Cyclists from Northampton were pedaling their way Sunday to Washington, D.C. for the People’s Climate March scheduled for April 29.
Sunday evening, Thomas Crowe, a documentary filmmaker and one of the 10 participants, said the group was at the Norwalk Inn and Conference Center in Norwalk, Connecticut, about 130 miles south of Northampton.
After leaving Friday morning from Northampton, the group slept in churches two nights prior.
“We were all pretty grimy and ready for a shower when we got here an hour ago,” he said over the phone.
The first two days were not ideal cycling weather because of rainy conditions, Crowe said, but high spirits at the start propelled the group forward.
Sunday was sunny.
“The really good weather helped a lot in terms of energy levels and spirits,” Crowe said.
Another participant, Peter Ives, the former pastor at the First Churches of Northampton, stopped by a church in New Haven to give a sermon Sunday.
For Monday, Crowe said the next stop is New Rochelle, New York, about 30 miles south of Norwalk.
Crowe, 24, posted his first video dispatch from Bloomfield, Connecticut, after the first day of biking on Friday night.
The city, northwest of Hartford, is about 50 miles south of Northampton.
“It was a very wet first day,” Dan Cottle, of Northampton, said in the first dispatch. “No heavy rain, it was good visibility the whole way, so it didn’t feel too scary being on the road with cars — except for a few spots — but it was just kind of a constant rain.
“I’m hoping the rest of the days will be a great contrast,” Cottle said, adding the group was in high spirits.
Biking to the Peoples Climate March- Interview with Dan Cottle from Thomas Crowe on Vimeo.
Crowe said Sunday the group is spreading the word on climate change, through interviews with media and by passing out leaflets.
“One of the coolest things about this has just been meeting people along the way,” he said.
The cyclists, going by the name “Getting There on Our Own Steam,” set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of the journey.
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.