“WHOOOAAAA!!”… the unmistakable, unabashed howl of getting airborne on my bike, flying through the crisp air and feeling like I suddenly grew wings the size of an albatross!  THUD.  That would be the jolting sound of my body slamming into the dirt and reality setting in as I realize neither my bike or I have wings of any sort and the log I was trying to huck over had attacked me and pitched me into the terra firma.  Dragging myself up from a rather pretzel-like position, I look up and catch the highly amused expression on my partner Dave’s face…and then the Geico reptile blows by us both on a tricycle.

All true with the exception of actually seeing the famous car insurance critter on wheels.  That’s only partially true because it happened in a dream I had last night.  I woke up from this unique reverie with an intense desire to head out for a long, grueling ride on the trails (sans the Geico charger), and it couldn’t happen fast enough.  Oh wait!  This little thing called ‘LIFE’ with its day to day responsibilities, challenges, and ceaseless to-do lists must take precedence over my insatiable thirst to pedal myself silly for several hours.

I opened the bedroom curtains and saw another beautiful day had begun in Santa Cruz with cerulean blue skies, the temperature hovering around 65 degrees, and a refreshing light breeze carrying a mildly salty scent from the nearby sea.  Despite the fact that I had budgets, resumes, chores, and the always harrowing task of figuring how to stretch one paycheck to the next on my mind, all I wanted to do was RIDE.  My mind drifted to the last time I embarked upon a major pedal that literally left me writhing on the pavement  with every muscle in my body on fire; the Demo Forest in Aptos, CA.

At the top of Demo with friends, anticipating the descent!

Demo is brutal.  Elevation Gain/Loss +4,568/-4,439…sweet single-track trails and some epic technical sections but the climbing is truly diabolical in my humble opinion.  Dave was preparing me for this ride for weeks, and I worked for it though in the end I realized I could have pushed myself a bit harder.  No, I am not a masochist.  Anyway…it’s incredibly beautiful up there (literally in the middle of nowhere), almost otherworldly.  The color green played itself out in a million personalities, from neon to lush and darkly mysterious.  How I noticed this while I was dripping with sweat, mumbling incoherently to myself, and questioning what I did to deserve such suffering, I’m not sure.

The agonizing ascension was well worth it.  Pedaling downhill, carving through epic berms, and hauling my bike into the air beneath me made me forget about the trials and tribulations of everyday life.  I was in the thick of it, enjoying the total mind-body-spirit connection with nature that’s unlike anything else.

My daydreaming ceased right there when my cell phone began to vibrate annoyingly against my leg.  I knew I didn’t have the time to do a Demo-type ride so I handled my necessary tasks, hopped on my bike, and rode a couple miles out from my house to West Cliff Drive (one of the most visually stunning roads in northern California, with ocean views that humble your heart and calm your soul).

West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz

My point?  Getting out of the proverbial box and enjoying the fresh air is a necessity.  You don’t always have to show your appreciation for nature by zooming at breakneck speed down a steep trail (or surfing a wave big enough to topple the Empire State Building) because sometimes mixing it up and slowing down allows you time to really notice the beauty that surrounds you.   When you take time to notice it, you begin to love it, and when you love it you conserve and protect it.

This Saturday is Make A Difference Day.  If you can’t make it Saturday join us Sunday at Nisene Marks State park (on the south side of Demo Forest) from 9:30 to 2 pm. Think about what you love about nature, and sign up for a project this weekend.  “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” –Winston Churchill

Contributed by Shawna Peak

“Everyone I know loves the ocean.  I mean the capital “L” kind of LOVE, the Love that’s unfathomable and ineffable, a fusion of respect, understanding, awe, sensuality and mystery”.  His words are profoundly moving, and I remembered them immediately as I spotted him walking up to our table during the orientation phase of the International Annual Coastal Cleanup Day.  Dave and I were serving as volunteer co-captains for Davenport Main Beach, it was early though certainly not ‘bright’ (the famous California coastal fog had clearly decided to park itself directly on top of us before dissipating a few hours later to reveal another glorious day), and of the 36 wonderful volunteers, there stood Dr. Wallace J Nichols.  J is one of the world’s most recognized marine biologists with a passion for sea turtles and he leads marine conservation efforts globally, so it was a real honor to have him join our team, and what a team it turned out to be!  J was accompanied by his beautiful daughters Grayce and Julia, and his lovely niece Ruby Hoy (she came all the way from Martha’s Vineyard just in time to help clean up the big mess on our beloved beach!).

J and I in tidier times

Folks of every age, gender, and background arrived as the sun was rising behind the veil of fog, ready to make a difference, folks that feel what J calls that capital “L” kind of love for the sea.  A large group of enthusiastic boy scouts showed up first and not a one of those young men considered picking up trash to be ‘gross’ or without merit.  Their excitement was palpable and even though they were all quite young, they appeared fully cognizant of the fact that volunteers are truly the glue that binds a community together and that their mission that misty morning was of monumental importance.  Everyone jumped into action and the results were disturbing in terms of how much trash littered our iconic coastline, yet we all came away with the feeling that we made a real difference for the denizens of the sea that we all have come to “Love”.  Let us also remember what the ocean gives back to us, over 50% of the oxygen we breathe (thank you, phytoplankton…the beautiful plants of the sea)!

Most of our volunteers were Scouts!

Davenport Main Beach – 233 lbs of trash; 141 lbs of recyclables

Cell phone!?

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary – 16,800 total lbs of pollution

3,500 volunteers!

I once heard somebody say that volunteers don’t get paid, not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.  I believe volunteers are paid in 6 figures: S-M-I-L-E-S!!   Dave and I met many amazing people and we were all stoked to be a part of the largest volunteer effort in the world.  Hundreds of thousands of sea birds, marine mammals, sea turtles, and other species that call the ocean home will benefit from these efforts.  Each and every one of us can make a significant difference.  As Mother Teresa once said, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is but a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop”.

Our beach, our motivation

850 sites were cleaned, California’s largest volunteer effort to date!  Looking at the bigger picture, it really is about so much more than picking up trash.  It’s a chance for Californians to join like-minded people everywhere in expressing that “Love” for our oceans and waterways.  It’s a few hours to share with our families, neighbors, sporting pals, and fellow inspired stewards from all walks of life, coming together to accomplish something paramount and noble on behalf of our environment.

Dave and I, in situ…

Contributed by Shawna Peak – Naturalist

The WHAT??  Imagine being on your mountain bike, navigating a burly single-track at breakneck speeds throughout a beautiful redwood forest with one of your fellow nature/cycling enthusiasts.  You both carve through several big berms, huck over a few logs, and heckle each other incessantly when one comes off and executes a hilariously epic faceplant.  Halfway through your breathless ride through one of the earth’s most astoundingly glorious environments, you both encounter something that makes you slam on the brakes and come to a dead stop…THWACK!  That’s the sound of both jaws hitting the ground when you both see the ridiculously gargantuan pile of plastic bottles, garbage bags, plastic candy wrappers, and those ubiquitous red party cups heaped directly in the middle of the trail.

Unfortunately, this is a true story.   Last year Dave and I happened upon a mountainous pile of what was mostly single-use plastic while riding a very popular Santa Cruz trail.  We both felt initial despair because we simply didn’t have the capacity to haul it all away with us on our bikes, not to mention the sadness we both felt at encountering such a ghastly sight in such a stunning natural environment.  What would the eco-effective enviro-athlete do?  We both took out our phones and took pictures which we later loaded up on the computer and we formulated a plan as to how to address this issue and prevent it from happening again.  Whenever we see trash on the trails, we pick it up.  I’ve seen Dave, who pedals like the Tasmanian devil on crank, screech to rapidly scary stops mid-ride simply to grab that plastic bottle somebody thoughtlessly tossed on the ground and stuff it in his backpack.  THAT, my friends, is an eco-effective enviro-athlete!  He’ll do the same thing while windsurfing (honestly, if he saw a plastic water bottle floating by the dorsal fin of a white shark I still think he’d sail right on over and pluck it out of the water while deadpanning  “hey dude, this doesn’t belong here” to the curious toothy creature).  Ok, perhaps I am getting a bit carried away here but my point is that being an enviro-athlete takes dedication and a genuine passion not only for the sports that we love, but for the health and productivity of the natural world that we are engaging with.

Shawna after a muddy spill on the bike!

What’s encouraging is that this movement is catching on.  Pro volleyball players, surfers, cyclists, runners, swimmers, etc are speaking up by the thousands in support of local beach clean-ups, trail maintenance, and numerous conservation efforts all over the world.  If we are going to enjoy the bounty of nature as athletes, it’s our personal responsibility to make sure we take care not to contribute to the global pollution problem.  Our actions can also have a profound effect on the up and coming generation of young athletes, and we have a wonderful opportunity at this pivotal point to serve as their mentors.

Some people ask “why should I care”?  Imagine a philosophical crab, perched on its several hundred million year track record of success, disdainfully reviewing our history…and thinking the same of us.

The power of one is potent.  Every superlative idea started with one individual and turned into a vast collective effort.  Next time you are leaping over obstacles on your bike, paddling out into the sea on your board, or hiking through the woods, stop and take a moment to breathe deeply and relish in the gift we have been given.  After that moment of silence if you happen to look around and spot something like the infamous plastic bottle, pick it up and take it with you for proper disposal.  It doesn’t belong there.  YOU do.    “The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.