What does land conservation have to do with providing clean water? Where does your water…
Meet Brian and John Bramson, a father-son biking duo riding to support Triangle Land Conservancy through Climate Ride!
Climate Ride is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes people around the world to protect our planet through biking, hiking, running, and other outdoor adventure challenges. Through Climate Ride, participants can join an event or plan their own and fundraise for organizations that they care about.
Brian first completed a Climate Ride in 2014 from New York to Washington, D.C. with friends. An avid biker since his 20s, Brian has found biking to be both a fun way to travel and a welcoming community environment.
His enthusiasm for the sport has inspired his sons to ride and now participate in bike challenges alongside him. In 2021, Brian and his middle son Ben planned their own Climate Ride in the Blue Ridge Mountains in honor of TLC, traveling 160 miles and raising over $5,000 for local conservation. This time around, Brian’s youngest son, John, is joining him and the two are set to spend spring break biking for TLC.
Starting this April, the father-son team will embark on their journey in Ocracoke and finish in Richmond, Virginia. Along the way, the team will ride through the Outer Banks, the Great Dismal Swamp, and onto the Virginia Capital Trail in coastal Virginia. In total, they will complete around 320 miles and raise at least $6,000 for TLC!
Having participated in several Climate Rides, Brian has taken on the bulk of the planning and preparation for this trip, which in addition to high-mileage trail days, also includes some camping and backpacking. Both Brian and John have also put in a lot of work training for this trip and fitting this around their busy schedules, for John as a high school junior and Brian as an infectious disease doctor.
TLC’s mission and work has strongly resonated with both Brian and John, who are particularly inspired by the passion of Marlena Byrne, the chair of TLC’s Board of Directors and Brian’s wife. TLC’s land protection work has already conserved over 23,000 acres of land in the Triangle, and is ensuring that clean drinking water, local farms, natural habitats, and trails are available for future generations. John, having recently taken an AP Environmental Science class, has really engaged with climate change and its impacts and causes for the first time. From school and from the work of TLC, John is recognizing how important protecting local greenspaces is — both for the planet and for communities to have access to the outdoors and recreation opportunities, as he has had through biking.
Stay tuned for updates from Brian and John on their journey, and if you’d like to support this biking team and TLC you can donate here. You can also read their recent interview with Climate Ride here!
