Andrew Campbell, a member of the U.S. Sailing Team and Patagoniac, raises a great point on Patagonia's blog:

As much as we like to brag about its clean and quiet demeanor, the sport of sailboat racing – from Olympic sailing to the America’s Cup to local one-design racing  – has a massive impact on the environment because of the resources we use to get ourselves and our craft to race locations around the world.

Having just returned from a 1737 mile road trip to Oregon–to spend a week with friends and race my bike for a little over an hour–I, too, question the impact of traveling to compete. Is the fact that Wyoming has no time trial championships reason enough for me to set off to compete in championship events in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Montana?

Of course, my pursuit of excellence isn't quite up to the level of Andrew's, but I am serious about my racing and training, and I do crave the competitive outlet. I've done everything I can to reduce and/or offset my carbon footprint this year (except buy a new vehicle), but I still feel a little bit guilty about the road trips.

I wonder: just where on the scale of priorities will our recreational extravagances fall in the future?

Carbon Neutral Journal's thoughts are brought to you by Hawtin Jorgensen Architects.

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