I had a lot of time to think yesterday as I rode/drove some 260 miles from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The occasion: the 25th annual LOTOJA bicycle race.

What struck me was the sum total of the environmental impact we were generating. You see, there were 1,000 riders, some from Jackson, most were from the Logan/Salt Lake City area. The point is that every participant was dependent upon a support vehicle to either get to the race, or get home.

For arguments sake, let's say there were 1,000 vehicles involved in the race as well. The race itself is 208 miles, but the support vehicles have to take a round-about route over the first half of the race to relieve congestion on the roads; my odometer says my car was driven 260 miles yesterday.

Do the math: 1,000 riders x (208 + 260) = 468,000 miles driven by race related vehicles this weekend. That's the equivalent of one vehicle circumnagivating the earth 18.79 times!

I don't recall seeing any Prius's on the road, but I did see a few Hummers and lots of SUVs. Again, for arguments sake, let's assume the average fuel efficiency of all the vehicles involved in LOTOJA is 15 mpg. According to TerraPass, that means we generated 610,397 pounds of CO2 and consumed 31,200 gallons of fuel … all in the name of sport/recreation.

To be sure, I'm as guilty as everyone else. And I've already made my motel reservation in Logan for the night before the race next year.

The point of this post isn't to judge the event or its participants. I merely wanted to explore the environmental impact of the kinds of events we all largely take for granted. Whether they are point-to-point bicycle races, trips across the state to take the kids to a soccer game, or journeys into the woods to ride ATVs and snowmobiles, we Americans really do create a huge impact–all in the name of fun.

If there's a bright side to this story, it's that you can participate in LOTOJA as a relay team with from two to five members. I competed with a friend and we "carpooled" …

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