Traffic in Vancouver, like most growing cities, is getting pretty intense. Combine that with rising fuel prices, and extreme suburb commuting, and you get some nasty driving attitudes and road rage. Serving humanity and the greater whole is a key element to finding purpose in ones life. I know an old man whose apparent purpose is to help reduce the stress of the car commuter. He’s the old man at the corner of the Hwy 1 on-ramp at Hastings St. in Vancouver.

You can choose to let the old man put a smile on your face, or choose to look down upon him, and ignore him, like many do with homeless people and beggers. When passing him one direction there is no light so I just whiz by, but he always makes eye contact while waving the peace sign; coming the other way, there’s a light, at that point I see him with his broom and dustpan sweeping the curb trash and debris, I see him smiling and waving, and only when signaled by a driver does he come to the window to accept tips. The times I have signaled him, he comes along with his reflective vest on, and shares a joke that always brings a smile to my face; job done.

I started thinking about street people, and that they probably have one of the smallest carbon footprints in western societies. In a culture that values material wealth more than anything, it might be hard for them to be content with the few, if any, possessions they have. However many world travelers often remark that the happiest people they see are the ones in cultures where there is little material wealth. When I was in Peru filming for Kranked 3, we came across a small village, everyone was gathered around the fire, and they invited us over to join. They lived in little huts, no electricity or plumbing, but they weren’t embarrassed, they gave us nothing but welcoming smiles and great hospitality, and there was this unforgettable feeling of calm contentment and connectiveness. In a documentary I just watched called “Ten Questions with the Dalai Lama”, he suggested that the more you have materially, the more you have to worry about; I can certainly see the truth in that.

Back to commuting, a more sustainable method with enormous benefits on so many levels is by way of bike. Now for someone who does more riding at work than to work, I can’t be too preachy, but the times I do choose to take the bike for errands and meetings around town, everything seems better. Hopefully you don’t live too far off in the suburbs, but if the distance is within riding reach, give it a go! Careful though with your bike commuting ego, as Eckhart Tolle said in an interview I recently read, “A cyclist might have a bigger ego than the man in the SUV, especially if he hates the man in the SUV for polluting the planet and thinks he’s superior.”

Cycling is indeed an important part of the solution to climate change, especially as our savings account of oil dwindles. There is still some debate regarding climate change, but it’s hard to argue with the consensus of 2500 scientists on the intergovernmental panel on climate change, chances are they may know better than your neighbor Joe. In an audio interview I heard with author Karen Armstrong, she said “and I don’t think we’ll save the planet if we don’t’ dismantle these habits of selfishness, even with the environment, not just jumping in to a car every time we feel like it, realizing that we can’t just drive anywhere, we can’t go on poisoning the atmosphere like this, our grandchildren are going to curse us.”

The One Planet Two Wheels campaign tells us that 60% of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively. 24% of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40% of all trips are made within two miles of the home, and 50% of the working population commutes five miles or less to work.

Carpooling has been an important initiative in many big cities, but increasing the number of multi passenger trips has proved difficult. A recent study illuminated the reason why; turns out that because of the fast paced modern lifestyle, the car commute is the only time individuals have to themselves! If you go by way of the bicycle you still get that personal reflective time, you save the planet, and always get to the top of the climb first on the weekend mountain bike ride. Sounds like an extraordinary deal to me!

Ride ON!!

By the time this article goes to print, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour will have shown the special edit of my segment from Kranked 6, “Trial and Error”, to over 100,000 people. In this film I share my instinctual feelings of concern when seeing or thinking about clear cutting a forest.

I often show this video at my school presentations, and while on tour up in Northern BC where forestry supports a large chunk of the population, I began feeling a little sheepish about showing it, as I certainly am no expert on the topic. In the film I reference the particular zone of forest where my trail is built, “this is one of the last remaining sections of mid elevation old growth on the BC coast, and it’s slated for clear cut.” Then one of the analogies I make in the film is that “it seems to me that clear cutting is exactly like a crash, and they’ve done it time and time again, and perhaps haven’t learned from their mistakes.” I didn’t want to insult those in BC that base their livelihood on the industry and give them a bad reputation from my generalizing statements. Perhaps they have learned, and perhaps there are some ecologically sound logging practices in effect.

I needed to find out some more information, so while up in Northern BC I had the opportunity to chat with Dawn Stronstad R.P.F. who is a Planning Forester in Burns Lake, also an avid mountain biker with the BLMBA. She shared her own personal feelings on the topic of clear cutting. She gave me a brief history of logging in Canada, and acknowledges that there have been many mistakes along the way. But long gone are the days of the cut & run without looking back (this is happening in South America right now), and she believes that BC has learned from their mistakes. British Columbia has some of the most stringent logging laws in the world, and if a logging company hadn’t morally been doing the right thing in the past, they are now contractually and lawfully obligated to.

It is hard to complain about clear cutting when we as the consumer hold so much power. When we’re out at the store and buy something with a big cardboard box, we are really saying “please, please cut down that tree so I can have this nice packaging again”, then we grab a newspaper with a ‘coffee to go’ on the way home and what we are really saying to the logging companies is “oh and while you’re at it, cut down that tree beside the first one”.

Dawn told me that there are some areas that should not have been clear cut in the past, and portions of these areas are slow to recover or have reduced potential for re-growth, she thinks for the most part, these sites have recovered, but some areas not as quickly; but if done properly, clear cutting can be a reasonable forest management system. In fact, many foresters are amazed at the recovery capacity of Nature to bounce back; old growth is of course another story. The ironic thing about our disgust with clear cuts in BC is that it is along the coast where the most incredible old growth occurs, so the act of clear cutting is the most damaging and yet most of  us live on the largest and most permanent clear cut in BC, Vancouver.

I was fortunate enough to hear a speech by the young Simon Jackson, who has lobbied for the protection of the endangered Spirit Bear in BC. Great steps have been taken to secure 2/3 of this creatures habitat as protected, but another 1/3 is still open for potential logging; the government is aware and lobbyists are hopeful for full protection. I also heard Bill Clinton speak recently, and his Clinton Climate Initiative is anxious about the rapid deforestation of rainforests, especially in South America, this is where some unprecedented devastation is happening, far greater than anything we have ever seen in BC (the Amazon loses about 60,000 square kilometers a year), and being global citizens, these acts effect us just as much as if it was our own backyard, so perhaps this is where our lobbying efforts and expertise need to be focused now? It’s a complicated topic with so many different views, opinions, and motivations.

All I know is that the trees we do have deserve some respect, so next time you’re out shredding the trails, make sure you do some tree hugging!

Ryan

 

 

Many often miss a very important and joyous part of riding. Whether you’re racing your friends up or down the hill, annoyed at your bike because it’s not running smooth, maybe you’re stressed about something at work, or busy worrying about that stunt ahead and the one you biffed a few minutes ago, who knows, but it results in missing out on this gift, yes, that present moment when you can truly experience Nature. It’s the fleeting experience of being in Nature, not doing in nature.

 

This is similar to yoga, the most important part of the practice isn’t that crazy balance posture you pulled, it’s savasana, or corpse pose as it’s often called. So when you’re out on your next ride in the woods, take a second to feel the power of Nature, experience the presence of the trees or the desert rock, feel the wind or rain hitting your face, and just be, if only for a few moments. In the past I have been in some of the most incredible natural settings and not truly realized, recognized, or appreciated it; perhaps I took it for granted.

 

A large majority of the population takes the environment for granted, and it is because of this unfortunate view that most environmental degradation and exploitation occurs. We live as though the planet provides a never-ending supply of resources that can be manipulated for financial profit and enjoyment. That has to change. As David Suzuki once said “with six billion of us now shuffling up to nature’s buffet, the “all you can eat” sign will have to come down soon or those at the back of the line – the next generation – will be left with nothing but Jell-O salad.”

 

So the importance of these moments in Nature can be great, especially if riding is the only time you have that is free from the demands of the modern, fast-paced lifestyle. It’s in these moments of being that provide a certain perspective otherwise unavailable to the incessantly thinking mind; this following quote from Joseph Campbell is a great analogy of what I’m trying to say, “what if you worked your whole life climbing the ladder, and finally saw the view at the top and discovered you had leant it up against the wrong wall”. Why not let those mountain bike rides give you a glimpse of the view along the way; all you have to do is take a moment to look.

 

Just a few weeks ago, I was out practicing. I rode hard for about an hour, working on a few new moves, and jumping on everything in sight. It was a warm afternoon, the sun was out for the first time in a while; so I found some grass under a tree at the park, took my helmet off, sat down facing the sun, and just sat there soaking up the spring-like rays and letting my winter thoughts melt away. Not sure how long I was there, but I have to say it was the most important part of the ride. Conversely, I went on a night ride with a bike shop group last Fall, and they proceeded to race for two and half hours, trying to hit as many trails as possible; what I would have given for a few moments to stop, catch my breath, and gaze up at the night sky. For animals have the capacity to know, but it’s only humans that have the capacity to know they know; this is called consciousness, and it is something that we need to develop individually and then spread around.

 

Once a true relationship with Nature is realized it becomes very difficult to purposefully (or unconsciously) harm it. Now I don’t mean a kind of one-way relationship such as the “love” for nature because it provides you with endless powder snow and vertical, no. When you truly connect with Nature there is a certain respect, awe, and sense of responsibility that goes along with it. I can’t think of a better time and place to experience this connection than on a ride, how about you?

 

In 2000, Carey Hart put it out there when he attempted the holey grail of FMX, the back flip; now it’s in every pro’s trickbook. Just a few short years ago Darren Berrecloth put it out there with some huge 360 drops; now it’s standard practice in any slopestyle comp. Audacious individuals are often the ones responsible for progression in alternative sport. Another example of this same concept would be Al Gore and his environmental activism; all the scientific data was there, but he put it out there that action must to be taken; David Suzuki in Canada is doing the same thing.

People like this start a trickle of action, then maybe a small stream depending on the importance or demand; and if the idea or trend is worthy, a raging river. Now of course we could get by with just a small trickle of people doing 360 drops, the hospitals couldn’t handle much more, but we do need a raging river of people being environmentally responsible. I guess my motive for this new series of articles on bicycle ecology is to help divert a few more of those random trickles of water in to a desperately needed raging river.

To get a little more scientific, Everett Rogers from Stanford did some extensive research on the diffusion of innovation (trends). First are the innovators, as mentioned above, then come the early adopters, which make up 15% of the population, they seek the new and have a higher tolerance for experimentation; this might be where you find the competitors of Hart and Barrecloth, or those following the recommendations of Gore or Suzuki. Then all of a sudden a bright idea will metastasize and spread rapidly through the next group called the early majority (35%). All those young groms sessioning the dirt jumps after school in hopes of being the next big name may be in this group. The next batch according to Rogers research, which spanned some 50 years and targeted over 500 major trends, is called the late adopters (35%). The remaining 15% are the laggards, they are off the back and tend to be on their own program. So just as good tricks spread rapidly through the population of capable riders, so will environmental responsibility for everyone, but I don’t think it has quite hit home for most people.

When I’m learning a new trick or technique, I have to practice it over and over and over. When I need to update or modify a technique, it takes even more effort and dedication. Is the reward worth it? The satisfaction of nailing a new move clean is amazing, totally worth all those failed attempts and practice. A large part of the solution to global warming will be like modifying an old trick, in other words we have to change our habits! Will the reward be worth the effort?

The mountain bike world seems full of coffee drinkers, am I right? Now I’m more of a tea guy although I do love a good java here and there, but anyway, I personally drink two cups of tea a day. One of my recent road trips lasted 75 days, so that’s about 150 cups that didn’t end up in a landfill because I managed to create a habit of bringing my re-usable mug with me. To help solidify this habit, I would often punish myself from caffeine if I forgot my to-go mug. A bit crazy yes, but it worked, caffeine is a strong motivator!

There seems to be disconnect between understanding a problem like global warming and actually acting on that knowledge, in future articles, I’ll explore this further. But for now,  consider this, it is said that if insects disappeared from our planet life would cease in five years, but if humans disappeared from this planet life would flourish in five years. Yes, we have some work to do. So can we put in the effort toward this critical goal of a sustainable world? Can we change our habits and inspire others to do the same? Can we put it out there? Well I have to agree with the charismatic words of Barack Obama, “Yes We Can!”

Stay tuned for future BikEcology articles on all sorts of green topics. Check out my blog at ryanleech.com for more.