Fletcher Features
A Bicycle Built For Two
Japan is lovely this time of year. Just ask Charles Scott, F94, and his son Sho (age eight). The pair recently completed an incredible journey of over 2,900 miles from the northern tip to the southernmost point of Japan, in just over two months – on a connected bicycle!
Their voyage from Cape Souya, Hokkaido to Cape Sata, Kyushu began on June 25th and ended on August 30th. During the 67-day excursion, the two visited 9 World Heritage sites and took in much of the country’s culture and scenery. But this wasn’t just a sightseeing adventure. Charles and Sho’s journey, dubbed Unite to Combat Climate Change – Ride Japan, was coordinated in conjunction with a United Nations’ Environment Program that aims to encourage climate change awareness. The goal was to help raise funds to support a worldwide tree-planting effort that aims to plant 7 billion trees by the end of 2009, one for each person on the planet.
“We wanted to take on a challenging father-son adventure and since Sho is half American and half Japanese, we thought riding bikes across Japan would be a great way to celebrate and explore that part of his identity, and a tough physical challenge,” said Scott. “Watching the BBC's Planet Earth documentary together inspired us to raise money in connection with the trip for a United Nations tree-planting campaign.”
“Sho and I trained and conducted research for a year and a half before attempting the ride,” recalls Scott. “During the 67-day trip, we built in a rest day about once every week to give us time to explore interesting places and to give our legs a rest. We rode up to 7 hours a day, but made sure to take plenty of breaks, eat and drink throughout and received a lot of help from strangers as well!”
While their next adventure hasn’t been decided upon just yet, it might include the Scott’s daughter Saya who turns 3 in October. Scott notes, “With the confidence to set an ambitious goal and the willingness to work hard to achieve it, even a child can accomplish the seemingly impossible. “
- Ian Davis