Friday,
May 3, 2013
After speaking with Cleveland Metroparks CEO, Brian
Zimmerman, at the Tribe’s home opener about Tour Ohio, I’d sent him off an
email about the Tour and telling him I’d like to do a story about him for
OhioActive. He’d lined me up with
Nancy Desmond, Director of Special Projects (I’m often considered a ‘special
project) and cycling advocate.
We’d exchanged some emails and had agreed to meet at the Zoo, the home
of the administrative offices for the Metroparks.
As were walking towards the picnic table area to
chat, she spotted Brian coming from the parking lot. We stopped to chat.
“We should have been at last night’s game when they
hit seven home runs,” I commented, referring to the Indians latest victory.
We talked baseball for a couple of minutes while
Nancy’s eyes…and mind…drifted. When Brian walked away, I asked her about baseball.
“That’s a game where they do something with a
ball…I think,” she said in a decided South Boston accent.
“You’re a ‘Southy’ and you don’t love the Sox?” I
asked incredulously.
“Umm…well…just never got interested in them,” she
said.
I turned to leave. How could I possibly work with a woman who’d lived so close
to Fenway Park but wasn’t part of Red Sox Nation? It was unthinkable.
I stopped though, thinking that, as part of my mission to fight obesity
and try to bring the good news of Ohio’s amazing outdoor recreational
opportunities, I could also dedicate myself to saving this lost soul. Maybe…just maybe…I could revel her with
my love of baseball to the point where she’d grow to appreciate the greatest
game ever made. Maybe.
I gave her a thumbnail sketch of Tour Ohio with
special emphasis on the cycling leg.
“My goal is to model what I’d like to call the
‘Trans-Ohio Trail’ after the Trans-America Trail and get communities along the
way to agree to let cyclists use municipal property to pitch a tent and be able
to use a pool or shower facility, if they exist. The payback is that these cyclists will become tourist
dollars to the town and once the trail is established, different marketing
pieces and sites will direct attention to their communities,” I explained.
Either she was a good bullshitter (I’m such a
master that I kind of have a built-in bullshit radar and it wasn’t going off)
or she really liked my idea and was more than anxious to become an advocate.
“I’m pretty sure I can help you with communities
along the trail and with getting campsites established in the Metroparks…we’re
working on that already…and finding more sites on the Ohio-Erie Canal path for
the hiking portion,” she said.
This really had me jazzed. I knew the importance of having a
highly respected entity like the Cleveland Metroparks supporting the concept
because of the doors that could open.
It would certainly raise my credibility and was a giant step closer to
making my vision a reality.
“You’ve
been riding your whole life and never been on a mountain bike?” she said with
an incredulity that matched my shock regarding her baseball shortcomings. “Well…you’ll be my guest and I’ll get
you a bike,” she promised, inviting me to do some riding on the Metroparks new
10-mile mountain trail in the Mill Stream Reservation in Strongsville.
.
I got a similar commitment from her to try the
Survival Workout. It’s always a
great day when you meet someone with the kind of passion you have for a similar interest. Thanks for your help,
Nancy. I’m looking forward to a
fruitful, long-lasting friendship.
Survival
Workout: 60 minutes.
Training
Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories
burned: 600.
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