Greetings from Rachel!

Hi, All,

Since Toni last wrote, MUCH has happened. I am riding SF to NYC with my good friend, Owen Gorman, an incredible young man who’s doing a bicycle advocacy project of his own–raising awareness about the Safe Routes to School Program. Check his project out, too.

We are geared up, our route is planned, and we’ve been doing some training here in Los Angeles, including two fully-loaded over-nighters.

The gear: This is Owen’s list. Mine includes ~30 menstrual cups generously donated by DivaCup (figure courtesy of Owen Gorman).

The route: forgive the quality of the image–we’re working on making it “zoomable”, but this is the gist! (courtesy Owen Gorman)

Owen and I on a training ride to Henninger Flats–including a 1400 ft climb over 3 miles. (Photo credit: Kent Strumpell).

As you may deduce from the fact that all the computer images are made by Owen, I am what some might call “technologically challenged” as in, I don’t fully understand what a hashtag is, and I’m still figuring out how the heck Twitter works. But! Alas, given that I am jazzed, stoked, and pumped about doing this project across the country, I am putting effort into entering the 21st century…check out the Twitter account I made! We will be ‘tweet tweeting’ along the way.

Sustainable Cycles has got a couple of events already planned!

• Friday, April 26. 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Berkeley Free Clinic: Sustainable Cycles 101: shifting gears from single-use menstrual products. 
• Friday, April 26 at party o’clock in Emeryville: Owen and Rachel’s Bike Eleganza Extravaganza. i.e. Our goodbye party! As it’s at the residence of a friend, please email for details: sustainablecycles101@gmail.com.
• Saturday, April 27. 1:30 pm at UC Berkeley: Owen and I are presenting at the California Student Sustainability Coalition’s Convergence, though it requires pre-registration…

Fundraising wise, the cup is more than half full! (pun absolutely intended). With a goal of $2000, we’ve raised $1600! Thank you to all those who have contributed!

The timeline:

• Owen and Rachel drive to SF on Tuesday (4/23).
• Owen and Rachel DAY 1 to Davis: Sunday (4/28).

We are pumped, we are excited, we are enjoying our beds for the last few nights! Over and out.