News - The University of Montana

Today is the second to last day and we had one final, beautiful bike ride.  We biked from Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park to Whitefish, Montana where we will be giving a presentation about our trip.  And what a spectacular trip it has been.

Leora found us an amazing home to stay at in Whitefish with Dave Whisenand, a good friend of hers.  Cory and Patrick cooked the last WRFI prepared meal, and what a meal it was!  A curry dish! My favorite! My vote for the best WRFI meal of the trip, hands down.  

As I ponder how close the end of the trip is an interesting feeling suddenly comes over me.  It is exciting to think about what we just accomplished biking 725 miles across the state and to finally have time to really digest and go over the immense amount of knowledge we have been feeding our brain.  On the other hand, it is sad that the group will be separating and the long bike trip is over.  Spending a month on a bicycle with such amazing people for month is the absolute best way to live!

In addition, going home will offer opportunities to share what we have learned.  Opportunities for saving our climate and ourselves as a species exist that many people may not even be aware of.  To be able to be the facilitators of change is quite a position to hold.  Talking with people is such a unique opportunity but can present its own challenges as well.  The students will need to be conscience not to hop on a soap box and start lecturing people.  Instead, encourage people and help enlighten them to the opportunities that are available.  What I would like to do is speak to the pleasure of living a life that consumes as little as possible.  For example, bicycling around for transportation is an awesome option.  People schedule time to go on bike rides for exercise and recreation.  Biking for transportation, short and long distances, incorporates exercise, recreation, efficient transportation and saving our planet all into one fun activity.  How can someone argue with the benefits of such a ubiquitous activity? 

Reducing our in home energy consumption is also important; this is globally beneficial and individually beneficial.  Living in a house that is specifically designed to use passive lighting, heating and cooling can reduce electric bills by up to 30%.  All of these can be done very easily with no extra cost, just a smart designer, like Ed Gulick or J.J. Green.  Another option is to use solar water heater; water tanks on top of roofs can be heated by the power of the sun.  This heating is free, after a relatively small initial investment, and will drastically reduce the amount of energy needed to heat the water to appropriate shower, washer and dishwasher temperatures.  These solar water heaters are readily available around the world and already being used by millions of people.  In third world countries people have been able to take their first warm showers ever because of these solar water heaters.  Will anyone argue cheap energy bills or warm showers for the less fortunate?  I do not think so, and it just so happens that these practices will help save our environment as well. 

So what does this all mean for those who are not in the market for a new house and already uses a bike as the main transportation vehicle? Well, it means going out and informing yourself and others about options that exist.  We can change our lives without changing our lifestyles.  This is very important for the many Americans who are accustomed to the comforts that exist in our country.  Living efficiently is a huge stride to affecting our energy demand. 

–Stephen Brown, University of Montana

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 7:42 pm and is filed under 2008 Cycle Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.