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The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 8, 2003 - 9 O T grad is now an Herban Warrior (Continued from page 1) H a l t o n S e a r c h . c k in reduction of pollution caused by the automobile. "I'm hoping to motivate people to reduce pollution and ease traffic prob lems by parking the car at home one day a week and using more environmentally-friendly transportation to get to work, such as cycling, car pooling and taking public transit. That would go a long way to meet our goal set in the Kyota agreement to cut energy use by 20 per cent." Etherington. who has created a Web site, www.herbanwarriors.com, to pro mote his cross-Canada tour, is also ask ing people to sign his petition asking the federal government to commit $100 million in annual federal funding to municipalities to "make cycling and walking safer" through new infrastruc ture development. For exam ple, in Vancouver, the Central Valley Greenway, a 22-kilome tre paved bike path that links the city with New Westminster, serves as the ideal alternative to cycling over the Petillo Bridge which doesn't have a safe bicycle lane, said Etherington. Through Herban Warriors, Etherington is prom oting BEST Better Environm entally Sound Transportation (www.best.bc.ca), an organization formed 10 years ago to promote environmentally-friendly and active transportation such as walking and cycling. "Cities are built for the automobile, and a lot more people would walk and cycle if they could. If companies had bike racks and amenities such as show ers, more people would feel encouraged to cycle to work if they could shower and change their clothes. "I'm also asking, in my petition found on the Web site, that all new transportation projects that receive fed eral funding reserve at least seven per cent of their budget to active transporta tion such as building cycling lanes and sidewalks on bridges so people have a choice to use active transportation." In addition, he is soliciting donations on his Web site. Etherington makes a point o f telling people about Herban W arriors and BEST. "I'm handing out business cards everywhere I go, to everybody I meet." His Trek 520 touring bike is loaded with camping and cooking gear plus a mini stove, extra clothing and water. "This bike is built for comfort, not speed." Etherington is keeping his costs low by camping most nights. Every stop to pick up supplies or to have his bike checked gives him an opportunity to explain his mission. "I've had people invite me to their place for dinner and sleep overnight," he said of the reaction he's received. Etherington is averaging 150 kilo metres per day - 22 kilometres per hour. "My longest day was 305 kilometres in Saskatchewan. I had a real good tail wind and I was doing 27 kilometres an hour." "Winnipeg was absolutely spectacu lar with lots of hills." The trip around Lake Superior was equally beautiful, he added. Overall, the trip has been far from boring. "I saw a bear - a big black bear - at the side of the road between Revelstoke and Golden in British Columbia, in Rogers Pass. It was a little.bit scary." " I'm hoping to motivate people to reduce pollution and ease traffic problems by parking the car at home one day a week and using more environmentally-friendly transportation to get to work, such as cycling, car pooling and taking public transit." · Mike Etherington Etherington went by the bear slowly, taking pictures of it. "When I had gone 50 to 60 feet past it, the bear start ed walking behind me along the road, so I decided to high tail it out of there as fast as I could." He's had to replace the chain once and repair four flats before reaching Thunder Bay. "Between Fort Frances and Atikokan (in northern Ontario) I ran out of water." Etherington misjudged the distance between the two towns and didn't realize he needed more water until it was too late. "I discovered that Kenora. Fort Frances, Atikokan and Thunder Bay are all about 120 kilometres apart. "I take a lot of back roads," he explained, "be cause there's less traffic and it's safer. "I had a few close calls with trucks on the Trans Canada - 99 per cent of them will give you space, but the odd one scared the heck out o f me. West of Winnipeg, the Trans Canada has no shoul ders, just gravel. I had to ride on the edge of the road." For Etherington, this is his second cycling marathon. His first was a 2,000-mile 42-day trek last year - 33 days o f cycling with nine days rest - from Vancouver to Mexico, with side trips in California. "That trip inspired me to do this one." Once back home in Vancouver, Etherington plans to start what he described as "green bicycle tours" with bicycles as the `support vehicles' to carry extra gear required for longer trips. w h e n y o u d r o p - o ff a re a ru g s · Residential & commercial carpet & upholstery cleaning · In-plant cleaning of all oriental fine area rugs New Location Opening June 1,2002 At 1446 Wallace Rd. Oakville, On l£ w M N 'liM | Im tn' SdNtiN k DiamondW witt'^VDwwowlW w u K T j m m AW ARDS