One hundred fifty cyclists clad in red jerseys stamped with windmills and the name of the title sponsor, Brita, put the pedal to the medal and made a carbon neutral trip starting on September 26 in New York City and finished on September 30 in Washington D.C., 300 miles and five days later. Yes, you read that right. They biked 300 miles from New York City to Washington D.C. over five days concluding with a rally on the west lawn of the Capitol building where keynote speakers included leaders on the Hill on climate change, ambassadors and experts in the field and with one-on-one meetings scheduled the following day with their Representatives in Congress to discuss their concerns on climate change.

Why would anyone do that, you might ask, when we have so many other (in)efficient means of transportation to get from point A to point B? That was exactly their point, the mode of transport from point A to point B is making this place called earth the hottest place to reside in recent years. (And unfortunately, I'm not talking about real estate.) 

"We Vote With Our Bikes" - a poster I saw at the Climate Ride rally...now what does that mean? Weren't we always raised to think that the actual act of going to the polls as the epitome of civic life in the United States? Isn't that all I have to do as an "engaged" American? Is someone suggesting that the way I live my life speaks louder than an action I'll likely repeat once every two/four (depending on what sort of voter you are) years? To put it simply, yes.

The Climate Ride is a fundraising/charity bike ride from NYC to DC now in it's second year - participants pay a $100 registration fee and must raise $2400 in order to ride. I spoke with a few of the bicyclists who said the ride was life changing, educational and most of all fun! There were riders from all corners of the country (the world really with ambassadors among the pack), all ages and fitness levels, and all different reasons to ride. Some wanted a challenge, some for the love of cycling but most to fund-raise and increase awareness for climate change.

The funds that were raised by the riders benefited three organizations this year, Focus the Nation, Clean Air - Cool Planet and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, who are making earnest efforts in mobilizing communities and individuals to fight climate change on grassroots level. I know the word grassroots is always thrown around but for those of you who haven't worked with grassroots - what does that really mean to the everyday average American? It means you, dear reader, and the small things you can do that actually do make a difference. It's turning off that light switch when you don't need it, it's greening your establishment for business owners, it's investing in a sturdy water bottle of your own and refilling it with filtered water or from a tap or sometimes in my case, it's "dumpster diving" for recyclables when my roomies toss out plastic, paper etc. as trash!  

The Climate Ride rally had a few speakers, the most memorable for this blogger was Representative Earl Blumenauer [OR-3] who represents a majority of the city of Portland, OR. Rep. Blumenauer is the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Bike Caucus in Congress and he said that bicycling is an incredible simple activity we can do that addresses a lot of problems we are facing as Americans. While investing in new technology to address energy issues, we already have technology that can make a difference at our feet...bikes!

With a lot of the status quo living of Americans being such a big factor in climate change (and transportation stress, obesity/sedentary lifestyles) - if people switched to biking as a more frequently used mode of transportation we'd be able to reduce emissions, SAVES MONEY since you aren't paying exorbitant amounts of money to maintain a car (is the convenience really worth it? the few times I've needed to take a cab or public transportation probably add up to less than $100/monthly, which is a lot less than what I paid having a decent MPG vehicle in the past), reduce the number of cars on the road aka cutback on stress from spending time sitting in traffic, biking as a means of transportation also means exercise which usually means happier people too AND it's carbon neutral!

Representative Blumenauer used the city of Portland as an example of a city that approached transportation with "the bigger picture" in mind with its light rail, bus system and bike trails - and as someone who has visited Portland recently, it's working for them in a really positive way. The air feels cleaner and people seem happier with a stronger sense of community since among other things, they share the road with kindness to one another.

As a bicyclist myself, I couldn't agree more. Having finally acquired a license again (my previous one expired while living abroad) - coworkers ask me when am I going to buy a car to which I respond "I hate driving, it's expensive and terrible for the environment...doesn't make sense for me anyway since most places I go are within a 15-20 minute bike ride and parking is a b****h in the city." Having two wheels, what's really the need for four full time? 

To learn more about the Climate Ride and the upcoming ride in California May 2010 or to donate, go here http://www.climateride.org/