Climate Weekend with CycloMonkey

Hi, it's me - CycloMonkey!

I recently joined a few hundred people on the Green Fondo, powered by ClimateRide.org. I thought they said "primate ride" so I had to go!

The weekend started off with a special "farm-to-table" dinner. There are no banana farms in northern California, so I hung out in the bunkhouse. But Todd thought it was fantastic. Then way too early the next morning, we gathered around our oatmeal and coffee to ride bikes.

On Strava, this looks like a weekend of bike riding - 100 miles on Saturday and 65 miles on Sunday. But really, it was a cycling celebration of many months of fundraising for a collection of environmental advocacy organizations. We were riding for the top fundraising teams, Bike East Bay. (Plug: it's not too late to donate!)

As I viewed the ride in reverse, from the comfort of Todd's jersey pocket, I watched everyone else suffering in the face of abnormally strong winds - gusting over 25mph. Perhaps strong winds are actually becoming normal in California, though. Last year, wildfires devastated what was once Paradise (the town). Wired magazine claimed, "The driving force has been extreme wind... Like a demonic analog of water, this air is flowing across the state, nourishing flames and parching plants." In fact, the wine we enjoyed the night before came from vineyards that no longer exist after the wildfires.

Yeah, we rode through climate change but complained about the weather!

The rugged coastline near Bodega Bay

Later in the day, with the winds at our back and bananas in our tummies, we enjoyed several car-free miles on the West County Regional Trail - a multi-use trail built on the former Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway. This trail resulted, in part, from the persistent efforts of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - one of many beneficiaries of all that fundraising. I should say this ride had it all: the spray of the surf, the stately redwoods, bucolic pastures - and free pie! And the headwinds blew for the last of the 100 miles just so we wouldn't forget.

After a shower and dinner, we shared stories with old and new friends but learned a few things, too. Like the fact that our choice of banks affects the climate. The big banks - JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, B of A (in that order) - invest a huge amount of your savings in the fossil fuel industry. Their average grades on the Fossil Fuel Scorecard are D, C-, D+, and D+, respectively. In contrast, Amalgamated Bank is an example of a sustainable bank with a 100% fossil-fuel-free portfolio. Considering that retail banks have well over $100 trillion (trillion!) in assets to invest, this has huge potential to make a difference. In contrast, general philanthropic funding for action on climate change is still tiny, at just 2 percent of US charitable dollars by some estimates.

But I'm a monkey; I don't do banking. Maybe you do.

Looking back at the climb leading to Pierce Point

Sunday morning came equally early yet colder - like 30-something - but mercifully the wind had subsided. Unlike Saturday's pounding on Bodega Bay, Sunday pampered us with postcard views on both sides of Tomales Bay. Once inhabited by Coastal Miwok tribes, Russians venturing south, Spanish venturing north, possibly Englishmen searching for the northwest passage - the pastures now belong to cows. It smelled that way, too. Although Todd desperately wanted a warm cup of coffee, we rode right by the legendary Bovine Bakery at Point Reyes.

A little caffeine might have taken the sting out of the final climb up the Marshall Wall. After miles of serenity along the bay, climate riders could be forgiven for thinking it was a mural of a road painted on a sheer cliff. but no - that's the way home.

And that's an apt image for this weekend. The challenge we face - this climate crisis - looks daunting, but we will overcome it. And we will do it on bikes!


NOTES:
https://hewlett.org/strategy/climate-and-energy/
https://earthjustice.org/
"These Wind Patterns Explain Why California's Wildfires Are So Bad" Wired Magazine, 11/11/18, Matt Simon




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