Cycling for a healthy planet
2006-05-22
Bicycle for Everyones Earth
Cycling may be a great way to get around and keep fit. But that's not reason enough for everyone. A group of environmental diehards do it for the health of the planet. And they really get around - from one end of the country to another. This year, Bicycle for Everyone's Earth (BEE) is gearing up for its 10th summer trek.
The BEE ride is the brainchild of three environmentally conscious U.S. English teachers who were in the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) program. Barbara Allen, Jason Edens, and Joel Krentz have moved on since that first 1,700-mile tour from Hokkaido to Yakushima to support saving the island's pristine rainforest. But ever since, the baton has been passed on annually to successive JET members with "green" agendas.
This year, a record 14 riders are slated to leave Wakkanai, Hokkaido July 29 and arrive in Henoko on Oct. 13. There, they will rally against plans for a U.S. offshore airbase that many say will destroy one of the last remaining habitats for local dugong. Along they way they will make about 30 stops - splitting into two groups in Saitama taking different routes and regrouping in Biwako - to raise awareness and funds for the cause. Riders can opt for the long haul or join for a few legs of the course.
"I'll go easy on us all at Hokkaido as with such a large team its unrealistic to expect everyone to be in shape," says this year's ride coordinator Chay Cotter, 32. "People wont have the time to train, so while I'll tell them to, that first 10 days will be our training time. We'll do 60 km a day, followed by up to 100 a day afterwards - with weighted bikes because we carry our gear. Riders should be reasonably healthy and bikes should be test ridden."
Like cotter, who has been living and working in Saku City, Nagano, most of this year's riders are English teachers who just finished up their contracts. So far, at least four Japanese have signed up and he hopes to attract more. "I think most of us have outdoors interests like hiking but not many are (avid) cyclists and maybe even less are hardcore greenies like me," he says. The prerequisites for joining BEE rides depend on the coordinator, which changes every year. Cotter makes no bones about his priorities. "This year I asked most riders to participate in at least one (environmental) event during the ride and tried to assign people roles like route planner," he says. "Basically, I'd like to see a commitment to the ride well before it occurs or a background in environmentalism in Japan. Teamwork skills are also really important - we're on the ride to spread the green word as a team, not go off sightseeing,"
Past and current riders seek sponsors and hold fundraisers to cover the cost of the trip. What is remaining afterwards is donated to annual causes. The first BEE ride raised about1.4 million yen to help preserve Yakushima island's rainforest and Cotter says he this year's could generate anywhere from 200,000 yen to 1 million yen.
For Cotter, who chose the environmental topic for this year's BEE ride, the trek is as much, if not more, about cycling for a healthy planet than health. "The American and Japanese governments want a marine base at Henoko, Okinawa. This is the habitat of Japan's own population of dugong and there's sea grass and coral reef (the project would threaten) too. We'll try to raise awareness of this issue as mainlanders might be in ignorance - and hey, we're half Americans ourselves!
For information on this BEE rides and how to join visit: http://www.beejapan.org, or e-mail Chay Cotter at: teamleader@beejapan.org.
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