By Jim Cavan

It was 1986. The Cold War was just beginning its slow thaw, the treachery of Iran Contra had yet to be unfurled, and the Exxon Valdez was still three years off shore. Half-way around the world, in what was still widely considered enemy territory, Paul Keegan fell in love with bike riding.

It was also on that same 800-mile stretch from Russia to Czechoslovakia – the “eastern” half of the Bike for Peace ride that would also include a second sprint in the “west” from Montreal to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City – that Keegan first ran headlong into his own physical and mental limits.

“I had nothing left – at least I thought I didn’t,” recalls Keegan, owner of 1 World Trading Co. in downtown Portsmouth. “But that’s when people stepped up to help you, people who at that time were still considered enemies in some respect, helping you up the hill when you didn’t think you had anything left.”

Keegan eventually finished the race and, along with a passion for riding honed in grueling and trying circumstances, developed a sense of advocacy that continues today. He has since started a family as well as two green-oriented businesses, with Portsmouth’s 1 World Trading Co. having cut its ribbon last fall and the Nashua store of the same name still going strong.

Now, a quarter century after he first took rubber to road for a noble cause, Keegan is gearing up for the next leg.

From September 25th through the 30th, Keegan, along with hundreds of other riders from all over the world, will be participating in the 3rd Annual Brita Climate Ride. The near 300-mile journey will take the riders from Eureka, California south through variably taxing terrain to San Francisco, where thousands more will wait to cross the Golden Gate Bridge en mass.

The purpose, as with the last two Brita Climate Rides, will be to raise awareness on a national level about the importance of climate change legislation. Each rider will be tasked with raising $2500, with the proceeds going to three organizations: Green America, 1 Sky, and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

In the wake of last December’s Copenhagen Summit, Keegan – a participant in the event since its 2008 inaugural running – sees the Brita Climate Ride as another important opportunity to help raise awareness about global climate change.

“The timing of the ride is important, because it falls about half-way between the Copenhagen Summit and this year’s meeting in Mexico,” says Keegan. “We’re hoping there’s a high profile and that enough people turn up – particularly when we get into San Francisco – to really bring attention to the cause.”

A 300-mile, 5-day, 2-wheeled marathon would be impressive enough on its own. But Keegan’s feat will be particularly noteworthy for another reason: unlike most riders, Keegan will make his way on a single-speed, fixed gear bike. Last year he was just one of two riders who could claim such luddite tenacity. This year, he’ll be the only one.

Not only that, but unlike the previous two years, this year’s ride will include a 100-mile third leg – a “century run” in bike-speak. Still, while Keegan isn’t sure he’s ever done 100 miles in a day, he is no stranger to long, grueling days at the helm.

“The Bike for Peace race demanded 90-mile days every other day,” says Keegan. “So this shouldn’t be anything too difficult. You just get up and do it… Part of what I’m trying to show is that if I can ride one of these single speed bikes 100 miles, you should be able to ride to work or the market pretty easily.”

To help bolster his fundraising efforts, Keegan will be designing a custom-made and designed fixed-gear bike, which will be raffled off at the beginning of September. As with all raffle proceeds, the entirety of Keegan’s $2500 entrance fee will go to Green America, an organization that Keegan is particularly proud to support (he’s also a member).

You can also help contribute through 1 World Trading’s website (listed below), where you can buy a raffle ticket or donate directly to the Brita Climate Ride.

Keegan’s custom bike will also be front and center when 1 World Trading hosts an Isles of Shoals Dockside Party on July 14th. The event is one in a series of weekly meet-and-greets hosted by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company featuring members of the Green Alliance, a Seacoast based “green business union” and discount member co-op. While 1 World Trading will be the focus of the gathering, Keegan also intends to discuss the Brita race, and how biking advocacy has helped him stay true to his green core.

It’s a core that has grown to include two stores that represent the pinnacle of green retail in the Granite State. Along with a hodgepodge of sustainable products and gifts – everything from fair trade jewelry and clothing to biodegradable cups and plates to games and locally-made gifts – 1 World Trading Co. also offers a bulk cleaning products station, where customers can bring in their empty containers to fill and refill with 100% non-toxic and biodegradable cleaners.

Then, of course, there are the bikes. Keegan recently refurbished a line of vintage bicycles, cleaning them and applying fresh rubber and grease, all without eliminating the original stickers and chrome. The store’s website describes them, with no shortage of alliterative flare, as “recycled, refurbished and re-invented relaxed retro rides radically reducing reliance upon reprocessed rotting Rexs”.

As they sit glistening in the late spring sun, Keegan’s restored rides serve as a monument to 25 years of cycling – and recycling – for change. It’s a monument Keegan hopes to build on with one more ride, dozens more hills and valleys, hundreds more friends and comrades, and thousands more peddles forward.

“In the end, it all comes down to me walking the walk,” quips Keegan, pausing briefly. “… or riding the ride, as it were.”