As a project of the National Bicycle Greenway (NBG), our annual Mayors’ Rides serve as rallying points to help us get our route from San Francisco to Washington, DC known about. And as they do they also help us to sell these cities as attractive bike travel destinations with  the programs we foresee. Once our business plan is fully funded, these will include:

– NBG Hubs in each of our Mayors’ Ride cities where one will find:

       Bicycle visitor’s bureaus

       Bicycle recycling

       Bicycle repair classes

       A bicycle museum

       Bicycle rentals

       Community bicycle repair

       Regional NBG bicycle festivals

       And all the community events we will host in the  large meeting halls our warehouse-sized hubs will house such as:

               mixers

               booksignings

               lectures

               bicycle swap meets

               dances and activities for youth, etc.

At our hubs, they can also go on line to find:

           – NBG Guest home program

           – National bike route directory.

          – NBG.net, like a bicycle Yahoo.com featuring free email addresses

Since the most important trip you can take on a bicycle is one that replaces a car trip, our annual Mayors’ Rides have the purpose of highlighting the beauty of cycling right where most cyclists are – not out on the back roads but in the city itself. And as we do so, we are also making civic leaders all across America, allies in our cause.

In greening themselves, as cities endeavor to get ahead of the curve by improving their bike infrastructure, we are giving them a scorecard they can use, our yearly Mayors’ Ride program, to see where they stand in relation to other Mayors’ Ride cities. We are also helping them show America and their own citizens how much value they place on the bicycle as a part of their own transportation mix. And as we do so, we are giving these officials a way to make their city look healthy, vibrant and alive for prospective tourists, employers and other revenue generating concerns thinking about setting up shop in their city.

Besides helping our Mayors’ Ride  cities to show that good bike infrastructure means good quality of life, by placing them in friendly competition with one another, as they make it safe for bike riders to get to their own businesses and attractions, our Mayors’ Ride cities, by default, will also become attractive travel destinations for out of the area bike riders as well. And as  cyclists regularly enjoy the roads and paths  that  connect these cities to one another, when these population centers see how much business  long haul cyclists are bringing their way in the form of hotel stays, restaurant  meals and visits to their attractions, etc,  city leaders will lobby their regional legislators to make it safer and more enjoyable for pedal visitors to reach them.  And as this happens, more and more cities will lobby the  NBG to include them in our Mayors’ Ride network. Soon, the momentum for a Greenway network that connects our growing network of Mayors’ Ride cities to one another will explode into a momentum that cannot be stopped!!!