GALVESTON, Texas — Pedaling for preservation is the motto behind a two-day bike ride in Southeast Texas aimed to protect the wildlife and waterways of Galveston Bay.
Recently, my son Seth and I hopped on our bikes to do our part and joined nearly one thousand riders at this year's Bike Around the Bay and Bike Around the Island bike ride. The ride supports the Galveston Bay Foundation, which has been around for 35 years.
President of the Galveston Bay Foundation and bike rider Bob Stokes said this event has a positive impact in the Galveston Bay area.
"So the purpose of the ride is to raise funds for the Galveston Bay Foundation and the Galveston Bay Foundation is a conservation organization that preserves and protects Galveston Bay," Stokes said.
Bike Around the Bay is a two-day, 170-mile bike ride around Galveston Bay. I rode the one-day, forty-mile ride around Galveston Island. My forty-mile ride took me through some cool, dense fog and finished with some warm, humid sunshine. All along the way, I enjoyed the great scenery.
“You see the rural side, the east side of the bay, you go down to the beaches on Bolivar and Galveston," Stokes said. "Then you go through the industrial and the residential side on Sunday to get home and it’s an awesome ride."
You get to see a part of the bay that you don’t typically see. The ride takes us to the tip of the island where new homes rise from the natural grasses and beaches.
"Galveston is really a working bay. It's got a ton of recreational uses, people who fish, boat and kayak, sail. There are commercial users. People who make a living on the bay. Our oystermen, Our shrimpers," Stokes said.
Balanced against refineries and petrol chemical companies. The money raised from this ride aims to ensure the balance of nature and business is maintained.
“And we all sort of balance the use of Galveston Bay and somehow Galveston Bay is actually a pretty healthy bay," Stokes said.
A little more than three hours later, we reach the finish line but that doesn’t mean the conservation efforts are over. Awareness about our impact on nature continues well after the medals are handed out and the pictures are taken.
“Your impact can be small, it's a small impact, but it can be a positive impact, or it can be a negative impact depending on what you’re doing in your yard, in your neighborhood (and) with your car," Stokes said. "We try (to) bring those kinds of tips and tools to people as well to make sure they can have a positive impact on Galveston Bay.”
My son and I both raised the required amount to be able to ride. All totaled, this year's Bike Around the Bay raised nearly 700 thousand dollars for the conservation, education, and preservation of the wildlife and estuaries around Galveston Island and Galveston Bay. Bike Around the Bay is held every October.
For more information about the ride or how to help preserve the island and bay, visit the Galveston Bay Foundation website here.