Cars, buses and the occasional motorcycle are nothing unique to the student lineup of transportation. But this Saturday, students will ditch their vehicles and opt for wheels of a different sort.
Two bike rides starting at College Green and finishing at Tailgreat Park across from Peden Stadium will comprise this Saturday’s Moving Planet Day, a worldwide event focused on reaching climate solution.
“It’s basically just to get people on bikes. I know people who drive a quarter of a mile to campus. Kind of stupid,” said Katsu Tanda, owner and manager of Team Athens Cycling.
Tanda, who races an average of 40 to 50 days each year, began training with Team Athens Cycling from its inception four years ago and will be riding Saturday with his team.
Mary Leciejeweski, an outreach graduate assistant working at the Office of Sustainability, confirmed that 170 countries are hosting similar events Saturday.
“[This event] is really our chance to show Ohio how much Athens is doing,” Leciejeweski said. “We might be small, but we’re sustainable.”
President of the Sierra Student Coalition Camille Scott, who is a sophomore studying linguistic anthropology, will be speaking about Beyond Coal, a Sierra Club initiative.
Moving Planet Day will also include two walks, beginning at the farmer’s market and at the Ohio Ecohouse, said Teryn Wolfe, a senior studying Latin American Environmental Studies and Spanish, who has worked with the Office of Sustainability to plan and promote the event.
Wolfe said the main goal of the event is to educate the community and make it a positive experience.
“There are so many buzz words around ‘be green’ that it’s losing meaning,” Wolfe said. “For me, this was a really good opportunity to connect our community completely.”
Village Bakery and Fluff Bakery & Catering will be donating food for the event, which begins its first ride at 10 a.m.
“You can be passive or you can be active about creating change,” Leciejeweski said. “I’m trying to be a part of that positive change.”
