WE MADE IT TO OUR FINAL DESTINATION ON THIS ROOT RIDE, WHICH TOOK US FROM TULANI RANCH, A SCENIC AND MAJESTIC FARM JUST PLANTING ITS SEEDS IN TOPLEY, B.C., ALL THE WAY TO RIVER BERRY FARM, A FULLY FUNCTIONING, ESTABLISHED, AND BEAUTIFUL ORGANIC FARM IN FAIRFAX, VT!!!!!
What a summer it has been! We have planted seeds, shoveled manure, fed fennel to sheep, slept next to chickens, goats, sheep, cows, and more, harvested onions, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, berries, and more, bottle-fed yak, milked cows, shelled garlic, handled chickens, collected eggs, built fences, mowed grass, watered plants, cut flowers, made jelly, spun wool, raked, weeded, put up a tent, taken down a tent, and peddled and peddled and peddled our bicycles across this beautiful land.
Before this ride started, I was excited to meet the farmers growing good food and seeing how this good food affected individual health, the health of their neighbors and the health of Earth. I knew that each of these layers - individual, community and global - influence the other, but I now understand that they are all one. You cannot have health of the individual without health of the soil of this earth and you cannot have a healthy community without healthy individuals.
Thank you to everyone how has been a part of the ride. Of course, Jared and Heather from Las Vegas Cyclery who sponsored the bikes and kept them in prime condition. Since the bikes were tuned up by Kurt and the crew in Vegas, we have not had to do a single thing to the bikes and have not had a single flat since central California and all the puncture vines. And we actually, yes actually, didn’t even add any air to the tires!! Just a little lube here and there, and these Cannondale Touring bikes took care of themselves. They are awesome and I will be using mine in Silverman in one month!
But not only were we sponsored by Escape Adventures, we were mostly sponsored and supported by all the farms we visited this summer. They carried us from night to night, offering fresh food, new information and helpful resources for us to research further. Many more offered warm showers and shelter for the night, particularly as it got colder and wetter. These farms made this trip happen! Once we are settled in some sort of way, we invite you all to come join us so we may host you and feed you. You can have the tent and we’ll sleep outside 
!
So, the cycling for the Root Ride is over, but the ride has hardly just begun! We have seen and learned so much and are looking forward to digesting not just all the good food we’ve eaten, but all the information we have gathered as well. This is just the beginning and there is no end, as we hope to continue to learn and share this incredible journey with others. Come back from time to time to our websites (particularly The Root Ride), as we will continue to post podcasts and blogs and resources in the coming months…in the meantime, we are enjoying our time at River Berry Farm, picking raspberries and not putting on bike shorts!