we get more than a million unique visitors a month!

You can also see this photo and learn more about Miami at
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay...05/2005SE.html

B) And before we got there, as we talked about in our last newsletter,
the Miami Herald did a features about our ride and the NBG, Here is what
their ace journalist Desonta Holder created for us:

http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...005_04_10.php#
000318

And as a not-to-be-overlooked BTW, it was Backsafer Paul that made this
article a reality. Not only does he know the Mayor but he is also
friends with the Miami Herald publisher!!!

C) I an still working out the kinks but I have two more of the short
interviews I¹ve enjoyed with Concetta on line:

Go to:
http://www.radio4all.net/pub/files/N...-20050423-Conc
etta4-22-05.mp3

and
http://www.radio4all.net/pub/files/N...-20050421-Conc
etta4-21-05.mp3

I apologize for the faintness of her voice but all of the subsequent
interviews will not be plagued by this problem and promise that these
exchanges that I will post regularly at her site
http://www.bikeroute.com/ConcettaCurtis will GREATLY improve .

D) Everyone loved Concetta in Tampa as well!! Here is the description
that Tampa Greenways Powerhouse, Mary Helen Duke, sent me:

========================================
At 12:20pm today, Sally Thompson, Chair of the Tampa Greenways & Trails
Citizens Advisory Committee greeted Conchetta Curtis on her trek from
Miami, Florida to downtown Tampa. Other well wishers included: Karla
Price, City of Tampa Landscape Architect III and "architect" of the
Tampa Greenways & Trails Master Plan (adopted by City Council in
February of 2001); Mary Helen Duke, Tampa's Greenways & Trails
Coordinator; Belinda of the SunCoast Bicycle Club; and Mark Powers and
his wife of Power On Cycling. Ms. Thompson presented Concetta with the
Mayor's proclamation and lauded her for her efforts to instill
development of a nation-wide bicycle greenway system.

Concetta is a great spokesperson on behalf of the National Bicycle
Greenway Mayor's Ride.
========================================

See some of the many great pictures that the Take Charge, extremely
capable Mary Helen Duke took of their Tampa NBG day at :
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay...05/2005SE.html

E) Even Mark Power, of Power On Cycling, a man normally very careful
about his words, gushed about Concetta when he sent me this post:

========================================
It was nice helping Concetta out. She's an excellent representative for
the cause and a true free spirit.
========================================

And all I can say is I can¹t agree more. Concetta is a very bright light
who takes a lot of her inspiration from the Peace Pilgrim who from 1953
to 1981 walked more than 25,000 miles all over America on a personal
pilgrimage for peace.

According to the Peace Pilgrim website:

========================================
(the Peace Pilgrim was) a silver haired woman calling herself only
"Peace Pilgrim" (who) had vowed to "remain a wanderer until mankind has
learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until
given food." In the course of her 28 year pilgrimage she touched the
hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North
America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to
inspire people all over the world

http://www.peacepilgrim.org


F) I just received this from Concetta¹s Tampa hosts, Georg & Belita Oehl:

========================================
I am just glad we could help. She is an incredible person. We had a
wonderful time together and it was hard to let her go. We have found a
true friend in Concetta. We both wanted to join her on her trip. It is
something I have always wanted to do. She is fun to be with and great
with kids. I encourage anyone along her route to take her in and get to
know her as we did. We will be following her tire tracks as she moves
from state to state and cheering her on until she gets to the west coast.

Blessings,
Belita Oehl
========================================
G) When Concetta reaches Tallahassee, she will be received by
Tallahassee sponsor Dan Kavanagh, of Organic Engines. Dan tells me that
he and his buddies will show her around his city and also make sure she
is warmly accommodated while she is there!! The Organic Engines web:

H) One of our NBG Southeast Regional Reps, Fred Foxx, copied me on an
email he sent to Concetta inviting her to share a meal with him and his
wife as well as a place to stay!

I) Tallahassee Bike Coordinator, Jack Kostrzej, filled out the
Tallahassee Biking Report Card! And he did it lickety-split, as in no
sooner had we asked him, than he got something back to us:

http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay.../TallahasseeBi
king.html

J) Ever heard of Roswell? No, I¹m not talking about the location of the
New Mexico UFO sightings. I¹m talking about a town about 20 miles north
of Atlanta that is lobbying hard to be recognized by the League of
American Bicyclists as a Bicycle Friendly City. And they are doing such
a good job that Fred Foxx (talked about above) feels we should visit
them when we leave Atlanta. They even have their own web site dedicated
to showing off how much traction cyclists have in their town:
http://bikeroswell.com . I am talking with Frank Eastland, one of the
Bike Roswell directors about the mechanics of our producing a Roswell
NBG Day. And will soon let you know!!

K) Nor does it hurt that the Roswell Mayor is a Bike Activist. Jere Wood
is legend in this area as a two wheel shaker and mover!! Yahooo!!

L) I was almost ready to resign myself to the fact that Atlanta was
about suburb cycling when Frank Eastland told me about the Atlanta
Bicycle Campaign (ABC). And, led by Dennis Hoffarth, ABC Rox! You see,
Atlanta does not have a bike coordinator and no one in city government
there was aware there was anyone in Atlanta doing anything to improve
the lot of their local two wheelers. Ah, but what do Car People know.

The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign has 1500 members, three full time staff and
two part time employees. And Mayor Shirley Franklin has even been to a
couple of ABC events!! WoW! Dennis plans to have an Atlanta Biking
Report Card ready for me soon and they will be present and maybe even
say a few word at Atlanta NBG Day!!

See the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign at: http://atlantabike.org

M) Not only is the Roswell Mayor an active cyclist, but so is the
Knoxville Mayor! According to Knoxville Bike Coordinator, Kelley Segars,
her Mayor, Bill Haslam, rides his bike. And according to her he does so
quite a bit!

N) Having cycled through Knoxville in 1986, I can say they have come a
very long way from their cycling darkness. Three things tell me this is
so. First of all they have a City Bike Coordinator. Second, Kelley made
it a number one priority to see to it that she returned our Biking
Report Card questionnaire right away and third, do a take a look:

http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay...noxvilleBiking
..html

They¹ve even got a bike map and are starting to add bike lanes and etc!!

Northeast Flank

A) Boston is all over it as well. Committed to building bicycles back
into its transportation mix, even without a city bike coordinator, a
handful of groups there are pushing hard for the two wheel way of life.
Dorie Clark of Mass Bike, got her feet back on the ground long enough,
she¹s been on a coast to coast tour attending bike meetings and
seminars, to help us get a Report Card out for Boston Biking. And it
looks like there is a bicycle there there!!!!

http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay...tonBiking.html

B) Steve Miller of the Boston Bike Fest has been busy getting our event
together. He tells me they will start at 4:30 PM on May 3 in City Hall
Plaza. According to Steve, the Mayor can't be there, but the chief
planner from the Traffic Department will come in his stead. There will
also be some kids from the Bikes Not Bomb's workshops, some people from
MassBike, and the Boston Bicycle Planning Initiative, at least one
HiWheeler, and hopefully others.*

He also plans to use next week to start getting the word out on the
streets and to begin his media outreach. Thank you Steve Miller!!

C) In our last newsletter, we talked about how well liked Transportation
Alternatives (TA) activist, Noah Budnick, was severely head injured
while biking on one of New York¹s bridge approaches. While everyone I
have talked to thinks that the bad stuff is behind him now that he has
regained consciousness, especially since he has stabilized well enough
to be moved to another hospital, there are few who understand the
catastrophic nature of his setback. Being a head injury survivor myself,
as I say in the news release below, though we may not wear the visible
signs of the trauma that has been visited upon us, for a good number of
years afterwards, our lives have almost all ended up being a living hell
- a world of torture filled with a word I hate to use: CAN¹T.....

When suddenly the most basic of life skills becomes immediately
difficult there is no worse punishment. For example, short term memory
is a common side effect and yet when it is so severe that you can¹t
remember where you are, who you are or how you got there, you suddenly
become hopelessly dependent on others. Forgetting names can also be
expected but not being able to remember a conversation that you actively
participated a few hours or days before can place you in a much
vulnerable position. And while each and every brain trauma is different,
deficits (limping, trembling, stuttering, slobbering, etc) are almost
always a part of the territory. And along with them come mood swings,
inappropriate social behavior and depression.

None of any of this will show to the untrained eye, but any time the
brain undergoes trauma, one¹s ability to focus will be greatly
compromised as the victim tries to think outside of all the struggles he
or she will suddenly be required to face. So as Noah begins his long
journey back from head injury, we have got to take over where he left
off....

D) Paul White of NYC Transportation alternatives broke away from the
front lines long enough to talk about the mechanics of how we can honor
Noah Budnick when we arrive at Battery Park on May 6 for NYC NBG Day. He
also helped me craft the following news release that he will send out to
his members:

========================================
Come to Noah Budnick NYC NBG Day 5/6

On March 29, Transportation Alternatives (TA) Bike Activist, Noah
Budnick sustained a severe head injury while riding his bike near the
Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, a notoriously dangerous area he
has long been fighting to make safe. While Noah is making great progress
and is more and more lucid with each new day, his life, as "Awake Again"
author, head injury survivor and NBG Director, Martin Krieg, tells us,
has been irrevocably changed. The city should pursue a Œvision zero¹
policy of striving to reduce bicycle fatalities and injuries to zero.
It can start by constructing safe and convenient bike routes to and from
the East River bridges.

Come to Battery Park at noon on May 6 to for the 2nd annual NYC NBG Day
when NYC Sports Commissioner, Ken Podziba presents a proclamation from
Mayor Bloomberg to the National Bicycle Greenway for its work to
connects cyclists to cities and to the places to eat, sleep, shop, and
play in those cities. Here is what the NBG has asked the city of New
York to include in the proclamation they will be issuing:

========================================
WHEREAS, the city of New York applauds the work of Transportation
Alternatives to make New York bridge approaches safe for cyclists and
honors the work of its fallen activist, Noah Budnick, who suffered
injuries while engaged in that mission; and
========================================
========================================

E) Even though they are completely swamped with Bike Month matters,
which is a very good thing, especially for New Yorkers, Joan Scholvin of
the New York City of Transportation tells me that she will try to get us
something this next week. And New York is starting to take their
cyclists seriously. Last year they received an "honorable mention" from
the League of American Bicyclists in their Bicycle Friendly Community
awards!!



East to West

A) THX to Nick Hein, who is a whirlwind of activity for this year¹s
Morgantown NBG Day, there is now a route to Pittsburgh on line. Nick
used the ride input form at our recently facelifted home page,
http://www.bikeroute.com , to do so. See it at:

http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingR...n-Pittsburgh.h
tml

B) And as we have seen over the last month, Nick is rallying the
Morgantown biking community to use our NBG Day there to call attention
to their own impressive network of trails as you will see in the link
above. And as he does so he has even set up a Yahoo mailing list and is
holding regular meetings to make certain that they have the volume
turned all the way up to loud.

C) Here is the well articulated news release that Nick Hein pumped out:

========================================
Morgantown, WV Mayor Declares May 20 National Bicycle Greenway Day

Local cyclists will help the National Bicycle Greenway (NBG) inaugurate
its new Morgantown leg of the 2005 Mayors’ Ride Relay on Saturday May
20. NBG is encouraging cities around the country to connect their local
trails and bikeable roads to those of neighboring cities to form a
national network of safe bicycle roads and paths. A road and trail
trail network can increase the value of local trails by opening them for
recreation, travel and exploration by cyclists of all abilities.
Individuals, families and groups will then have a safe and welcoming
road for long-distance bicycle travel. The benefit to communities is an
increase of commerce from travelers without new car burdens on congested
roads. Morgantown is in a unique position to become a part of this
network that will give trail access from the Southwestern Appalachian
regions to the Pittsburgh area and an East-West trail system that
stretches across the entire country.

The May 20th ceremony at 8:00 AM in Hazel Ruby McQuain park will
celebrate the existing local trails and the future possibilities when
the Mon River trail to Point Marion and the Sheepskin Trail to
Connellsville are completed. All trail users and residents are invited
to attend this event. Ceremonies will begin with speeches by local
trail organizations and culminate with the Mayor’s signing of the
Morgantown NBG proclamation. Then NBG riders will carry the
proclamation to Pittsburgh’s NBG celebration on Saturday. From there it
will join others on its way to the final 2005 celebration in San
Francisco.*

More details:
groups.yahoo.com/group/MonNBG

Background:
NBG is organized by Martin Krieg of Palo Alto, CA who in 1979 came back
from a crippling and near-fatal auto accident to stun his doctors by
completing a US crossing on bicycle. After repeating the feat in 1986
he decided his next goal would be to make it possible for everyone in
America to duplicate this accomplishment on safe and enjoyable bikeways.
NBG sponsors the annual NBG Mayor's Relay where riders from all corners
of the country ride on existing (or developing) bike-safe routes to a
final NBG destination. They stop in cities along the way to receive
proclamations by local mayors recognizing the citizen and community
benefits of cycling and pledging to connect their city to surrounding
communities with safe bikeable paths, trails and roadways. This year the
relay will end in San Francisco with a final NBG celebration. NBG does
not accept any monetary donations, but encourages you to support your
local trail groups, with your volunteer hours and donations, as they
work to complete the trails that will become a part of the NBG network.
========================================

D) Out of the blue, Nick Hein sent me a note saying that he has
relatives and recumbent friends in the Washington DC area he can contact
that he says he knows will put Concetta up once she gets there!! Yahoo
Nick!!

E) Marty Wilson is coming back for the four-NBG day city (we also visit
Sacramento and Rancho Cordova), Folsom to Davis run. He had to do quite
a bit of juggling to get it to fit into his schedule, but this proud
owner of 50 bicycles will once again be riding his 1865, 54" G&J Hi
Wheel replica along the beautiful Sacramento River come July 24! And
he¹s bringing a couple of other San Diego HiWheelers up with him. And he
tells us that he can hardly wait!!

Marty¹s web:
http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/E...Marty_Wilson.p
hp

D) While the ³Indianapolis Eye² calls him a man on a mission, Ray Irvin
of Indy Greenways has been busy turning Indianapolis into a powerful
people powered beacon of light. Thru his work Indy is becoming less and
less of a car centric town famous for its motor speedway and more and
more of a model of a working greenway that communities all over the
nation are beginning to look to for knowledge. And as we saw in here two
weeks ago, this is why he is writing a book about how build a Greenway
network. If you want to see what I will call one of this Century¹s most
powerful producers, because we¹ve reached a point where that which we
add to the planet must be sustainable, looks like, see the Indianapolis
relay at our East to West schedule flank:
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMay...East-West.html

If you want to learn a little more about Ray, here is the story that the
³Indianapolis Eye² did about him in 2002:
http://www.indianapoliseye.com/Main....ionID=15&Artic
leID=163

Southwest Flank
inactive

Northwest Flank
inactive

NBG General:
connect mr ciires _ get an NBG bio
A) Repost: How to Run an NBG Day event
D) Repost: NationalBicycleGreenway.com Blog Moderator wanted
E) Repost: 2005 riders order your FREE sunglasses from SlipNot Eyewear
F) Repost: Individual 2005 NBG Rider Business Cards now Available !!
G) Repost: 2005 riders order your FREE Copy of ³How to Bike America²
H) Repost: Find a Ride Partner - Place an ad at our classifieds




NBG General:
A)* Here is a perfect world scenario for how we like to run NBG Day.
Event planners often spruce them up with balloons, speakers, music, even
police escorts:

========================================
12:15 Host (Bike or Transportation Coordinator, or NBG sponsor) talks
bike projects and programs in your city, reads our rider¹s names and
then introduces Mayor

12:20 Mayor says a few words about his support for cycling, reads the
proclamation and hands it to our riders

12:25 Host thanks the Mayor and introduces the one or two cyclist¹s who
will speak

12:26 Riders talk about their ride thru your city

12:35 Host thanks everyone and our restaurant sponsor for feeding our
riders. NBG Day ends
========================================

Optional
12:35 Bike Group(s) speak

12:45 Host thanks everyone and our restaurant sponsor for feeding our
riders. NBG Day ends

=======================================

This is better fleshed out in my book "The NBG Manifesto, How America
Can Bike And Grow Rich" that will be a part of my 2007 National Mayors'
Ride author tour.

B) We have had interest in the following but no follow through:
Our blogs at NationalBicycleGreenway.com are not interactive because we
don¹t have have anyone who can serve as an moderator for them. They are
a one way street because the spam artists take over when someone is not
watching. If you have a minimum of mail list experience, you can greatly
assist us by serving as a moderator for our blogs. We¹re talking
probably less than 10 or so minutes a day to approve or deny those
posts that are pending. Let us know you can help and we¹ll get you the
password and login. It would be great if we could increase the noise
level of Greenway discussions at our site!!

C) If you are riding with us this summer, shoot an email to the SlipNot
people c/o Kevin at . Send them the URL for the
schedule page with your name on it along with your physical mailing
address and they'll send you a really cool pair of sunglasses for your
ride!! I love mine! Here is the review we did for SlipNot:
http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/...es/000068.html

D) If you are riding for us this summer, you also get handsome business
cards that you can start passing out NOW! Send me an email and I¹ll
reply with a pdf of the handsome NBG Scout business card that Faye
Saunders will have created for you. It has the NBG logo, the graphic
Adam Krohn created for us for our Cycle America 2000 ride, your email
address and the URL for your NBG bio (which we will shorten to read
bikeroute.com/YOURNAME). If you want us to publish your cell phone
number, reply with that as well! Once you get the camera ready copy from
us as a pdf in your email box (make sure to include your physical
mailing address), all you have to do is buy some ink or laser jet
business card stock (we will spec out the product # when we send you
copy), about $13 at most office supply stores, stick it in your printer,
hit print, and presto you have NBG Scout calling cards.

E) If you are riding for us this summer, you also get ³How to Bike
America² (HTBA). The bulk of HTBA, an on-line book, was written over a
two year period for cyclists riding TransAm to Cycle America 2000 in
Washington DC. It continues to be updated and edited online and reflects
many contributions from the on line cycling community as we yearly cross
America with our Mayor's Rides. Send me an email for the login and
password.

F) If having a Ride Partner would make it easier for you to join us, try
placing an ad at our classifieds
http://www.bikeroute.com/ibrd_cgi/Cl...database=perso
nals.setup . We get a million + unique visitors a month at our site so
you may very well have good luck!

--
54% of New York City households do not own cars

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