Sustainable Cycle
By Becca Katz
A few years back, bike
convention goers slowed as they passed the Wild Heart Cycling
booth. They scanned pictures and brochures, salivary
glands activated by the descriptions and pictures of gourmet
food served up on Wild Heart’s tours. After a few
moments of consideration and further reading, their brows
furrowed.
“Where’s the
van? You know, the SAG Wagon?” They asked,
contemplating the logistics required to pull off a multi-day,
self-supported bike tour.
Wild Heart Cycling
co-founders, Ben and Celia Leber, patiently explained that they
don’t use so-called “SAG” wagons – they
carry everything with them in bright yellow Burley Trailers
(made in Eugene, OR). And, better yet, so do all their
clients.
“It’s really
about traveling the way we like to travel,” Ben says,
looking over at Celia’s smiling agreement.
“On vacation we wouldn’t have a van. And,
it’s not that hard to do. We
thought—let’s bring that to people, show them how
to do it and that they can do it.”
“We’re both
backcountry skiers, so we’re used to a style of travel
where you bring everything you need with you. When we
looked, there didn’t seem to be any bike guiding
companies operating without a SAG vehicle,” Celia
explains. “We wanted to turn people onto the idea
that you don’t need a car.”
Traveling without a van on
vacation is one thing. Running a bike-touring business
where clients are expected to haul all their own gear is quite
another. The Lebers wouldn’t have it any other way,
though.
Ben and Celia think that
either people are becoming more aware or they’re starting
to warm up to the idea of losing the SAG wag, because during
the three years since they first went into business,
they’ve stopped getting so many ‘where’s the
van?’ questions.
The Lebers are excited about
reducing the tracks their bike tours leave on the planet
– which means they consider the environmental
consequences of all of their decisions, large and small.
The decision to cut the SAG wagon alone reduces Wild Heart
Cycling’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40,000 lbs per
year.
“Minimizing impact is
one of Wild Heart Cycling’s corporate values,” Ben
explains.
Sitting in the Leber’s
home office with their dog, Rhea, and cat, Louie “the
Enforcer”, playfully jostling under the table, Wild Heart
Cycling sure doesn’t feel very corporate. However,
their decision-making does embody their impact minimizing
ethics.
“We’re always
trying to think about how to reduce waste, to plan well.
It’s the sum of a lot of small decisions where
we’re trying to be more intentional, to make sure our
business is economically viable and consistent with our
environmental ethic,” Celia explains. This includes
everything from printing on recycled paper with soy-based ink
to buying food locally and supporting local businesses along
the way to planning routes that are loops rather than those
requiring a leg of driving.
The ten or fewer
participants on Wild Heart Cycling’s intimate bike tours
explore landscapes from the Wallowa Mountains to the Oregon
Coast. All of the tours are packed with gourmet food (Ben
and Celia are self-declared “foodies”),
knowledgeable guides, and local flavor in the shape of charming
B&Bs, bountiful farmer’s markets, and good
people.
Ben and Celia recently
returned from a new tour, the “Willamette Valley Wine
Sampler”. Though they are nostalgic for the tasty
local cheese, berries, and wine they imbibed en route, Ben and
Celia already have their gears cranking for next
season.
Some of their plans include
unveiling an improved website (www.wildheartcycling.com ) which
will feature sustainable living tips and a section covering the
rich cycling community native to Oregon. They also plan
to add some new tours, so stay tuned and get ready to saddle up
for your next riding adventure.
If you would like to sign up for their email newsletter you can
send Ben and Celia an email at info@wildheartcycling.com or
visit their website ( www.wildheartcycling.com ).
