Biking 4,400 Miles and $44,000 to Save Our Seas

Biking across the country is a challenge few of us will ever take on. But Tim Oey is about to do just that for the second time! Tim retired early from his work at high tech companies like Apple and Adobe to do public service work full time, often as a volunteer. If you asked his wife she’d say he volunteers far more than full time. This trip, pedaling from one coast to the other and attempting to give 90 talks in 90 days, will be his biggest challenge yet, and one more step in his path to tread more lightly on the earth.

“It is our responsibility to ensure [children] inherit a healthy world. Climate change is a huge problem that is well within our power to solve. If we don’t, it will dramatically hurt our kids. We should not bury our heads in the sand because changing our behavior is too inconvenient.” -Tim Oey

Inspired by images of young albatrosses that had died due to eating plastic pull tabs, straws, and bottle caps, Tim went zero waste (you can learn how at http://ZeroW.org).  To step it up even more he created his own Climate Ride Independent Challenge that brings together his love of the ocean and biking. In 1983 he organized a cross-country ride from Seattle to Boston in 1983 to combat world hunger by raising money for Oxfam, so he knew he could manage this epic trip.

As he crosses the country, Tim will highlight the impact of the plastic disaster that is flooding our oceans alongside the impacts of climate change at several speaking events and stops at aquariums and zoos. If you happen to be on his route, be sure to stop in, say hi, and learn more about what you can do! As you can see below, he’ll be biking from his home in Silicon Valley to his former home in Boston. He hopes to not only raise $44,000 but also meet and have tea with people across the US. His stops at aquariums and zoos along the way will be an opportunity to join forces with them to educate people on how to take better care of our oceans and planet. If you’re wondering how his trip is going, he’ll be blogging about his ride at https://sosride.blogspot.com/.

Tim’s Route

Tim writes “I feel very lucky to be able to live comfortably with enough food, water, and shelter. This is what I want for everyone. I hope my adventure across the US will help ensure our world can continue to support my fellow astronauts on our tiny spaceship Earth.”