The Power of 10/10/10

On 10/10/10, over 7,000 communities in 188 countries came together for a day of unity, collaboration, and grassroots climate action. Some of us worked at Hayes Valley Farm, some of us went on an urban farming bike tour, while others planted gardens or got to work in ways that showed we have the power to fight the effects of climate change.

Check out this short video from 350.org that brings together some of the events from that day. This is the stuff we are working towards and these are the people who care.

10/10/10 Urban Farming Bike Crawl

As most of you know, 350.org is organizing a global work party on 10/10/10 (this Sunday) and Ride350 would like to invite you on an Urban Farming Bike Crawl. The point of this day is to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community.

This is an unofficial Ride350 event since it was all organized by Kitchen Garden SF, the Wigg Party, and will be led by the venerable Kevin Bayuk. We're starting in GG Park at the Apple Tree (across Kezar from McLaren Lodge, near the Panhandle) at 10:30 am. Then we'll ride the Wiggle to the Free Farm Stand in the Mission. Next we will check out some amazing Sidewalk Gardens in SOMA/Potrero Hill followed by a jaunt to the permaculture farm on 18th and Rhode Island. We'll finish up at Hayes Valley Farm at 1:30.

Hayes Valley Farm will then host a Kitchen Garden Fair including workshops, demos, and DIY worm bins. All followed by an after-party that includes vendors, food, and music. What more could you ask for a Sunday Funday!

We have set up an Eventbrite registration so we can tell organizers how many people to expect. Tickets are free and it just gives us a headcount. Please follow this link to register: http://urbanfarmingbikecrawl.eventbrite.com

Tell your friends!

Update from Hanna

Hanna Jakobson was part of Ride350 2009 and has been traveling south on her bicycle ever since. She just sent us this update from Colombia along with this pic. Go Hanna!!!

Hello riders,

I have left Central America and all its darling countries that have treated me with such kindness. The nature has been spectacular, with the pretty coast of Belize, the powerful volcanous of Guatemala, the wild waves in El Salvador, the sweet beaches of Nicaragua, the lively rainforest of Costa Rica and the misty mountains of Panama. Nature worth treasuring.

I hope you have had a succesful 350-ride this year with a happy climate action day ahead.

Ride on

Hanna
Cartagena, Colombia

Cycle for Water Spins San Francisco - Sat Oct 9th

Date: Saturday, October 9
Time: 10:30 am (or 1:30 pm for the BBQ)
Location: Ride starts at Ferry Building; BBQ at Washington Grove in GG Park
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=145833405447610&ref=ts
Cost: Free
Costume: Recommended (water theme)

Joost and Michiel are cycling 30,000 kilometers, on bamboo bicycles, over 18 months from Alaska to Argentina to raise awareness for global water issues. All you have to do is 7 miles from the Ferry Building to Golden Gate Park. Easy!

Come join these great fellas on the San Francisco portion of their journey and help bring attention to their cause, one that impacts every person on this planet. We’ll be rolling out from the Ferry Building at 10:30 am (sharp!) on Saturday October 9, and celebrating with a BBQ in Golden Gate Park at the George Washington Grove picnic area starting at 1:30 (that's East of 25th Ave between Martin Luther King Jr and Lincoln Way).

Joost and Michiel will regale us with tales from the road, live music will tickle our eardrums, free food (for riders!) will delight the senses, and B that we will have BYO’d will quench all our desires. No good party would be complete without a costume, so sport something with a water theme -- fish helmets, bathing suits, shark fins -- the world is your oyster! Hey, that could be another one…we want to give the media something to talk about, so charge it!

Our 2010 Sponsors

Now that the ride is over and we have some time to catch up with our lives, I wanted to give a big shout out to our 2010 sponsors.

Clif Bar:

Clif Bar donated bars and shots to keep us fueled throughout our journey. We love Clif Bar because we like their food, they are local, and they have a clear dedication to sustainability. They live according to five aspirations - sustaining our planet, sustaining our community, sustaining our people, sustaining our business, sustaining our brands. See the triple bottom line and then some in there? We also like them because they source (mostly) organic ingredients and support organic agriculture, they engage with the people in all aspects of their supply chain, and they encourage volunteer service. Thanks Clif Bar!

3Degrees Inc:

3Degrees donated 5 times the offsets needed for our trip's carbon footprint, almost completely comprised of our support van. Our friends at 3Degrees helped us calculate the total footprint (close to 1 ton) and then decided to give us 5 tons for good measure. They provide Verified Emission Reductions and Renewable Energy Certificates for their projects all over the world. We decided to have our offsets go towards a local project that is near and dear to our hearts - The Garcia River Conservation-Based Forest Management Project (scroll down if following link) which is a Redwood forest in Mendocino. It is the first large non-profit owned working forest in California. Thanks 3Degrees!

Melons Catering:

Melons provided us with some delicious, grass fed meats for some protein on our journey. They even prepped some of it for us so that we could cook it up nice and easy on the road. Having worked at Melons myself, I know that they have a dedication to reducing the footprint of all of their operations including all compostable food wear and providing their own compost collection for events that are at facilities that lack compost bins. They also emphasize fresh, seasonal ingredients and their food is some of the best in the Bay Area for sure. Thanks Melons!

Report from Neskowin

My butt hurts. Today is Wavy's birthday and he is happy as a clam. He got to surf with his buddy Ollie out in the Oregon oceans. The surf was fun. He got two rights and a left but then he had to put his soggy bike shorts back on to ride to camp for an amazing halibut (from Alaska, line caught, of course) and quinoa feast. Have we said anything about the food? We still have a cooler full of cheese. Sarah, soon to be proud proprietor of Mission Cheese, has made sure we have more than enough. This year we have made significant efforts to source our food more sustainably. We bought a lot of bulk foods from Rainbow Grocery (a worker-owned co-op) and Amelia, a veteran rider this year, hooked us up with some great fruits, veggies, and meats from the farmers and ranchers at the Agricultural Institute of Marin. The peaches. Oooh, those peaches. Not to mention the one-a-day avocado allotment. We also received some wonderful donations including Melon's Catering, who donated some delicious tri-tip, Clif Bar, who donated a bunch of bars and shots to fuel us on the road, and 3Degrees who donated 5 tons of offsets for our support van. Since our van, who we have donned Nancy Bandango, only gets around 10-12 miles per hour, the offsets were a welcome donation and eased some concerns among the group about our carbon footprint.

Highlights so far: Getting 'busted' by the cops on the University of Oregon campus who thought our water jug was a keg when we stopped for lunch. The coast views yesterday - so vast that we could see the curvature of the earth. Joining forces with AT, Lily, and Jules for at least a day. The food. A dip in the Ocean. The people we have met along the way. Just hanging out and talking with each other. Seeing liquid manure spray out of a huge sprinkler on a farm and discussing whether it was a good thing (we felt we needed to learn more about the source and how much runoff it would cause) but this was offset by the veal cages at the farm across the street. The two birthdays and anniversary we have or will have on this trip. Did we say how much we love the food?

Things we miss: Alex Hooker's calves. AT, Lily, and Jules not joining us the whole week. Dorman's owl call. Toby, we really miss Toby. Shot bloks and Blueberry Crisp Clif Bars (although we love the Mojos and Clif Shots that Clif Bar gave us this year). The Hooker Brothers' stories - especially the one about Gay Hooker and the Lizard People (Gay Hooker is actually their aunt's name, no, seriously). A video camera. Sustainable Jeff, Hanna, Jervey, Mary, Pete, and Nick (calling out 'Morons!!!').

We are only done with day two but it's been two perfect days with great weather. As I write this, we are sitting by a campfire, I am uploading this post from my phone tethered to my computer - thanks technology, and Alex is strumming his guitar. We have encountered a few people along the road who ask us why we are riding and what Ride350 is. They all seem receptive to what we have to say. Will they change their ways? Most have biked this coast at one time or another but do they bike to work? Hmmm, probably not. We are all just happy to be back in the saddle together and we know that not only is it important to interact with the people we meet, the ride also rejuvenates the group internally. Ride on.

Today I rode to work

This morning I rode to work. It is easy to forget the daily commute, to accept that travel as wasted time. But not on a bicycle. On a bicycle, time passes wisely, with purpose. As I delivered myself through the city streets and into the Presidio, my ride became a dream. Into the cypress. Into the smoothness of the early morning. My bike was wildly quiet, as if it knew not how to emit a sound. Old steel on auto pilot. A good bike knows what to do. All around mist danced softly through the trees, whispering its way slowly east. Old cypress are not phased. They are tall and straight and the mist is their blanket. For centuries on end it has covered them. Their interweaved canopy has conspired to limit vertical airflow, trapping calm, changing light, creating space. Grassy meadows below beg for a wanderer. But there is no one. Only the lone commuter, passing briefly. To the left the Pacific reaches out but fades fast into the recruiting fog. Its texture and color are smooth, grey, uninspired. Further north, just outside the bridge, a single sunray beacon falls hard on the ocean, revealing a deep green blue that knows no boundaries. As I ride onto the bridge the sky opens to reveal the texture and majesty of the headlands. I've seen it a hundred times but it still feels new. For some reason, its always new on a bicycle. I want more newness. I want more road.


...I was feeling inspired by my bike ride to work, so I thought I'd share...

Ride350 Part II - The Route

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ride350 is back in action! This September, a group of dedicated friends will again hit the road and ride 350 miles from Astoria to Gold Beach along the Oregon Coast. We will continue to raise awareness about issues related to climate change. The federal government failed to act these last few weeks but all is not lost. This movement is from the ground up!

The route [September 12-17th]:

Day 1 - Sunday 9/12 - Astoria to Kilchis River = 66 miles

Day 2 - Monday 9/13 - Kilchis River to Neskowin = 52 miles

Day 3 - Tuesday 9/14 - Neskowin to Beachside State Park = 62 miles

Day 4 - Wednesday 9/15 - Beachside State Park to Winchester Bay = 57 miles

Day 5 - Thursday 9/16 - Winchester Bay to Cape Blanco State Park = 75 miles

Day 6 - Friday 9/17 - Cape Blanco State Park to Gold Beach/Rogue River = 38 miles

Getting the Band Back Together

Well, it has been quite a while since more than two of us have been together on a ride. Last Monday, three Ride350 members ceremonially 'got the band back together' and tackled the Seven Sisters loop: San Francisco - GG Bridge - Sausalito - Camino Alto - Fairfax - Alpine Lake - Bolinas/Fairfax Ridge (Seven Sisters) - Mill Valley - Loop Back. You can see us atop the Bolinas-Fairfax ridge with Bolinas and Stinson Beaches in the background.

It was a beautiful day and the fact that we were all able to head out on a weekday meant that we did not see too many other riders or cars along the way. We realized that is has been waayyy too long since we did some bigger rides together so stay tuned, we are hoping to get more of us back together throughout the spring and summer.

If you are wondering what has been happening lately, here are a few tidbits to keep you interested: planning for another 350 ride this summer is in the works, Ride350 is also working on becoming a 501(c)3 so stay tuned, and last but not least, we encourage riders to join us on May 15th for a Climate Cycle ride to help raise awareness and money for solar panels on schools. More details for all of these will be posted in the near future.

Support David Kroodsma for Hopenhagen!

Thanks to The Huffington Post, we can now vote to send our good friend and fellow bicycling climate activist David Kroodsma to Copenhagen! Click here to cast your vote today!