Aug 17, 2003 By Jackie Beranek 5 min read

MELCROFT – Twenty-one members of Bike-Aid, sponsored by Global Exchange of San Francisco, Calif., passed through this area last week and helped members of the Mountain Watershed Association reseed the Max B. Nobel Mine Drainage Remediation Site in Melcroft. Riders participating in this summer’s Bike-Aid, a long-distance bike ride that started in Seattle, Wash., on June 15 and ends in Washington, D.C., have been involved in community building, social activism and education, according to a Global Exchange spokeswoman.

Riders get pledges to raise funds to cover the costs of the ride and support Global Exchange programs.

“The aim of the partner ride program is to provide a unique opportunity for international and domestic participants to share the work they are doing in their own communities, while also making links with community organizations across the United States to share knowledge and build partnerships and alliances,” said Kien Chou, Bike-Aid coordinator.

“This summer, bikers experienced a long-distance bike ride as a vehicle to make links between oil and war and the effects on global communities, while promoting alternatives such as biking and other energies,” continued Chou.

Chou said the bikers have met with local organizations to learn about local issues and have helped out in communities at least once a week during the summer.

“On their rest days, they have helped with local service projects wherever they were at the time,” said Chou. “They are very environmentally interested and involved in our earth.”

Beverly Braverman, Mountain Watershed Association executive director, said she wasn’t sure how the bikers learned about her environmental group, but said she was happy to have their help.

“Apparently, someone referred Global Exchange to our web site,” said Braverman. “They called, and once we found out their issue was with consuming fossil fuels, we thought this would be a great way to exchange ideas.”

Braverman said the bike riders, age 17-40 helped to reseed one side of the treatment system at the Max B. Nobel site that has not been successfully reseeded.

“We have reseeded it at least three times, without success,” said Braverman. “This time, we decided to get real heavy mulch and we limed and fertilized the land prior to the bikers’ arrival.”

Braverman said GEO textile mats were also used.

“The bikers unrolled the mats on the banks, which was a big job,” said Braverman “considering that the mats were 10 feet wide and 100 feet long. After the volunteers rolled out the mats, they also staked them down.”

For their efforts, the Mountain Watershed Association treated the bikers to dinner at the association’s home on Route 711. The dinner consisted of chicken, fruit, vegetables, potato salad, a vegetarian dish, a sandwich tray, cookies, pie and drinks, in addition to movies about the environment and land reclamation.

The bikers were guests of the Mountain Pines Resort, where they rested and washed their clothes.

Kristen Petroshius, a first-year biker from Madison, Wis., said the ride has been easy for her.

“I was really surprised that the ride has been this easy,” said Petroshius, who helped start a cooperative vegetarian restaurant in her hometown.

“I guess, after the first week or two, your body just gets used to traveling between 35 and 150 miles a day,” she continued. “Since I really didn’t have much practice, I tried to stretch every day to take care of myself.”

Petroshius said what she missed the most was her boyfriend.

Biker Chad Hassett, a teacher from Indiana, who would like to bicycle around the world, said Marcia Rickey of Florida hated Indiana because she had an accident coming down a big hill.

“She cut her leg open, so I’m pretty sure that was her worst state,” Hassett said, with a laugh. “The EMT’s had to scoop her up off the road and bandage her up.”

Yuichi Asai of Japan said his hardest ride was in Washington.

“Going through the mountains almost every day was probably the hardest for me,” said Asai.

“This is the first time I have done anything like this, and it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

A student at the University of New York at Buffalo, Asai’s dream is to make a radio program in Japan to discuss Japanese customs, politics, and economy from the prospective of youths.

He said what he missed the most was speaking Japanese, so Braverman obliged Asai by speaking in his language.

Manuel Rosaldo of California said he has enjoyed the camaraderie on the road.

“This is a long bike ride, considering we will have traveled 3,600 miles,” said Rosaldo.

“The hardest thing about the trip was crossing over Bear Tooth Pass in Yosemite National Park. It’s a 1,200-foot pass, with snow at the top.”

Rosaldo, who lives in California and lived in Mexico a year before attending college at Wesleyan University, Connecticut, said he is planning to return to the Bay area after Bike-Aid.

“I think what I have enjoyed the most on this trip is learning from the communities that we have passed through,” said Rosaldo.

“I have thought a lot about America’s oil dependency. Just being on the bike for so long has made me think about how much my own life is dependent on oil consumption, from the transportation that I use to the fuel I use to heat my house.”

Rosaldo did admit, however, that it would be really difficult to travel without fuel.

“I’ve been thinking on this trip that when I get back to the Bay area, I’m going to spend some more time outside because I would like to deepen my connection with the environment in this country,” said Rosaldo.

Rosaldo, who graduated from college in May, received a degree in literature, history and philosophy from the Wesleyan University.

All four riders said that they will miss their new friends when Bike-Aid ends today in Washington, D.C.

Chou said the bike riders would lobby Congress about issues they encountered on the ride, prior to resuming their normal lives.