Malkolm is cycling on! He is now cycling from Alaska to Washington DC, and then continuing on to the UN Climate Change conference in Cancun in December.
It all started with Bird Year, Malkolm and his parents' year-long, fossil-fuel-free journey in search of birds. Cycling a total of 13,133 miles (21,144 km), they identified 548 different bird species and raised more than $25,000 for bird conservation. Bird Year turned them into confirmed cyclists and taught them that climate change was more serious than they had thought.
In 2009, Malkolm biked from Whitehorse to Ottawa as a part of Pedal for the Planet: the project called for the Canadian Government to become a leader in the struggle to come to grips with climate change. The Harper Government did not even meet with the young cyclists.
Malkolm is now 18 and just finished high school. On August 24, he dipped his foot in the Pacific Ocean in Skagway, Alaska. Then headed up and over the White Pass to the Alaska Highway on his journey to Washington and on to Cancun.



Monday, July 6, 2009

Nine days in...


This is the ninth day of my leg of Pedal for the Planet". My mom and I are in Fort Nelson, BC. We've cycled 979 kilometers so far. On an average day we spend 9 hours on the highway and 10 to 11 hours sleeping. The leftover hours are spent eating, or thinking about eating.
There are three notable events to describe.
1) Some friends of mine, Pete, Anne and John cycled with me on the first day. We stopped at a rest area, and John started up a conversation with some RVers. He told them about Pedal for the Planet. "Malkolm is cycling from Whitehorse to Ottawa to pressure the Canadian Government on climate change, ahead of the huge meeting in Copenhagen."
"So, you're biking across the country for climate change..." said on of the RVers. "What side are you on?"
Wow. How many people to long bike trips to raise support for Tar Sands deregulation?
2) I had a dream that we were cycling along, getting passed by RVs and Semi's. The trucks were loudly revving their engines as they passed us. I woke up and found out that the sound was not roaring engines, but my mom snoring.
3) We've passed 15 bears so far, 5 of which have been Grizzlies. Once, an RVer warned us about a Grizzly and two cubs ahead on the road. They told us that the bears were only "a mile and a half ahead"
We cycled for ages, wondering when we were going to pass the bears. After 10 nervous kilometers we figured that we must have missed them. After 13 kilometers we finally saw the bears. The moral of this story? Don't trust motorists to judge distances!
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