{"id":17785,"date":"2024-03-11T07:06:32","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T14:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/?p=17785"},"modified":"2024-03-11T07:12:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T14:12:05","slug":"nbg-blueprint-preface-by-ray-irvin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2024\/03\/11\/nbg-blueprint-preface-by-ray-irvin\/","title":{"rendered":"NBG Blueprint Preface by Ray Irvin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\">I have been talking with Martin since 2002 when I was his contact for Indianapolis when his group<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>annually visited our city.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We then got to know each other through our love of bike paths. In giving him some background on how I came to run Indy Greenways, I explained to him the work I had done with the 30-mile Centennial Trail that<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>connected Washington and Idaho.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NBG Blueprint: Interconnecting America with a Network of Coast to Coast Bicycle Villages\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"1100\" height=\"550\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"https:\/\/read.amazon.com\/kp\/card?preview=inline&#038;linkCode=kpd&#038;ref_=k4w_oembed_ggpjJI3rbJLotm&#038;asin=B0CRK636F8&#038;tag=kpembed-20\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">It was the first interstate bike path and Martin who wanted to connect San Francisco with the East Coast was fascinated. In addition to his group\u2019s National<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Mayors&#8217; Rides, he and I remained in dialogue several times a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">I remember him expressing amazement at all the things we were doing to transform this city. For me, it felt like a calling. As a job I felt honored to build on the work begun here by famous planners at the turn of the last century. I also looked forward to going to work every day because of all the people I got to work with. Many like to credit me for all the beautiful greenways in the city. Well, they really could never have happened without all the amazing people here in Indianapolis. I was so lucky to be able to feed off their ideas and energy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">And that is what I see Martin and his book doing. He is planting the seed that will bring his vision into the mainstream in the same way I was fortunate enough to be able to do so here. His ideas are not a lot different from the Greenway Master Plan I drew up for Indianapolis (396,000 square miles). Because it covers an even larger<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>area, his book may lack some of the specifics I built into our document. However,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>it still paints a picture big thinkers can sink their teeth into. It\u2019s a possibility consciousness for a better way, a travel network that will foster a vast array of new businesses and cottage industries. It\u2019s an important start to something much bigger than any of us!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">We so often hear, \u2018wouldn&#8217;t it be nice\u2019 if this, that or the other were a reality. We don&#8217;t even dare to go as far as to dream of getting on a bicycle and riding as far as our legs will take us because the roads were not built to accommodate human power. Being able to take breaks in the large population centers along the way is not something that we can dare to imagine. Forget being able to visit a big city on our bikes, and safely enjoying all it<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>has to offer like we have done here in downtown Indianapolis.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Well, as far-fetched as it sounds, this is what Martin&#8217;s book proposes. You<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>see, back when I was pitching Greenways, there were many people who thought I had lost my mind. I was regularly accused of wanting to bring crime and vagrancy into peoples backyards. Now, the Greenway system is an asset that has greatly enhanced property values for those who happen to be on one. They are a source of pride for the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">In the same way I pushed comfort zones, Martin\u2019s plan to turn 20 American cities into the bicycle villages he foresees will ruffle feathers. In the<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>same way, I required any development in the city to consider its impact on our greenway travel corridors, the major cities along his right of way will have a different set of constraints. These city governments will be required to consider the impact any of the building they do will have on the Downtown Greenways that will have been built in each of them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Having a plan will bring about a special character for each of the cities, along<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the entirety<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>of this route. It will attract the best people and resources from each of these regions to make the National Bicycle Greenway the talk of the land. It will charge forward like a train no one can stop. And it is for that reason, that I much look forward to the possibilities that are sure to result from this publication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">As Martin proves in this book, Indianapolis has always been on the vanguard of transportation. As the planet demands that the ways we move about become more and more sustainable, Indianapolis will once again lead the way. As such, I am delighted that this book will turn downtown Indianapolis into a national treasure because of its wildly successful 10-mile Cultural Trail. This family safe travel way will be the model, the 19 other cities between San Francisco and Washington DC will all push to replicate. All this as we push to interconnect them with the National Bicycle Greenway this book is also calling for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Best regards, Captain Ray<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><i>Known internationally as Mr. Greenway, Ray Irvin\u2019s guidance was sought by Greenway planners all over the world. Here in America, he has groomed greenway managers all over the Nation, from California to Florida. A <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>former Councilman, he turned down the chance to be the Mayor of this city. Instead he opted to be the Director of Greenways, a position<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>he formed, and he instilled an impregnable Greenway consciousness in local Hoosiers through four different Mayoral administrations. A globally respected visionary,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>he established Indy Greenways, the powerful Indiana Greenway Foundation and before he worked his magic at the state level, in Indianapolis alone, he led the charge that built nine different greenways stretching from 3 to 30 miles.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Etc, etc\u2026\u2026.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"MruQJswDvx\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2011\/08\/15\/ray-irvin-mr-greenway-speaks-with-nbg\/\">Ray Irvin &#8211; Mr Greenway, speaks with NBG!!<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Ray Irvin &#8211; Mr Greenway, speaks with NBG!!&#8221; &#8212; National Bicycle Greenway\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2011\/08\/15\/ray-irvin-mr-greenway-speaks-with-nbg\/embed\/#?secret=VNS1KaE0r0#?secret=MruQJswDvx\" data-secret=\"MruQJswDvx\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have been talking with Martin since 2002 when I was his contact for Indianapolis when his group\u00a0 annually visited&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2024\/03\/11\/nbg-blueprint-preface-by-ray-irvin\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VuuR-4CR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13106,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2018\/03\/01\/indystar-national-bike-greenway-moves-to-indy\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":0},"title":"IndyStar: National bike greenway moves to Indy","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Photo: Matt Kryger\/IndyStar) It's nothing like landing the Amazon headquarters. But the National Bicycle Greenway organization has moved from California to Indy. Founder Martin Krieg dreams of a coast-to-coast biking trail -- like the Monon Trail, across the country. It might sound far-fetched, but not to Krieg, who wheels around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Indianapolis&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Indianapolis","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/indianapolis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2018-03-01 at 10.45.26 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-01-at-10.45.26-AM-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-01-at-10.45.26-AM-1.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-01-at-10.45.26-AM-1.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":648,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2013\/04\/18\/san-jose-excerpt-from-how-america-can-bike-and-grow-rich\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":1},"title":"San Jose Excerpt from &#8220;How America Can Bike and Grow Rich&#8221;","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"April 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is from Chapter One of \u00a0\"How America Can Bike and Grow Rich\", my e-book that you can buy HERE. Wanting to talk also about bike taxis for easing congestion by carrying tourists and even old people around and hoping they would also give me an opening to talk about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;How America Can Bike and Grow Rich&quot;","block_context":{"text":"How America Can Bike and Grow Rich","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/how-america-can-bike-and-grow-rich\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12809,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2017\/05\/06\/martin-krieg-and-his-second-try-at-life-by-edward-peterson\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":2},"title":"Martin Krieg and his Second Try at Life by Edward Peterson","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"May 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Martin Krieg is a man who died in his early 20s. This was the result of what Martin calls a \"car wreck\" - not an \"accident\" because he says there are no accidents. Martins story and life lessons are insightful yet entertaining, and shine a message of love and positivity.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11645,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2016\/09\/13\/martin-krieg-to-sign-awake-again-at-avid-reader-for-nbg-event\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":3},"title":"Martin Krieg to Sign &#8220;Awake Again&#8221; at Avid Reader &#038; for NBG Event","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"September 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"CLINICAL DEATH SURVIVOR TO PRESENT AUTOBIOGRAPHY AT THE AVID READER ON OCTOBER 21 IN ADVANCE OF NATIONAL BIKE GREENWAY FESTIVAL The Avid Reader is happy to welcome clinical death survivor and high-wheel bicyclist Martin Krieg for a presentation, discussion, and signing of his autobiography, \u201cAwake Again: All the Way Back\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"unnamed-9","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/unnamed-9.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4796,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2011\/12\/20\/oakland-bike-mayor-ron-bishop-the-real-face-of-occupy-oakland-dies-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":4},"title":"OAKLAND BIKE MAYOR, RON BISHOP, THE REAL FACE OF OCCUPY OAKLAND, DIES","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"December 20, 2011","format":"audio","excerpt":"On December 11, 2011, the City of Oakland lost a man who did so much to raise the profile of cycling in it that he was honored by its council \u00a0as its unofficial Bike Mayor. Ron Bishop succumbed to a cancer that could not be treated because lesions discovered on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;NBG Mountain Movers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"NBG Mountain Movers","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/nbg-mountain-movers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Screen-shot-2014-10-20-at-10.36.09-AM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12545,"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/2017\/03\/07\/davis-nbg-fest-ride-the-yolo-to-the-state-capital-martin-krieg-speaks-313-davis-bike-club-and-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":17785,"position":5},"title":"Davis NBG Fest, Ride the Yolo to the State Capital, Martin Krieg Speaks 3\/13 Davis Bike Club and more&#8230;&#8230;.","author":"awakeagainmartin@gmail.com","date":"March 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 From the stage at Central Park here in Davis where Roots Man Project, Beyond Uranium and Charles Lang\u00a0will be entertaining the crowds with their music on Saturday May 27 at our Second Annual Davis NBG Fest\/National\u00a0Mayors' Ride sed off to Washington DC \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 We are so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Davis NBG Fest&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Davis NBG Fest","link":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/category\/davis-nbg-fest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2017-02-11 at 12.05.52 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-11-at-12.05.52-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-11-at-12.05.52-AM.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-11-at-12.05.52-AM.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17785"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17793,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17785\/revisions\/17793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bikeroute.com\/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}