В Колумбии велосипедист завершает одиночный марафон ради климата, а студентка запускает экологический клуб

COLUMBIA — Sixteen years ago, 53-year-old Connecticut native and resident Dennis Desmarais stumbled across a magazine article talking about the “Climate Ride.” He’s been taking the annual trek ever since. On Sept. 11, he will embark on a solo, 1,000-mile ride over the course of a week which will conclude in Columbia. The Climate Ride is a nonprofit organization that helps raise money for groups focused on climate action and sustainability. To do this, they organize various bicycling, hiking and running events throughout the nation. After seven to eight years of participating in group rides. Desmarais wanted to do more to increase his impact. He decided to do independent rides instead. “I plan everything on my own, am riding on my own, have to deal with all the mishaps on my own,” Desmarais said. “That has allowed me to greatly increase my fundraising over the years.” All money that Desmarais raises will go toward the Sierra Club, where he volunteered since he was young. The club is the longest-standing environmental organization in the U.S., dating back to the 1890s, according to its website. “Being able to ride my bike and help them, that makes it even better,” Desmarais said. ‘A celebratory ride’ This year, Desmarais has raised over $15,000 towards his goal of $16,000. But his ride in September is special beyond the fundraising — he and his wife, Lisa, are sharing their 25th wedding anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, she will be joining him for 25 extra miles a day on their tandem bike after he completes his initial solo miles. Their route will take them through three national parks: New River Gorge, Mammoth Cave, and the Great Smoky Mountains before arriving in Columbia. “A lot of times on my climate ride, there’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the environment, but I wanted to make this ride more of a celebratory ride,” Desmarais said. Ending in Columbia is fitting because the city is working on projects designed to address extreme summer heat and flooding, according to the couple. These are the types of action their climate ride aims to support, Desmarais said. According to Desmarais, the primary reason they are concluding their ride in Columbia is to be with their oldest daughter Allison, who is a student at the University of South Carolina. She founded Cocky’s Cleanup Crew, an organization at the university dedicated to protecting the environment. Cocky’s Cleanup Crew Allison Desmarais, a senior at the University of South Carolina studying Russian and environmental studies, founded Cocky’s Cleanup Crew because she wanted to give back to the community. The idea came from an English 101 course she took during her freshman year, where she was tasked with creating something for an assignment, she said. Being influenced by her parents, she decided to create a club from scratch focused on trash pickups around Columbia. Since it was founded three years ago, it has grown to over 100 members. “I hear a lot that (students) either show up because it’s a service point where they just need to get credits hours for something, and then they keep coming back,” Allison said. Though her club makes an impact through smaller actions, Allison hopes its legacy can be inspiring others to protect their climate. “I think small actions really spark community, really form a group of people who want to take it a step further and spread these ideas at a collegiate level,” she said. Staying motivated Dennis Desmarais has had numerous low points during his rides over the years, including mechanical problems and dangerous road conditions. What keeps him motivated is knowing that his ride will have an impact, he said. Now that technology has improved as well, people can follow along with his ride and send supportive messages, he said. “When you’re out in the middle of nowhere and you’ve been riding for 10 hours and it’s really bad weather, it’s a nice little boost of energy when someone sends you that message,” Dennis said. Another motivation for him comes from climate-based decisions out of Washington D.C. and the White House. For Dennis, turning on the news to hear about some of these decisions is very disheartening. He doesn’t want to sit on the sidelines and feel bad about what is happening. He wants to do what he can to take action. “I’m a pretty good cyclist,” Dennis said. “I’ve taken something that I am reasonably good at and I’m trying to use that as a way to build awareness and raise money.” He hopes his ride will inspire others to take action and do what they can to protect the world around them: “Don’t look at my ride and say, ‘Well, I can’t ride 1,000 miles, so I can’t do anything.’” Dennis said. “Think to yourself, ‘Well, what can I do that’s special and how can I apply that and make a difference?’”