Biking Adventures for Climate Change
Can cross-country pedaling help save the planet? They think so.
Their destination: Washington, D.C. Their goal: Raise awareness about climate change.
Mindy Ahler and Ryan Hall are concerned citizens doing what dedicated activists do: Rallying behind a cause they believe in. Only their rally is a quiet one. Just two people pedaling across the country leaving behind as small a carbon footprint as possible, while hoping to create big crashing waves of change.
They started biking for LowCarbon Crossings in August in Oregon, and have made it to Montana so far. They are learning, participating in community conversations and blogging about it all as they go.
“Washington and Oregon rely heavily on their logging and timber industries, and with disease, insects and wildfires becoming more prevalent, climate change is threatening how well these economies function,” wrote Hall in a recent blog post. “It will take a storm of people to help cope with these huge changes that mean so much for these industries.”
Hall, 23, is learning the art of climate change evangelism from Ahler, who has dedicated her life to the cause. She and partner Paul Thompson, 68, are co-directors of Cool Planet, a Minnesota organization that encourages citizens of the city of Edina, in suburban Minneapolis, to “join together in local homegrown solutions to climate change.”
A Minnesota Public Radio story leading up to the ride talked about their work and how the cyclists prepared for the 79-day journey.
