Tag: bike 2016

Meet Lynne Heritage, eighth in our get-to-know-the-riders series. The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.  Lynne can’t make the drive herself, but she’s an important part of the trip: the cyclists’ ride home (and she’ll be joining the team for visits to Capitol Hill).

For several years, I lobbied with Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington during their annual meeting.  Lobbying was one of the more significant events of my year.  Citizen participation in the democratic process helps balance the more-moneyed interests.

As a teenager, it was clear that we waste our resources and trash our air and water.  How could that be when we say we want a better world for future generations?  Turning off lights, using Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Lynne Heritage

Meet Scott McDonald, seventh in our get-to-know-the-riders series. The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.  

I am a science educator at Penn State, and my interest in climate change and its impact starts with education. As someone who studies how students learn complex science ideas, I recognize the particular challenges of helping people to understand climate change. The scale, both in terms of time and space, is so large that is it hard for people to think about it in a meaningful way. This is further complicated by people mixing up weather and climate (if you want to see a satirical take on this, look for Jon Stewart’s Daily Show episode about the Snowpocolypse). We know that many people don’t understand how climate change could happen, and as a result are able to deny that it is happening. If people can’t understand what climate is and how human Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Scott McDonald

Meet Carina, sixth in our get-to-know-the-riders series.The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.  

My name is Carina and I’m a middle school student at Park Forest Middle school. I have decided to take this adventure because I want to experience a long distance ride thru the country. It also provides me an opportunity to make memories with my Nana and Papa. My Papa will be joining me on my adventure.

I really enjoy outdoor adventures but also spend a lot of my time playing volleyball and swimming. My mom calls me a Fish because I’d rather be in the pool. I also sing in my school choir and like the feeling of performing in front of everyone.

I think caring for the environment is important because If we stop caring for the environment, every thing will start to die out and the world we become lifeless.

Climate change is having some bad effects on the world, especially in North and South pole. The Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Carina

Meet Karl Raynar, fifth in our get-to-know-the-riders series. The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.  

Last year I joined the IPL team for the first two days of the ride from State College to Hagerstown.  The ride was beautiful with almost perfect weather as the riders shared a love for the beauty of God’s Creation.  On Saturday we met with candidates for Huntingdon County commissioner and discussed transportation issues, especially the difficulties of creating bike lanes and paths in a poor rural areas.   On Sunday I met Fernando and Lucas, two international students in their junior year at Mercersburg Academy.  Fernando was from Mexico City where his father had a detergent factory.  He hopes to study environmental science and find ways of producing greener products.  Lucas was from China where his father is an urban planner.  He wants to study social sciences to effect changes in environmental attitudes.  The positive feeling Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Karl Raynar

Meet Spencer Carran, fourth in our get-to-know-the-riders series.  The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.   Spencer is a member of State College Presbyterian Church.

I am an ecology PhD candidate at Penn State focused on global public health, particularly in the context of the developing world. As the climate continues to warm over the next century, larger and larger segments of the world will suffer increased risk for outbreaks of vector-borne disease, as well as the negative effects of food insecurity that will disproportionately impact the  global poor. For those of us blessed to live in the wealthiest nation on Earth to continue to jeopardize the long-term habitability of our planet in service to short-term luxury is an ongoing moral failure, and I hope that by making a tangible display of avoiding excess fossil fuel use the PA IPL riders will be able to prompt our representatives in Congress to take a more thoughtful approach to environmental issues.

I commute exclusively by bike, including through the winter. We are fortunate in State College Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Spencer Carran

Meet Ed Prince, third in our get-to-know-the-riders series.The 2016 PA-to-DC ride will take place April 29 -May 3.  

I am a Bike Trip participant this year primarily because I love riding a bike.  I get pretty charged up planning, training, and participating in a bike tour like this.  My hope is to sometime ride across the country on a bike – self supported.

I also ride because I feel that our nation’s reliance on fossil fuel is wrong.  It is damaging to our environment, to our health, and it adds to the warming of temperatures we are seeing around the world. Making a statement with physical action is our way to go against this wasteful trend in our society.

We live in a fallen world. No denying that fact.  I believe we are called on to do all we can to improve our society and our world.  We are asked by God to work for fairness, justice, and for Continue reading 2016 Rider Profile: Ed Prince