Most college students spend their summers working, and the five students who comprise the Climate Riders are no different – except these kids are working to change the world, one town at a time, on bicycle across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

“Our mission this summer is to grow the social movement away from coal, oil and natural gas to renewable energy,” said Garret Blad, the media coordinator, who will be a senior at Note Dame University in South Bend, Ind., this fall. “We basically collaborate with community members in the towns we stop in to get this message out.”

The five Climate Riders stopped in Freeport for a night Aug. 13, where three residents opened their homes to the young activists. Lucy Lloyd, a South Freeport resident who is a member of Save Our Neighborhoods Coalition, a non-partisan group that focuses on preserving the quality of life in Freeport’s neighborhoods, said hosting the riders was a thrill.

“To see students willingly give up their summer for such an important cause is tremendous,” said Lloyd.

According to Blad, Climate Summer is a leadership development program for young adults who learn by doing. Participants engage communities across New England as educators, activists and organizers as they travel exclusively by bicycle, calling for action on climate change and fossil fuels in communities across the region.

Climate Summer riders work in small teams, connecting with, learning from, and supporting community leaders who are actively addressing similar concerns. Riders bring with them a movement-building perspective, empowering those they meet and helping to highlight the important work of partner organizations, said Blad.

The trip began on June 7 in New Hampshire with a week of training described by Blad as a combination leadership exercise and crash course in environmental causes. The five riders then went to Lowell, Mass., Portland, Windham, Belfast and eventually Freeport, where the group was treated to a potluck dinner and a tour of the area. Averaging between 30 or 50 miles a day, the group has had a chance to see New England from a unique perspective.

“The communities we’ve encountered have been amazing,” said Blad. “It’s been a great chance to meet like-minded people and also to educate people at the same time.”

In a partnership with 350 Maine, a grassroots movement dedicated to solving the planetary climate crisis, the students recently ditched their bikes and took to the water for a floating protest on Sebago Lake to call attention to the perils of what is known as tar sands, a type of petroleum deposit.

Saving the world by bicycle or boat aside, the journey has been an eye-opening experience, said Blad.

“I had no idea what to expect,” he said, “but I feel like I can take on the world after this.”

The Maine chapter of the Climate Riders, a program for college students to call attention to climate change through a summer long bike trip includes, from left, Elena Franco, events coordinator; Shaun Carland, outreach coordinator; Janice Gan, new media coordinator; Garret Blad, media coordinator; and Mariah Chen, team leader/video coordinator. The five students recently stopped over in Freeport where they stayed with three South Freeport residents.