The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.independentfreepress.com Rick Bonnette ........ 7 Sports ...11, 12, 19 Calendar ...... 16, 17 Directory ............... 17 Classifieds ... 18, 19 50 Cents (+ GST) Circulation: 22,800 ON THE RECORD Halton libraries team up to launch Digital Newspaper Archive PAGE 9 READERS' CHOICE Look inside for our readers' selection of favourite businesses 20-PAGE SECTION 52 Pages Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS By LISA TALLYN Staff Writer Georgetown native Kate Harris, and Melissa Yule, formerly of Erin, are back on their bicycles again, this time cycling the Silk Road to explore wilderness conservation across borders. Throughout 2011, Harris and Yule, both young wilderness conservationists, are riding nearly 13,000 km through the mountains and vast deserts that span the Silk Rd. between Istanbul and northern India. Along the way they are applying their academic training in biology, earth sciences, TUESDAY, January 25, 2011 Local woman, pal take on gruelling Silk Road by bicycle conservation and sustainable development to investigate the natural and social impacts of existing and proposed Transboundary Protected Areas (TBPA). This is their second journey along the Silk Rd. Back in 2006 Harris and Yule spent four months biking along an abridged section of the route through Xinjiang and Tibet in western China. Their plan for this trip is to finish cycling the Silk Road they left untravelled. The goals of the ride are to research and raise awareness about the importance of conSee PAIR, pg. 3 Too cold for outside recess Like students all over town, Halton Hills Christian School Senior Kindergarten student Emma Kitchen, 5, kept a watch on the thermometer as they had to spend some recesses inside Monday, due to the cold temperatures. The mercury dipped to -20C overnight Sunday, causing everyone to bundle up. Photo by Ted Brown Melissa Yule, (left) formerly of Erin, and Georgetown native Kate Harris intend to ride 13,000 km across the Silk Road from Istanbul to northern India this year. Submitted photo $ZDUGV FRPH VWDQGDUG ZLWK HYHU\ PRGHO 7e HANDLE ALL INSURANCE work. $&+,//(6 0$='$ 2I 0LOWRQ 6WHHOHV $YH 0LOWRQ 21 /7 ; Vi s i t o u r s h o w r o o m ZZZDFKLOOHVPD]GDFD LQIR#DFKLOOHVPD]GDFD 3KRQH 3KRQH 7 R O O I U H H )D[ · your window & door professionals · sTruck Accessories s5PHOLSTEry s(Eavy %QUIPMENT 'LASS s7INDow 4INTING 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca · awarded readers choice 14 times · (905) 873-1655