Patch Personal Story: CLIMATE RIDE, Day 5

Bloomfield resident and environmental activist , a 300-mile bike ride from New York to Washington DC to raise awareness of the climate crisis.  Over a five-day period -- May 19-23 -- he will document his experiences daily, so Patch readers can follow his progress. 

A poem written he wrote during the journey sums up his experience.

Climate Ride 2012, NYC-DC

May 24, 2012

Words fail me
as I think about
how to express
what I feel
one early morning after
the end of Climate Ride 2012

“Not even close” --
This is how I described
my plans to do this action
in my fund-raising emails
beforehand.

“Not even close”
to anything I’ve ever done before.

I’ve taken action for the climate,
including arrests and long fasts.

As a young person
I wrestled, with serious, daily practices,
and, later in life,
played full-court basketball.

I rode my bike as a kid,
and 25 miles a week
for the 13 years
leading up to this spring.

I’ve raised money
for causes
I’ve considered important.

And I’ve drawn close
to others
as we worked together
for a noble objective
over an extended
period of time.

But with Climate Ride
it was “all of the above.”

I’ll never forget:

-the beauty of so much
of the land (the animals, the people),
we passed through

-the “line of 30”
on the last day
forming miraculously
between the water stop
and Silver Spring,
up and down and across,
together,
moving fast,
moving in rhythm,
like a fine-tuned biker team
(and maybe we were)

-the incredible thrill
as I tucked in close
and sped down hill after hill
when it was safe to do so
(relatively)

-the dead beaver
in the middle of the road
on one of the longest,
steepest hills on a day four
full of many of them
(parts of which I walked—
it was OK!)

-the young women
preparing food in the kitchen,
beautifully singing Christian hymns
from 5:30-6:30 am on Tuesday,
before a long, hard day of riding

-the drinks with biker comrades
at the end of that long day,
sitting outside,
getting to know each other
more and better

-the wonderful massages

-The Blake routine every morning

-Caeli’s energy and passion

-Geraldine in the background

-all the volunteers

-and the final act:

Unloading all the luggage
over to a dry place
out of the yellow rented trucks
via long lines of riders
(“like a sandbag line,” someone said)
riders getting soaked
as the sky
finally opened in earnest
after five days
without hard rain,

As if to say:

You are baptized,
climate riders.
You’ve done well.
You stayed strong.
You stayed the course.

Now –
       wash up,
       clean up,
       rest up,
       and keep moving forward.

Our wounded world
and its wounded peoples
       need you,
       need us.

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Account of DAY 4, CLIMATE RIDE, May 22, 2012

Yesterday was hard, no question about it, the hardest day of the week.

On Saturday and Sunday I didn't need to walk my bike because of steep and long hills once. Yesterday I had to do so eight times, after three times on Monday.  

Part of it was a harder route, for sure, part was the difficulty of the route, and part was the cumulative effect of the long days of long rides.  

I read my “OK to Walk” poem to everyone at breakfast yesterday, and it was well received.  I experienced the power of comradeship and community yesterday. I was riding by myself at about the 50 mile mark of the 65 mile ride, feeling very tired and sore, essentially gritting my teeth, doing what I had to do to make it to the end. All of a sudden two young women, whom l've been seeing on the road and at camp all week, pass me, going a little faster than me but not by much. They inspire me to pick up my pace to keep up with them, and we ended up trading places, passing and being passed all the way to the end. I was very grateful to them, and I told them so when we got to camp.  

Last day today, 73 miles into DC. I'm glad it's almost over - this demanding but unforgettable experience.  I thank God that I've been able to be part of it. 

(www.climateride.org) 

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Account of DAY 3, CLIMATE RIDE, May 21, 2012

58 miles yesterday, 60 percent of the way there. 1 person had a bad fall and had to be taken home; he should be okay.

I know of 3 other people who have fallen and had lesser injuries, but our spirits are high. We are determined to get to DC tomorrow.

Yesterday was a day with some rain, but the beautiful country in Pa more than made up for that problem, and it wasn't a hard rain. 

I found a biking partner yesterday, someone who moved along at the same rate as me. When I had to stop to deal with a bike chain problem, he was very helpful. 

I also had the best massage I've ever had from a woman who rode the route with the rest of us, and then did massages on other bikers for hours. Very dedicated.

Today looks like the hardest day, with more steep and long hills than other days. Yesterday I had to get off my bike and walk 3 times. I felt a little wimpy about it, but it sure seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I even wrote a poem  “It's OK to Walk,” afterwards.  We stayed last night at a Christian camp, and before we ate the camp director spoke about his religious beliefs. He said a prayer for the person who had to go home because of an injury, for all of us and the climate ride mission.  

This is such beautiful country. I was reminded of America the Beautiful several times, especially when I literally saw 'amber waves of grain' wheat stalks blowing in the fields like waves.  

I'm going to really miss this community and the whole experience when it's over. I'll definitely be back next year, and I'll be doing a lot of long distance biking in between. I have a new love!  www.climateride.org

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Account of DAY 2, CLIMATE RIDE, May 20, 2012

73 miles yesterday after 45 the day before. I went much more slowly, pacing myself. What beautiful country! Very, very much worth defending and protecting.  

Several speakers last night talked about the climate crisis or bike riding. Clearly the organizers of climate ride are about more than just riding bikes for 300 miles. It was good to learn that biking as well as walking are growing as methods of getting around in the United States.  

58 miles today, I hope it’s easier than yesterday's often-experienced hills. So far I haven't gotten off my bike to walk up the steep hills though the temptation has been pretty great a few times.  

We'll be biking into Lancaster county today. I'm really looking forward to that since that's where I grew up.  To find out more about this bike ride, go to: www.climateride.org.

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Account of DAY 1, CLIMATE RIDE, May 19, 2012

I'm up early on the second day of the climate ride, which began yesterday with 200 bikers.  I'm looking at about 100 tents as the camp starts to stir early in the morning here in Princeton. We're riding 73 miles today after 45 miles yesterday. We started in lower Manhattan, took a ferry to NJ and began peddling to Princeton.
This is a great group of people  - very dedicated very committed. It's like an instant community, as if we all have known each other for years.  Very special, very special.

I felt very tired at the end of yesterday's ride and for a couple of hours afterwards. but the good food and rest revived me, and after a good night's sleep, I'm ready to go today.

We're riding to prevent climate catastrophe. What could be a better day than this?  For more information, go to www.climateride.org.