Cyclists take 3,300-mile ride starting in Florida for climate awareness

While most casual cyclists would balk at the idea of traveling more than 30 or 40 miles in a day by bike, one woman is making a three-month trek on two wheels from Miami to Montreal, spreading awareness about climate change along the way.

Heather Noreen, who was born in Wisconsin but has spent most of her adult years raising her five children in Europe, first got the spark to start her nonprofit, Climate Tours, in 2017 when she and her kids traveled by bike to Amsterdam on a family vacation.

“The kids absolutely loved it. We spent a lot of time together without screens,” she said. “That’s when I decided that I wanted to change jobs. I wanted to do something to get people to understand that this is a really fun way to travel. It’s good for the environment and us.”

The 48-year-old nonprofit founder and workshop facilitator is joined by her son, 24-year-old Alexander Bronte, on the 3,300-mile trek using Gazelle electric bikes. Along the way, Noreen is stopping in 21 cities to host workshops and card games such as 2tonnes, Food Collage, Mobility Collage and Climate Fresk, designed to educate participants about the science behind climate change.

“There’s a study that says that 70% of Americans know that climate change exists. Only 40% think that one day it will impact them,” she said. “The cards share this common knowledge base with everyone.”

During a four-day stop in Orlando, Noreen met with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, IDEAS For Us, University of Central Florida students and others to host workshops that help people better understand our human impact on the planet and how to take action.

“The first thing to do is figure out how we contribute to climate change. I tell people they should calculate their carbon footprint,” she said, mentioning the number of online calculators that help with this task. “From that, you decide to do something and start with one thing and try to make it the most impactful thing. It could be eating less meat. It could be working from home an extra day or deciding to get a smaller car, or taking your bike.”

Noreen said the critical mass and social “tipping point” needed to create a more sustainable future is what motivates her to keep going. Just the visibility of the bikes on this Climate Tour helps start the conversation with strangers she and her son encounter on the street.

“People don’t get it at all. They’re like, ‘So you’re putting your bike on your car?’ I tell them that I’m biking there,” she said. “Sometimes they walk away and then come back, ‘Wait, you’re going to Montreal from here?’”

Follow along with Climate Tours on Facebook, on Instagram or on climatetours.org.