Here we see Skot Paschal skot.web-page.netskot.web-page.netOpen ↗ , one of the most popular middle school math
teachers on the CA Central Coast using part of his summer vacation to ride from Eugene to Sacramento
in the NBG National Mayors's Ride. And a good ways before he gets to Arcata, his first stop, he will
be joined by Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas who is still trying to figure out how he can participate in
our relay as it continues on to Chico and maybe even beyond!! As I've told Bob in private email, I
can't think of a more powerful way for a cyclist to advance the cause of cycling. I mean think about
it, what could better show America how important it is to improve the conditions of the roads and
paths on which we journey every day than to first become a Mayor and then use the authority of that
office to report about what we encounter every day using the backdrop of our ride to do so?
Leaving the excitement Bob as caused aside for a moment, poor Skot has a pretty big mountain to
climb before we can even get there. His train into Eugene was **FiVE** hours late causing him to
miss the entire Eugene reception with Mayor Torrey and Mark and George and Don. He got in so late
that he also missed out on the free meals and lodging that Barbara Gleason of Burley Design had
arranged for him. And Barbara who volunteered to host the riders had already made Mark and George
and Don feel like royalty the night before as we will soon be showing you. But here for now is Skot
who in the interest of rolling the big miles, hundred plus a day, is staying lean on his Pocket
Mail reports:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any hope of meeting the mayor has vanished with the train being 5 hours late. In fact, it seems that
it will be impossible to ride today. The train won't get in until around 5 p.m How does anyone ever
sleep on a train? The trip has a plan; not I. Update: I'm finally in Eugene! Sittin' in the Wild
Duck Brewery; 'eatin Hawaiian Short ribs, listening to the blues and enjoying a Spank Dog Pale Ale.
The train arrived after 5. After 15 hours of train I deserved the best. There is a lot of great
mail. How about that Bob Ornelas? This is going to be the best trip ever. I got a hold of Barbara
Gleason of Burley fame and we're working it all out. Tell Bob I'll have details in a day or two.
This train thang put me back a bit. It also has created a monster schedule. I should maybe left
Saturday, but ..... Faith can move this little old mountain. eek..fires in Oregon..is it me? in
touch, cuz' skot
There's a button at the entrance to the Mapleton tunnel that must light up the attack board at the
loggers bar and grill. I waited. I thought that I could outsmart them. Listening until the hills
were dead of any human instigated sounds. I jumped upon my Seabiscuit heading towards the light that
barely cracked the car cave.
The blacktop is new,the road slightly downhill..all my lights are on and blinkin' and my legs are
firing like a Holley 4-barrel... then, no, aurghh, the lovely new highway began to shake, first just
a tickle, then like Santa Cruz in '89 the whole hole was jumping. In my rear view I see a chip truck
about as wide as white line to double yellow, in the other lane I spy something that begins with "
D". A logging truck, a Damned Big logging truck.
Every once in a while I think I must disappear and beam-up a few seconds and 100 feet away. Anyways,
there I was a few feet to freedom framed by blackberries and blue skies. Miracles are so much fun.
In a pedaling state of mind, Skot
Knowing what is enough is freedom. Knowing when to stop is safety. -Lao Tzu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here is Mark Chen who rode from Portland NBG Day
bikeroute.comPortland2003Open ↗ with Don Park and Georgr Wu:
We said good-bye to Dat while riding out of town. We finally left Portland around 3pm. The ride
itself was relatively uneventful. I hate hills. There was one time when this guy was turning right
onto 99W, the street we were riding, and I guess he didn't even see us until the last minute and had
to hit his brakes. People just don't expect bicycles sometimes, which is why this ride and all
bicycle advocacy is so important. A friend of mine once asked me why I complained about biking in
Portland since it is so much nicer than some other cities. My answer is that bicycle advocacy will
always have a place until bikes are treated as equally as cars. When everyone who drives looks for
bikes as well as cars before turning that's when we are equal.
We stayed at McMinnville Friday night at a motel which had a swimming pool. Check-in time, 7:30. A
quick dip and some Taco Bell and the day was done. 48 miles from Bike Gallery, 3 hours 40 minutes in
the saddle, about 4 hours 30 minutes from start to finish, 13 mph ave, 35 mph max. George snores.
Today, Saturday, we woke up late (I think we slept 11 hours!) and didn't leave McMinnville until 11
or so after some quick continental breakfast and some nasty fake orange juice from the Texaco
mini-mart. The ride down today was really nice. Not *too* much traffic, mostly wide shoulders.
George and Don stopped a lot for berries which grow everywhere in Oregon. I tend to stay away from
car-exhaust berries, so I kept riding saying I'd meet them at the next shaded area. Little did I
know the next shaded area would be a couple miles away! The shade was provided by a nice tall oak
tree or something (Robin, my new wife, can tell you that I suck at identifying flora) which was the
prominent object in someone's front yard. Most houses along 99W are farm houses and are quite a ways
from the road, but not this one. So, I stopped, and noticed that I was out of water. I walked over
to the front door and rang the doorbell. While I was waiting for an answer, I noticed the faucet out
of the front of the house just 10 feet away, but I thought it might look really, really bad if I
just used it [censored]-nilly without permission. Since no one answered, I turned around and headed back
for my bike when I saw a Jeep pull into the driveway. I walked over to the Jeep as the driver rolled
down the window and slowed to talk. Ron turned out to be a really nice guy and we talked a bit...
the usual questions: "Where are you from? Where are you going?" with the added "You're gonna need a
lot of water!"
I was feeling good, so I got back on my bike and took off without waiting for the guys. I biked
really slowly though, taking in all the views and sounds. You know "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance" where the author describes how cool it is to be so close to nature and the road? Well,
I've always thought that we bicyclists have an even greater experience in that we get a myriad aural
sensations while motorcyclists just get engine noise. So, I listened to the birds chirping, the
rustling of grass as some lizard, or whatever I imagine, runs away from me, and the lovely sound of
me belting out a great rendition of "What's Love Got to Do With It?" Anyway, by the time I get to
Rickreal, I figure the guys must surely have caught up to me by now and that they must have passed
me while I was talking to Ron, getting water. There is a really nice bike path from Rickreal to
Monmouth and I followed that going pretty fast. By the way, I quickly shot the evil eye at the RV
campground in Rickreal which wouldn't let my brother and I camp there 3 years ago during our ride to
DC for NBG because we were on bikes and not in an RV!
So while riding to Monmouth I pass two teenage girls who are also enjoying the bike path. This NBG
idea is a really good idea; have I mentioned that? I tell them that I'm looking for two other guys
and ask if they've seen them. They say no, so I tell them they are probably behind me and if they
see them to let them know that I'm just up ahead. Nice girls said yes.
When I get into Monmouth, and the bike path ended, I see a Burgerville. Good a stopping point as
any. I sip on a strawberry-banana smoothie as I wait for the guys. And they did show up! It turns
out they stopped like 3 or 4 times for berries! We headed on down to A&W and had some lunch. A nice
worker there told us how her dad does weekend rides a bit and how it's incredible that we could go
three days. Don and I didn't tell her that he's biked to SF and I've biked to DC. Honestly, I have
to say that biking for days on end is not *that* hard, so long as you pace yourself and you take the
time to enjoy life. If you can do a week, you can do a whole summer. But don't let anyone know I
told you that, cuz like I said, I need to milk this thing for all it's worth. My problem is that I'm
lazy by nature, but once I'm out there, meeting new people, almost all of them friendly, man, it's
awe-inspiring.
So after lunch, we realize we only have about 20 miles to Corvallis, maybe one and a half hours. So
we book it on down, get tired after 30 min, rest, and then take off again. We rest a lot. I think
it's good for us; keeps us hydrated and sane, and is the key to lasting a long time on the road for
people who are out of shape like me.
When we get into Corvallis, we stop at a Rite-Aid, call Erik Haluzak to get directions, and have
some nasty but not so nasty as this morning orange juice. It turns out that the annual DaVinci Days
festival in Corvallis is happening this weekend, so we biked through the festivities to get to
Erik's place. Actually, we stopped and took a bunch of photos and met up with one of Don's friends
by happenstance. Sam is a journalist and took a bunch of photos of us and we all chatted and
whatnot. (All these photos, by the way, I'll have to send to you later when I get back home in
Portland on Monday or Tuesday...)
When we finally made it to Erik's place, he introduced us to his uncle, Charles, and his dad who's
visiting from CA. And yes, Erick is the guy whose dad makes recumbent frames! Small world. As I type
this, George and Don left to check out DaVinci Days some more and Erik and relatives went for a bike
ride. I'm done typing, for now anyway, and think I'll take a little nap before George and Don get
back and we go eat some din din.
Skot can be reached on the road at: [email hidden]
If 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/reports.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 WANT 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
nationalbicyclegreenway.com2003MayorsOpen ↗ 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.