full charge

Thus, in the summer of 2010, I will embark on FULL CHARGE!, a bicycle ride promoting the controlled transition alternative energy (Alt-E) and alternative transport (Alt-T). I anticipate riding for three months and for over two thousand miles.

I have a threefold task: construct a bike effectively demonstrating Alt-E, ride around the country on it to demonstrate Alt-T, and in doing so connect with as many people as possible using my bike as a performance platform.

What sparked this?

I've always been interested in bicycle touring. I gone on several major tours, the largest being a 1300-mile solo ride from San Francisco, CA to Gunnison, CO. I went over Tioga Pass through Yosemite, the endless sage and Joshua emptiness of Nevada, through red Zion, Bryce Canyon, and winding through Capitol Reef and Arches in Utah. I finished up coming through Durango, Red Mountain pass, and Blue Mesa Reservoir as the first snows began to fall, at almost eight thousand feet. All told, it was stunningly beautiful, and I yearn for it again.

For all the peaceful loneliness of the American West, I longed to stay in contact, to be able to listen to music, to write a note to my parents or friends from the road. In planning for my next tour, I began looking at purchasing, and then building solar chargers for electronic devices.

Round about this time, I began working for a bike shop called Rock the Bike (www.rockthebike.com) in Berkeley, CA. What drew me to them was their manifest desire to promote bike culture - entertaining with, socializing on, and making art from of a bike. The head of the shop, Paul Freedman, aka Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper, built the Choprical Fish from the ground up - a completely custom full-function party bike, an explosion of bike culture potential realized. With a 400 Watt sound system, it is a ride-leading, human-powered mobile movement. Though I do not aspire to such great heights, it certainly stretched my limits for what i believed was possible on a bike.

I began the slow process of upgrading my bike. I added a Xtracycle longtail (www.xtracycle.com) to my Cannondale touring frame. I built, and started using the Down Low Glow, a pimp-my-ride ground effects light. I made deliveries on my Xtracycle and the Mundo cargo bike, got groceries, carried my girlfriend around. I saw the swirling energy of Critical Mass. I participated in human power events.

Around that time as well, the price of gas shot up to four bucks a gallon, and the economy took a nosedive. All of us worry. I began to wonder what I could do about it. Most Americans, when faced with the oppressive energy crunch and impending ecological crisis, can see the value in switching to alternative power sources such as solar and wind, and cheap transport options like a bike, a skateboard, or walking. Locked as we are into this economy of Ancient Sun, it may seem difficult to imagine anything else. But we are a people of intense dreams, and in our waking hours we realize them.

This formidable energy barrier must be overcome to create a new energy currency. However, voluntary change may come too slowly to avoid catastrophic involuntary change. Catastrophe, in the form of further economic or environmental collapse, is avoidable. But it will not be averted. So to speed up voluntary rate and control our transition to viable energy, we must lower that barrier and inspire people, their businesses, and the government to make personal change in their lives. And we must all play our role.