Claire and Cristhian in Quito on bicycle con los jovenes de Sol de Primavera

The Tour and the Objective

On this trans-national bike tour, we will travel more than 5,000 miles (8,046+ km) from Santiago, Chile to Quito, Ecuador (and possibly beyond). This tour is not just a personal challenge for us, but will also be educational and open to many more people to be involved in various ways. We will stop at NGOs, bike activist organizations and environmentally focused community groups along the way to interview, investigate, give presentations and share information on the movement for the bicycle as alternative transportation. We wish to exchange ideas and stories about climate change and the movements that have formed to address its root causes (such as car culture, industrial agrigulture, consumer culture and colonialism).

Our goal is to do research and collect stories on bike cultures and movements in order disperse them and help the cross-fertilization of various movements by creating resources of information and promoting networking between towns, cities and countries.

We will have a focus on the bicycle as a cheap, accessible, autonomous and environmentally-friendly form of transportation and sport that can be one tangible and practical way to help mitigate climate change. We will be exploring the ways in which we can get more people riding—especially women and other people who aren’t encouraged to ride and have less access to bikes—in order to increase the quality of life for all and promote climate justice.

En este tour transnacional vamos a pedalear en bici más de 5,000 millas (8,046 Km.) desde Santiago, Chile hasta Quito, Ecuador (y quizás más allá). Este tour no es solo un reto personal para nosotros, es educativo y abierto a mucha mas gente para que pueda unirse al proyecto de diferentes maneras. Vamos a ir a ONGs, organizaciones de bici activistas y organizaciones comunitarias ambientalistas a lo largo de viaje para entrevistar, investigar, dar exposiciones y compartir información sobre el movimiento de la bicicleta como transporte alternativo. Querremos compartir ideas e historias sobre el cambio climático y los movimientos que se han formado para luchar contra las razones fundamentales (como la cultura del auto, agricultura industrial, la cultura de consumismo y colonialismo).

Nuestro objetivo es hacer investigaciones y recolectar historias sobre culturas y movimientos de la bici para que podamos dispersarlos y ayudar la cruz-polinización de varios movimientos, creando un recurso de información y promover redes entre pueblos, ciudades y países.

Vamos a tener un enfoque en la bicicleta como una forma de transporte, deporte económico, accesible, autónomo y ambientalista, que puede ser una manera tangible y practica para mitigar el cambio climático. Vamos a explorar las maneras en que podemos tener más gente pedaleando, especialmente mujeres y gente marginalizada, para aumentar la calidad de vida para todas y todos y promoviendo la justicia climática.

martes, 24 de julio de 2007

Looking for Donations!

We are now doing outreach and looking for donations so that this project can happen!

This winter, in collaboration with many bike advocacy and environmental justice groups, myself and Cristhian Cuaces from Quito, Ecuador, will be doing a transnational bike tour this winter which will begin at a bike culture festival in Santiago, Chile (http://www.bicicultura.cl//) and will end in Quito, Ecuador, or perhaps beyond. This tour will be an educational tour where we will stop at schools and give presentations about the themes of climate change, biking as alternative transportation and environmental justice. In addition, we will be collecting stories, tactics and strategies of bike movements in all the cities we visit in order to share information to promote the bike movement in other cities in the world. We will be constantly up-dating our web-site with information we collect from bike movements, and we will be creating a final presentation which we will bring back to MN and the bike organizations here in order to bring the information full circle.

We are paying for this project out of pocket and although we are working very hard to achieve this, we still are in desperate need of donations of any kind—be it bike parts, equipment or cash. If you have any bike stuff lying around you are not using, please consider collaborating with us on this project and donating it.
Thanks so much!!

What’s still needed:

For a Ger model “15”—

1. A crank ... comparable to the Shimano Deore with 44-32-22T
2. The Octalink Bottom Bracket or something comparable (splined mount, shell width 68/73mm, spindle length 113, 118m, that’s compatible with Deore crank)
3. Deore deruelleur or comparable (9sp)
4. Deore 9-sp cassette or comparable
5. Deore Hub, preferably 36 hole or comparable...both front and rear
6. Stem (comparable to http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=73 )
7. Pedals (preferably flip-flop regular and SPD)

Other gear:

8. Multi-tool
9. A pair of Continental traveler's tires or other super flat resistant, semi-treaded tires
10. Tools (fiber spoke, mini cassette remover, etc)
11. Bike shoes (SPDs) (about size 8.5 women’s, sandals would be great or sneaker-looking breathable shoes).
12. Pair of Front water-proof panniers, rear waterproof panniers
13. Spare 26" tubes, tires and ATB brake pads
14. MTB Fenders
15. Bike gloves (medium)
16. Bike shorts (large women’s and/or small men’s)
17. A set of sturdy but light double-walled 26" wheels
18. sunglasses
19. good frame pump
20. other biking clothing (light-weight, wicking) and rain gear

Non-bike related, but still *very* needed:
• A video camera
• A digital photo camera (preferably that can take videos)
• A camp stove (that's compatible with gas you can get at a gas station, as in a Whisperlite International)
• A 2-person light-weight tent with a separate fly
• 2 light-weight sleeping bags (for temperate and hot climates)

Also needed:
Cash donations to help us eat, take buses when necessary, medical supplies, etc… Please visit our web-site to donate or send to: Claire Stoscheck/207 W. Clinton St./Ithaca, NY 14850

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