ride from D.C. to here

By Steve Shay

With sweat on their foreheads and smiles of relief on their faces six Sealth High School students and an 80-pound fourth-grader from Gatewood completed their 5492-mile bicycle ride on Earth Day, April 22. They rolled into the high school right on schedule, 3 p.m. sharp, surrounded by well-wishers, a marching band, and television cameras.

The 23-day trip called "An Inconvenient Ride" started in Washington D.C. March 31. Adult chaperones from Sealth in a van accompanied them to make the ride a bit more convenient. Riders rotated, each pedaling one hour per day. The young athletes were routed through over 76 cities and towns, including Raleigh, N.C., Santa Fe, N.M., and Tucson, A.Z.

Many communities en route had signed Mayor Greg Nickels' Climate Action Now Initiative. Part of the riders' commitment involved speaking to mayors and media along the way about climate change and the initiative.

"I spoke to each rider one-on-one and they felt good about the whole mission, the tie-in to Earth Day and accomplishing something for the greater good," said Chief Sealth principal John Boyd. "When they arrived they seemed tired, but euphoric to be home."

The team included Sealth students "Ally" Stariha, Arielle Washington, Jacob Kenny, Justin Marshall, Tyrone Hall-Deal, and Tim Vincent.

Then there was fourth-grader Sydney Fuller.

"She was a real bright light," Boyd said.

Sealth teacher Gary Thomsen and students masterminded the two-wheeled mission.

It all started with the tree-planting event at Pelly Place Ravine near Lincoln Park last September 19. Thomsen said.

"My students and I continued to talk about environmental projects."

He liked that the Pelly project included Gatewood Elementary and Sealth students as well as adults.

"Involving the inter-generational community like we did at Pelly was important to us," said Thomsen who prefers to ride his bicycle in the woods and avoid urban congestion.

Stariha's grandmother, Laurie, greeted her at Sealth when she arrived.

"We stayed in touch by phone and e-mail," said Laurie. The ride brought back memories as she recalled her own bicycle trip to Europe in years past.

"These students saw what some only read in books," Thomsen said. "They learned cultural diversity. As soon as we left Alexandria, Va., they couldn't understand what people were saying because of their southern accents."

About 200 of their fans joined the bicyclists who continued on from Sealth to a Benaroya Hall reception and fundraiser to persuade 5000 area students to each plant a tree in parks and green spaces.

For more information, go to: www.inconvenientride.com.