Category: Independent Challenges

William Flagg signed up to do an epic cross country ride with Climate Ride in 2020 right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He wisely postponed that trip, but in the meantime he jumped into Climate Rise, raising funds for all three Rise events. In August 2021, he headed out on his long-awaited Independent Challenge which […]

“It’s time for the older generation to get off the couch and do something about the climate crisis.” -Michael Patterson   This June, Michael Patterson will bike across the United States to inspire people in his generation to act on the climate crisis. As the team captain of OLD MEN ENERGIZING THE NATION (OMEN) he’s […]

A lifelong environmentalist, Mimi Torres has never owned a car, and she never will. In 2005, she was car shopping for her first vehicle when she realized owning a car didn’t resonate with her. Instead, she commuted by walking and bussing for a couple of years and then got a bike and she hasn’t turned […]

CR: What motivated you to ride a century? JC: At the beginning of the year I decided I was going to step out of my comfort zone and sign up for the North Coast Climate Ride. Riding 300 miles on my bike and fundraising thousands of dollars was completely intimidating. These goals were both out […]

Creating family memories with a purpose-driven bike tour When the three of the four Variano’s (Dana, Denyse, & Vinny, minus Dana’s brother Evan who couldn’t make it) decided to do a family bike trip in Europe, they wanted to go the extra mile and raise some cash for a charity working to end traffic violence […]

Sara Tolchin is taking on the challenge of riding 304 miles in just four days! She’s heading out her front door on July 4th, 2019 to raise money for the Climate Ride cause and her beneficiary choices 350.org and Climate One in her fight to help our planet. We took the chance to pick her […]

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 […]

The 8th Grade Handlebar Heros Meet the Handlebar Heroes and group of 8th graders on a mission to raise awareness of the environment and active transportation! On Friday, November 17, they are bicycling around White Lake in Michigan on their own Climate Ride Independent Challenge. They are directing the proceeds of the ride to the […]

Meet two of our 2017 Independent Challenge participants – Barbara Larrain and Jim Kelsey. Barbara will start with her rear wheel in the Pacific, and Jim will start on the Atlantic. However, by the end of this summer, both will have pedaled over 3,800 miles across the United States. We caught up with them recently to hear about their motivation and passion for these human-powered adventures.

Many Climate Riders have trained hard and traveled far to make it to this event, but probably none farther and harder than Michael Johnson-Chase.

Last year, Harvey Slater rode in the California Climate Ride to support the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC). This year, logistics and dates didn’t line up with his schedule, so he got creative! Harvey generated his own 320 mile, unsupported, multi-day California bicycle tour as part of Climate Ride’s Independent Challenge program and brought the whole family along. Harvey, his partner Ricky, and their four dogs–Max, Chiquita, Little Foot, and Carlos–have just returned from six days pedaling along the California Central Coast on their self-created “California Woof Ride.”

“Just finished the most challenging day yet on this tour–three peaks, 100+ degree heat, 83 miles with no towns and no services… as I cross into Utah,” Michael Johnson-Chase, Climate Ride Independent Challenger, writes from the road outside of Milford, Utah.