Want to take a bicycle vacation and tackle climate change? Join the Brita Climate Ride.
Climate Ride participants raise money for climate change charities, and over the past three years, Climate Ride has given away more than $300,000 to environmental non-profits. This year, riders can choose to fundraise for one or more of eight different organizations (see the list beneath the slideshows).
Climate Ride is offering two five-day rides in 2011: a tour from May 13th to 17th from New York City to Washington DC, and another from October 2nd to 6th from Eureka, California, to San Francisco. Both are fully catered and staffed with professional bike guides; both are incredible fun; and both follow scenic routes. The California Ride ends by crossing the Golden Gate, perhaps the nation's most impressive bridge. The New York to D.C. ride ends as a hundred cyclists pedal together to the Capitol building.
I have taken part in Climate Ride 2008, 2009, and 2010, and I could write several blog entries about my experiences -- about the many friends I made who I still keep in touch with, about the people who inspired me during the tours, or about what I learned from the rides' expert speakers. I have left each ride feeling inspired.
Below are slideshows from the events in previous years. You can sign up for the rides here.
Climate Ride New York City to Washington, DC
Climate Ride California:
Learn more about the rides on the Climate Ride website. Each participant raises $2,400 for one or more of the following charities:
- Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (Washington, D.C.)
- Green America (Washington, D.C.)
- 350.org (San Francisco, Calif.)
- 1% For the Planet (Waitsfield, VT. )
- Transportation Alternatives (New York, N.Y.)
- Washington Area Bicyclist Association (Washington, D.C.)
- San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (San Francisco, Calif.)
- Climate Counts (Manchester, N.H.)