Day 24 and 25: Sustainability Now and for our Futures!

Day 25: Wednesday December 13th, 2006

Box bikes up and return to Los Angeles.

Back to our homes; now with a greater sense of sustainabilty and community to share with all!

We hope to see all of you again at our AOTE programs, in our communities, and next year along our annual Sustainable Bike Outreach Tour.

It was a tough good bye to good friends. Bikes were boxed up, riders flew to be home with their families throughout the country. Everyone was eager to share stories of their adventure and accomplishment.

Goodbye Everyone!
Slowly people started to trickle away- to train stations, airports, and carpooling off to our respective winter adventures.

Thank you to all of the students who provided us with the energy and inspiration to do the ride and thanks again to everyone who housed, fed, financed and supported us along the way. We couldn’t have done it without you.

See you next year!



Day 24: Tuesday December 12th, 2006

Morning ride 20 miles to Mar Vista High School.
Afternoon ride 12 miles to our last home stay and our final Sustainable Bike Tour celebration at the Brisebois'.

Reunited for our last school and our final day of riding, we catch a morning ferry to Coronado and ride down the Silver Strand bike path. Everyone in San Diego should try this flat fun ride with the San Diego Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other! After our bay side picnic we arrived at Mar Vista High School, home of the Posiedon Academy. Our riders got a chance to talk candidly about their job experience and career paths, exposing 11th graders to outdoor, adventure opportunities. We also explored biodiversity in our perspectives, skills and life. We are looking forward to some early morning soil sifting with Mar Vista on the Island in the Spring!

Then, we rode our last few miles to Friendship Park, a grassy park on the beach south of the Tijuana Estuary where the Mexican American Border fence disappears into the Pacific Ocean, a powerfully fascinating and complex space to end our exploration of California's coastal communities! This look at the beach and its surroundings captured all of our senses and curiousities- the litter, the wall, the pollution, the plantlife, and the border patrol helicoptors buzzing above. Our time on that beach reflecting on our three week journey emphasized what our riders hope that the students we visited along the way learned, that- we must "be the change we wish to see in the world". We can take action in our everday lives to make our home, school and city communities better places to be!

Our Last School!
Mellow ride to the Coronado ferry where we got some spectacular views of the city of San Diego as we rode to Mar Vista school in Imperial Beach. At Mar Vista, Kathy and Cynthya facilitated our final slideshows of the trip with the same energy as our first slideshows over 3 weeks ago. Well Done! Following the slideshows, each cyclist gave a quick history of how they ended up at Catalina and discussed what options students have for a career in environmental education. One of the main points made was that any job you have could be environmental in nature from working in an office to construction to being a doctor- everyone can strive to reduce their ecological footprint and as a steward of the earth teach others how to do the same. After Mar Vista we rode to the Brisebois home in Bonita for a final celebration feast and toast to all who supported us along our journey of over 700 miles. Emotions were mixed and bodies were tired, but you could sense the pride and satisfaction in the group. Thank you Mark, Sandy, Parker and Ross for the food and the warmth and for allowing us to take over your entire home.

That night we celebrated a safe & healthy ride, a ride filled with inspiring sights, students and schools. This tour gave us a new appreciation of cycling, a practical perspective that bikes can be used for everyday errands or for extended vacations. We learned that when we challenge ourselves, and work together we can accomplish anything!

Day 23: Home (and hamstring) Stretch

The Pacific Beach group rides 10 miles east to Mission Valley for a visit to Warren Walker Middle School, where it was free dress day and everyone was in their pajamas! We shared a slideshow of our ride with the 7th and 8th graders. Then we got our hands dirty with the 6th graders, we built a raised bed for rosemary and lavender. In January the sixth graders will plant vegetable seeds. We hope things are growing well. After school, our riders explored the beautiful gardens of Balboa Park. We stayed at Warren Walker that night on a record number of couches! Thanks for your warm hospitality!

The Carlsbad crew was up early and headed off to visit The Grauer School, where Travis’ brother Isaac teaches music. After riding 12 miles south, we set up a slideshow in the science room and discussed human impact on the local wetlands and the role they plays in reducing the amount of toxins released into the ocean. Students of all ages attended the presentation. We ended our visit with a tour of their new campus construction.

The San Diego crew visited Warren Walker School, where they were welcomed with open arms. There they helped construct a new garden space for the school to add some extra color to their learning environment. Later that evening the Grauer School crew arrived and we were one big group once again. Many thanks to Warren Walker School for allowing us use of their facilities that night.

Day 21 and 22: Beach Break

Day 22: Sunday December 10th, 2006

Half the team stays in Carlsbad, while the other half of the team rides 30 miles to Pacific Beach.
Afternoon time at the beach!

After our morning regroup and repack, half of our riders took Hwy 1 south to Pacific Beach, a leisurely coastal ride through the towns and lagoons of northern San Diego County. During a smoothie stop we ran into a Sock Guy, what a small cycling world this is. Curry for dinner with Emily.


Day 21: Saturday December 9th, 2006

First non-biking day in 21 days!
Nice to get a little bit of a break from the saddle.

No schools, no planning and no biking were on the agenda today. Some people walked into Carlsbad village for coffee and brunch, others relaxed at the beach house, reading and napping. The rest of the crew braved the chilly pacific and suited up for a surf session right across the road from the beach house. Thanks to the Langen family for our wonderful accommodations and for loaning boards and wetsuits to everyone
On Saturday night we headed up to Travis’ parents home for a celebration dinner and impromptu slideshow of the trip so far. Many thanks Rich and Janice Langen for hosting and feeding us and to the rest of the Langen family and friends for their support.
On Sunday the group will split again, the majority heading down the coast to stay with an island friend Emily Fox in San Diego. Emily hosted last year’s riders


The holidays are coming? We had no idea. Sleeping in, surf sessions, bike shop visits, book store, beach walks, sore muscle hot tub soaks, communication with family, naps, and celebrations fill our day in Carlsbad. Thanks Langens for a lovely holiday party! The evening rain made us very thankful for the indoor accomodations.

Day 20: How many Bananas have we eaten?

Morning ride 8 miles to St. Annes.

Our riders have hearty appetites, we especially love our fresh fruits and veggies. We decided to compost all of our food during the bike tour and Tim Dundun, the Compost Guru of Altadena, generously accepted our food scraps to feed his chickens and abundant compost heap. The energy and health from his vibrant compost heap refueled us for the urban portion of our tour. Thanks Tim, your passion for compost continues to inspire us. Check him out at www.2doo.com




Today Picnic in the park.

Ride 35 miles to Carlsbad. Home stay at the Langen's.

Our 3 riding crews reunited at St Annes in Laguna Niguel for the largest single assembly of the tour. Next we split to work with students and explore the choices we can make in our everyday lives and how those affect other people and the environment! Students came up with some great ways that they could give back to their home, school, and city communities. Then, we celebrated the season and students' visit to Catalina with an Island style sing-a-long!

Rick and friends from the AIDS Lifecycle hosted our picnic in the park. It was exciting for us to share cycling stories with real cyclists! Many thanks for the tasty lunch.

Back along the coast, through Camp Pendelton, we cruise to our home in Carlsbad for the next couple of days. Being in one spot for 24 hours, what will we do? Go for a bike ride?


Our riders have hearty appetites, we especially love our fresh fruits and veggies. We decided to compost all of our food during the bike tour and Tim Dundun, the Compost Guru of Altadena, generously accepted our food scraps to feed his chickens and abundant compost heap. The energy and health from his vibrant compost heap refueled us for the urban portion of our tour. Thanks Tim, your passion for compost continues to inspire us. Check him out at www.2doo.com

St. Anne’s
The morning began with a short ride from our host families’ homes. Many thanks to Joan, Colleen and Kathy for welcoming us into their homes. The school day started with a theatrical introduction in front of the school following an enthusiastic welcome from both staff and students. From there we broke off into class groups and discussed the ecological footprint of consuming conventionally grown commercial produce versus supporting local organic farmers. Using an apple as our produce, the students acted out all the processes need to bring an apple from a conventional farm from the seed to our homes. The students then discussed what happens to the line of processes when the apple core is composted (it becomes a circle!) and how that cycle can sustain itself for as long as we want to keep growing apples!
Following our successful morning we finished with a group sing-a-long to some camp and Christmas favorites and hopped on our bikes for a short ride to the park for a fresh lunch provided by fellow cyclists Rik Katzmaier and friends. Many thanks for the wonderful lunch, the great conversation and the inspiration to continue riding.
With full stomachs we jumped on the bikes for a coastal trip to the Langen Family beach house.

Day 19: (Ride on) Right on !

Up at 6for a 7am departure, frosty foggy air and
slick roads in the morning at Huntington beach,
covered some rolling uphill for 30miles
to our only school for the day….

Serra Catholic- we had a chance to visit with
the students from thepast 2 fall seasons.
Instructors were excited to reunite with students
from the last School of the fall that came to
Catalina Island AOTE program.

Cruised back to the coast and then split up for
our homestay.

Day 18: Foothills to the Beach: Separation Anxiety

Half the team rides 30 miles to Environmental Charter
High School.


Half the team rides 15 miles to Carden of the
Foothills School.


As a full team we ride 43 miles to Manhattan Beach.



An early morning wake up in the CIC office in Altadena
led to some sad goodbyes as this would be the first time
our team splits up for morethan a half a day.
We now know the meaning of "separation anxiety".

The crew of 6 going to Environmental Charter High School
(ECHS) in Lawndale got ready for their 50 mile morning ride
through LA.
Thankgoodness for bike paths… we love them!
They certainly made our morningride fun and full of
laughter and singing most of the way (can't tell you how
many doughnut shops and McDonalds we saw).
We were struck by the change of scenery as we rode into the
heart of the LA urban jungle, getting to explore some new
human communities.
It's amazing to think about how many diverse communities we
have passed through on this bike trip…from the Redwoods to
beaches to canyons and now through cities.

And our fun certainly did not stop when we arrived at ECHS.
The highly energetic students made us feel like rock stars,
if only forthe day. We presented our slideshow to ~130 loud
and energetic 9th graders who were extremely excited to see
and reconnect with us. Then we broke up into smaller groups
for some conscious consumerism activities. It was inspiring
to see how the teachers and students at ECHS are working
together on various projects to better their community.
Thanks to the entire ECHS community for the energy given
to us, and a special thanks to Jenni for letting us overrun
her place!
Good times had by all.

Pegasus- Those of us who had the opportunity to visit
Pegasus School also had the chance to ride nearly 60 miles
before noon! It was a fun ride down a nice bike path along
the San Gabriel River to Huntington Beach. Along the way Nate
got two flat tires! At Pegasus we presented our slideshow to
the entire middle school and chatted about our dearly
beloved bikes. We also met with Pegasus faculty members
and discussed ways in which we could green the school's campus.
Thanks so much to the Contis for the warm reception.

Another crew rode to Carden of the Foothills- full school
intro/presentation, team building, composting introduction,
greening your school discussions. High parent and teacher
interest, participation and support. Thanks to Mona for looking
after all our gear while we rode.
Thanks to Jim Sims and family for hosting us.




Carden of The Foothills: Our visit to Carden started with lunch with the 6th, 7th and 8th graders. It was great to catch up with some students that we remember from the Island and meet some students that we will see on the Island soon! Students shared some of the ways that Catalina has inspired them to live more sustainably. After lunch we had an assembly for the entire school, k-8. Some of the Monrovia City Council Members came to show their support. Also, the local news Kgem filmed our presentation. Then, we split into a rotation of fun workshops: Team Building through Cooperation, Compost Relay/Red wrigglers and How to Give Back to My Community! Thanks Carden for the warm welcome and action packed afternoon! We put our blinky lights on and rode the bike paths to our overnight at Jim Sims.

Day 16 and 17: Keep on Pedaling

Day 17: Tuesday December 5th, 2006

Half the team rides 12 miles to Flintridge Sacred Heart
and will continue in the afternoon to ride 7 miles to
homestay destination.

Half the team rides 7 miles to Ribet Academy and will
continue in the afternoon to ride 15 miles.

We knew Flintridge Sacred Heart Acadamy was located on top
of a hill,but no one was prepared for what we encountered.
The directions said "rolling uphill", our experience was
more of extreme/massive uphill climbs (the 12 mile ride could
very well have been the most challenging yet for some!).
We barely made it on time, sweaty and tired, but energized
again as soon as we were greeted by the girls from Flintridge.
What a morning!
Beautiful view from campus, expo in amphitheatre, discussing
bike maintenance, ecological footprint, sustainable seafood
choices, and water pollution. It was great to see
the ladies at Flintridge striving to make their lives
greener one step at a time.

Another crew rode to Ribet School for some
"greening your school"activities and slide show presentations.

Carrie, Owen, Christine, Jacob, Travis, Heather and Laurie started the day off with a nice ride through Griffith Park en route to the Ribet Academy. After a picnic breakfast on the front lawn, the team started their presentation with an introduction in the dining hall. Being met with enthusiasm by the entire middle school, the sixth, seventh and eighth graders broke into their respective grades and set off for an afternoon of activity rotations. Carrie and Jacob gave a slide show presentation way up on the 5th floor (thank you students for making the trek up), while Owen, Christine, Laurie and Travis led the students through a handful of activities outside on the patio and in the bleachers including the Seafood Café, Conscious Consumerism, and a new Non-Point Source Pollution game developed by Laurie. It was great to see some familiar faces as well as have a chance to meet some future CELP students. A big thanks to Jamie and the rest of the great folks at Ribet for arranging our visit and making us feel welcomed.

Catalina Island Camps party at night in Altadena (we'll
miss you Courtney and GoGo).
Thanks CIC for the food and the space to sleep!




Day 16: Monday December 4th, 2006

Ride 3 miles to Viewpoint School.
Ride 28 miles to Burbank; homestay at Casa de Nate!

Woke up in Malibu with frozen h2o bottles and people.
A short chilly ride to Viewpoint, fingers numb from the cold.
Took a short time to thaw out our bodies while gardening with
primary school and slide shows with middle and high school.
Worked with all ages this day…K-12! A whirl-wind of a day, we
all felt like we didn't stop moving and it was amazing how much
was accomplished! Pizza party lunch... then to Burbank at
night through beautiful LA bike paths.
Thanks Nate for letting us take over every inch of your place!

Day 15: Last tent and rider standing

Woke up after a windy sleepless night...
that's right the wind did not stop
-tents were flapping in the gale force
winds howling through the canyon. But
luckily, no matter what was blown at us
somehow our tents stayed standing.
Little did we know our teamwork and creativity
extended to staking and wind proofing.

Rode uphill into the challenging headwind
winding through the beautiful hills of Malibu.
Some riderssay this ~20 mile day was in fact
the hardest day yet, making the downhills on
the other side even more exciting and rewarding.
Arrived at Malibu Creek State Park in time for
lunch, some hiking, and a nap.

Day 14: Celebrations in Malibu

Happy Birthday Kathy!
We slept in at the Emma Woods campsite in
Ventura, some of us not waking up until 8:30am.
WOW!!! We thought the 25 mile day would be a "leisure" day, so
many took advantage of a relaxing morning to swim, eat, lay around,
etc. We even had the time to swing in and visit a good friend
at the Patagonia store in Ventura who had helped us out
tremendously with gear donations. With cold mornings and windy
afternoons the gear has certainly proven to be more
than helpful. Thanks Chris Hearst and Patagonia friends!

The "leisurely" 25 miles to Leo Carrillo campground
outside of Malibu turned out to be just a little more challenging
than we expected. With tremendous and excruciating headwinds
blowing us backwards, sideways and some to the ground, we felt
like we survived a tornado. You never know what Mother Nature will
blow at you! That's what makes this trip so exciting though,
as we all celebrated our accomplishments that night with chocolate.

Day 13: Aliso School Botanic Butterfly Cafe

12 mile Ride to Aliso School in Carpinteria from
Santa Barbara.

Our last day in the Santa Barbara area, we rode to
12 miles to Aliso Elementary school where we were greeting
with smiling faces and welcome signs. More compost games and
lots of time to revamp their butterfly garden with 6th grade
classes. When we left the garden it was filled with colorful
butterfly-attracting flowers, plants, and energy. Good times and
great teamwork! Another 15 miles led us to Emma Woods campgrounds.

We also got the privilege to sit in on a lecture given by the
wonderful Peggy O'Neill, a tiny speaker with a HUGE message.
We lovedher talk on celebrating diversity. She certainly
inspired us! Check out her website at:
http://www.yopeggy.com/