Episode 139: Derechos, Bikes and Tour des Trees

Today you are going to hear what it was like to live through a Derecho, and what it has to do with bikes and trees. A derecho is kind of like a hurricane that occurs on land, and lasts much longer than a normal thunderstorm. It was August of 2020 when I learned what a derecho was, because it came through and destroyed my community. Seeing over half of our tree canopy lost on that day was a terrible loss. How can you replace so many trees? And who can? A fellow cyclist who is also an arborist introduced me to The TREE Fund, and a cool bike connection. Tour des Trees offers both an in-person event as well as virtual, which is what I am doing. The virtual Tour des Trees Challenge is simple: Register for the Challenge, ride 350 miles, and raise $350 on a fundraising page. Miles are tracked via the Strava app. Registration for this virtual ride is free and there are no penalties for not reaching your riding or fundraising goals. I just launched my page: https://tour-des-trees-2023.blackbaud-sites.com/fundraising/murphs-fundraising-page Check it out and if you don’t want to do your own challenge, consider supporting the TREE Fund via my fundraising page. They are working towards a goal of $300,000 and I can only imagine what that money can do for the future of trees. Video of the derecho and me racing home! https://youtu.be/IJU08WQenck https://treefund.org/tourdestrees https://tour-des-trees-2023.blackbaud-sites.com/fundraising/murphs-fundraising-page www.murphologypodcast.com linktr.ee/Murphology Email me at [email protected] if you have a topic or the name of a cyclist you find interesting. Support my podcast at Patreon.com/Murphology and visit my Facebook and Instagram page for daily entertainment!