East Coast Greenway Inauguration - May-June 2003
As the East Coast Greenway Alliance prepared for its inauguration on June 5, 2003, two riders were traveling from the trail's two terminus points, Calais, Maine and Key West Florida, to Washington, D.C. GARI hosted the northern rider Leonard "Chip" Jahnke on May 22 and May 23. Jahnke, 65, is an avid cyclist and B&B owner from the Maine coastal town of Friendship. He cycled 50 miles a day from the Canadian border to the nation's capitol for a major event dedicating the ECGA. He collected letters along the way for delivery to President Bush, asking for his support in the ECG.
Jahnke greeted greenway advocates and local officials at Union Station in Worcester and rode to Providence via the Blackstone Bike Path. He stayed at the home of a local cyclist and ECGA member in Edgewood. The next day he took off again, in the rain, and rode the Cranston Bike Path south to where state officials met him for an event at the caboose on the West Warwick Greenway. He then took off west on the Coventry Greenway and made his way to the Connecticut border.
Here's some pictures from Jahnke's ride through Rhode Island:
Click any image for better view
A wet start at the beginning of the Cranston Bike Path
A look at his special trailer
Talking a breather with RIDEM Director Jan Reitsma (left)
and GARI Chair Richard Santopietro
At the caboose. From left, Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, Reitsma, Chip
and RIDOT Director James Capaldi
Chip and the brave souls who rode with him
(Check out cool new ECGA logo on left)
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GARI Committee Chairwoman Sue Barker
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