Today I held a launch for Pedal for the Planet and my ride south, down the Alaska Highway, to join the rest of the team heading east in Edmonton. We gathered together 50 people in Rotary Peace Park in downtown Whitehorse, including the Yukon’s MP, Larry Bagnell, and Senoir Science Advisor, Ian Church. CBC radio interviewed me in a broadcast that happened earlier in the day, as did the Yukon News for an article that will come out next week – it feels great to start getting the word out about this campaign!
We had several speeches, a homemade banner, and buttons to hand out to the crowd with slogans like: “Kyotoplus“, “Pedal for the Planet”, “Go Malkolm!”, and “the Yukon to Ottawa by bike 4 climate change U-turn”. The crowd and I did a ceremonial ride around the park and then I stopped at the Yukon River to fill a small vial which I will carry with me throughout my 5500 km journey. It’s fantastic to have my hometown behind me for this journey.
It’s time now to get ready for my sister’s wedding, which happens tomorrow, and then bright and early on Sunday morning I hit the road, the first rider in Canada to begin Pedal for the Planet!