The distance between New York City and San Francisco multiplied by four. That is about how far one Canadian family has traveled so far on a cross-continental, bird-watching bike ride.
Malkolm Boothroyd, 16, and his parents, Wendy Boothroyd and Ken Madsen, hit their 10,000-mile mark Thursday just outside of Gainesville on a trip that began in the Yukon Territory, located in northwest Canada, in June.
The family shared stories about their travels down the West Coast, across Texas, south through the Florida Everglades and then back up to Gainesville in a presentation Friday night at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville.
Malkolm took two years of high school in one year to be able to take the past year off for what he called a "much more fun use of time."
His parents' jobs were flexible enough to allow them to join in his plans to migrate across the continent for what bird enthusiasts, or birders, call a "big year," a year spent searching for as many species of North American birds as possible.
But their idea to do the trip atop steel mountain bikes while educating people along the way about fossil-fuel-free travel makes their "big year" different from that of other birders.
"We realized that talking about protecting the environment while you're traveling around, spewing out fuel is a huge contradiction," Madsen said.
In an interview before the presentation, Madsen said he wants people to see how possible it is to use less fossil fuel. The family travels about 12 mph or about 50 miles per day.
Wendy Boothroyd said Florida was one of their favorite states on the journey, and that they especially enjoyed the Everglades because of its diverse bird population.
Ann Wiley, a birder who joined the family on a ride around Fort Lauderdale, came up to Gainesville to watch the presentation.
"Their day, when you think about it, is so simple and basic," Wiley said. "All they need to do is keep pedaling. It comes down to basic human strength and persistence."
