Thursday, June 30, 2011

Ife's Final Blog ~ as she leaves for school

For the past two weeks SNR has been to some exciting places and done some exciting things. We went to Memphis and spent the night at Kevin's sister's house which was the first home environment that we spent time in. It was relaxing and I felt as if I was at home. We stayed in a really cool Hostile the next night, and visited the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel. Saw Stax Records, went to several Civil war sites, stayed at different camp sites and YMCA's, met a few mayors, slept in a  hot stinky van when a strong storm came, ate dinner and kicked back at the Mayor Pro-Tem of Owensboro's house (Which is pretty freaking awesome if I do say so myself), celebrated Houston and Mahlique's birthday's, been in a few newspapers, watched a sunset go down together, bonded with each other, and met some amazing people. 


While we've had our rough patches, and when I say rough I mean ROUGH, such as arguments between the guys or pissing off Suepinda or Mr.B (the guys), or one person annoying the crap out of another, wipe-outs while riding, hard headed people not taking care of their business and then being locked out of the van with nothing to sleep with or in. It goes on... 


However, I can honestly say that all of our rough moments have been outweighed by all the great moments. We've experienced so much and done so much together that we've become a family. Sadly I'm leaving this family tomorrow, to prepare for college. And as the sun was setting yesterday each of my teammates wanted me to give them an evaluation/ summary of my opinions and what I've learned about them. And I realized that while learning so much about them, I've also learned a lot from them. (In sort of of an odd way I guess). I've been very fortunate to have been able to go on this trip. Kevin, Suepinda, and Mr. B are doing a fabulous job with everything. I'm going to miss the car conversations that Suepinda and I have, and  the convo's Kevin and I had while cycling. I know this isn't the last time that I'll see them but I am a little emotional. Thank you, Suepinda and Kevin for everything you have done for me and for making this trip possible!

The Road Underground - June 29 ~ Ride Day 14

Wednesday June 29 ~ Ride Day 14

Cloverport, KY to Historic Corydon, IN   61 miles

HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY, MAHLIQUE!!

I rode today but not yesterday. Yesterday I started a conference call at 9:30AM CST and kept working afterward. So, no ride yesterday which means no pictures from me. But Suep has some!

We arrived in Cloverport, KY and met the most incredible and wonderful couple in Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley. They are in their 80's with grandchildren our age! And they run an antique store with fantastic and interesting artifacts. Mr. Wheatley was also twice mayor of Cloverport in the past. They own the beautiful and historic home that is now a bed & breakfast. It was a perfect stay with four bedrooms, boys, girls and adults.

Mayor Susan Hendricks treated us to dinner in the new restaurant in town and we followed it up with a tour of her husband Bob's koi pond. That expanded to their lovely pool area which resembled a tropical outdoor bar. Then Bob invited us into his "man" cave where no Youth Cyclists were allowed to go. There we had adult only conversation and laughed quite a bit.  The kids hated not being included; and that was the point of it all. hehe. We ended the night and watched the amazing sunset that they see every night in the summer.


I awoke early today to get a little work done as I'll be in rural KY most of the day. With that completed I roused the crew and soon was outside packing the van. At first touch, it was chilly. Had to be in the high 60's.  By the time I pulled everything down to the van I no longer was wearing a light jacket.  The sun was warming even in the early hour of 7am.

The ride was uneventful with the exception of a few stunning views of the countryside. Itza, my ever faithful ride partner, was there to share the view and take a picture before my battery died. Of the most memorable was the ride across the Ohio River. This was traditionally (at least for some time) the crossing of River Jordan, Freedom!  As we crossed the bridge I felt something stir within that made me elated that we've come this far.  As I looked down from the bridge I thought of all the people who used this section as their crossing point. I viewed from bank to bank and thought of how difficult, exhilarating and complete it must have felt to finally be over the other side.

Toward the end of the ride we were winding in and out of small neighborhoods paralleling the major highway.  Only a few dog chases. All were stopped with the simple "STOP" command. None looked vicious except the large red doberman pincher. But he never came out of his yard. He sure did make the boys "woop", though. hehe

Toward the end it was Chris, Itza and I riding behind the rest of the group. Soon, they were out of site but we kept going along Hwy 135; riding along the shoulder.  At what seemed a very large hill upcoming we decided to check the GPS. It said we should double back 2miles and turn left and take Old Hwy 135. Instead, we went 200 ft up and made a right to connect with the same road to get into the city.

Once we arrived we saw no one familiar to the group. Where's the van? Must be at the YMCA.  Stopped at the Visitor's Center to get directions and then headed to they "Y" to discover no one was there! Well, Ibn and Ife were, so we were in the right place.  After a while everyone was there and my mother-in-law, Jit and grandmother-in-law and family drove in from Spencer and Bloomington, IN to meet up with us.  Jit cooked a wonderful selection of Thai dishes for the Youth Cyclists to eat.

Afterward, they met with Ms. Maxine Brown who was willing to meet our group and share the history of the Leora Brown School. A one room school house with a rich history in the African-American community. Ms. Brown's aunt Leora (the school was named after her years later) was a student, then teacher of 25 years at the school. I'm told, it was the only school for Blacks at the time. Ms. Brown also treated the Youth Cyclists to a lasagna dinner.  Thai food for lunch, Italian for dinner. I would be amazed if someone said they were hungry later. Well, not really. We have ways to burn off this fuel.

I know all this second hand as I worked today and was not a part of the festivities. But working is what allows me to make this magic happen and I'm happy to do it.

I'll try to upload more photos, too.  You may view them at Picasaweb.google.com. Search for spokenrev

Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks. 
Let's Move Outside!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Kyvon - June 18 - Gainesville, AL

After a long ride to gainesville, we arrived to massive cheering and music. Everyone came up to us and asked our name. When we came into the new building, we were given water and they started their program. They started with a christian musical selection, then we were given a greeting my the mayor, the volunteer fire chief, and a couple more. Then the group called NAPS sung for us again.

Afterwards, they played out a dramatization of an African man being taken away from his mother, and being sent to America to become a slave, but then he decided to escape, and when he finally did, he was able to have a normal life. Then a really nice woman took us on a tour across town in a horse drawn carriage. She gave us background history on the homes in the town that were recently remodeled to look the same as how it did when it was built.

During the whole tour, a goat named Billy was following one of the horses, and stayed with it. When we came back to the building, we all got to eat, and while we were eating, the group of NAPS came over and asked us a lot of questions about SnR, and after we answered their questions, they gave us some information on their group.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

June 27 Morganfield to Owensboro ~ Ride Day 12

SnR UGRR Tour 2011 June 27 ~ Ride Day 12

Started on time 6am. Waited out oncoming rain for about 40 minutes. Clouds looked ominous but only let out a light rainfall.

It's 68* with beautiful pastoral scenery and cornfields over acres of land.

As usual, my two compatriots, Itza and Jeimy, rode with the old man (technically, Bob is older than I am but he can definitely DO this). The ride was pretty much uneventful up to the 20 miles to Henderson, KY.

The one remarkable thing about Henderson is that it was the FIRST town that had a bike path. That made us feel welcome in that town for about 5 minutes.  The bike path ended in just over a mile.

Our next stop was a country store to meet up with Donny and Danny. Two retired men who are avid cyclists. But before we could get to them we had to wind our way through various turns, checking the map every turn of the way as some of the streets were unsigned highways.  Boy, was that confusing. We stopped a man from mowing his lawn for directions. When looking at the map he didn't know where to go but when we explained the landmarks we were given he knew exactly where to go. You see, when you live there you don't need a map.

We found Donny and Danny, our two Bicycle Owensboro escorts, and headed toward Owensboro on their normal cycling route, a quiet road with very few cars, a couple of dogs who were very familiar with and wary of the two, and corn.  After a while we began to see rain approaching so we picked up speed and continued on to the city. 2 miles from our destination of City Hall we were caught by the rain and were drenched.

Upon our dripping arrival into City Hall of we were greeted by the Mayor Pro-Tem Pamela Smith-Wright and several cameras from the local media. After the interview, which appeared on the 6pm and 10pm news, we were treated to lunch and given what has become our new collective piece: commemorative pins! This time we were also given a buffalo key chain.  Buffalo were prevalent in Owensboro way back in the day.

I began my first day back to work at 2pm while the Youth Cyclists ate lunch and toured the city. The tour was provided by Bicycle Owensboro, a great local bicycle community that advocates for cyclists in the Owensboro area.

Later that afternoon we were provide a grand dinner prepared by the Mayor Pro-Tem, herself (she's also a caterer). The meal was fabulous southern fare of fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, okra and butter beans & rice.  Everyone had a great time visiting.


Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks. 
Let's Move Outside!

Houston's Blog #3

 So the trip has been going pretty well so far. A couple days ago a small town called Gainesville in Alabama threw us a celebration which was very nice. We were provided with food, entertainment from a college group called "NAPS", and stories from many of the local towns people. We met the first female mayor of Gainesville which was very cool, as well as the female mayor, of a small town nearby called Pickensville. There we learned a lot about the history of the town. I found it to be very interesting. Many people provided us with places to stay such as our friend Shea.  She provided us with a pool and food. Then we slept on a farm owned by our friend Andrea. There we got to milk goats and some of us were able to ride on horses. It was a great experience. 

We camped out last night also and it rained, our tent was drenched and I couldn't find my sleeping pad, luckily my buddy's helped me out and gave me things to sleep on. Biking has gotten easier over time. I have found Mississippi to be quite flat which is a relief from the hills in Alabama.

Houston's Blog #2

today, I  started the day by biking 40 miles. i felt that the first twenty miles were very easy, however the twenty miles following that were grueling. I've noticed that i have a tendency to lose all my energy when the sun is beating down on me. The humidity didn't help either, as I went further I grew ever more mentally and physically fatigued. I defiantly hate the heat. Hopefully it will cool down as we get farther north. Other than those last twenty miles the day has been pretty good. 

We are now on our way to Selma, Alabama to go to the YMCA, there we will be free to use the facilities and treat ourselves to some delicious southern Barbecue. Hopefully after that I will get a good night sleep, every night so far I have been FREEZING COLD. Somehow, the temperature of everywhere we stay is like, sixty degrees, that's ridiculous. At one point there was condensation on our windows and fog in the house. Tonight I'm going to get an extra thick blanket.

Ife's Post June 18th

On Saturday June 18th the team set out for the Epes. There we met the wonderful Ms. Brown who provided us with water and bathrooms... Funny story, about a month ago Suepinda tried to make contact with the mayor of the Gainsville Alabama, which was the next town we were supposed to stop in. She was the first black female mayor of this town so Sue really wanted us to meet her. However Gainsville never responded to us so we planned to eat some lunch and pass on through. But as soon as Suepinda and I stopped in Gainsville to make Peanut Butter sandwiches for the team, a man in a pick up truck guided us to the town hall where, to our surprise, we were greeted by the mayor of Gainsville, the mayor of Epes, the police chief, the fire chief, many people of the town, and a college group called NAPS.

There was food, a band playing music, and a Schedule full of other activities that they planned for us. It was AMAZING. We were so shocked and overcome by joy. I had a great time speaking to the NAPS group about my next steps in college and their experiences with traveling all over the world. I was smiling so much, my face was hurting by the end of the day. And later that night Pastor Charley Wilson treated us to a delicious dinner! (I had been craving some fried fish and hot sauce).
On Sunday we went swimming in Starksville at Shea's house. Andrea and her family, our hosts for the night, met us there with a delicious scrumptious flavorful vegetarian dinner. It. Was. WONDERFUL. Later that night we went to Andrea's farm and milked goats, rode horses and camped out on their land.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Jeimy - June 27, 2011

June 27, 2011

Today we started our day with a sky full of dark clouds greeting us in the morning. We waited a while before actually starting and had a great ride because the weather wasn't too hot. Overall our ride to Owensboro was really relaxed because we mostly had flat land and not that many hills.
On this ride we got a chance to  cross the Ohio river and it was really big.  I can now imagine why slaves would wait until  the winter to cross the river because it would be really hard to swim through it and not be taken by the current. Once we were nearing our destination we met up with 2 cyclists who rode the final 20 miles to Owensboro. When we finally made it we headed to the city hall were we met the Governor Pro Tem, Mrs. Pamela Smith-Wright, and had lunch with her.

Later on we got a quick tour of the city and found out that Owensboro is the home where Ragu pasta sauce is made; betcha didn't know that!. Personally this fact made my day because I love Ragu pasta sauce.

Another highlight in my day was when we found out that Governor Pro Tem, Pamela Smith-Wright, invited us to her home for home made fried chicken. We all had a great time at dinner and would like to thank the city for an amazing welcome.


Jeimy

Monday June 27- Itza

Today we took off from the YMCA in Morganfield, KY where Mrs. Christy let us stay the night, even though Sunday's the night they are closed we were allowed stayed there, which was really cool cause we got to sleep on tumbling mats which were extra comfy. Any who, we woke up this morning at 5ish and tried to head off by 6-ish but we didn't actually start riding till like 7-ish cause there were some really dark, scary looking cloud lines heading toward us so we decided to wait it out. And the result of the clouds was totally anticlimactic because it only sprinkled for like 15-ish minutes. While we where waiting for the clouds to pass we sought shelter at this gas station with a big cover thing. While we where there this man, paying for gas, told us that the town was known for coal mining. We took off once the rain passed.



We were all kinda excited because we found out that todays ride was mostly flat and we like flat. Soon after we took a turn on P.... street we met two bikers named Dan and Danny. They had super awesome bikes and were really cool to talk to. Talking to them I found out that the best basketball team is The University of Kentucky (try saying that in NC). They escorted us to the Town Hall of Owensboro and that was awesome!!!

 The ride there was really chill but super windy. The road was mostly flat and I could see plots and plots of corn fields. The view was just peaceful and relaxing. As we where starting to cross some bridge the nasty clouds that we where trying to beat had caught up with us. And it started to pour. The water was cold but the scene looked like a movie shot where a random rain storm started. This part of the ride was just really cool. We didn't stop to look for shelter like Mr. Brogden, instead we road through the pouring rain with Don. The interesting thing was that the roads started to fill with water and it was super awesome just riding through it. We had to stop a couple of times and when I placed my foot on the floor my shoe was submerged in water. Well, it didn't take that long till we reached the Town Hall because we where really close. Once we arrived at the town hall we were all pumped and full of energy but soaked. Mayor Pro-Tem, Mrs. Pamela Smith-Wright, welcomed and greeted us with open arms. There was also a camera crew that interviewed Kevin.


We ate lunch provided by the town and then later we went for a tour of the city in this really snazzy looking van. On the tour we saw the Blue Grass museum and saw the location of this park that is being built and will hopefully be completed by 2013. The idea of the park is incredible and seems like it will bring life and provided entertainment to the people of Owensboro. I also found out that the Ragu, the pasta sauce, is created in Owensboro. That was really cool! The tour was really informative.

After the tour we went to the campus dorms of Kentucky Wesleyan College where we are staying (our Safe House for the night). With dorms assigned and settled in we headed to Ms. Pam's house because she was cooking us dinner. The dinner was Delicious!!!!!! Here we where able to enjoy the feeling of being in a home and eating a wonderful dinner. We were also able to see a news report on 14news on TV about Spoke 'n Revolutions… it was super AWESOME!!! after enjoying a wonderful meal and the company of these wonderful people we headed back to the dorm rooms where we played pool and watched some wrestling, baseball and Superbad the movie on the TV set. This has been a great day full of surprises and thrills.
⁃ Itza



Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks.
 Let's Move Outside!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

June 26 ~ Ride Day 10 (Rain Day 1)

It's raining here in KY and it doesn't show signs of letting up until later this afternoon.  The rain began at 4am.  Mahlique alerted us that he had seen lightening so the decision was made to put the Youth Cyclists in the van for the night after ensuring the tents were secured.  Anything that didn't fit in the van we put into the tents.

I elected to stay in my tent as opposed to sleeping upright. Felt a bit anxious as the thunder rolled and the rain poured. Much like sitting in a dentist's chair with the drill going full speed. I opted to put in my earbuds and listen to some calmer rain; how ironic.  

Suepinda joined me at 5am and we continued to sleep undisturbed. 

It is now 9:30am and the storm resumed at 9:00.  This ride day is a bust, the van is crowed and my battery is low on the laptop. We sleep inside tonight! Although I enjoy camping in the rough not many of the Youth Cyclists have been prepared for this type of adventure.  I'm very proud of them all. Under duress the personalities really come out and they have worked thru the quirkiness of each other. Although I agree with Holly that they should have caught up on their blogging, yesterday was another bonding moment for them all.

I've given a few of them new nicknames that probably won't stick but are appropriate: Kyvon "Ifel" Brown (for his unwavering ability to fall off his bike while standing still, Marshall "Crash" Lewis (for his daredevil ability - which we ardently trying to curb - to plow thru bushes) and Chris "Kayak" Dargan (for his episode in Edenton, NC last year but not to be upstaged by Kyvon and Marshall).

I'll complete this update once we reach the YMCA.


Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks. 
Let's Move Outside!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Jeimy - June 25, 2011

June 25, 2011

Ok so today was Houston's birthday and we started our day at a camp site in Tennessee. We started off our day and it was really chilly. It wasn't hot outside and the sun was covered by big dark clouds.

In our first 10 miles we saw a skunk and luckily it was pretty far away if it thought of spraying us. On our ride the weather decided to give us lots of rain, lightening, and thunder. We stayed at a rest area for about 3 hours waiting for the rain to pass and for the roads to dry up.

After we started cycling again, about 2 miles ahead we made another stop in front of the Kentucky sign welcoming us to our next stop on our trip. A little more into our trip the sun finally decided to come out and warm up our day.
On our second part of our ride we were riding up a big hill and like usually there were tire pieces lying along the side of the road. We got half way up when we thought we saw another tire piece but ended up being a curled up big black snake. I was pretty close to running it over and luckily didn't get to find out what would happen if I did. Afterwards we got to camp set up and had a pizza dinner and had ice cream to celebrate Houston's birthday.
 Overall I would say this day finished off pretty good.


Jeimy

Saturday June 25 ~ Ride Day 9

 UGRR Blog June 25

Dover, TN to Grand Rivers, KY

Happy Birthday to Houston who turns 17 today and Bea, from Starkville, MS, who turns 7. Daughter of Andrea and John whom we stayed on their hundred acre wood.

Leaving Pineview Campground was great. The weather was a brisk 68*. We planned to meet Suepinda and Ife at the first Welcome Center 8 miles away. Along the way we saw deer jumping away, large pastures of tall grass, wild turkeys and a skunk, which we continued on by without a word.  That was just Bob, Itza, Jeimy and I as we were leading the group this morning.  The boys straggled behind, lazily taking their time even though we know they have the strength to overpower all of us with the exception of Bob.

We were traveling on the Trace that winds between the Land Between the Lakes, managed by the US Forestry Service, our most recent "Conductor". Beautiful countryside.

We reached our destination only to find that Suepinda wasn't there, nor was she coming.  We figured that something happened to one of the boys' bikes and she stopped to help them.  When the boys arrived with stories of seeing baby deer and messing around with the skunk (Houston decided to get a closeup picture of it with Kyvon's camera until it turned its backside to him - not the birthday surprise he would be expecting) we realized that something else was going on with Suepinda and Ife.

Moments later Murphy from the Forestry Service arrived and asked which one of us had the keys to the van.  uuhhggh, that'd be me…  Before he drove off he asked me if the keys were successful in starting my bike. I sheepishly answered, no. With all the mysteries of the morning settled we waited for Suepinda to arrive but she didn't. We waited more and still she didn't. Bob suggested that we continue on; I wanted to wait 10 more minutes, stating that 10 more wouldn't hurt us any and Bob agreed. We continued to scan the cloud movement. Forecasts stated that it should rain until Noon. Five minutes later it started pouring and we huddled under the awning at the South End Visitor Center.

After the rain subsided we continued on to the next stop The 1850 Homeplace, 8 miles away. By that time Suepinda had passed us halfway there smiling that the keys were not lost. hehe

The van stopped at a large blast furnace that was used to smelt iron. Just up ahead was The 1850 Homeplace Interpretive Center where reenactments of life in the 1850's are performed.  Soon after our arrival it stormed again. We decided to wait out the rain and not pack it in for the day.  We didn't think it would take over three hours to stop.  It was a good break in the cycling journey as the Youth Cyclists joked, laughed, played cards, board games and music. It was an instant party on the spot. Bob and Suepinda took a much needed nap and I got caught up on my blog (while dozing in and out).

We chatted with fellow cyclists of the motoring kind who drove down from Indiana along the Traceway and were just now on their way back. Itza and Marshall told them all what we were doing. They commended them and wished us all luck on our long journey.

With the rain finally subsiding we got back on our bikes to ride another 2 miles to the Kentucky state line for a photo opp.  Then 10 miles to the Kentucky Welcome Center.

From the Welcome Center we arrived at Hillman Campgrounds which will be our Safe House for the night.  We celebrated Houston's birthday, put up our tents in the event of rain, Bob took in some live music down at the pavilion and a few of the boys rode around the park.

Its been a fantastic day.  I'm finally ahead of the curve on this blog thing and I'm turning in for an early night. Don't even have to get up too early as today's blog is already done!

Talk at you tomorrow!

Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks. 
Let's Move Outside!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Monday June 20 ~ Ride Day 6

Monday June 20 ~ Ride Day 6

The weather was remarkably cooler today (78*?).  I notice that my energy level is much higher, the air much cooler, and of course, I'm much happier without thoughts of stopping by the side of the road underneath a large shady tree and sleeping. hehe.  The humidity is less, as well. Yesterday, my jersey and the top of my shorts were soaked as if I had drank a glass of water and missed my mouth.

Our second flat tire of the day happened just shortly after I changed Ibn's. Houston had his tire changed twice. The second one Marshall did it on generosity.

SnR Cyclists stopped for lunch in Amory, MS and met mayor Boozer who greeted them on the lawn of the courtyard park in from of town hall. After lunch, the Cyclists cycled through tornado devastated Smithville, MS. The story of one man who was the only one on his block to survive was stirring and troubling. He had burns down both his arms to his fingertips. Another couple told a similar story of survival and being blessed. We offered any support we could give but at this point, all was taken care of by other emergency organizations.  Our visit was appreciated.  The Youth Cyclists were moved by the stories.

Natchez Trace is where we are on this day for our "safe house". We are now using map #2. Taking time to see historical landmarks. Visited Brice's Crossroads where African American soldiers defended and lay cover fire while their Union army of 8000 retreated to safety across a very small brigade. We also visited the graveyard of confederate soldiers and took note of the dates on several gravestones.

That night, after we showered, we were caught in a sudden rain storm. By the time I pitched the tent and it contained a half gallon of water the rain had stopped. 


Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks. Let's Move Outside!