Long time no blog.

Wow.

We’re checking in with you tonight from Baltimore, Maryland. Since we last posted in Valley Forge, we have biked through the heart of Amish Pennsylvania: passing horse and buggies and rolling farms. We also had a quick stop through Intercourse, PA where we biked by bunches of signs announcing “Intercourse Fire Station” and “Intercourse Methodist Church”... So we haven’t grown up. We’ve also been popping these wonderful little gummy items called Clif Shots, which are the athletic snack of the future. These small gummy cubes, made by the same company that makes Clif bars (one of the ride's many sponsors) come packed full of electrolytes and have offered us that needed boost to make it over some of these really tough hills in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Today we tackled the toughest hills so far. It was a fulfilling ride that was capped with an amazing dinner catered by Whole Foods. However, we’d like to use this post to explain a little less about the biking, food and camping and a little bit more about the amazing people we have met and the inspiring speeches and presentation we have seen the last few nights. For the routes we've done the last few days, check out: Monday and Tuesday.

Each night, the Climateride organizers, who have been absolutely wonderful in helping everyone throughout the ride, have organized a few speakers to address the squad. Last night, we listened to Randy Swisher, the president of the American Wind Energy Association, speak to the group about his organization and about the promise that wind energy holds for the future of American energy consumption. AWEA represents the majority of the American wind industry by lobbying in Washington D.C. for policy that would create incentives and investment for wind farm construction (like the Renewable Energy Credits bill passed today!!!!!). Swisher gave an inspiring speech in which he outlined the strengths and weaknesses of wind energy and the importance of moving away from Coal fired power plants into an energy structure that will be composed of numerous types of renewable energy sources.

After Randy, we also heard from David Kroodsma from Ride for Climate, a solo journey from California to the Southern tip of Argentina. David is also riding in ClimateRide (the ride we're on) and so we actually hung out with him after the presentation. His trip essentially consisted of riding his bike through areas of high and low population and trying to both educate people he met along the way about climate change and also learn from them about their lives. He said that he would often stay in firehouses or just in peoples houses for free, and that he actually didn't spend much money on the trip. He also stressed the importance of working with local media to raise awareness, and said that the South American countries that he traveled through were really aware of the issues and quite concerned.

Beyond organized lectures however, we have had incredible opportunity to meet the people who are bringing climate change and renewable energy to life. Whether energy consultants or NGO activists, nearly everyone doing the ride is connected with a green future for America. Today, we peddled with Alex from Focus the Nation and talked with him about the direction of the group that we were actively involved with when REC hosted a National Teach-In last February.

We've met so many awesome people on this trip, and right now we're going to go hang with them for our last night. We'll post all about it tomorrow after we lobby our respective senators in their DC offices!!!!

Be well,

Tyler and Mike.