A Reason to Ride: Climate Rider Mary Tucker Explains Why She is Riding for WABA and Climate Change

Climate Ride NYC-DC (May 13-17, 2011) is quickly filling up but there’s still a chance to join the ride.  It’s down to the final 15 spots for the NYC-DC ride.   If you’ve been on the fence, Mary Tucker, devoted member and inspiring rider has offered her story below to motivate and inspire.

I attended college and lived in Washington DC for 17 years before leaving in 1996 to continue my career in Los Angeles. I was always a recreational cyclist and missed the beautiful trails Washington offered. My career led me to Amsterdam, NL where I not only deepened my love of recreational cycling but also was introduced to the practicality of cycling as transportation. I vowed upon return to the US I would continue to enjoy cycling while replacing the use of my car (or at least minimizing it) as best I could in a city that engaged in active support of the like-minded. To my delight I returned to Washington DC to find a vibrant city with a growing cyclist community, commuting to and from work, running errands, using bike lanes (having bike lanes!), filling bike shops. I’m very proud of DC for taking bicycling into consideration when planning city improvements. Bicycling is among the most sustainable activity we can do.  More education and outreach is necessary to promote cycling as a mechanism of change to  make the air we breath cleaner, reduce  C02 emissions and minimizing the blanket effect around our world.  That’s why I’ve joined the Climate Ride in May – to show my support of cycling as a transportation choice and an environmental solution.   I’ve chosen WABA as my sole benefactor of this ride because WABA cares about Washington DC and the proliferation of cycling as a lifestyle.  WABA actively engages communities around the region with outreach programs not only introducing the benefits of cycling but inspiring and educating responsible cycling. I want to do my part to help WABA with any funding necessary to keep this worthy effort going.

Mary Tucker’s personal fund raising page. According to a recent email, the Climate Ride is ahead of schedule for registration (nice!), so be sure to secure your spot ASAP!   This might be the most important thing you will do all year and for future generations. Please join the one and only charitable ride to support sustainable solutions and better bicycling!