For the Press
GRASSROUTES CARAVAN
Media Contact: Thistle Pettersen
tel. Thistle 608 316 5822
Website: www.grassroutescaravan.org
On May 5th, the Grassroutes Caravan will hold its annual Kick-Off celebration in Madison for this year's Cycles of Revolution Ride to Chicago for the NATO/G8 protests May 19th-21st. The Grassroutes Caravan is a mobile village of bicycle riders going the distance to different locations around the Midwest every spring or summer since 2008. Cyclists comes from around the country to join together in Madison for the annual big ride.
This year's Cycles of Revolution Ride is a nearly 200 mile trek to the NATO/G8 protests in Chicago. On their way to the protests, Cycles of Revolution Ride participants will offer their community service in exchange for places to stay along the route and a Grassroutes Caravan Variety Show, featuring their philosophies of peacemaking in a war driven economy.
"The main ideas for the ride are to promote and demonstrate peaceful forms of cooperative, collaborative democracy in the face of the endless wartime rhetoric of the G8 and NATO" remarks eager caravanista Seth Jensen. "We take the idea of building sustainable community infrastructure very seriously. When you consider that the bicycle does not need fossil fuel energy to run, our mission is in alignment with protesting the G8 and NATO because many of the wars they promote are to secure oil and gas resources. In addition, all the volunteer stops we have planned along the route, the cultural exchange and the opportunities for relationship building, all mean we're talking about much more than a bicycle ride. I like to call it a mobile village."
The Cycles of Revolution ride is the fourth ride organized by the Grassroutes Caravan. "The incredible success of the first Grassroutes Caravan made us want to do this again," proclaims Kristine Pettersen, who devoted a year of her life to organizing a two-week bicycle ride from Madison, Wisconsin to St. Paul, Minnesota for the Republican National Convention protests in 2008. “Over 40 people came together for that ride and it was such a beautiful community building experience we are excited to offer this opportunity to others.” And so far dozens of people are taking advantage of the Cycles of Revolution Ride with over 20 people showing interest in the entire route to Chicago and participating in 3 community events along the way.
Learn More:
http://www.grassroutescaravan.org/
Local media coverage from Grand Rapids, Michigan: http://griid.org/2010/06/15/grassrootes-caravan-creates-community-on-its...