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acolbert@aspentimes.com
Jacquelyn Francis isn’t a fan of the heat these days.
There’s the whole climate thing, which her nonprofit helps to defend. And there is her upcoming e-bike ride to Idaho, where she’ll get to battle through northern Utah’s scorching weather.
As easily as she could back out, she knows that’s not an option.
“It really makes me nervous. I don’t train in heat, and 105 degrees is incredibly hot. So that’s the part I’m most nervous about,” she said on Wednesday while checking on her bikes at Aspen Velo bike shop. “It is something I do have to do because it really does speak to the real world.”
Francis, who by her count has called Aspen home for the past 53 years, is the founder and executive director of the Global Warming Mitigation Project (GWMP), a nonprofit established in 2017 that supports — largely through funding — climate innovation. She’ll be speaking this coming Monday at the Sun Valley Forum in Idaho, where she’ll announce the 2024 Keeling Curve Prize winners.
The Keeling Curve Prize, created by her, has become one of the most prestigious financial awards in the industry, with 10 different entities winning $50,000 each to support their climate solutions each year. According to its website, GWMP has awarded $1.75 million since 2018.
“One of the things I do with trying to shine light on climate solutions is show people the ways we can actually have a more climate stable future that is realistic and pragmatic,” Francis said. “Given this opportunity to go to the Sun Valley Forum and speak on the main stage and announce our winners was really exciting, but I decided I wanted to try and do it in a way that was maybe going to shine some visibility on why it’s not easy to get around in this country in a de-carbonized way and how we can maybe try and make it happen.”
Thus, the idea of the bike ride was born. With her 60th birthday coming up next month, she opted to ride an electric bike instead of relying on human calories alone. She’ll be joined on her journey by her husband, Chris Tyler, and will be riding e-bikes from one of her sponsors, Aspen Velo.
“I’m trying to find ways to celebrate the people who are able to still live here and work here full-time and do the amazing things the locals here do,” said Aspen Velo owner Lucas Wampler, whose father, Michael, first opened the bike shop in 1984. “It’s amazing getting more people out there on bikes, and it’s amazing seeing what people are capable of doing with this invention of e-bikes.”
Beginning Friday, Francis and Tyler will saddle up and ride from Aspen to Glenwood Springs (40 miles), where they will catch the train to Salt Lake City. From there it’s about a 300-mile ride north to Ketchum, Idaho, and Sun Valley, where the forum is being held. They plan to stop in Snowville, Utah, right on the border with Idaho, to break up the ride, which they’ll begin at night to avoid the worst of the heat.
All told, including the return trip, they’ll ride about 680 miles. They are not traveling with support vehicles.
“I feel like I’m 25 when I’m on an e-bike. It gives you that assistance, which is fantastic,” Francis said. “The training for this has been pretty fun. I’m turning 60 in August, and this has actually helped me have a goal about feeling better about myself, mentally and physically. Being on a bike and not spending it in a car in traffic really does improve your mental and physical health. And I love that about biking.”
The ride is also a fundraiser through Climate Ride’s 2024 Independent Challenge, where she has a goal of raising $20,000 to support GWMP. People are encouraged to follow along via the organization’s Instagram @gwmp_org.
“We are going to try and beat the heat, which is a metaphor for what is going on in the climate world right now,” she said.
“It would be so great if we could get back to a place where more people just rode bikes, for so many reasons. It helps your physical and mental health, and it’s a beautiful thing,” she continued. “I feel like Snow White when I’m riding back and forth from Snowmass because the birds are flying with me and the little critters run across the bike path, and you see the elk and the deer. I just think we’d be in a better place in our world if we just appreciated this kind of travel.”
acolbert@aspentimes.com
“We are going to try and beat the heat, which is a metaphor for what is going on in the climate world right now,” Aspen’s Jacquelyn Francis said.
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