Manny Garcia to Spearhead NBG Bus Conversion

Former long time bike shop manager and passionate two wheel zealot, Manny Garcia, has agreed to do the build  out that will be required to make  our bus one we can live in on the road! And this man is all about Can Do!! If you followed my Eagle HiWheel ride to Salt Lake City in the summer of 2009, you will recall that Manny rode 400 miles of Nevada, the most mountainous state in the Union with me. What's wild is that in order to do so, he  had to double whatever I rode so he could go back and get his vehicle allowing him to have it wherever it was that we lodged for  the night. As in afternoon headwinds and re-summiting innumerable mountain passes to do so, whoaaaa.......

To the degree I can supply him the resources, money and new and used hardware, Manny will be installing everything from toilets and showers to fold down beds, cupboards and  other forms of storage, even insulation, while I am  away getting my books rewritten  and ready for the  2011 season. The perfect man for the job, he knows how to get a result with often times much less than perfect materials.  This is so because he  grew up in a large family in Mexico City where he learned that if he wanted any of those things most American kids take for granted, that he could mix and match new, used and discarded items to create a worthy facsimile of that which the kids north  of the border were enjoying.

That said, I will be using my afternoons to bring  on more advertising support (to buy supplies for  Manny) for my  San Jose to Boston Eagle ride as well as scour Craigslist and other want ad boards for camper shells with  worthy insides we can cannibalize. As well, if any of you want to come by Park Automotive here on Park Ave in Palo Alto to help Manny, we need you!!!

Here is what we foresee:

GMC Bus

•  Double bed to back of bus that folds down from wall when acting as window shade when I compute
•  Solar equipped
•  Bio diesel
•  Shower
•  Sinks - 2 (kitchen, bathroom)
•  Toilet
•  Bedroom in section  behind driver
•  3 fold down beds in next section for Documentary Film Crew
•  A Solar Panel that can drive a laptop computer
•  A propane reefer
• 
  

                                     THX 4 all of U!! 

   Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author

2011 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"

          BikeRoute.com

   '79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides

Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor  

NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist

      Riding only active Eagle in world 

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

Fall Author Tour Yields to New Excitement & Possibilities

As I worked here on the phone to build my Author Tour of "Awake Again",  in moving east along the Mayors' Ride route, I  discovered that, in its present condition,  the  economy was having a very hard time supporting my book journey. Offices, for example, that had in the not too distant past suggested that maybe I could bring hope to their head injury patients (they call them clients) with a book tour during the bicycle off season, reported back to me when I called. that they did not even know if they were going to have jobs themselves. 

Fortunately, however, an opportunity I am very excited about  has presented itself to me that I can not ignore. I have been offered a place where I can work on the completion of some or all of the books I have noted below!!

As such, instead of touring our Mayors' Ride cities  as a promotion for my San Jose (read the nation's 10th largest city and proactive in its plans for cycling) to Boston Eagle ride with just my autobiography, "Awake Again", since they are all almost complete, I will now be able to do booksignings with several of the other tomes that will soon result . Since I can also use my writing "retreat" to invite more sponsors to come forward with ads on the people mover John E Cabrera donated to our organization, I can commission one or several of the people I have identified as willing to help, to build out the interior so that I can live in it when I tour the US with the product of my soon ahead writing efforts. 

Nor had I allowed the depressed state of the world's affairs take my eye off the prize of using my story and our national Mayors' Rides to promote the coast to coast National Bicycle Greenway  we foresee. I renewed my driver's license so I can drive the bus Park Automotive Don is going to teach me how to drive!! After 21 years of not owning or driving a car, I had to really hunker down to get cleared to legally operate a vehicle. Because I had originally needed this DMV document to get a passport so I could go to Ireland, with no study, I flunked the written part back in May. On the second try, however, after hours of study I was golden! And not only did I learn a lot about all that has changed in my time away from the wheel, but I am a better cyclist because I better know what is expected of cars.

Until I soon leave then, I will keep working on the bus. The photo above, for example, is of MrLettter.com's 'Not For Hire' sign that I  loaded on to the bus. I did that yesterday at Park Automotive, where owner Don Armstrong has gone far out of his way to be supportive of all that I am doing. So much so, that as the true car doctor magician that he is (he's even married to a doctor, an esteemed PhD who teaches nurses), when I rewrite, "How America Can Bike and Grow Rich", he and his Park Automotive will become a part of the story that I tell. 

      THX 4 all of U!! 

Martin Krieg's Work in Process Books:

"How America can bike and Grow Rich"
"Awake Again" in paperpack, audio and for the iPhone and Kindle Reader
"How to Bike America"
"How to Move Mountains with Love".
"Cycle America 2000 Anthology" - a distillation of the weekly newsletters I put out for 3 years when I brought thousands of cyclists to Washinbton DC  for the millennium.

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

Busycle Hears the Stones

We took the Busycle out tonite on a Thank You ride. I had initially staged it to express my appreciation to all those who had helped to move it into Gerrry & Dana's driveway while I was in Ireland a number of weeks ago. Well as it turned out, when it came right down to setting a time and a date, Gerry and Dana were the only ones around, no one who had volunteered their time was available. Steve Branz and Jill Cohen replied to let me know they were out of town. George Bradshaw never saw my email and Ashook did not  show until were were actually  rolling.

 

And yet,  Ashook and his friend, whose name I keep forgetting, were a big addition. But the hardest part,   doing a three point turn out of the driveway, was done by just  seven people. Gerry and Dana were joined by Anna DeCosta and her niece Nicole and friend Roz. I also managed to recruit a suited out cyclist with a Russian name I can not recall, from the nearby bike boulevard. This crew was joined by the man who would be this evening's powerhouse, Manny Garcia. 

And as we moved the 9/10 of a mile distance to nearby Mitchell Park, we got faster and faster as we picked up more and more people along the way. John E Cabrera even caught up with us not far into our journey! We arrived to a park that was filled and alive with the sounds of the Unauthorized Rolling Stones. 

Nor was it long before every seat was filled by kids as this evening's Busyclists all went off and got closer to the stage. I stayed behind and kept an eye on our machine which for me was like old home week. Friends from the nearby neighborhood where I used to live, who had not seen me for several years, kept coming up and saying hi. This as many dozen of  little ones took their turn at sitting on the seats and trying their luck with the pedals.

When the music ended, we were a Busycle of kids and their parents on our way back to Gerry and Dana's. This was so because for every kid who asked to ride, I told them that there had to be one adult. And it worked so well that Manny did not have a seat. And of the original crew all that was left for the ride home were Gerry and Dana. 

And it was a good thing that Manny did not have a seat. When he was not sitting on the Busycle gearbox, a maneuver I frowned on that required him to jump aboard while were moving, he was behind the Busycle  pushing us up any rises in the road that slowed us to a   crawl. His power, the three times this happened on  the way back, was huge!

We pulled into the Busycle  driveway as the dusk like conditions were giving way to a darker and darker evening. Soon the beautiful cover that Empire Covers donated was on and mounted and  another Busycle ride was on the books!!

If you want to Busycle with us next Saturday to hear Fotia, a Greek folk and blues band, at Mittchell Park, reply accordingly. If I get enough interest, I will get a ride together.....

Pictures soon!!

    THX 4 all of U!! 

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

Busycle Hears the Stones

We took the Busycle out tonite on a Thank You ride. I had initially staged it to express my appreciation to all those who had helped to move it into Gerrry & Dana's driveway while I was in Ireland a number of weeks ago. Well as it turned out, when it came right down to setting a time and a date, Gerry and Dana were the only ones around, no one who had volunteered their time was available. Steve Branz and Jill Cohen replied to let me know they were out of town. George Bradshaw never saw my email and Ashook did not  show until were were actually  rolling. 

And yet,  Ashook and his friend, whose name I keep forgetting, were a big addition. But the hardest part,   doing a three point turn out of the driveway, was done by just  seven people. Gerry and Dana were joined by Anna DeCosta and her niece Nicole and friend Roz. I also managed to recruit a suited out cyclist with a Russian name I can not recall, from the nearby bike boulevard. This crew was joined by the man who would be this evening's powerhouse, Manny Garcia. 

And as we moved the 9/10 of a mile distance to nearby Mitchell Park, we got faster and faster as we picked up more and more people along the way. John E Cabrera even caught up with us not far into our journey! We arrived to a park that was filled and alive with the sounds of the Unauthorized Rolling Stones. 

Nor was it long before every seat was filled by kids as this evening's Busyclists all went off and got closer to the stage. I stayed behind and kept an eye on our machine which for me was like old home week. Friends from the nearby neighborhood where I used to live, who had not seen me for several years, kept coming up and saying hi. This as many dozen of  little ones took their turn at sitting on the seats and trying their luck with the pedals.

When the music ended, we were a Busycle of kids and their parents on our way back to Gerry and Dana's. This was so because for every kid who asked to ride, I told them that there had to be one adult. And it worked so well that Manny did not have a seat. And of the original crew all that was left for the ride home were Gerry and Dana. 

And it was a good thing that Manny did not have a seat. When he was not sitting on the Busycle gearbox, a maneuver I frowned on that required him to jump aboard while were moving, he was behind the Busycle  pushing us up any rises in the road that slowed us to a   crawl. His power, the three times this happened on  the way back, was huge!

We pulled into the Busycle  driveway as the dusk like conditions were giving way to a darker and darker evening. Soon the beautiful cover that Empire Covers donated was on and mounted and  another Busycle ride was on the books!!

If you want to Busycle with us next Saturday to hear Fotia, a Greek folk and blues band, at Mittchell Park, reply accordingly. If I get enough interest, I will get a ride together.....

Pictures soon!!

    THX 4 all of U!! 

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

City of San Jose - National Bicycle Greenway Invite you to 7/31 Kick Off Event

Details 

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

Jeff Kistler gets Eagle Wheel on Road Again!!

The one two punch of Jeff Kistler and Jim Spilllane got my Eagle wheel  back on the road!! After Jim located a rim from his stock of old bike parts back there in Connecticut and then got it shipped out to us, Jeff went to the  work of lacing it all up. It did not end up in complete mode on the first pass, however, because Jeff kept discovering spokes that needed to be replaced. For which we had to rely on Jim to send us even more spokes. 

It was a good thing I was in Castlebar, Ireland while this whole painful process was played out because I did get the bike back  until yesterday. And even then I still can not go the distance on it until the replacement bike shows up as this video shows.

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous

San Jose Replaces San Francisco as New Mayors' Ride Start City on 7/10

Well, it's official, the City of San Jose is now the bona fide start of the 8th annual, 2010 Mayors' Ride. San Jose Transportation Director, Hans Larsen, who Carlos Babcock introduced me to at the concert San Jose joint ventured with the  San Jose Bike  Party  last month, pulled together the principals needed from his city to develop the excitement that will you soon  be seeing. Toward that end, we will also be working with the San Jose Bike Party, Lance Armstrong Live Strong and Silicon Valley Bike Coalition (SVBC) people to help San Jose fulfill its goal of being known as  America's top bike city.  

San Jose, 15th Best Bike City in USA on Street Films  

(a must see video for those wondering about the commitment level of SJ city fathers)

 

Nor will it be difficult for San Jose to become the Number One biking city by which others are judged. All the variables are already in place. San Jose has exquisite weather, it has a fast growing number of bike lanes and pathways and most of the riding turf is flat. Separated from the ocean by the Coast Range on one side, and the epic Mt Hamilton and all the hills that flank it on the other, it has a delicious smorgasbord of mountain roads one can easily get lost  in. Along with its rich century old biking heritage, here is some information about San Jose that will show you why we have chosen them over San Francisco as the starting point for our ride to Boston:

News Flash:

After receiving a staff report and public comments in support of the plan, the San Jose City Council unanimously approved Bike Plan 2020. The new bike plan adopts a vision of building a community where bicycling is safe, convenient and commonplace. The plan identifies five broad Goals – including completion of a 500 mile bikeway network – as well as several individual Strategies and Actions to accomplish the Goals. Click on the following links to view the plan - more 

A Partial History of San Jose's rich bike history

Bronze Bike Friendly Community Award (many of those cities with higher rankings have spent more time on presentation than on actual infrastructure and the like) 

San Jose Trails Program

Hans Larsen

San Jose Bike Party

Silicon Valley Bike Coalition

So Exciting!!

             THX 4 all of U!! 

btw: I will be coming back from the heavenly bike roads of Ireland next Tuesday. Here is some of what I have been enjoying 

btw2: In case U missed it, I am still waiting for the insurance to settle the wreck of my Eagle 

Posted via email from HiWheel's Posterous