Boise Mayor celebrates Skot, SF celebrates NBG

In Boise, Idaho, Mayor Dave Bieter, who is a familiar sight around town
on his 1969 Schwinn Typhoon one speed bicycle, had his staff cook up a
worthy send off for two time NBG Mayors' Ride relay rider Skot Paschal
yesterday. As a new Mayor with a new staff, all of his vibrant and alive
people greeted our offer to visit them for a third time this year with
not only excitement but action. In fact their media person, Michael
Zuzel made no promises but he did tell us that our news, which he has
been following, had given him lots of ideas! And as per Skot's brief
report below, Michael Z delivered - Big Time!! Look for pictures and a
report soon!

As for Skot, a popular middle school teacher in the Santa Cruz, CA area,
he is always up for summer vacation adventure. In fact, it was Skot's
epic ride that inspired Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas to make the ride from
Arcata to the San Francisco Bay Area that he recently completed. Here
then is Skot's poetic return to the road. It will be fun to see what he
discovers out there in the 338 miles of desert nothingness between
himself and Salt Lake City:

========================================
Hello Friends, especially Martin,

The reception went well with two camera crews and the mayor & Mr. Z.

Left at about 2 made it to Mt. Home at about 8.

In town there is a replica of the Viet Nam wall: very moving.
Great weather...Great life.

Some thoughts:

IN the heat and quiet back roads there is
Time..
to think....to dream...to be grateful.
On the wall are so many names,
some are friends...all are Family.
Why ride on out of the way roads and forgotten highways?
Because i can,
time is a waiting beast,
so leave the house...kiss the kids..and meet me under the
SKY,
tomorrow is no lock,
and there is so much to feel.

On the road again,
Skot
========================================

Our reception in San Francisco last Friday June 11 was filled with
action as cyclists and their bikes and members of the Mayor's office
filled the City Hall steps. The group was so large that it took a while
to organize everyone so that they would fit in the photo. When Faye
Saunders on her recumbent, Barbara Hatch on her Rollerblades, Max Chen,
on his Bike E, Don Loomis on his trailer towing recumbent and myself on
my Penny Farthing arrived, Joe Breeze and John Doidge from were already
there. Joe, one of the widely revered inventors of the mountain bike,
and his partner at Breezer bikes, John Doidge, had just biked the
Golden Gate bridge on their Breezers http://breezerbikes.com and were
fully invigorated. Our rides were studies in opposites. While we both
had fun, we had just biked in from Palo Alto 45 miles away and saw
lots of trains and train tracks. This as Joe and John and Elaine had had
spectacular views of the Bay and Alcatraz and the magical San Francisco
skyline.

For Barbara, her efforts were, at times, grueling. This was so because
in some of the industrial areas through which we passed, the road
surface was a checkerboard of patched asphalt, each with its own little
berm that gobbled up her tiny wheels. I felt them in my arms on my Hi
Wheel but in some sections near the airport and the South San Francisco
industrial area, they blistered her feet and vibrated her muscular
little body to fatigue.

As Barbara and I were pushing the envelope to go 9-12 miles an hour, Max
and Faye and Don were all luxuriating on their recumbents as they
sauntered along. So for them seeing the small crowd that had already
assembled at City Hall was a relief from the tedium of having to roll at
the slow pace I had set for them. THX to Max Chen's expert guidance we
snaked around all but one hill, on, for the most part, lightly
trafficked streets. Max even guided us through the curious maze of paths
under freeways and through neighborhoods that the San Francisco Bike
Coalition (SFBC) and Peter Tannen, the SF Bicycle Program Manager, have
been responsible for .

And it was fitting that Leah Schaum of the SFBC, was there with her
bright smile and happy demeanor when we arrived. Also there was Mayor
Bob who went ahead of us to hold the fort down and meet his wife, Susan,
who had come down from Arcata. Elaine Martinez who rowed in from
Sausalito on her Rowbike was also there and yet while she loved the ride
over the Gate, grinding up the long downhill to it from Sausalito
frazzled her nerves. When Faye reminded her that we were riding to
petition for safe cycling infrastructure, she smiled and said, "Oh
yeah". And yet my heart still went out to her. I forgot that a sharp
drop off to the dirt shoulder right next to it, bordered the white line
at the edge of that road. Tho this is a popular route, it still requires
skill if you are not on a mountain bike where you can use the rock
strewn shoulder if that were to become required. This not to mention the
tedium of not being able to let your guard down on what is a climb made
even trickier by cross winds that often make their presence known.

At the ceremony itself, Dave Gutierrez, who had been asking about our
progress with calls to my cell phone for almost an hour prior to our
arrival, welcomed us with open arms. Acting in Mayor Newsom's stead (the
Mayor who really wanted to be there, could not break free from United
Nations Day which was also taking place on that day), Gutierrez from the
Dept of Neighborhood Services, treated us like Kings! He made sure other
members from the Mayor's staff with whom we had been in touch came out
and greeted us. It was especially fun to see Jimmer Cassiol there. He
had been more than accommodating in helping make last minute changes to
the official city decree that we received.

Patrick Thomas whose last day of class was the day before, got there an
hour late. On his unicycle. With all of the provisions he would need for
his trip to Chicago. On his back. A sweetheart of man, he at least was
able to join us for the delicious free lunch that Faye Saunders had
arranged for us at Ananda Fuara http://AnandaFuara.com. Located just
around the corner from City Hall, the place was packed and the food was
not only surprisingly affordable for San Francisco but it was also
extremely delicious.

I knew the road to Chicago had officially begun when we then watched
Patrick pedal away. He might have only been going ten miles an hour but
his legs were spinning furiously. And here now in hindsight after seeing
him again in Davis and then Folsom 50 miles away on the same day, I feel
like I had been witness to the same daily miracle our NBG Summer of 2004
has already become!

btw: Don't miss the Reno Wheelmen president's report about our ride from
Davis to Folsom at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...eports/Archive
s/cat_2004.php#000239

Or the slide show at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.c...p?set_albumNam
e=Davis-Folsom2004

Or our pictures from all the SF Bay Area rides at:
http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/gallery

Or our dynamic schedule at
http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2004/

THX for all of U!!