Eco-preneurs bike 450 miles for a business conference

 

Tour de OGers included no original gangsters as far as I know, but did include some long-term environmentalists like Anna Cummins (left, with me) of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Bring Your Own. Despite the fact that she completed the JunkRIDE bike ride from Vancouver, Canada, to Tijuana, Mexico earlier this year, Anna said the Tour de OG was a tough ride, covering 80–100 miles every day. “That was ferocious,” Anna said, “I mean, there were some powerful bicyclists in this group.”

 

 

“It was pretty aggressive in terms of the miles covered,” agreed Nick Aster (above) of green business blog TriplePundit, who helped with some aspects of organizing the bike ride. But Nick already plans to ride again next year. “We can a little cheekily say we’re walking the walk or riding the ride.”

 

Last year, I felt like I was the only one who went to Opportunity Green without driving, but this year, at least a few of the attendees will be biking. All the Tour de OGers I talked to said they planned to get back on their bikes to get to the conference.

 

Opportunity Green happens this weekend, Nov. 7-8, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Featured speakers range from Mayor Villaraigosa to controversial major corporations like Nike and Johnson & Johnson to Annie Leonard of The Story of Stuff and James Sutandyo of Causecast. Registration costs $995 ($495 for students).