In this blog, I share stories, photos and info from my bicycle trips which include Washington, DC to Chiapas, Mexico; DC to NYC and back; DC to Pittsburgh; Austin, TX to Brownsville, TX; and currently, Cancun, Mexico to Natal, Brasil.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
P.J. Visits Cumberland, by Amy Shuman
At age 26, P.J. is training to bike to Brazil, all the while spreading global warming solutions by "walking the walk," so to speak, traveling in what he terms an "eco friendly fashion."
Having graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio with a bachelor of arts in Environmental Studies, he searched his heart to discover what his next steps were. "This is the Green Millennium," he explains. "My generation has to be the greenest yet!"
Why Brazil? "I wanted to return to Rio Grande do Norte, where, in 1999, I worked through Amigos de las Americas, a community service agency, similar to what a 'Peace Corps for teen-agers' would be like," he said. He credits his early years in Boy Scouts with giving him the skills to survive in all types of environments and with his love of biking.
He decided that his most important impact might come from helping to promote U.S. legislation that would eventually lead to a worldwide agreement of developing and developed countries for saving the planet "I could have allowed the enormity of it all stop me. It's so big, what can I do?" he thought. Then, through research and contemplation, he happened on The Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 and said, "Everyone needs to know about this!"
Through his website biketobrazil.blogspot.com, P.J. shares much of his philosophy and photos of his travels. He is visualizing other bikers joining him for the Brazil trek and sponsorships to assist with supplies.
As P.J. left the Shumans, Amy asked that John's and her love and peace would remain with him and go out to all the world. P.J. got on his bike, turned and smiled, "And I carry it!!"
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Become part of the Solution!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
135 miles into the trip
The trip has been wonderful so far; beautiful segments, fun people I've met along the trail. I have many wonderful photos to upload, but that will have to wait until I get more than a few minutes on the internet.
I camped out one night, then the next night I met some Brazilians in Shepherdstown, WV who invited me to spend the night after they found out I speak Portuguese and lived in a town (Natal) very close to where they are from (Joao Pessoa).
Tonight I will camp out again. On the trail, I met some folks from Pittsburgh biking to DC who will be coming back to Pittsburgh for the BikeBike! Conference party on Saturday night! I also met a Boy Scout troop--31 scouts and 29 adults! from near Lowell, MA. One had a flat and I helped him fix it. When I told them I was a Boy Scout, everything changed. They were very happy to see the skills I learned in scouting being put to work for them, and the leaders were thankful for the chance for their scouts to learn how to patch a tire. To all you scouts: It was great meeting you all, I hope you have a great rest of the trip to DC, and keep plugging along the trail to Eagle!
Along my trip to Pittsburgh, I hear that the major climb will be from Cumberland past Frostburg to the Big Savage Tunnel, where you climb 1600 feet in 22 miles. After that, it is a gradual downhill to Pittsburgh! I'm exited:) So stay tuned for a slide show, and more from the C and O Canal Trail and the Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Biking to Pittsburgh
I hope to raise awareness of the international climate negotiations coming up that Bush is trying to sabatoge--MoveOn.org and Avaaz.org, an international grass-roots organization, are working together to create a powerful media blitz in the areas where Bush will be meeting, phone call blitzes and other mass actions to demonstrate to widespread international support for immediate climate action. This will overwhelm Bush's special interest efforts. To donate to that cause and have your donation be matched, click here. This really is an international cause and will require international cooperation.
I will be blogging on my ride to Pittsburgh. I will learn more about community and non-profit bike shops and projects, get new ideas on how they run, and make important contacts--including developing relationships with other DC area community bike projects. If you would like to join me for the ride, or come to the conference, please email me at pauljosephpark at gmail.com
Monday, July 09, 2007
Power Cost Monitor
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
John Petersen - Energy Monitoring
This is a video of my advisor at Oberlin College talking about energy monitoring, which I think is a very powerful element in the work of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions because of the feedback effect.
Paris to Provide Rentable Bikes Every 900 Feet
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Arrived in Philly; Next leg to Abingdon, MD
The rest of the ride to Philly was pretty straight forward, except that my chain broke and I fixed it with some spare links I was carrying. It's been a fairly warm and sweaty day. I drank lots of water, rested a few times and had trail mix made by sweetheart Laina. Some kid at the Pizza joint I stopped at came in with a skinned knee from biking, and I gave him some neosporin and a bandaid.
In Philly, I came to the Crown Plaza Hotel, where I came last time, and my friends here put my bike in the storage while I snack and update my blog. Pics from the ride coming. Next I will ride to Abingdon, MD to meet up with Brazilian Tina who would like to go on a little bike ride around Bel Air with me and host me a night. Her husband is a serious biker, but she is just getting into it. She found my website when she was searching online for a riding group in Abingdon. Route to her house: click here
Working out my sleeping situation for tonight... Until next time, PJ
Sunday, July 01, 2007
First leg of today's route: Manhattan to Nutley, NJ
Friday, June 29, 2007
Tim Harvey Profile
This is Tim Harvey, who made it around the planet without burning fossil fuels. He biked through some of the same territory we will bike through, and some of his perspective is similar to mine and has bearing on our trip. Particularly, how the world is not necessarily as scary as we are led to believe. What is really cool, also, is that it is possible to row or sail across the Atlantic Ocean.