Now that that the luxurious, eco-friendly Intercontinental San Francisco (story)  has become  the cornerstone for our bike route (link) to the Nation’s Capitol,  we are now beginning the work of showcasing the 17 NBG cities <link> that stand between the Golden Gate City and Washington, DC. By helping people see why they are attractive cycling destinations and making it safe and fun to get to and through them, we will also be drawing more and more bicyclists to   our coast-to-coast route.

As such then, Oakland, CA, directly across the Bay, a city building bike infrastructure at an exciting rate, just became the province of the Oakland Marriott at the Civic Center <link>. This also landmark property located in the heart of a rebuilding downtown  and very near the stunning beauty of Lake Merritt  makes for a worthy compliment  to its NBG lodging counterpart in San Francisco. At 21-stories, many of its rooms offer stunning  views of the bay bridges and surrounding cityscape making it the preferred hospitality venue of choice for business travelers during the week. And with its close proximity to the Lake Merritt, Oakland waterfront and Jack London Square playgrounds, it fills up with weekend fun-seekers as well. This, not to mention the world class road cycling that can be found in the nearby Oakland and Berkeley hills.

On Saturday July 26, the Oakland City Center Marriott will also help us celebrate the man who helped to set in place a lot of the two-wheel transformation that is taking place in Oakland when we ride in Ron Bishop’s <link> honor around Lake Merritt to the PedalFest celebration at Jack London Square. Ron, a former widely respected architect, was recognized by the Oakland city council as its Bike Mayor. An exuberant NBG supporter, he passed away in 2011.

The next city for which we will be assigning an NBG anchor is Sacramento. Do watch this space!!