First Ecuador Adventures LESS Than One Month!

Loyal Draftees,

At 7am on June 21st 2013, the first Ecuador Adventure  "Into the Tropics, Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas" will depart the city of Quito.  Volunteers will load into a van with backpacks and bikes and head up the winding road into the high sierra.  Once we hit a altitude where air is thin, the bikes will be unloaded and we will begin our Pedal venture.

Three guides, eight volunteers and one support vehicle will then descend into the tropics down an incredible dirt road that will take us through waterfalls and cloud forests.  The route is one of the most incredible descents in Ecuador that very few people know.

After six hours on our saddles, we will arrive to a unique indigenous community.   Men of this ethnic group are distinguishable because they wear an elaborate hair decoration by shaving the sides of their heads and shaping the top part into a seed-like feature that is colored red.  

Volunteers will spend two nights in the community working on reforestation projects and learning about the unique customs of this indigenous group.  

This is only one of our 4 adventures!  Just one week after our first adventure begins, our 2nd "Into the Cloud Forst, Mindo Lindo" will depart!  We have an entire summer chalk full of adventures.  Check them out and be sure to sign up before you lose your spot.  And remember...You can always catch our draft at www.pedalforchange.org!

Putting Ecuador on the Map! Bike Style…

There is absolutely no doubt that Ecuador is on the pro-bikers radar as some of the most epic single-track downhill trails in the world.  Bike Magazine journalists, Brice Minnigh,  and a group of pro riders headed down to Ecuador to check out the scene.  Within the group, Wade Simmions, known as the godfather of freeride mountain biking, ripped up the trails with a group of locals known as the cockroaches. 

“We had come to this country to experience the astonishing range of ecosystems--from glacial Andean volcanoes and high-altitude deserts to lush rain forests—and of course, to shred some of South America’s sickest singletrack,” explains Minnigh.   As the group explored the country north to south,  the locals (and I would like to include myself in this category) grew ever more hopeful and confident that Ecuador will become a model of bike adventure and activism. 

PEDAL is right on board with the bike pros.  We have created four epic short bike expeditions that do not only explore some of the most incredible landscapes in Ecuador, but pairs cycling with once in a lifetime cross-cultural experience.  Through community service, Pedal expedition members work and live within small rural societies.  We believe that if Ecuador is giving us these amazing opportunities to explore it’s rich scenery, then the least we can do is give back.  

Imagine descending from high Andean volcanoes through cloud forests, banana plantations and the spray of waterfalls to end your day eating dinner with the indigenous Tsachilas community.  After a night’s rest in the village, you wake up with your group to work on planting community gardens to help keep the village sustainable.  We do what the pros do, but add a touch more!

Check out our expedtions at:

 http://www.pedalforchange.org/expeditions/ecuadorweekendexperiences.php

We have added bike maps of every route we plan to explore.  For maps, just scroll down to the bottom of the page of the expedition that you are checking out.  For example:

http://www.pedalforchange.org/expeditions/santodomingodecolorado.php

The Ingredients for Happiness

What makes you happy?  A question that many seek to understand and fulfill.  However, is there a universal answer?  Can we actually tap into the qualities that fill people’s lives with joy?  Absolutely!  I have recently watched a documentary entitled “Happy” that explores these very questions.  Based on research, this documentary delves into people’s lives across the world to discover the ingredients for happiness.

The documentary takes viewers on a journey from the bayous of Lousiana to the deserts of Namibia.  Brazilians, Japanesse, Northern Europeans and Indians are featured in the film.  Exploring the secrets behind this valued emotion, the researchers discover that our extrinsic values or goals such as money, image and status seem to be misinterpreted qualities of happiness.  In fact, these goals do not make up the ingredients of happiness at all.  Those of us who are dedicated to personal growth, relationships and our desire to help are the happiest.  Our interdependence with each other and nature create circumstances to be sublimely happy.  Amsterdam, statistically one of the most happy cities in the world, has more community living options than many other cities.  CO-OPS are very common and several locals choose to live where meals, common areas and recreation is shared among all the residents.   Researchers have linked high quality of life with communal living. 

As I watched the documentary, I realized that the intrinsic goals that people set for themselves are PEDAL’s very own principles.  The three intrinsic goals are 1) Personal Growth, 2) Developing relationships with others and 3) Desire to help.  If what makes people happy align with PEDAL For Change’s mission and principles, I would say that we are off to a pretty good start.  Through our adventures, PEDAL has come to believe that sharing, living simply, and being sustainable will be more environmentally friendly and will substantially affect people’s happiness.  Participating in group activities, sharing bicycle adventures, and living and working in foreign communities are all the ingredients mentioned on the list.  As I sit down and ponder our goals and mission, I am amazed how everything seems to be connected and that what is good for our earth is also good for us.  

Get Rollin!

Dear Draftees,

We've heard you loud and clear.  You want to know what the heck is going on!  The newsletters were just not cuttin it.

 Well my loyal draftees, you have asked, and we will deliver.  We are starting this new blog to keep you in the loop about each and every step involved in getting wheels on the road.  Not only do we want to inform you, but we want to hear your feedback.  As a team, we take action to make things happen.   So lets put the tire on fire and get rollin!

                                 

First order of business, we have updated our website www.pedalforchange.org .  You will be able to read about our upcoming bike expeditions in Ecuador at http://www.pedalforchange.org/expeditions/ecuadorweekendexperiences.php

We have some really amazing adventures planned so please be sure to check it out.  

Second, I would like to welcome Carlos Martinez and Jon Abarca to the PEDAL team.  Carlos, from Quito, Ecuador, is an expert tour bike guide that has worked for a number of years in many different provinces.  His knowledge about ecology of Ecuador is outstanding and his close relationships with different indigenous groups in the area, is a blessing.  We are psyched to have him on our team.

Carlos Martinez (Top) Lynz Coon (Right) and Rayna Weiss (Left)

Jon Abarca grew up in New York City and has been living in Ecuador for the past 6 years.   Due to his Euadorian blood, Jon left New York, came to Quito and has not been able to turn back.   A bike advocate, Jon has agreed to become our program overseerer in Ecuador.  We are so lucky to have him.

   

Jon Abarca