Friday, October 31, 2008

Wounded Warrior Bike Ride November 7th 9am

I got this from a friend- unlike most of how we ride every day, this looks like a very worthwhile ride ~~Cliff H. 

 
You've may have seen the information on their website, www.woundedwarriorproject.org.  The Soldier Ride coming here is called the Honky Tonk Challenge.  They have a number of rides around the country.  In some places it's huge with hundreds of riders joining the vets and a big event. 
 
They are arriving from Little Rock on Nov 6 and staying at the Hilton Hotel.  They would rather have stayed downtown but COGIC is in town. 
 
They are eating dinner at the Rendezvous that night and maybe spend some time on Beale Street.  There are about 20 coming which includes about 15 wounded vets and several Wounded Warrior staff and mechanics. 
 
They've got a couple of vans and a U-Haul truck (one of their sponsors) for the bikes.  Woody Groton, the Soldier Ride National Tour Director, said one of the mechanics owns a bike shop in Hopkinsville, KY, outside Fort Campbell, called Bikes & Moore.
 
On Nov 7 they will gather at Tom Lee Park and begin the ride about 9:00 am.  I think the ride goes down Union to Walnut Grove and ends at Macon Hall Elementary school. 
 
The map of the route is:  www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tn/memphis/163100227.  I believe there is some police assistance but I do not know if it is for the whole route or just certain areas.  I think the route is about 22 miles.   The speed will be slow (10-12 mph) as a number of the vets will be riding hand cycles due to injuries.
 
I do not know if there is lunch at the end or somewhere during the ride.  Woody's email is wgroton@woundedwarriorproject.org and his phone number is 603-727-1294.  Feel free to email him or call to obtain more specific info.  I told him I would help advertise the event with the Memphis Hightailers and whoever else I could dream up.
 
One big note is the group will be heading directly to Nashville at the end and not coming back downtown.  So, anybody riding will have to make arrangements to either ride back downtown or have some other transportation arrangement. 
 
Please forward this email or any other with information about the ride to all your riding friends.  This group came through Memphis last year and had maybe one or two riders.  The ride is on a Friday which will make it tough for some people but what a great reason to use leave time.  We need a big crowd to join the ride!
 
It would be fun to join them Thursday night for dinner and/or drinks.   It would be great if you could put this info in the next couple of newsletters and maybe even send a special one out.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday, October 17, 2008

Bicyclists pay their own way

I found most of this at the Marin County Bicycle Coalition website. They invented the hottub and the mountain bike out there in Marin County-- those are two of the 20th centuries greatest contributions to world civilization, imho.

I expanded the piece and rewrote a little of it- parts of the text were kinda unclear or clunky. ~~Cliff H.


Bicyclists pay their own way


Automobile driving in the United States is subsidized. Gasoline taxes pay for only 60% of BASIC road infrastructure. The remainder is paid by all taxpayers through local, state, and federal taxes, whether we drive or not.

Because bicycling puts so little wear and tear on our roads, and because cycling-specific infrastructure is far cheaper than general road costs, a cyclist who never buys gasoline easily pays his or her fair share. Add to this these monetary inequities:

1. Bicyclists are often denied bridge or highway access that their tax dollars have paid for

2. General taxes pay for environmental and health damages caused by cars

3. Defense taxes to support our oil interests abroad, of which the most oil goes to cars

It's clear that it's not bicyclists who are getting a free ride.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Hi y'all - I have been moving---

Low posting rate recently- I have been moving my business. That's a lot of work! I moved 5 loads with my bike trailer- at least that part was fun!

I'll be back to more frequent posting in a week or two.

Roll on, y'all.