About 30 years ago, I attempted to ride a bicycle around the world. It was a project called “Pedal For Peace”. I had no illusions of actually accomplishing world peace. I wanted to plant the seeds. My aim was to get people thinking about what it really means and the obstacles to peace, the root of the problem. And then I would ask them to take one small action. I would give them a postcard to write a personal note to a stranger in another country, then I would carry that message to the next destination, find them a pen pal.
Over the course of that year, I rode through 5 countries, spoke to thousands of school kids and civic groups, interviewed in newspapers, on radio and TV in the US and Europe. And then in Florence Italy, I got into an accident with a semi-truck, unfortunately ending the ride. I still have hundreds of postcards that never reached new penpals, and it has weighed on me ever since.
June 3rd, 2025 will be the 30-year anniversary of “Pedal For Peace”. In all my travels since then, I’ve learned a lot more about the world and how it works. But I still believe World Peace transcends politics and in this age of escalating tensions, that message is more important than ever.
I’d like to share with you some of the stories from that trip, which I plan to publish in a book. The working title is Pedal for Peace (Or How I survived Getting Run Over By A Semi-Truck)
I’ll be posting excerpts from the book on my Facebook Author’s Page, where you can also learn more about the project: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576072331527
See you there!
Peace,
John