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What is JustPedal.org?
JustPedal.org was created to inform folks about upcoming bike rides for good causes. We would all like to live in a just and sustainable world where future generations can grow up healthy and happy. One of the ways we can do that is to ride a bike. It does not create greenhouse gasses. It takes very little resource extraction to create and maintain a bicycle. Plus, when you ride one, you can't help but get this big goofy grin on your face.
Couple the happy goodness riding a bike creates for our mother (earth) with using it as transportation to do something worthwhile, like helping people who have been trampled by capitalists and you have a real winner. Bringing justice to the world takes hard work and some sacrifices by all of us. It is easy to get in a car and drive somewhere to help someone less fortunate than yourself. But does it help in the big scheme of things if that means you need to use gas, oil, steel, plastic, and lots of coal to do it? Does showing someone how to use an electric toaster give them bread? Or does it show them how to drain the life from the earth for a few crumbs that will not be there when their children grow up?
JustPedal.org was created to help us all find a new way to live. The power running the server that this site is hosted on was generated using wind and solar power. It is a good start. We are trying! And we realize that our computer, though it is the greenest on the market, has a ways to go. We are challenged by the hypocritical nature of our lives and understand that there is no pure form of resistance, but pedaling is a great move in the right direction.
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Who are the "No Coal" pedalers?
The "No Coal" pedalers are a group of punny bikers who were not able to make the trip up to Black Mesa for too many years in a row because their school schedules were always in conflict with the timing of the Thanksgiving Gathering. They don't like Peabody Coal. They do like justice. They like to help people at a grassroots level! They have been a thorn in the side of various governmental organizations for many years and would rather be riding a bike than sitting in the horrible traffic on Milton.
The "No Coal" pedalers would love to help find a way to create a sustainable society and do everything they can to reduce the size of their footprint on this beautiful planet. They actually find it fun to ride a bike in the rain and snow. They are not alone in this. They feel affinity with the people fighting to stop all kinds of corporate nastiness such as mountain top removal in Appalachia, spraying sewer water on the San Francisco peaks, or abject human slavery created by "free trade". They know that riding a bike makes a big difference.
But that's not the only reason they ride a bike. They also just simply love the mother (earth). Getting out in the woods and communing with nature is one fabulous way to spend a day. If you feel the same way and want to help make justice in the world, then you should join the "No Coal" pedalers too! Riding a bike up to Black Mesa and spending a Christmas without capitalism just might be the best thing you ever did. Plus it will help out some people who have been adversely affected by colonialism and the consumer culture it has spawned.
