Our Correspondent in the Field

Postcards sent to "The Crazy Bikers" from Miss Kristina's Class

This past summer I ran a daycare class with twelve students between the ages of five to twelve. I spent eight hours every day tricking them into doing academics while they thought they were doing fun summer projects. The most successful of these projects was the letter writing we did with “Miss Kristina’s crazy biker friends.” When my kids heard about the Co-ops plan to ride their bicycles from Vancouver to Mexico they were flabbergasted. “That’s crazy, no one can do that,” they exclaimed. They did not believe someone could ride all that way. This question presented the first learning opportunity, “how many miles is that?” Ah ha! I had them. We used maps, learned a little geography, learned about scale and how to calculate distance all in the name of answering a question posed by the students themselves. The next questions, “What do they do for food?” “Do they get tired?” “What if their bike breaks?” I probably could have answered myself, but I saw an opportunity. I pulled out blank index cards and each student wrote a decorated postcard to the Co-op. This was a great activity, because they were practicing their writing, and they were excited about it. They weren’t answering a boring prompt, they were asking questions of some crazy guys they wanted to get to know.

Postcards from Miss Kristina's class, one addressed to the "crazy bikers"

I sent the postcards out, and about a week and a half later we not only had updates, but personal answers to each of the postcards my students sent. The kids were unbelievably excited to get letters written and addressed to them personally. Honestly, if I had known they would get this excited about getting mail I would have used an activity like this long ago. The great thing about writing to the “crazy biker guys” was that they were not only practicing writing, or learning how to write a letter, they were learning about a way to vacation that didn’t include driving hundreds of miles, or getting on an airplane. Bike touring is such a low impact way to see the country, and get in touch with nature, and they had never heard of it. It was no longer some abstract thing that no one in their right mind could do, it was an achievable adventure. They had direct interactions, through writing and a visit at the end of the summer, with people that had actually done it. I loved that my students were writing without me pulling their teeth to do it, but I also love that they learned about a different way to experience the outside. Someday they might have the opportunity to go on a bike tour, and they are much more likely to say “yes!” instead of “that’s crazy!”

(Miss Kristina)

Pannier Pork

Daniel and Kai keep an eye on the pork.

Pannier pork is one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. Kai and Hunter originated this recipe, but I love it's simplicity and great taste. As a warning, those with an aversion to leaving meat unrefrigerated* for several hours should give this one a pass.

Ingredients:
Meat, either pork or beef has worked fine. Haven't tried chicken.
A marinade, preferably already prepared. Anything by Soy Vay is a good call.
At least two plastic bags.

Go to the nearest store on that day's rout. You want at least a few hours of riding between when you pick up the meat and when you cook it, so that it can warm up, jostle around, and get properly marinated.

Once you have the meat, unpack it and put it into the first plastic bag. Dump all the marinade in on top, press the air out of the bag and tie it closed. Now bag it again with the second plastic bag, and toss it into a pannier.

This brings the meat to room temperature which allows it to take up the marinade faster. Being in the pannier acts as a tenderizer as it bounces around. This results in a very flavorful, tender meat by the end of the ride. Grill it up as appropriate to the type and cut of meat you have, and enjoy!

*I think that the increased risk of food-borne illness is low, as the meat will be thoroughly cooked.

(Robert)