(To the tune of Don McClean’s song “American Pie”)
A long, long time ago I can still remember How people used to walk a mile. I know if I had my chance I could break this gluttonous trance And maybe slow the world down for a while. So we’re singing: ‘Bye, bye coal-fired power supplies We’ll use the hydro for the baseload and then the wind to get by Them good ol’ architects they’ll show us why There’s no need to pollute the sky We’ve only gotta give it a try…Now that I have finished my plagiarism of the great Don McClean, I suppose I could elaborate on the adventures of our clan. We set out bright and early from the hospitality of Randy Reinhart’s abode and set out on the open road (this was accomplished after we swam our way through the passive-aggressive army of sheep).
It was a quick 10 miles to our first stop, the Martinsdale Hutterite colony. A fellow by the name of Mike gave us a quick overview of how wind power has been developing on the colony. A doctor out of Billings interested in wind energy leases land from the Hutterites and has erected 250 and 65 kilowatt wind turbines. These are connected to transmission lines that provide power to surrounding communities (a separate turbine contributes directly to the colony’s power requirements) and provides royalties to the colony through the leasing of the land.
72.5 additional MegaWatts (MW) are available to the colony, increasing their royalties. Any additional power provided by wind turbines would require a substation upgrade. However, this substation upgrade and larger turbines may be planned for the future. Such developments are promising advances to Montana’s current 164 MW of wind power; wind power has been limited by transmission lines, substation capacities, purchase agreements, and local resistance to the apparently damaging nature of wind turbines to aesthetics. These limitations are being beaten as a result of various State environmental requirements (e.g. 15% of power produced must be from renewables) and the competitive drive of both foreign and domestic investors. Times up! Back on our trusty steeds into the mid-day sun!
Devin Trainor. This legendary mammal has performed the equivalent of open-heart surgery on my battered bicycle. And like every good doctor (In Canada at least), his work is perfected, but more importantly… free of charge (that is for now Dr. Trainor… your reward awaits you in Missoula). The 50 mile trek included many pleasures, but most notably:
- Roadside gymnastics (courtesy of Nicky, JJ, and a rambunctious Phil)
- Candy toss competition (on the pitching mound we had Patrick, with our notable stars of the day being Dave, Devin, and Phil)
- Checkerboard (name of a town) lunch-break (essentially a spontaneous fiesta erupted this modest establishment into pool games, signed dollar bills, video games, and a guitar accompanied kum-by-ya session).
- A sporadic Gaelic windstorm for our final mile (similar to having 101 industrial fans blowing 1 meter from your face).
Secure and sheltered at our new campground we intend to indulge in the best thing White Sulphur Springs has to offer, the geothermal spa at the Spa Hot Springs Motel. Just a brief note before I hurry off to the tub myself; geothermal energy can provide continuous baseload power, so feel free to substitute ‘geothermal’ for ‘hydro’ in my initial tune (that is, if your tongue can rattle that off so quickly).
–Cory Zyla, University of British Columbia
Enjoy that big sky, the feel of the wind across your face, the freedom you must feel from the wide open spaces, as soon you will be in the protection of the mountains, all a beauty of its own! Loved the song! Wish your cycle gang could stop by for some BC hospitality!