LAS CRUCES – A former Guinness World Record holder for the longest distance ridden on an electric bike will stop in Las Cruces on Friday, December 17th on a trip across the continental United States to raise awareness about sustainable transportation .
Sushil Reddy, originally from Mumbai, India, founded The SunPedal Ride in 2016. The organization is an outreach project with the aim of stimulating discussions about “clean energy and sustainable mobility”, according to the organization’s website.
Reddy is the former Guinness World Record holder for the longest ride on an e-bike, ridden over 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) through several Indian states in 2016. The record has since been extended to over 12,000 kilometers by an Italian.
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“Climate change urgently needs to be addressed through a sustainable lifestyle change, and the SunPedal Ride project is an attempt to inspire people to change their individual lifestyles to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle,” the website says.
Reddy and co-driver Luis Fourzan from Mexico began their 6,000-mile ride on e-bikes on August 15 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina – one of which is partially solar powered. From there they traveled north to New York and then west through the northern US states. Once in Seattle, they turned south to cycle through California, Arizona, and now New Mexico. Your ultimate goal is to reach Houston in mid-January.
Reddy said they were about 15 days past their expected end date. Weather and frequent stops delayed them a little.
The ride across the US is the latest in a series of The SunPedal Ride trips. Other locations are India, France, Iceland and California.
According to Reddy, the duo made it to Lordsburg on the 122nd day of their trip on December 16. You have driven over 5,000 miles at this point. They should stop at Las Cruces City Hall around 3pm on Friday and stay one night before heading to El Paso for the weekend.
On their way through towns and villages, they tried to meet as many people as possible, says Reddy. Many are often curious about the bikes and how they work.
He explained that e-bikes have both a battery and a motor. This helps to reduce the physical exertion of the driver so that he can cover greater distances. It is also more accessible to people of all physical abilities and ages. And switching to an e-bike is cheaper than other means of transport.
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“It’s a good option if you’re looking to explore electric mobility,” said Reddy. “With e-bikes there are no exhaust emissions, that is a factor, especially in densely populated cities, where … you get a lot of pollutants from cars or public transport.”
He said he saw high demand for such bikes on their trip, and many agree that the demand will continue to rise.
People are invited to support The SunPedal Ride by donating online at thesunpedalride.com.
Leah Romero is the hip reporter for Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached on Twitter at 575-418-3442, [email protected] or @rromero_leah.
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