If you're looking for a way to combine your love of cycling with your concern for the planet, you may wish to check out the Sustainable Energy in Motion Bicycle Tours [1] organized by Portland for Peace. This small progressive organization arranges one- and two-week group bicycle tours that offer not only a physically invigorating challenge but also the opportunity to learn hands-on about such topics as permaculture [2], sustainable and indigenous building practices, environmental ethics, ecology, organic [2] farming, appropriate technologies, and sustainable energy. The slogan, "Less Pollution, More Solutions!" succinctly sums up the group's goals, but doesn't begin to hint at the natural beauty of Oregon's coast [3] and Willamette Valley [4] that greets the roughly 20 to 30 participants as they ride.

Portland for Peace organizes two tours. The nine-day Rugged Oregon Coast Sustainability Tour [5] departs five times starting June 3 through September. It starts with a shuttle ride from Portland to the coast, travels south along a twisting and scenic Route 101 overlooking jagged ocean bluffs [6], then heads inland through the Coast Range and the Willamette Valley back towards Portland, for a total of 210 miles. Along the way, riders stay at a community school in a former dairy barn and a communal farm that practices permaculture and builds earthen cob [7] structures. Participants also visit the Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology [8], work and camp at an organic farm, and help out at a coastal land trust, the relief organization CARE, a food bank, and community gardens. Pure fun, other than scenic cycling, includes sea kayaking and hiking Oregon's coastal trails.

A second tour, the 300-mile Permaculture & Sustainability Tour [9] departs July 1 and August 5 from Portland and follows the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway south to Eugene in increments of 20 to 60 miles per day. Along the way, riders make several stops to learn about permaculture landscaping, do more cob-building, hike through an ancient forest, visit organic dairy farms (and possibly milk cows), camp at organic fruit orchard, take an urban land use tour of downtown Eugene, and visit Aprovecho, a research center working to improve wood stove technology [10] for use in Central America and Africa. Two-week tour riders pedal back to Portland, while one-weekers take Amtrak home.

Truly enthusiastic, hearty riders can sign up for a combined tour [11]. None of the tours are what you would call inexpensive, and the lengthy list of required and recommended gear [12] from sleeping bags [13] to bug repellant [14] can add up quickly. However, camping and accommodation fees are included, and you'll get three mostly organic, locally sourced, vegan meals a day. Plus, the tours are certainly cheaper than other, more environmentally obnoxious forms of tourism [15], and you can get a discount by signing up by June 5.