Interview with Environmental Defense

The following is an article written by Environmental Defense, a profile of me as a "New Patriot." Enjoy.
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For most Americans, biking to and from work is a tall ask. But, for PJ Park, the 11.2-mile round trip daily bike ride was only the warm up to something much, much bigger.

After starting a bike co-op in his home town to share biking tips and repair tools, PJ soon found himself entertaining a radical (some might say crazy) idea – combining his passion for fighting global warming with his passion for biking and his lifelong desire to move to Brazil.

What followed was a personal odyssey on two wheels. PJ set out last September to pedal from his home in suburban Maryland along the spine of the Americas to Brazil, proselytizing the importance of global warming action along the way.

PJ stopped pedaling long enough to answer some of our questions

Okay, first question is the big one – what on earth inspired you to launch this amazing journey?

I have been thinking about moving to Brazil for years. I have friends there from my community service project through Amigos de las Americas in 1999 and I always thought about going back. One major concern I had in the back of my mind was the long distance travel involved in coming home to visit with family and friends.

My interest in cycling was more of an evolution. I was riding my bike to the metro, but soon decided to ride the bike all the way to work. It was a relatively modest 11.2 mile trek round trip. But it began something of a love affair with my bike and it became the part of my day I looked forward to the most.

I also started a bicycle cooperative in my home town of Mount Rainier, MD, to share biking tips and repair tools among fellow cyclists in the community. Cycling was becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life and my identity.

Another big interest of mine was the environment. I had been active online with Environmental Defense's global warming campaign and was involved in spreading the word to all my friends and family members.

All of these interests – Brazil, cycling, global warming – were starting to come together in my mind. All I needed was a spark.

One night at dinner with some of the board members of Trips for Kids Metro DC and the Mount Rainier Bike Coop, a friend of mine, Barbara Klieforth, told a childhood story about sneaking into a community pool to go skinny-dipping after hours. I thought to myself, "What an adventurous spirit," and over the next few days I began thinking about the importance of following your dreams, especially when you're still young.

That was the spark that brought this plan to life. The rest is history.

What were you hoping to achieve by biking to South America and back?

My goal was to raise awareness about global warming and show how much I was willing to do to decrease my carbon emissions - by traveling to Brazil by bicycle and contributing as little to global warming as possible while getting there. Collecting signatures to promote federal legislation on global warming, specifically a cap and trade bill such as Climate Stewardship Act, the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act and the Safe Climate Act was also a primary goal of my trip.

Additionally, I wanted to establish a route between Maryland and Brazil for myself and others to follow. Traveling through my country and many others on bicycle would provide a unique way of experiencing the various cultures I was going to encounter. I'd be able to improve my knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese, bicycle repair, camping and the outdoors.

By biking from Maryland to Brazil, I wanted to experience the cultural and ecological gradations between my home and my destination with a mode of travel bound to become more commonplace in our society.

How long did your trip take?

Seven and a half months.

I began in Mt. Rainier, Maryland on September 17th, 2006 and traveled through Washington, DC, and Virginia, south to Georgia, then west to Texas. I entered Mexico on December 22nd and made it to Catemaco, Veracruz in Mexico on January 29th, 2007.

February and March were spent in Tlacotalpan and Port of Veracruz. In April, I head south to Chiapas and made it as far south as San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico.

However, this was where this initial trek to Brazil would be interrupted. In May, I had to come home for my sister's wedding and my brothers' graduations, as well as other events back home. I was forced to travel home via bus and plane, but I offset my carbon emissions with DrivingGreen.com.

What's next?

I plan on beginning my second bicycle trip on this September, this time with three other riders (contact PJ if you are interested!--pauljosephpark@gmail.com). We will start in Mount Rainier, MD, and this time, we'll make it all the way to Natal, Brazil.

Along the way, we will speak on global warming and solutions, we will promote federal legislation, and we will raise funds for an energy conservation project in the communities near Mount Rainier, MD. My goal is to raise $50,000 - five dollars for every mile we bike - for a project that will install electric power consumption monitors in homes and buildings. The trip will take eleven months and I am just now planning to contact potential sponsors for this trip.

That's an amazing story. Thanks so much, PJ, for your passion and activism, not to mention your physical endurance. We hope you'll keep us posted on your next trip.

Absolutely. Thanks so much for giving me a forum to share my story.
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Global Warming Legislation in the 110th Congress

This graph shows what US carbon emissions will look like from now until 2050 depending on which bill gets passed in Congress compared to business as usual. The Sanders-Boxer Bill is the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act and the Waxman bill is the Safe Climate Act. They will reduce our emissions to levels stated by scientists low enough to avoid the worst affects of global warming.

Mount Rainier Bike Coop tube repair class

I will be teaching a tube repair class this thursday, june seventh from four to five pm at the Mount Rainier Bike Coop, 3409 Rhode Island Ave, behind the Mount Rainier Library. Five to six pm will be drop in open shop time. Class is $5 for adults, $2 for youths (17 and under).

Mount Rainier Bike Coop

Overall, the trip was awesome. I met tons of people, saw many places. I loved Mexico. The people, the food, the weather. I even had a few girlfriends. One girlfriend in particular lasts to this day. She lives in Veracruz, is thirty years old, and I had some great times with her.

Other things that stand out on the trip were the sheer freedom and impressiveness of being able to bike so far so that I could see my progess on a world map. It is really fun, really cool. Real freedom and really amazing. It is just great to be able to travel on a bicycle. Navigating roads, gaining confidence on the road, learning to tackle larger and larger roads. Meeting incredibly helpful and wonderful people. Eating lots of wonderful food. Getting in touch with the cycling community, the traveling community. Seeing new places. Seeing Mexico. Mexico was the thing that impresses me most of this entire journey. I love Mexico now. The culture. More laid back than the US. In Mexico, the law is not overbearing, ever-present, and intrusive in nearly all aspects of life. When we say we are "free" in the US, I need to take a step back and think about that. There are many things the law prevents us from doing, but the main thing the law does is to make us fearful of breaking the law to the point where we are not free. We don't know everything in the law, we don't always know what is and what is not against the law, so we play it safe and keep to ourselves, our own confines.

In Mexico, I did not feel like the law would stop me from going a certain place, crossing a certain line, or reproach me for this or that. People's focus was not always on the law, what is lawful. People were not afraid that someone was going to bear down upon them for this or that. And this did not make them savage or uncivilized. It made them more open, relaxed, more apt to be with other people, to have a good time. To be more spontaneous. People were not as rigid about prices, about officiality, legality, safety standards. Just about every other person sold something or other. It didn't matter if that person had a permit to sell; they needed money so they sold food, or handicrafts, or watches, or pirated cds and dvds. Watch vendors would proudly announce that their merchandise was 100% pirated.

A different view on life. People had an understanding of where they came from--a mixture of the indigious groups of Mexico and the Spaniards who invaded and conquered the indigeonous. Traditions are strong, and people are very family oriented. The food is wonderful, and people say, "provecho" to you if they see you eating, which means, "may it nourish you".

Slideshow of Trip up to this point

New Patriotism Pledge!

Please Click Here For July Fourth, Independence Day, sign a new Declaration, a New Patriotism dedicated to protecting our environment for future generations!

Update

I am in the DC area in the midst of the festivities for my sister's wedding. I am showing the slideshow of my trip to my relatives and others in town. And I am in the process of preparing my presentation for potential sponsors, particularly the companies of the USCAP, or the United States Climate Action Partnership. Once I have good sponsorship, I can continue my journey to Brazil!

Buzzer Hut | Promote Your Blog

A bicycle trip to New York I am planning

Click here to see my route plan as of now. I am planning to do this early June. Biking 75-80 miles per day, I can make it to New York in three days. Anyone want to join me?

Awesome Jarocho Music and Dancing video I took!

Click here to watch this awesome video!

Second Video of Son Jarocho Dancing and Music!

I took this in Minatitlan, Veracruz, Mexico. Click here to watch!

A slideshow of the first part of the trip

Slideshow

Im back in town (Mt Rainier, Maryland) for my sister's wedding, mother's day, my brothers' graduations, elementary, highschool and college reunions, Mt Rainier Day (May 19), bike to work day (May 18), and getting sponsors for the rest of the trip. I plan to continue the trip where I left off earliest mid-June, latest September. Will put up pics from Mexico City, where I was for four days before I left, when I get a chance. Happy Mothers Day!

Puebla

So I am on the way back for my sisters wedding. Taking the bus to Mexico City. Flight (emissions offset with Driving Green) leaves Mexico City on May 10th; I stopped in Puebla for a few days. The cinco de mayo parade happened today here, the biggest in the world...The volcano in the background is Popocatepetl, or Popo for short.

GIFTSlucky7Contest: Two Feet and a Heartbeat

This guy is amazing--he made it around the world, Vancouver to Vancouver, with just a bicycle, sailboat and rowboat--ZERO FOSSIL FUELS! He is coming out with a book and video on his trip. He and I chat online every so often.