VIABLE, HEALTHY, FUN AND CARBON-FREE

Britta Climate Ride Touts the Bicycle as Agent of Change

By Bill Schneider, 8-20-08

We hear a lot about global climate change and its disastrous impact on our environment and economy, but apparently not nearly enough to make people pay any attention to the warnings, let alone do anything about it.

Do you roll your eyes and move to the next page when you see it in the newspaper? Have you changed your lifestyle to help combat global warming? Do volunteered any time or money to reverse the trend? Are you part of the solution instead of part of the problem?

Two Montana women are certainly not among the “eye rollers.” They have a plan for convincing the apathetic masses and our elected officials to join efforts to do something about this colossal problem. It started out small, but before long, they had an international event touting the bicycle as an agent of global climate change--the type of change we need, not the type of change we keep ignoring.

Caeli Quinn of Whitefish and Geraldine Carter of Missoula co-founded the Britta Climate Ride 2008, a five-day event starting September 20 in New York City and ending in Washington D.C. on the steps of the Capital Building. Each rider has to raise or contribute $2,250 to be one of the 120 cyclists riding a scenic route to the Capital with the proceeds going to Clean Air - Cool Planet and Focus the Nation, two nonprofits leading the way in climate change education, renewable energy policies, and global warming solutions.

This is the first year for the Britta Climate Ride 2008, which will become an annual event, and already it has become the equivalent of a global climate change conference on two wheels.

“This is the country’s first large-scale charity ride for global warming,” Carter explains. “We will have speakers on each night of the ride, and when we arrive in DC, we will lobby our representatives and encourage them to begin writing meaningful climate change legislation.”

Carter also noted that, “part of our mission is to promote the bicycle as a viable, healthy, fun, and carbon-free part of the solution to climate change.”

If you aren’t signed up, you better hurry. Quinn told NewWest.Net they originally limited the ride to 100 cyclists, but when they reached that goal, they bumped it to 120 and as this is posted, only three spots remain.

For ten years, Carter and Quinn led bike trips around the world for Backroads, a leader in the bicycle touring biz. After both settled in Montana, they discussed what they could do to address the climate change and renewable energy. “And we know that a bike trip can change a person’s life,” Quinn explained. “It slows down the pace of life and allows one to observe; to become connected to the communities.

“We decided to combine the things we do best--lead bike trips and provide great experiences--with the critical issues of climate change, access to renewable energy, bicycle advocacy, and how Americans are going to address their energy future,” she adds. “The result is a bicycle philanthropy ride with the added element of an expert speaker series. Not only will our Climate Riders pedal, they will have the opportunity to learn and engage in the issues.”

Britta, a maker of water filtration systems and big-time advocate for cutting the massive waste caused by widespread use of bottled water (click here for details), has come on as the signature sponsor, and Backroads will handle all of the logistics and support the riders. “All the riders have to do is ride,” Carter said. “We take care of the rest.”

In addition to Britta and Backroads, the climate ride staff has signed up a long list of sponsors, including two based in Montana--the Adventure Cycling Association in Missoula and Glacier Guides in West Glaicer. For a list of companies and nonprofits committed to starting a global cooling trend, click here.

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