On a short day of biking our group had the pleasure of speaking with Ann Beier, the head of Milwaukee’s office of environmental sustainability. Most trekers agreed that this was a great visit and I personally found it very interesting. After so much talk, she was taking actions that directly effect the world around us.   (more…)

Wisconsin is my home state and we left from Madison yesterday on what was my first day with the trek. I had been training intensely during the entire month of June for this ride, all the while being constantly asked about the trek, its mission, and why I was doing it by all kinds of people from avid bikers to a checkout person at the grocery store. Almost without fail, every time I mentioned the name of the group, I received some sort of inquiry as to its relevance to Trek Bicycle (a globally recognized bike company that started in Wisconsin). I always responded by saying no. But yesterday, on my first day on the trek, it actually had everything to do with Trek Bicycle.

As we glided into Waterloo, Wisconsin, a small town somewhere between Madison and Milwaukee, the (unseasonally chilly) wind at our backs, we were met by an enormous building, and a parking lot filled with…. (more…)

I’ve heard that the week before leaving on a bike tour, you should stop training and let your body catch its breath until the final plunge.  Regardless of whether this is true, five of our Michigan riders will be spending their final breaths at Rothbury Music Festival dancing, singing, and of course, telling everyone about the Trek to Re-Energize America.

Rothbury Music Festival isn’t just about the music.  They’ve made incredible strides towards sustainability, helping jumpstart Michigan’s “Green Economy.”  These efforts include easy-access compost and recycling bins all over the festival site (a psychedelically-themed forest and campground), bio-diesel generators, wind power carbon offsets, and daily “Think Tanks,” a concert-like venue of environmental experts and activists.  This is where I come in.  I was invited to be a speaker on a Think Tank panel called “Voting for Change with Your Everyday Actions: How YOU Can Join the New Green Economy and Why It’s the Right Thing to Do.”  I think this is a perfect title because going on a tour like the Trek to Re-Energize America isn’t something I do every day (it will be for the next three weeks, of course), but riding my bike is.  Cycling to D.C. from all over the country, we’re showing people that riding your bike is a sustainable, efficient, and fun form of transportation.  If we can help inspire people to fix up that old bike and give commuting another shot, all of the work will be worth it.

Once the five of us finish celebrating our kick-off at Rothbury, we’ll meet up with four more Michigan riders and start our 900-mile journey to D.C.  Even after reading blogs from those of you who have already been riding since May, we still don’t know exactly what to expect once we hit the road.  Our crew of nine had drastically differing levels of cycling and advocacy experience, but what better time to start than now?  I am so incredibly excited to see everyone bring their own positive personality and individual talents to our group!  Until we meet in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, or D.C., ride on!

On top of the MG&E coal plant, downtown Madison, Wisconsin, lives a family of peregrine falcons, the fastest animal on the planet. One glides from the nest above as thousands of tons of coal disappear within the plant each week. The plant powers a portion of the city of Madison, and heats a section of campus through co-generation (using waste heat for heating needs).

            Like many others, MG&E strives for efficiency. Cutting back on the amount of pollution, wasted energy, are a few of their basic cost and resource-saving goals. MG&E is one of the smallest investor-owned utilities and these efforts are fueled off of the support and commitment of private individuals.  

Private individuals, by taking a stand, can push utilities and government to take meaningful steps towards reducing pollution, promoting health and sustainability. Government can do the same to individuals and utilities. Similarly, utilities complete the exchange by influencing both investors and government. It’s a trifecta relationship. To ensure the health of future Madisonians, the beauty of bobbing peregrines and a lively business center, environmental leadership must grow among the investors, the utilities and the government. I take hope in the vision of MG&E’s investors and engineers.

Yesterday, Pari hopped a fence to play with a fence to play with a dog. Typical. Not a dog lover myself, I started chatting with the 9-year-old owner named Isaiah about his mountain bike’s flat tire. In short, there was no way his mother would have taken him to a bike shop even if they had the money to get his flat tire fixed. A bargain was quickly struck: he would let us pet his dog and I would patch his tube.

2500 miles in, we’ve patched tubes swearing in frustration during the hottest heat of the badlands and we’ve patched them shivering in the freezing rain of Montana. They’re not usually happy experiences, although we often endure them with as positive an attitude possible. Yesterday I almost cried patching a tube, but this time with new emotions.

Isaiah’s dark sad eyes lit up when he learned the difference between a tube and a tire, and I laughed hearing his skeptical tone that a little piece plastic could fix the problem. He insisted that we race a lap after the tire was repumped, and then told me that someday he wanted to bike across the county too.

Much of this trip is about sharing what we learn after the Trek is over, but the most important learning I share could be patching flats, oiling chains and adjusting seats. There’s so many people out there who would be riding bikes instead of carbon vehicles if only the had the money or the knowledge to get things fixed up. In the future it may be a city provided service, for now I hope to volunteer at a bike co-op the minute I get home.

One new highway interchange in Milwaukee $2.2 billion. One new mile of bike path $1/4 million. For the cost of the interchange, one could build 8,800 miles of bike path. These are some of the statistics we heard in our meeting with Representative Spencer Black today at the Wisconsin State Capital. A year-round bicycle commuter (not so easy in Wisconsin winters) and bicycle enthusiast, Rep Black also uses his influence in the legislature to work for laws that promote sustainability and bicycling. (more…)

in la crosse, wisconsin i stopped in the root cafe where i met emmy, one 0f the seven owners of the cafe. i introduced myself to Emmy without having any idea what the cafe was aboout; all i knew was that someone had sent me to the cafe telling me i had to talk to her. she explained to me the vision behind the cafe. the owners had a space located in the heart of downtown la crosse and they knew they wanted to do something that would foster community while also being a means through which they could share their excitement for becoming more eco friendly. in order to do these two things they decided to open a cafe. the cafe serves food and beverages, the majority of which they buy from local farmers. the cafe is deeply rooted in being environmetally friendly: they compost waste, are transitioning from paper to cloth napkins in order to cut down on waste, and buy organically grown food. it is also deeply rooted in the local community. not only do they buy local food they try to shop at local stores rather than large chain stores as much as possible. all of this is super cool (the cafe has only 1 bag of garbage each day!) but the part that i got me most excited was the depth of their commitment to the local community. the cafe desires to be “local” and to them that meant becoming deeply involved in the community, providing a place where people could network, and in the future host workshops about the environment. the root cafe is a shining example of how to be “local” and all that the word entails. Check out their website at www.therootcafe.com and if you are ever in la crosse stop by and see what they are up to because i am sure they will continue to be leaders in their community!

I’m sitting st the campfire of our amazing host, Bill, in La Crosse, WI.  It’s a worldly household with folks from the US, Uruguay and Mexico all living together. Our host has picked up a few common sense energy saving tips up from his travels down south.  A solar convection system is rigged up on the outside of his house and when the heat shines for four months they have solar heated hot water flowing through the pipes.  Downstairs, the shower head is newly installed with a simple on demand heating unit which heats the water as it passes through and saves on heating costs as the water is not constantly being heated for.  Bill told us that his philosophy for energy saving measures is that it has to be simple and cheap and I think most folks would say the same.  Bill works with a local clean energy group that shot off from the Sierra Club chapter in town.  We can only hope that his small scale solutions catch on as common sense energy saving ideas and in the end work their way to our policy makers and into the American norm.

The Trek keeps just getting bigger.   We picked up our first new rider, Pari, way back in Billings, MT, but Minnesota has been where the Trek has doubled in size.  Our first amazing addition came not by bike, but veggies bus, as Joe and Christy met us in Pelican Rapids in their amazing veggie oil powered bus (and our new support vehicle).  Then Will joined up in St Joseph and finally, we picked up another 6 riders in Stillwater.    (And oh yeah, lots more folks still to come).