Frequently Asked Questions
- What is NBG and what have you been doing since 1989?
- Why expend energy on a Festival, when you you're trying to build a Greenway?
- Where is San Lorenzo Park?
- What is PocketMail and what kind of special offer is there for NBG cyclists?
- How do I link the Festival to my web page?
- Who has already linked the Festival at their site?
- Is there some way I can find riders to join me? Is there a bulletin board?
- Where can I find lodging?
- Do you have a suggested bike route from the SF Bay Area? From Monterey?
- If I come in on a bike (much encouraged), will there be a secure area for my bike? My gear?
- If I'm biking cross country, do you have any How To information?
- How can someone help with the Fest?
- What is NBG and what have you been doing Since 1989?
In 1990, with the help of Andrea Reich, a CPA friend of Martin Krieg's in Santa Cruz, CA, Krieg filed the bylaws and articles of incorporation for a nonprofit organization that would help connect the coasts with a contiguous bike trail. They called the organization they had formed, the National Bicycle Greenway (NBG). A few years earlier Krieg, who had just begun to settle back in after a 1986 TransAm bike crossing, had begun publishing the Cycle America Regional Directories in northern California. From 1987 to 1994, he published 70,000 of these small books in order to advance the vision now held by the NBG.
When the the Internet arrived in 1994, Krieg was able to place his dream before a world wide audience. This forum also helped his organization to fine tune its offering. Instead of one coast-to-coast car-free arterial, the NBG is now calling for a a nationwide network of interconnected bike roads and pathways that will connect the coasts. They turned the volume for this vision up in 1997 when their Year 2000, Cycle America 2000 campaign began. To see what has been accomplished since 1997 go here.
Why expend energy on a Festival, when you you're trying to build a Greenway?
Consistent with our strategy at http://www.bikeroute.com/nbgwhat.html, we are setting up this annual event as a way to plant the seed for the possibility consciousness of our Greenway vision; an interconnected network of bikeable roads and paths.
There are lots of great ideas out there that vanish into the ether after a relatively short time because there are few who want to do the work of helping a worthy number of people (also called a critical mass) accept a different way of thinking. This is especially so if the rewards are not immediate.
As such then, what we are doing with the NBG. as we mark the time of just keeping the NBG idea out there, is building a needed consciousness for the colossal undertaking we foresee. While all the while, by keeping it out there we attract other big thinkers and a myriad of as yet untold resources we could not have known would have come our way. And as our NBG Fest takes on the same size and stature as football's Super Bowl, so to will the National Bicycle Greenway!
- Where is San Lorenzo Park?
Across the river from downtown Santa Cruz, it is bordered by Ocean, Water, River and Soquel streets. Here is a map:
- What is PocketMail and what kind of special offer is there for NBG cyclists?
PocketMail was used by many of these riders in their trek to DC in the summer of 2000:
http://www.bikeroute.com/SCNBGFest/NBG2000Rides/index.htm
Pocket Mail is a hand held device, with a miniature keyboard that sends and received messages over an 800# telephone line. It can be found at http://www.pocketmail.com. NBG members and riders get it at a discount that is too low to quote on the web. If you are interested, send us an email, NBG@bikeroute.com, and we will happily and promptly reply with all the particulars.
How do I link the Festival to my web page?
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<a href="http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival/"><img src="http://bikeroute.com/SCNBGFestLogoSmall.jpg" border="0"></a>
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- Who has already linked the Festival at their site?
Haluzak
Terra Nova Landscape
Electric Sierra
S&B Recumbents
- Is there some way I can find riders to join me? Is there a bulletin board?
Indeed there is. Ask for rider partners wanted at:
http://www.bikeroute.com/ibrd_cgi/Classifieds/class_ad.cgi?database=personals.setup
- Where can I find lodging?
There is a pretty comprehensive search utility at:
http://www.santacruzca.org/lodg_dine/accsearch.cfm
- Do you have a suggested bike route from the SF Bay Area? From Monterey?
Santa Cruz to San Jose:
http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingRidesFolder/CA-SantaCruzLosGatos.html
Santa Cruz to Monterey:
http://www.bikeroute.com/ConnectingRidesFolder/CA-SantaCruzMonterey.html
- If I come in on a bike (much encouraged), will there be a secure area for my bike? My gear?
Yes.
- If I'm biking cross country, do you have any How To information I can access?
We have a book on line called "How to Ride a Bike Across America". It costs 5 bux and your purchase supports the NBG and makes you one of our members. To see what subjects it covers/to join:
http://www.bikeroute.com/HowBikeUS.html
- How can someone help with the Fest?
We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization and donations are heartily accepted as well as much needed. Contact Martin Krieg directly at NBG@bikeroute.com.
You can also become an NBG member for as little as five dollars. Please go to http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Join_NBG/membership.php
At our event, we need everything from volunteer Monitors to Hosts. We need people to staff our NBG Booth. We will need helpers at our Bike Valet. If you are a Photographer and might like to help us document this event, please let us know. We need people for both Set Up and Clean Up. Getting down to the brass tacks even a crowd counter would be helpful. Such volunteers will also get an NBG staff t-shirt for the day of the event!