Whether being chased by a mountain lion or battling hypothermia, Reed Aronow will stop at nothing to fight climate change.

The 23-year-old Hamline University ‘09 alum organized a 15- day, 350-mile bike ride last October across his home state of Minnesota to raise awareness about climate change solutions. Aronow biked alone for half of the ride, crashing on farmers’ couches, in monks’ guest houses and even in a general store. Aronow started his journey in the Twin Cities and looped through the center of the state before peddling his way back to Minneapolis, where about 700 people rallied at the State Capitol on October 24. Aronow’s rally was one of the largest in the U.S., held on 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, a day when 5,200 events were held in over 181 countries in hopes of decreasing carbon dioxide to below 350 parts per million, the target for a livable plan, according to scientists. The idea for the bike ride came to Aronow last July, at a training session to prepare for his trip to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Aronow was a Minnesota delegate at the international climate talks in December through the Will Steger Foundation, an educational non-profit founded by the eponymous polar explorer. Aronow collected messages from people he met on his ride about what they would like to see accomplished at the talks and brought them along with him to Copenhagen.

“People across Minnesota are in favor of a strong Copenhagen agreement,” Aronow says. “It’s not just liberal people. It’s conservatives who are finding solutions to climate change.” Aronow credits the positive response to his bike ride to his focus on finding solutions to climate change. His route design was based on goals and projects throughout the state. The University of Minnesota at Morris is trying to go carbon neutral, for example, and Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, home of Benedictine monks, houses the largest solar farm in the state.

The trek also had a spiritual element for Aronow, a practicing Reform Jew. “I consider the whole thing tzedek,” he says. “It was a spiritual journey. I was tested in so many ways.” These tests included a mountain lion. On a nighttime solo ride into the town of Mankato, a mid-sized town in southern Minnesota, Aronow started to notice animal carcasses along the highway. Soon he started hearing noises and saw a large shape in the dark following him. This was when he started to peddle like he never had before.

“I was so freaked out until I saw the lights of the Super 8 on the edge of Mankato,” Aronow says. “Those were carbon emissions I was grateful to see, because they kept me from getting eaten by a mountain lion.”

Another challenge for Aronow was staying coherent during a radio interview while leaning on a signpost on the highway, with his shoes soaked and toes blue.

After his trip, Aronow slept for an entire day back home in St. Paul. Then he meditated for a few more about his next step: starting a company called “The Earth’s Vibration.” The company will organize experimental artistic projects that aim to find new ways to solve the climate crisis.

Aronow is also planning to hit the road again. After the success of his first ride, Aronow is organizing a longer one in June-this time he will embark on a Midwest bike tour with “a Woodstock feel.”

For more information about Aronow’s next bike trip, follow “The Earth’s Vibration” on
Facebook.

liana BALINSKY-BAKER
Disclosure: Liana Balinsky-Baker is the Illinois delegate to Copenhagen for the Will Steger Foundation