Meet Team Alabamboo: Rose Lavelle

We’ll be sharing more about Team Alabamboo in the weeks leading up to the ride. Read on!

What motivated you to participate?

My sister, Nicole has been adventuring around, getting involved with opportunities like Project M in the last few years. So when she mentioned the Alabamboo bike tour she might do, I was amazed and impressed. I wanted in. We had both done rides before, but never together. This tour seemed like a once in lifetime opportunity: riding across the country on a bamboo bicycle?! Yes, please!

Not only am I looking forward to riding bikes with awesome people, I’m excited to be a part of what this tour is promoting and what it could mean for the future of sustainable agriculture in our country.

Why do you care about something that is happening in Alabama, a state that is more often the punchline to a joke about poverty?

I’ve never set foot in Alabama and it seems foreign to me. I believe it’s important to understand and know states from every corner of our country. New ways of thinking and sustainable practices must start somewhere, why not in Alabama this time? I’ve heard it’s a lovely place.

How do you think the ride will reflect on Alabama?

I think the ride will provide positive results for Alabama. By starting the ride in Alabama, it will bring recognition to the state and show that Alabama is the place where things can happen.

What do you know about Alabama that you can tell people that you meet during the Bike Tour?

I don’t know very much about Alabama right now, but I can’t wait to be there and see for myself. I suspect it will be very hot (perfect bamboo growing conditions)!

What would you like people to know about YOU and this project?

I’m ready to adventure and explore our country!  I’m expecting to learn a lot, a lot of new names and faces, a lot about Alabama and other states we ride through,a lot about US geology, a lot about designing ways to improve society, and oh! so much more!

Note: These questions were posed to us by Cherokee Lair for an article in Alabama Magazine.