The California Tibetan Freedom Torch Bike Relay was coordinated by Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet, www.sbtibet.org, and Tibetan Association of Southern California, Namgyal Kyulo, namgyalkyulo@yahoo.com. The following trip report was written by Kevin only and other riders may have different perceptions; please submit your reviews to this site as well. I would like to thank Larry Gerstein of International Tibet Independence Movement and Dorothy Berger of International Tibet Support Network for their experience and encouragement. It was incredible how eleven diverse personalities were able to work together when united by the common goal of helping Tibet, even when faced with demanding schedules and other hardships. May our trip help increase dialogue and discussion, and end human rights abuses in Tibet and lead toward autonomy for that peaceful nation and people.
The Tibetan Freedom Torch 2008 World Tour:
TUESDAY APRIL 8, 2008
A large group of Tibetans and others gathered at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco for the Tibetan Freedom Torch March and Rally. Waving hundreds of Tibetan flags and
banners, the crowd marched to City Hall for speeches by SF City government officials and other organizers of the event, such as Giovanni Vassallo. With police accompaniment the Tibet supporters marched to the SF Chinese consulate, sat in the street and had more chants and speeches. Helicopters hovered overhead and a small plane encircled the crowd with
streaming Tibet banners. The crowd then marched back to UN Plaza where Desmond Tutu spoke about how Apartheid was ended by a nonviolent economic boycott and Tibet could be helped the same way. Richard Gere then spoke about the strange ‘Tibet vortex’ occurring now which has put Tibet in the world spotlight all of a sudden, which will lead to changes in Tibet very soon. The Tibetan Freedom Riders met each other for the first time at this event, and most of us slept on the floor in sleeping bags and mats at a Tibet supporter’s house near Berkeley.
APRIL 9, 2008
Thousands of Tibet supporters streamed into Ferry Field and organizers split everyone up into groups of 20-30, each with a team leader and everyone receiving non-violence training. 
The 11 Tibetan Freedom Riders (9 riders and 2 support) were together in one of the groups and Dan Abellera and Tashi Dorjee had bikes. The groups were sent up and down the SF Embarcadero, where the Beijing Olympic torch was expected at 1PM. As groups of Tibetan supporters crossed paths with China and Olympic supporters, the two groups would sometimes yell at each other. I saw a few instances of ‘flag grabbing’ but no
major confrontations.
At noon the financial district let out for lunch and 50,000 people or more were added to the scene. People went over the baracades and were now walking in the streets. There were no police in sight. The torch never came. Tashi and Dan somehow found out where the re-routed Beijing Olympic Torch was. Dan held Tashi’s bike while Tashi sat in front of the torch procession holding up a Tibetan Flag. The police held him down with their knees while he kept the Tibetan flag up as the torch went by. He was thrown to the sidewalk then he re-grouped with some SFT members and they formed a human chain before the torch again, before being wrestled aside by the police. Back at Ferry Field the Tibetans gathered on one field with a stage, with the Chinese supporters on another field nearby. Never was there a more clear indication of the fallacy of One China: the two groups had separate locations, separate flags, separate languages, separate people.
The Freedom Torch Riders were then called to the stage and presented the Tibetan Freedom Torch in front of about 500 people. The crowd parted as the riders walked through the group and on to their bikes, heading down Geary Street and then the coast towards Highway 1. The riders got a couple hours ride in before sleeping on the floor of an apartment about 25 miles away.
APRIL 10, 2008
One group of riders went to set up at Stanford while another group drove to the stopping point of yesterday to ride. We set up our flags, banners, signs and T-shirt booth and after some speeches by our host Josh Rouse of Stanford Friends of Tibet, and a few professors, we had about one half hour to speak about Tibet. Our standard presentation went like this: Kevin Young of SBFOT would introduce the Tibetan Freedom Torch and list some of the many human rights abuses going on in Tibet. Then Jigme Norbu, son of Taktser Rinpoche, Eldest Brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama would do rider introductions and more Tibet info, then Tashi would talk about how he slowed the Beijing Olympic torch and how his grandparents fled Tibet, and then Gendin Gyatso would introduce Lotu the monk who spent 5 years in Chinese prisons. The mention of these three speakers in media press releases secured us many TV and newspaper interviews in the coming days ahead. We sold about a third of our inventory of T-shirts, stickers and patches at Stanford, helping finance our trip. Unfortunately, it was the only college at which we could sell items. The riders then rode all afternoon and we drove to the hostel in Monterey, which was provided to us at a VERY good price, thanks to it’s generous Tibet-supporter owners.
APRIL 11, 2008
Today we had a bike guide, Mike from Santa Cruz, who led the group on a 55 mile ride from Santa Cruz to Monterey on bike paths, roads and highways. During this ride I finally had
time away from route finding and rider support to do media work from an internet station in Santa Cruz. Upon arriving in Monterey one group stayed behind to be interviewed by a local newspaper, while the other group drove ahead 2 hours down the Big Sur coast to set up camp at Plaskett Creek Campground near Lucia. There we had a fire pit, tents, and plenty of refreshments for a few hours before bed, with thankfully no cell phone coverage. Some of us slept outside on a bluff over the ocean, watching the moon set at 3AM, with shooting stars lighting the sky, listening to the waves below.
APRIL 12, 2008
We were up at our usual 7:30AM and drove in the morning to see the elephant seals, then to a safer part of the highway 1 at Cayucos, where the group had lunch and then rode about 40 
miles to San Luis Obispo. One TV camera crew arranged to meet us outside of town for an interview and some staged riding shots. Another TV crew met us as we rode up to our destination at the SLO hostel. A Buddhist sangha had prepared food, and there were two reporters and guests, and we practiced our speeches in front of the small supportive crowd. The first words out of my mouth was to apologize for how dirty and tired we looked after camping out and riding 2 days with no showers. We had the upstairs to ourselves and were treated to a great breakfast: thank you SLO Hostel!
APRIL 13, 2008
The Tibetan Freedom Riders left San Luis Obispo by 9AM and rode
non-stop over 40 miles to Orcutt. Average speed when riding was 13.5 mph. When the road turned to a highway we drove to Lompoc for lunch. After driving the 101 portion of the route the riders rode the last 10 miles from Goleta to Santa Barbara and slept at a private home there. The trampoline, ping pong table and short walk to the beach provided some relaxation. Another Buddhist sangha provided dinner and we practiced our speeches again to the small congenial group which included a journalist. A firepit with plenty of wood made the scene relaxed and homey, in utter contrast to the upcoming last 2 days.
APRIL 14, 2008
Another early morning wake-up allowed the group to ride the 10 miles from our Santa 
Barbara location to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). I am a graduate of UCSB in 1980 and was particularly keen on a successful, relaxing event. The group had a permit to speak thanks to being co-sponsored by Jose Cabezon of the Dept of Religious Studies. At first there was just a single Chinese student with a flag and megaphone, but he was joined by more and more of them until by the time of our speech at noon there were about 25 Chinese students with flags, bullhorns, posters and handouts. They began arguing forcefully with some of the other young Tibetans in our group. Others in our group were
talking peacefully with Chinese students in the background. The campus police were called but the Chinese students refused to back away so we could speak. The plaza began to fill up with students, school administrators, TV camera crews and reporters as the arguing about Tibet continued. Using our bullhorn I yelled to the crowd that we would share our speaking permit: if the Chinese side would be quiet for an hour we would listen to them for an hour. “NOOOO,” they cried. I yelled back then lets each speak ½ hour and they yelled, “NOOOO.” The crowd began to yell to the Chinese students to be quiet and let the Tibetans speak. Finally the two sides negotiated back and forth using their megaphones and the Tibetan Freedom Torch Riders agreed to speak 20 minutes, then the Chinese students could speak, then we would take questions from the crowd. SBFOT and the Tibetan riders made 
shortened speeches, though the monk refused to come up to the hostile crowd. We then listened to the other side. Some speeches inflamed the crowd into more screaming at each other until everyone calmed down a second time and dialogue could begin again. It was a very unique and unusual public sharing of opinions and facts on China-Tibet issues at a major US University. Even though the Chinese student protesters disrupted our permitted event, we were able to turn it into a nonviolent sharing of ideas. One of the Chinese student protesters said to me at the end: “We know there are human rights problems in China and we are working on them”. It was a stressful event but nothing like the experience of a Chinese student at Duke University recently who tried to mediate between Tibet supporters and Chinese: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/17student.html?em&ex=1208577600&en=e767da4f6a75cfec&ei=5087%0A. The riders then rode 20 miles from Goleta to Carpinteria to an ocean front blufftop, before driving in the evening 2 hours to a private home in Los Angeles, where there was plenty of floor space and some extra beds for the tired Tibetan Freedom Riders.
APRIL 15, 2008
Operating on little sleep now, our group rode 5 miles from West L.A. to UCLA. At UCLA we were met by three times the number of rowdy Chinese student protesters (compared to UCSB the previous day). When the 11 of us first saw the chanting crowd waiting for us, we stopped walking and waited for police protection. The police escorted us to the speaking area at the top of a hill. The Chinese student protesters followed us and yelled at us as we set up our Free Tibet posters, flags, signs and petitions. Finally it was time to speak as our permit was 12-1. The angry and boisterous crowd closed in on us. The first speaker, from the Asian Pacific Coalition Undergraduates, decided not to speak. I was handed the microphone to face the angry crowd. I knew I had to scream into the microphone to be heard as they had three megaphones and were already chanting “LIAR LIAR LIAR.” (Note: What would your first words have been at this moment?). I yelled as loud as I could “I love the Olympic Games!” They screamed back: “Liar Liar Liar Liar”. I yelled again “I have been to 3 Olympic Games” and “I think China deserves the Olympic Games”. “LIAR LIAR LIAR. ” “I know of no Tibet Support Group in America that supports a boycott of the Olympic Games,” (LIAR LIAR). It was now obvious they were screaming at anything and preventing our permitted speech. The crowd was getting larger and many UCLA students were yelling at the Chinese students to be quiet.
I was then interrupted by the UCLA campus official ensuring our safety. He asked if Chinese woman could speak. I said, “No way, we have the permit and we are speaking now.” He replied that the woman would ask the crowd to stand back. In Chinese, she asked the crowd to get back and the police helped them move back about 10 feet. Then they moved back forward about 5 feet and started screaming at us again.
I continued: “The Tibet movement is a nonviolent movement against the Chinese communist government and is not against the people of China,” and they yelled, “Liar Liar Liar.” This comment ended up on the UCLA video (see link below). I was now done complimenting the Chinese and I yelled out my real Tibet speech as loud as I could into the microphone. I was told afterward that the students could hear me. I told how Tibetan refugees are shot by border guards as they try to cross the Himalayas fleeing persecution (When they yelled “Liar Liar” this time I yelled back “Look on You Tube, Look on You Tube, Look on You Tube”). I told them how Tibetans are kept illiterate because they cant afford the Chinese schools, and the schools are taught in Chinese furthering their cultural genocide. How China invaded Tibet in 1949, when Tibet was its own country with its own borders, flag, ethnicity, language, foreign envoys, money. I yelled that natural resources were being stolen and taken back east to Beijing. I yelled about the 1.2 million dead, the 3,000 who flee each year, the 120,000 Tibetans forced to live abroad, the religious persecution and arbitrary arrests and economic discrimination. I yelled about the monks and nuns being tortured in Chinese prisons. I then gave the microphone to Jigme Norbu, nephew of HHDL.
Jigme is our best and most fiery speaker and he started out by yelling to the group: “I say China does not deserve the Olympic Games!” This caused a huge roar from the crowd. He
gave a good talk about Tibet but had to cut it short because of the increasing agitation of the Chinese students. The monk declined to come up to be presented before the angry crowd. Tashi Dorjee gave a passionate speech as did Gendin Gyatso. Namgyal Kyulo of TASC gave an impassioned speech. In a spirit of cooperation and dialogue, we then gave them our last minutes of microphone time, like we did at UCSB the day before. It seemed like about 1,000 people were sitting on all the walls and benches and standing in the field before us. We were unable to sell any of our t-shirts again. We were escorted by the police back to our cars and the crowd dispersed. We rushed to the L.A. Chinese Consulate 10 miles away, and arrived just in time for the march and rally there.
The Tibetan Freedom Riders then marched their bikes on a permitted walk along Wilshire Blvd. to the L.A. Chinese Consulate. Speeches and chanting in front of the consulate were
made in front of three TV cameras. A great party was then hosted for the Tibetan Freedom Riders at Lucia’s in Hollywood, where the remaining T-shirts and other books and items were sold, ensuring the approximate breakeven of the SF to LA ride.
A few points I noticed about the protesting Chinese students after our last 2 days at UCSB and UCLA: These Chinese students really do believe Tibet supporters are liars when we claim things like “1.2 million died, 100,000 have fled, 3,000 flee per year, there are monks and nuns tortured in prisons, Tibetans can’t go to school, etc.” They would yell western media is biased, and have we ever gone to Tibet to see? Their hands would be shaking as they held their microphones to address the crowd: that is how fervently they believe in their positions. They claim Tibet was a part of China in the past, that America took California from Mexico, that industrialization helps Tibet, that China has invested in Tibetan schools and hospitals and improved the lives of Tibetans, that unlike the Chinese Tibetans can have more than one child and pay no taxes, that the Dalai Lama is an evil man who instigated the riots. They say western media has made up and exaggerated the problems in Tibet and can’t be believed. This confusion underscores why Tibet needs independent inspections by the media and the UN to stop the speculation and find the facts. It is only when both sides stop screaming at each other and trading accusations that dialogue can take place and solutions can be found for Tibet. One more thing: The Chinese students are very proud of their Olympic Games. They believe grabbing the torch from a woman in a wheelchair is outrageous. They are angry at the Tibet supporters who spoiled their torch relay around the world.
Note on the LA event from the Tibetan Association of Southern California:
The Tibetan freedom torch relay riders were received by Tibetan Associations of Southern California, Los Angeles Friend of Tibet, Vietnam Freedom Party, China Democracy Party of Los Angeles, and other American supporters at the corner of S Normandie Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. The protestors then marched with the Torch relay bikers on a permitted walk along Eastbound Wilshire Blvd. to the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate. In front of the Chinese Consulate, speakers from each groups, Torch relay riders, and Tenzin Chondhen la, who is a member of Parilaiment in the Tibetan Exile government, made speeches. Mr Chuzhu Zheng, Secretary of the China Democracy Party of Los Angeles, raised great concern of the current situation inside Tibet and blamed the Chinese government for the unrest inside Tibet. At the Chinese Consulate the speeches and chanting took place in front of three TV cameras, including KTLA news, abc channel 7 news, Fox 11 news, and many other associated press, including Radio Free Asia Mandarin. The KPCC reported the event live.
See the UCLA video by UCLA TV: http://www.dailybruin.com/dbtv/2008/apr/16/491/
Photos from the trip are posted at http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563136174bOrGwc (Go to later in the slide show to begin at April 
Other related sites: www.sfteamtibet.org, www.torchrelaybeijing2008.com, www.teamtibet.org