After all that. After the hills. After the campfires. The daily education. The deep conversations. After the perspectives. After the friends. After the awesome meals. After the moving police escort into DC. After the emotion, we are left with character.(more...)

Today was a day of the inner and the outer body. 65 miles, seemingly all up hill. Today, the inner body complained of failing bloated lungs, thighs bulging like turkey breasts, and my head pounding like a . . . (more...)

Day 3 was one of change, and I’m not referring to the two flat tires I had to replace. We rode 65 miles today, and it was a spectacular reminder that we are not all the same. In our binary world, today was in direct contrast to the crazy energy of day one in New York City. Today was Amish country. (more...)

“There is no try. Only do.” Day number two of the Brita Climate Ride was tough. There were not many free downhill miles out of the 60. But progress is hard. It should hurt. I was interviewing people while we were riding today to get some dialogue for a mini-documentary on the ride being put together by GoodFocus. One question I asked was: “So what’s your least sustainable habit? Your dirty green vice?” ...(more...)

Beat writer William Burroughs said a lot of things. The title of this post was one of them. And he was right. Language changes, it mutates to suite the host. Today was the first day of Brita’s Climate Ride and we did our best to mutate a little language. (more...)

It’s been a while since I had to consolidate life into a 4-day pack. Pens, notebooks, laptops . . . just the essentials. Ok, a huge zip lock full of Clif Bars, some clothes. How cold will it be? More dry-sacks. Having biked from Seattle to Boston, I have a healthy fear of wet gear. With the gear laid across the kitchen table, I can’t help but wander my eyes . . .(more...)

Taking action is getting popular again. It was fringe for a while there. As a kid I used to go into Boston to “walk for the whales” with Greenpeace, and I organized a boycott of of the school lunch program in third-grade. Then I took a 28-year break. This spring . . .(more...)

When I was 18 with freshly minted high school diploma, my parents gave me a one-way ticket from Boston to Seattle with my bike. I told them I’d ride it home. I’m not sure they believed me. I made it back, but ...(more...)