Northport Biker Makes Cross Country Trek

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By Julia Limmer
info@longislandergroup.com

Travelling 3,700 miles from New York City to Seattle is easy, right? Most people would take the six-hour plane ride with their only struggles being airport security and jet lag. Not Northport native Cheryl Davies. Since May 29, she has been travelling across the country with nothing but her bicycle, a few personal possessions, and a pack of as many as 48 others from across the globe who are doing the same.

Davies and her boyfriend Rob Greenfield, a man known for his extravagant projects to help Mother Earth, had the idea for Green Riders, a group of bikers that would travel across the country doing good deeds as they went and leaving as little waste behind as possible.

There were around 11 planned projects set across the country where the Green Riders would come and plant fruit trees or a community garden. They also do other good deeds such as picking up trash or donating items they found on the road.

“Each place that we pass through will be left a slightly better place than we found it,” says the group’s Facebook page.

Davies said that the goal of Green Riders is “basically beautifying the land.” While on the road she and the other riders live simply by camping, using her own dishes and utensils, using reusable containers when buying food in bulk, and at some points dumpster diving for food. “We “rescue” good food that is going to waste for our own consumption and for others in need,” she said. “This also keeps our food budget low.”

The group faces an obviously difficult task. The riders have to deal with bike problems, flat tires, road rash, hard falls, wind, heat, and other extreme weather conditions.  But they persevere.

“I’m doing this journey to challenge myself. To see how far I could go by bicycle and to prove how much I don’t need a car to get around,” Davies said. “By doing something so challenging, it makes small positive environmental changes seem easier.”

Davies’ favorite day of biking was in early Aug. at Glacier National Park in Montana. She biked along Going to the Sun road and viewed countless waterfalls and the gorgeous scenery.

After the trip is completed, the environmentally friendly power couple plan to move to Orlando in the winter and build themselves a “tiny house.” Greenfield has experience with such things as he lived in a 50 square foot tiny house in San Diego where he collected rainwater, grew his food or bought in bulk so there was little waste, and utilized composting techniques. The plan is to build the house on their own, including a compost toilet and sustainable rainwater harvesting system in its design.

For more information on the Green Riders, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GreenRidersUSA/photos/

For more information on what you can do to reduce waste in your life and better the Earth, visit Greenfield’s website: http://robgreenfield.tv/