David Kroodsma - The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000-Mile Ride for the Climate

THE BICYCLE DIARIES
my 21,000-mile ride
for the climate

Published by RFC Press at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 David Kroodsma

ISBN 978-0-9914616-0-8
eISBN 978-0-9914616-2-2

All photographs by David Kroodsma except where noted.
All maps by John Kelly.
Author photograph by Lindsey Fransen.

Cover and interior design by Erin Seaward-Hiatt.
Edited by Kirsten Janene-Nelson.

In memory of two family members
who made this trip possible:

Linda Dill Parker,
for her unquestioning support,

&

Rolf Bae,
for his enduring inspiration.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The following story is a true account of my seventeen-monthbike trip through Latin America, as recounted from notes, photographs,video, and memory. The people in it are real, although a few names havebeen changed, and I claim any inaccuracies as my own. With the exceptionof the Honduras and El Salvador chapters, the narrative followsthe order in which events occurred in real life. (I biked across part ofHonduras, then El Salvador, and then part of Honduras again, but thenarrative presents all of Honduras first.)

I wrote and revised this chronicle over a five-year period, duringwhich numerous people, providing feedback and support, have helpedshape the book before you. To start off, after I returned from my tripa number of friends and family hosted me while I pulled together thefirst draft. Thank you to Tom and Lauren Hunt, who hosted me thelongest; you were great fun to live with. My parents let me stay withthem for a few months as well, during which time they only occasionallysuggested I get a real job. A few friends in Colorado also offeredcouches and inflatable mattresses: Judd Boomhower, Michele Minihaneand Bryan Palimintier, Martha Roberts, and Kate and Eric Tribbett,and Mike Whitaker. And Wilma and Tony Bass and Abby Falikhosted me for a time in San Francisco. Thank you all!

A special thanks goes to my writers group. In 2008, my friend JillPatton (then Jill Redhage) got six friends together to meet once everyother week to improve our writing. Little did Jill know this would meanthe groups rotating members would have to read many versions of eachof my chapters, including the early not-very-good drafts. The best wayto improve ones work is through feedback, and honest feedback is thebest. Thank you to Jill Patton, Adam Abeles, Rebecca Beyer, AmeliaHansen, Julia Jackson, Amber Johnson, Hannah Naughton, SarahShulman, and Eric Simons. Also, a number of friends read the entiretext and gave suggestions, including Lex Beyer, Louis Eisenberg, StephGreene, Tom Hunt, Ian Monroe, Matt Oglander, and Emma Wendt.My sister and brother-in-law, Kenda Kroodsma and Greg Oates, providedfeedback and support for many chapters in the book. And thanksto my father, Donald Kroodsma, who provided a thoughtful edit afterencouraging me to write this in the first place. And of course to mymother, Melissa Kroodsma, who helped me to finish the narrative.

Thank you to my scientific reviewers, who read some or all of the text:Dr. Chris Doughty, Dr. Alyson Kenward, Dr. Michael Mastrandrea, andDr. Lisa Moore. Also, thank you to Latin American Studies professor Dr.Patrick Iber, who reviewed sections to make sure I didnt say anything tooembarrassing about Latin America. Again, any scientific or factual errors inthe text should be attributed to me, not to my reviewers.

I funded the editing and design of this book through Kickstarter,and a number of people made extremely generous contributions to helpthis book go to press. The most generous include:

My friend John Kelly, a former professional cyclist, created themaps. Editor Polly Rosenwaike read through an earlier version of themanuscript and provided an extensive list of suggestions that greatlyimproved the text. For the final heavy lifting I worked with editorKirsten Janene-Nelson, who improved the flow on every page of thisbook and helped see me through countless details and decisions. If youfind the narrative easy to read, you can credit her. Holly Cooper provideda thorough proofread, checking every word of this text and catchinga number of items I would have never seen in a thousand years. Mydesigner Erin Seaward-Hiatt developed both the cover and interior.And Michelle Lee designed the current form of RideforClimate.com.

I was fortunate to join an excellent team for Ride for Climate USA.Following my ride to Tierra del Fuego, I crossed the U.S. with Bill Bradlee,an advocate who organized this second leg of my journey. Countless peoplehelped with outreach for this portion, but a key group of volunteers put inan incredible amount of work to help us reach a wider audience. Thankyou to Melissa Borsting, Alan Duke, Angella Holmes, Jennifer Molfetta,Nicky Phear, and Martha Roberts. Thanks to them we shared our messagewith far more people than we could have reached on our own.

Thanks go to our sponsors: Tarptent provided Bill and me with greattents. I cant recommend Tarptent highly enough for lightweighttravelI was continually amazed that my spacious, comfortable shelter packweighed less than two pounds. Chaco sent me some sandals when I wasin Central America, and I wore them across much of the rest of LatinAmerica. Greenerprinter provided Ride for Climate USAs printedmaterial. Clif Bar provided us with an unending supply of Clif Bars for ourjourney across the U.S. by mailing us a box of bars to every other state. AndMarmot supplied us with incredible clothing and sleeping bagsand thendid so again when I went to Copenhagen in 2009, ensuring that I keptwarm through the Danish winter.

And thank you to Lindsey, who read the manuscript more than once,has lived with me as I finished it, and has given me the next great adventurein life. (Lindsey and I will be spending much of 2014 riding acrossAsia.)

Finally, there are also the countless men, women, and childrenwho made this trip possibleespecially the more than one hundredpeople who let me stay in or behind their home over my two-yearexpedition, and the nearly forty fire stations who offered mea bed. And I was helped in so many other ways. More often thannot I could not believe my luck in this journeyit often felt likeinteresting people hosted me just so Id have a better story to share.Whether it was an ex-president in Guatemala, a petroleum engineerin Venezuela, or a firefighter in Peru, it was a pleasureand aneducationto meet everyone. It was all those I met on my travels whoinspired me to write this book; for this I am forever in their debt.