Larry Lessard says he has two passions in life 鈥� cycling and recycling. For the next year, the mechanical engineering professor will be using both to fuel a trip of a lifetime.
Lessard is just days away from a cycling tour that will take him around the world. Starting in Paris, France on July 1, Lessard will ride for a year or more, rolling into Montreal sometime next summer. By trip鈥檚 end, Lessard will have covered over 20,000 kilometres and traversed 28 countries through three continents.
But the journey is much more than one man鈥檚 personal challenge. An expert in recycling and reusing advanced materials, Lessard will be bringing his research 鈥� and his environmental message 鈥� to universities and companies around the world.
鈥淎s I get closer to retirement I want to do my part to help heal the planet,鈥� says the 62-year-old Lessard, who has taken a sabbatical year for the project. 鈥淚 think about my children and my future grandchildren. We鈥檙e not doing great things to the planet. This is my small way of giving back.鈥�
Focus on recycling
鈥淲hen I was doing my PhD I was taught that we were going to save the world by making airplanes lighter. I was sold on this,鈥� he says. 鈥淭oday carbon fibre has made airplanes significantly lighter and more efficient. But in the end what did it do? It made all sorts of different flight paths economical. So, they just built more and more planes because they are more economical to fly. In the end, we probably caused more pollution than less鈥� So, I switched all my research towards recycling and sustainable uses of these materials.鈥�
Recycling advanced materials can be challenging 鈥� often coming down to cost benefit.
鈥淪ome of these materials are not easy to recycle because they are fibres that are often embedded in a toxic resin. They are meant to be very stable so they don鈥檛 degrade very well over time,鈥� says Lessard.
鈥淐arbon fibre is valuable enough so that they recycle it. But fibreglass tends is not valuable enough to recycle so there鈥檚 a big fibreglass waste problem in the world,鈥� he continues. 鈥淧eople who build windmills don鈥檛 want this black mark if they鈥檙e just throwing away tons of fibreglass. So, one of the areas that I am focussing on is how to improve recycling for the wind turbine industry.鈥�
During his cycling tour, Lessard plans on visiting 20-30 universities to meet with some of the world鈥檚 top investigators to present his work and other 不良研究所 sustainability initiatives. He will also visit a number of wind turbine companies to discuss his research.
New country, new challenge
As a 62-year-old with arthritic knees, Lessard knew that the window for this type of adventure was getting smaller. 鈥淚鈥檝e kept myself fit over the years but this will definitely be a challenge 鈥� physically and mentally,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ome universities are close to each other so I鈥檒l get a short day of riding. But there will be other days that will be 100 鈥� 120-kilometre days. Those will be tougher.鈥�
He notes that some terrain 鈥� including Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan 鈥� are not biker-friendly. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of winding roads and hills and mountains,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he key will be to get through these countries before winter.鈥�
In Tehran, Iran, Lessard will take a brief respite from the saddle when he flies over India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 鈥� 鈥渏ust too dangerous for cyclists鈥� 鈥� to take up his ride again in Thailand.
鈥淕oing through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos is going to be really hot and humid,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd in Japan, the challenge will be the traffic and narrow roads.鈥�
From there, all that will remain the 鈥渓eisurely鈥� 5,000+ kilometre ride across Canada from Vancouver to Montreal. Once Lessard traverses the Rockies, he says the biggest obstacle will be 鈥渂oredom and mosquitoes. It will be long stretches without a turn and maybe I won鈥檛 see anything but wheat for a week.鈥�
Documentary in the making
Lessard will be filming the whole trip as part of a documentary of his adventure. 鈥淚 have a GoPro on my bike to film while I鈥檓 moving and I have a better camera to do interviews with people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to interview Greta Thunberg but she is very much in demand.鈥�
But, as he notes, making a film is expensive. To get there, he will need people鈥檚 help. He is asking people to donate money through聽. All the fundraising will go towards funding the making of the documentary film.
In the end, he hopes that the documentary is both educational and entertaining. 鈥淚t is important to have fun while you learn,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n my labs, I include a lot of projects that students like to do. I try to keep my research 鈥� and my life 鈥� as fun as possible.
You can follow Larry Lessard on his聽, on聽聽and on聽. To donate to the making of the documentary, visit his聽听辫补驳别.
learn more about Larry Lessard鈥檚 bike journey by watching the video below.
This article was originally published in the .