Six West Seattle students — ages 10 – 18 — were to begin a 22-day bicycle ride across the US today to deliver a message about global warming.
Their 5,400-mile route is charted to take the group through 65 cities that have signed on with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickel's Climate Action Now program. The noble endeavor is led by a Chief Sealth High School teacher who has organized similar rides in the past.
They're calling the bike tour “An Inconvenient Ride,” borrowing from Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth campaign.
How
Here's how the bike tour breaks down:
Parent chaperones driving a truck and two passenger cars left Seattle for Washington DC earlier. They'll accompany the riders cross-country for the Earth Day welcome home in Seattle on April 22.
As a group, the students will cover 245 miles per day. Because they are riding relay style one hour at a time, each one will ride an average of 40 miles per day. Given about 13 hours of daylight, that's an average 18 mph or more.
Why
The Seattle Times says that the adults will ride in the dark to make the daily mileage target. A press release (.doc) says:
“The riding of bicycles symbolizes not only alternative transportation, but a sense of commitment to the environment as well.”
There are seven students (one isn't riding) and four chaperones, not including the teacher, Gary Thomsen. In addition to bicycling, they'll be stopping at city halls and classrooms along the route, as well as doing homework.
When
The ride ends with an Earth Day celebration at Benaroya Hall on April 22. Money from tickets will go to purchase 2,500 trees that will be planted around Seattle.
Who
The seven students are Alexandria Stariha, Arielle Washington, Jacob Kenny, Justin Marshall, Sydney Fuller, Tim Vincent, and Tyrone Hall Deal.
Where
A blog of the group's adventures will be posted at An Inconvenient Ride website; you can check an interactive map of the bike tour route.
I certainly wish them the best on this tour and hope they have time to enjoy and learn from the areas they're biking through.
Picture of participants from An Inconvenient Ride website.
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