Joining the EarthQuakers

After a harrowing 4 a.m. departure and 45 miles of biking in intense heat, I met up with the EarthQuaker Bike Trip outside of Philadelphia. I was exhausted!

But as soon as I arrived, we circled for prayer, and set out on another 23 miles of biking. I feel completely unprepared for the athleticism of this 7-month cross-country undertaking. But at least the EarthQuaker Bike Trip is a comparatively easy way to start.

This year’s nine-day, 275-mile trip from Philadelphia to Johnstown, Pa. is the pilot year for the program. Thought up by Quaker Earthcare Witness, an organization of environmentally conscious Friends, the bike trip seeks to reduce the carbon impact of long-distance travel. In addition, the group will educate Quaker meetings and others it meets along the way in ecologically sound eating and transportation habits.

Here we are in prayer:

From the left, there’s Rebecca Mitchell of Pennsylvania, Kristina Keefe-Perry of Massachusetts, Carl Magruder of California, Bill Holcombe of Connecticut, John Lavin of Pennsylvania, Michael Moulton of Pennsylvania, me, and some lady who didn’t go on the trip.

I was totally spent after the hilly trip, and almost capsized in the cemetery of Downingtown Monthly Meeting:

We spent the night at a potluck to raise money for Amnar, a 17-year-old Iraqi refugee that the meeting is supporting. I wanted to ask him questions, but he was quite shy, and is probably bothered all of the time by well-meaning, but nebby, Quakers.

So I put up my tent and passed out among the headstones.