IRONTO (WSLS 10) - A California woman on a mission pedals into Roanoke. Marissa Muller took a sabbatical from work to go on a solar bike adventure to ignite what she calls, A Wellness Revolution.
"The environmental piece is sustainability but also just our physical mental wellness to get out to get active to get into nature and interact," Muller said.
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She embarked on a journey from California two months ago to cross the country on a solar charged electric bicycle in a push to "get well and do well." More than 2600 miles later, Muller peddled from Blacksburg to Roanoke Wednesday, striking up conversations along the way.
"Even at a red lights, windows come down, people pop out of cars (asking,) What is that?"
Her Turbo-S bike is pedal assisted. She pedals and gets a boost of energy.
"If you're riding with 100% support you're really at a fast clip. Probably 25 mph ride moving ride along," she explained.
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The bike weighs in at 50 pounds. The solar panel weighs 10 pounds and the trailer, another 50.
"So you're looking at about 110 pounds and then you put me on the bike. I'm quite a load running down the street," she said, laughing.
Muller stops to sleep at hotels or with local hosts and meets with businesses or town officials to talk about wellness and how they resolve local issues. She averages about 17 miles an hour, 70 miles a day.
"It's a tool to ignite a conversation with folks to think outside the box in terms of wellness."
The journey to New York, expected to end in mid-August, is also giving her an out of the box look at the country.
"I always thought I had to travel overseas adventure to have an adventure or journey but our backyard is gorgeous so taking the off-road and seeing something different it blows your mind."
Muller is blogging about her journey.