NBG coast-to-coast map 

Using an aggregate of all the coast to coast cycling data we had collected from our NBG Scouts since 1997, along with our National Mayors’ Rides (where a few of our riders went SF to DC including Skot Pascal and Jim Muellner), in 2013 after Google maps made it possible, the route  from San Francisco to Washington DC went online. 

• Three Successful Advance Scouting Missions:
’98 Scot Colburn: Washington, DC to Boulder. CO
’99 Andy Parker: Florida to CA
’00 Max & Mark Chen: Portland to DC
’00 Andrew Morton: Reno to Salt Lake
Cycle America 2000 rides to our Festival in Washington, DC

Having ridden a lot of this route myself, it is a solid bike connection from one coast to the other. As the heart of the National Bicycle Greenway, we now have to popularize it, get it known about. Online at BikeRoute.com it can be a powerful way to get our message out there as we also bring new talent and resources to our effort. Handled properly, it can also generate a lot of revenue for our effort (as we discuss below). To make this happen, we need:

   Coast to Coast Map Coordinator, a person who can keep this map current with construction advisories, warnings, possible detours and highlights. Such a person will also add pictures, points of interest  and area travel stories they will have collected from NBG cycle tourist/users. Such a person will need to be well-versed in Google map programming (mobile/phone maps a priority) and be able to load map ad placements as well as map marker icons as they become available from the below marketing efforts:

   Map Marker salesperson for sales to the places to eat, sleep, shop and play along our route. As users look at our map, they will see different sized listings some in bolded out type as well as icons, according to a key, that symbolize the different services cyclists need (food, lodging, drink, bike shops, sporting goods, etc).  The level of prominence for these offerings will be based on how big of a presence these merchants choose to buy.

   Volunteers ID NBG Anchor City businesses

We can add a line item on each of our NBG Anchor Cities that asks locals to suggest places to eat, sleep, shop and play in their city. This will help generate leads  for our Map Maker salespeople.

  Map ad salesperson for system-wide national ads. Draw and commission, this could be very lucrative for the right professional who already has a stable of  national brand accounts he or she works with in a possibly related industry. As we said above, this could fund a lot of our map programs as well as other NBG activities.

  Greenway signage salesperson Make sales to individuals or companies wanting to have their name associated with certain stretches of the Greenway. This could take the form of donor bricks, benches, markers and kiosks, etc. By designating certain sections for corporate advertisers, this will be a way to get businesses to pay to keep them clean and in order.

      Run Coast to coast rides on our route

Every year, similar to the treks (many are religious in nature) that occur every year across Spain on the 500 mile Camino de Santiago, where little towns are quietly visited on foot and by bike, our route will become the well worn way to see America without cars.  In the same way, motor courts sprung up to service the lodging and R&R needs of Lincoln Hwy travelers, in the smaller towns along the way, Pedal Courts to accommodate cycle tourists will spring up along the National Bicycle Greenway. 

Cyclists who ride all or parts of our Greenway can also receive a certificate of accomplishment, a ‘compostela’ similar to what Santiago trail users receive. These will be issued from our Indianapolis office for riders who satisfy certain requirements in getting a form signed off by participating merchants along the way. 

Year in, year out, as people cycle our route for various charity causes, and/or for themselves, the more it is used the more the merchants along the way will want to support it. As they see increased activity at their own cash registers, they will push to make it easier for cyclists to get to them. This will obviously take the form of better and safer road passage.

In establishing itself as the most welcoming way to travel across America by bike, interpretive signage (explaining some of the history and sights along the way) and NBG route markers (including distances to the next town and/or services) will crop up along the way. Changes in direction will also be marked.  And such signage will appear with greater and greater consistency as the people and businesses along the way see the benefits cycle tourists bring. 

In time, our Greenway will be fed by spurs from other regions of the country.