By Kelly Louiseize
Remember when bike passengers were toted around on the handlebars? It doesn’t happen often in Canada, but elsewhere in this world it is a common sight.
Well, Jim Hilsinger wants to take as many people on his 108 day cycling journey as he possibly can in support of reducing carbon emissions.
It takes a certain kind of person to leave the comforts of home and brave the high winds, frigid temperatures and the aching body that will accompany him on his 11,000 kilometre cycling journey from Istanbul, Turkey to Beijing, China.
Call him a bit eccentric. Call him downright nuts. Regardless, Hilsinger, owner of Algoma’s Water Tower Inn is riding out of passion for the sport and for the environment.
The trek will take him through Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China; though deserts, mountain ranges and natural geological depressions - all in the name of global warming.
The challenge is to obtain enough pledges to save a total of 11,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions; one tonne for every kilometres traveled.
It starts with one’s own positive carbon footprint that prompts others to consider their own contribution, he says.
The route he has chosen is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it is downright grueling, pulling himself up the Pamir Mountains, pacing his cadence through the Gobi Desert and catching a reprieve on the downhills.
But he does it for the accomplishment at the end of the ride, the camaraderie shared amongst the fellow cyclists who see one another through the pain and pleasure and for his “green” contribution.
This is not a new mantra for Hilsinger. He has always been conscious of the environment impacts.
He has gone to great lengths to reduce energy by installing new lighting systems at the hotel, and uses salts instead of chlorine in the indoor pool and outdoor whirlpool.
When society deemed smoking acceptable, Hilsinger was one of the few boycotting drugstores that sold cigarettes. In the lobby of his hotel stood a cigarette vending machine with a sign reading revenue from the machine goes toward the Canadian Cancer Society.
He was the one who bought acres of land around Trout Lake to limit the amount the development. Instead of no trespassing signs the markers read “Hikers welcome -Hunting prohibited.”
Now he is halfway through his journey, peddling his way into China at the foothills of Sari Tash. He spends his nights on a floor mattress with six others in a room to keep warm. In the morning he awakes cold and greets his snow-covered bike with the rest of the hard core riders. He finds comfort in a dilapidated shack during lunch, a place of refuge from the strong, icy winds.
It’s a bone chilling decent down a 2,700 metre, rock infested mountain where his knuckles have become numb and sore from using the brakes so often.
“Very slow and very tough on the hands,” he states in his trip blog, which can be read on
www.youbetican.com
.
If he can ride 11,000 kilometres, the challenge for others will be to figuratively hop on his handlebars by making a personal pledge toward reducing emissions.
To put this into perspective,reducing 11,000 tonnes of CO2 is equivalent to taking 2,200 cars off the road for one year. Although it is a noble cause and a huge achievement there are other ways to reduce emissions. Replacing showerheads with low flow models, using cold instead of hot water for laundry or turning the thermostat down in the water heater tank make a significant difference.
“Collectively, we can generate a positive environmental impact that will hopefully inspire others in our community and around the world to do the same,” Hilsinger states.
The Sault Ste. Marie City Council has passed a resolution to have Hilsinger’s project replace previous endorsements of the One-Tonne Challenge, which is now defunct.
www.youbetican.com
