July 7: Day of Many Lakes

It was the day of the big Live Earth concert and we didn’t have a chance to see it. :( Thank goodness for YouTube. I hope our direct activities will have a bigger impact than if we just sat at home and watched it. Still, the world’s biggest ever concert event probably attracted a lot of viewers who remain ignorant or complacent about global warming so it can have a massive impact overall but only if we continue to talk about the issues and demand action.

Our ride today was both more and less pleasant than the past couple of days. The temperature was noticeably lower and there was less wind and the blue sky and water were stunning but we were on busy Highway 97 with lots of noise and fumes. We had some good company from solidarity riders from Kelowna who came out to meet us including 6 year old Ben who did 50K on a trail-a-bike.

In Kelowna, some of us gratefully accepted an offer of showers and coffee from Grant. Then we had a great event at the Environmental Education Centre of the Okanagan (EECO) with decorated bikes on parade (in a sign of our growing bond many bikes were formally christened with names like Flower Power, Big Red, and Energizer Bunny) then a fantastic potluck and speeches about local efforts to go greener from Mayor Sharon Shepherd and Robert Dixon (of the Okanagan Greens’ Local Food for Local Schools program).