Cycling for Air—with Love

Ted Schredd doesn't like cars. He wants people to stop driving because cars make the air dirty. Ted had an idea. He said, "I'm going to cycle around North America. I want to show everyone that cycling is a fun way to get around. If more people ride bikes, the air will be cleaner."

He left his hometown with $160 in his pocket. When he got to San Diego, he met another cyclist. The cyclist invited Ted to speak at a big meeting about the environment. He said, "We'll pay your airfare to Texas and we'll pay you to talk about your cycling trip." Two hours later, Ted was on a plane to the environmental conference and to a big surprise!

While he was at the conference, he met Deanna. It was love at first sight! They talked for six hours straight.

The next day, Ted called Deanna and asked her to finish the trip with him. Deanna said yes, sold everything in her apartment, gave her notice at work, and was on the road with Ted 20 days later!

"It was difficult at first," said Deanna. "Ted got up every morning at 6:00 a.m., but I wanted to sleep until noon." After a few days, they started having fun. As they cycled from Florida to Montreal and then back to Vancouver, every day was an adventure. People paid for their food in restaurants and gave them extra money. Some people gave them $50 or $100. They slept in people's backyards and drank beer with motorcycle gangs.

On their way back to Vancouver, they stopped in Edmonton to visit Ted's relatives. During the stopover, they got married. People tied a "Just Married" sign and tin cans to the backs of their bikes. They now want to write a book about their trip. "We want people to know that you can be an environmentalist and still have fun," Schredd said.