By combining the work our NBG Scouts did from 1998 to 2010, with the GPS input that came our way when we had interactive maps at our site (2007-2009) and then the crowd sourced bike route data that Google now has on line, in 2014, we put the San Francisco to Washington, DC connection we developed on the landing page of BikeRoute.com. The beginning of this book will explain why in making use of some of the lightly trafficked highways that cross America, we have chosen this direction of travel.

In doing so, we also established the major cities that hold it together. Called NBG Anchor Cities, they are a crucially important part of our plan to connects the coasts with a bicycle highway. So that you can see why they are so important, our discussion will then deliberate upon them.

Twenty cities in all, with seven of them in California alone, there is one city that stands tall above all of them, Indianapolis. To strengthen our push to get our SF to DC route to run safely through our population centers, in 2018 we moved our operation to Indy which as the most centrally located city in the USA, it is also called the Crossroads of America. The real Gateway to the West, as we explain HERE, and Birthplace of the Automobile Industry<link>, Indy has come full circle to it now being recognized as the Greenway Capitol of the World with also the only Downtown Greenway on Planet Earth.  Called the Indianapolis Cultural Trail (ICT), <link> I get to experience the ICT every day!

I have been able to see firsthand, how the ICT has raised the profile of the cyclist and dramatically uplifted the economies of the city, the region and the state. In the words ahead, I will use a whole chapter to explain the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. By showing the colossal impact the ICT has had on what was once a dying Rust Belt city, massive in size, you will understand why building Downtown Greenways has become the mission of the NBG. It is here that we look forward to establishing ICT-like Downtown Greenways in all 19 our other NBG Anchor Cities. 

Next, I will explain the Virtual Tour program that will make our Downtown Greenways a reality. Set to run across the city, these tours will stop at all the places cyclists go to eat, sleep, shop, play and sightsee. On the ground for 2 to 3 years as we work out all of the kinks, as I will be showing you, we will then look forward to teams of landscape developers turning these Virtual Tours into downtown greenways, similar to the ICT. 

With access points to our Coast to Coast route, this will enable the cross country cyclist to get across our Anchor Cities easily and enjoyably. As they show off the unique character of each of them, Downtown Greenways will also increase bicycle tourism from regional cyclists as well as from those outside the city core.

While all of this is taking place, to underwrite it, there are four ways that we will generate revenue. First I will explain the web monetization that I will be looking for help with once this book is complete. Also, we will use this book to stimulate our membership campaign – it will be a benefit all new members receive  Then there are the NBG Anchor City Biking Report Cards where there is huge advertising revenue potential. Our Point of Interest maps will also give merchants a great place to communicate their message as this also enriches our  coffers. Each Anchor City will get one, HERE is Indianapolis.

To make sure the reader understands how Indianapolis has always been a transportation leader, Indy will be the final chapter in this book. If you’ve already read, “How Indianapolis Built America and How it will Rebuild it with the National Bicycle Greenway” <link> the final chapter is a synopsized version of it. It is important because, in showing the huge impact the Crossroads of America, Indianapolis, once the wealthiest city in the USA, has had on the rest of this Nation, you will see that this city long has led the way

With the first road into the frontier (from the National Road bridge over the White River), with its first in the world Union Train Station that transferred the people of the East to San Francisco with as many as 200 trains a day, with the first Coast to Coast Road, the Lincoln Hwy, with its being the Birthplace of the Automobile Industry and home to the most carmakers of any American city, 97, with the Indy 500 (the world’s first test track and still the largest spectator event in the world), with the now deceased largest inter-urban train system in the country, with the first car headlight and all of its other breakthrough industries, etc, setting the trends is familiar turf for Indianapolis

In the same way Indianapolis reinvented itself, we can reinvent the rest of America with a Network of Downtown Greenways!