The city of Sacramento worked as a team to pull a rabbit out of the
hat for us to make our second annual Sacramento National Bicycle
Greenway Day a reality. And magic was the required order of the day
when our contact from the Mayor's office that we had been in dialogue
with since last March fell ill on Monday. And when she disappeared so
did all of the contacts she had made and other paperwork that we needed
to make the ceremony surrounding the proclamation that had already been
issued real. From several hundred miles away, then, we were faced with
the challenge of locating the NBG Day certificate and then finding
someone to present it to our riders since we also lost our direct
connection to Mayor Fargo. Several hours and pages of notes later when
we found Ed Cox, the Alternative Modes Director. Then we then had to
track down a digital camera as well as someone to do***ent that which
took place and another person to email us the resulting pictures. Here,
then, is what resulted: http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/gallery
When I last spoke to Kim, the Mayor's Scheduler and our seemingly
omniscient contact in the mayor's office last Friday, happy to hear
from me, she said that we would finalize everything on Monday. When I
didn't hear from her as she had promised, I called and didn't get an
answer. I tried again on Tuesday thinking that my messages were
getting thru and that were still in a good place and that she was just
busy.
When Kristina called me on the day of our ceremony to say Kim had
been out sick since the start of the week, I had 4 months of work to
make up for in 2 hours. In the end we all have Ed to thank for
presenting the proc and Sybil for getting me phone numbers and email
addresses and for finding a photographer for us and ****rley for
recreating the proc itself (not once but twice) and Kirsten from
Councilman Ray Trethaway's office for sending me to Ed in the first
place and for Ray's being a cyclist and having Karen out there to
represent his office and to all the other staffers, even council
people who returned my calls -- wow whatta team!! And finally THX to
Rachel from KCRA for seeing the news value of this and getting a
re****ter out there to interview Jim and DeWayne!
And so today our riders, who braved the record breaking heat they are
having up there, share the spotlight with a Sacrament Mayor and Council
office staff who hit a major home run for us Big Time yesterday. In
Jim's words below we will see how the grand ride DeWayne long had
planned came apart at the seams. Much honor and respect is due also to
DeWayne for keeping his commitment to do the ride despite losing
(literally) his team. But before we do, here is a note I excerpted
from an email DeWayne sent to me last nite:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[..] Jim was interviewed by KCRA television (NBC affiliate),
thekcrachannel.com. I just checked the site and did not see anything
yet. It might not air until Friday as they kept asking ... "when are
you leaving and have to be in Napa?"
Jim is a great guy. I have a TON of respect for him. We just had
dinner at a friends restaurant (and Jim and I) took the photo's of the
capital..........
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here's Jim:
Subject: Asphalt, bridges and cars
Hi Everyone:
Wow, what a reality check. Had an empty day so I took a pickup truck
with my Raven trike to Berkeley, CA to have the Rolhoff hub checked
out. Not having driven for a few months and traveling at bicycle speeds
makes the freeway seem to be going at enormous speed. The drivers were
responding so quickly to any opening that I wanted to park the pickup
and ride my trike again. No wonder the drug companies are doing so
well. They must make a fortune just trying to keep the drivers nerves
and stomach acids at liveable levels.
The ribbons of freeways were mind boggling. If just the cost of one of
those enormous bridges could be diverted to bike trails we would see a
lot friendlier world out there. The elderly have to be overwhelmed by
this speed and aggressive driving. I could not wait to get back to
Sacramento and ride my trike. I am a little concerned just how to get
through that maze of highways however.
But now life is good. I listened to Jon Krakauer speak at a Borders
Book Store about his new book, his views on the extreme in the Mormon
faith. He is an excellent speaker and I had enjoyed his earlier books,
"Into Thin Air" and "Into the Wild". With his new book, from the they
way he talked about it, I suspect that he will have done an excellent
job in presenting a balanced view of the subject. His questions make
the Mormon Religious leaders nervous as they feel no one should
question God's revelation to them. This is a very scary premise in
today's world. These leaders are only human and subject to the same
failings that the subjects of the book face. It is just a matter of how
much political power these leaders enjoy when they make these errors. I
will definitely be anxious to read the book.
DeWayne Quinn my riding partner here in Sacromento is facing a few
challenges. Yesterday he told me one of his riders hit a horse, yes, a
horse coming down a mountain pass. Then, to make matters worse another
rider fell off his bike and broke his wrist and arm. So, DeWayne and I
will ride over to city hall and find out what is happening and receive
the city's proclamation. This afternoon before leaving I want to tour
the state capital and have dinner with a few locals.
We had a little false start, but once Edward J. Cox, the Alternate
Modes Coordinator got there with his digital camera and the re****ter
from Channel 3 got there things went well. They took our pictures as we
were joined by Karen Pardieck, the District One Coordinator. Karen
indicated Ray Tretheway, the District One Councilmember she
represented, was very bike oriented. The re****ter interviewed us and Ed
showed me where the city was sponsoring a Wednesday market with great
food. Duane had to get back to work, but Ed joined me for lunch. We had
a great time reminiscing about our various bike rides. Ed gave me some
bike maps of the area. He is a great asset to the city. At the Friday
music program he operates a bike storage area to help bikers who ride
to the weekly event. Makes me want to come back after we have our Napa
celebration...
Wish us well as we head out to Napa.
Your trusty, crusty, dusty and anxious to finish rider, Jim
------------------------------
And Finally, here is the witty and hilarious Skot Paschal who is
pressing toward Napa to meet Jim and DeWayne and the Napa Eagle Cycling
club and city officials there:
Subject: Lake****t for Lunch.
The waitress in Hopland said she never saw a bike go over Hwy. 175. Too
steep, narrow, and hot. Sounded perfect and off I went. It was 9% for 6
miles at one point and if it weren't for some cloud cover I might have
turned around (not). Got a nail in my tire through the slime strip and
slime tube. I'm sure it slowed the puncture so any disasterness was
averted. With a strong tailwind, hard pedalling and the love of God, I
should make it to Napa in the 47 allotted hours.
Subject: Unclear at Clear Lake
An im****tant thing to keep in mind is it's not how many miles but
what's up.
Tomorrow to Caistoga seems like an easy day until you look at the map.
Hwy. 29 past Middletown is as spooky a road as I've ever seen. My new
friend in the nasty hiker/biker here said it looked like a Rochard
(however you spell ink blot test}. To me it looked like a laughing
devil. My plan is to beat the dawn and then the traffic.
At $2 this park is about $1.98 overpriced. Right now the road seems
like relief. Noise, lights, bugs, parched earth that broke 2 stakes at
setup.
You can bet the house...I'm loving it.
Subject: Napa
There is do down day. The road to Calistoga looms as I enjoy a French
Roast and bagel at the Lower Lake Coffee Co. Last night some people
came in at midnight and did not mellow out until past 2, even when
politely reminded of what it means to be a human being. No sleep, steep
road, no shoulder, humidity and heat. This is my kind of day. Tell 'em
to heat up the hottub in Calistoga.
In a peldaling state of mind,
Sk.
Movement triumphs over cold.
Stillness triumphs over heat.
Clarity and tranquility set the
whole world in order.
-Lao Tzu
------------------------------
Local access to PocketMail mobile
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Skot Paschal is a popular Santa Cruz middle school math teacher at
http://www.skot.web-page.net
He can be reached on the road at: skot@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
year old, trike riding Jim Muellner can be found at
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner
His email on the road is: jmuellner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quinn
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios/dewayne_q
uinn.php
His email is: dq34@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
you want to start from the beginning and/or follow Jim our other
NBG relay riders as they move forward in the National Mayors' Ride at
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/schedule.php>,
point to their blog at
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/re****ts.php>.
All of this excitement will al be consummated at the second annual
Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest on Sunday August 17 c/:o
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival>:
btw: If you want to become a rider, we still welcome you!! Go to
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php>,
to find out how!!
btw2: We have pictures from the various ride legs on line at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors
btw3: If you want to see who these cyclists are, go to
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios>
--
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com
79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle Greenway CEO
Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it?
Really die? By moving thru clinical death and reversing
paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.
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