Friday July 15 – Itza - Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls!

Today is the second Big DAY of this lovely adventure. If you don't remember the first Big DAY was June 13th, the day we departed from Chapel Hill. I can't believe we made it to this point! Our 30 days of adventure has truly become a once in a life time experience.

So today I woke up in the lovely home of David and Molly. I woke up with my mind set on freedom. I had the 1st day of school feeling again. I felt like today was the day I've been waiting for for a really long time. I didn't and I still can't put words to the way I was feeling. All I really know is that I made it, we made it, we all completed an 1800 mile journey. Something 31 days ago was nothing more than a goal, an idea, a dream, a distant thought. We all made it to Niagara Falls! We did it!! I Can't say it enough but I'm extremely proud of Jeimy, Chris, Mahlique, Houston, Kyvon, Ibn, Marshall, Mrs. Sue, Kevin, Mr. Brogden and Rich for doing this!

We left Molly and David's home and headed off on our last bike ride. On our way to Niagara Falls we got lost. We were on a bike trail but the bike trail stopped and we hit a dead end. Everyone we asked said that we could ride a bike trail all the way to the Falls. With the dead-end ahead we decided to head back towards Ohio St and follow the directions we had printed from map quest or one of those direction giving websites. We eventually made it to Niagara St.

While riding on Niagara St. Ibn got a flat so we had to stop which gave us time to figure out where we were and how we were going to get to Niagara Falls. After Ibn's bike was ready to go we set off in search of Aqua Lane. About a mile away from Aqua Lane, Kyvon and Chris get into a minor accident. Where 3 of Kyvon's spokes broke making it not possible for him to finish the ride. The decision to call the SAG van and call it a day was made for several reasons one being that Kyvon's bike was unrepairable at the moment and the other was that we still had 20 or so miles to go and it was close to 3pm. So if we kept riding we wouldn't really get to spend enough time at Niagara Falls. When the SAG van arrived to pick us up the bikes and were ready to go. The front wheels were off the bikes. We all worked as a team to get the bikes on the trailer and locked.

Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls what a beautiful sight! This is truly one day I will never ever forget! My heart was racing like never before, I was getting kinda emotional and wanting to cry because I didn't know another way of expressing how happy I was. We headed to the Maid of the Mist area and we got closer and closer to the falls. I can't find words to describe the natural beauty before my eyes. Once on the boat I remembered my dad asked me to call him if I had signal down there and thankfully I did! I gave him a call and to hear his voice while on the boat made me feel extremely special. I was on top of the world while I was at the bottom of the falls.

Before getting off the boat I had to make sure I gave a big thanks and hug to my SnR family (except Houston who gave me a handshake since he doesn't do hugs).

Once we left the Falls we headed to CheeBurger, CheeBurger which has 1,258,000 combinations of milk shakes. We all set down and had a wonderful dinner. We laughed and talked and then got back in the car and said bye to Buffalo, NY and here we come Chapel Hill. I could not have asked for a better last day than this.

- Itza

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

 Let's Move Outside!

Thursday July 14 – Itza - Evangola to Buffalo

Today we left Evangola Camping ground and headed towards Buffalo, New York. We ended up doing 51 miles today instead of 30miles because we got lost somewhere in between.

 However, when we arrived to Buffalo and saw the signs we all let out some crazy noise. We let out a victory scream. We then road down till we got to Michigan St where we took a right turn and met Kevin Cottrell and 2 really nice reporters. We were invited inside the church and got to listen to the importance of Buffalo in the Underground Railroad movement. 

We also visited a park were we could see Canada for the 1^st time. Canada was just within reach. Even though we weren't going to cross over it was just incredible being able to see it from a distance and knowing we are so close. the thing is that I didn't really realize that we made it to buffalo till we got to David and Molly's house where we spent the night. The great thing about spending the night at David and Molly's home is that we started our journey with a Quaker family (Sara and Darryl from Blountsville,  Alabama) and we ended our journey with a Quaker family. This was a great day!

- Itza

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

 Let's Move Outside!

Monday June 13 - Itza

Monday June 13 - Itza Salazar

The day has finally arrived we are headed to Alabama!!!!!!!!

 Today was full of love and care and excitement. We started our journey at 7:45ish a couple of hours after our original plan which was 3am; however this minor set back has not effected the 1st day plans. Nancy and Mr. Seigling came to see us off. It was a really kind and sweet gesture. She treated the adults to coffee and Mr. Seigling free-styled for us. This was the best way to say good-bye to Chapel Hill till July 15.

We had a long ride in our packed van but we made it to South Carolina at 10:08 and Georgia at 12:53. At 2:15 we finished meeting with the National Park Services in Atlanta where we met Ms. Nancy and Mrs. Priscilla Nalls who were really nice and enthusiastic to see us. We were all excited and thankful for all the help and support they have showed us. I was even surprised that they new everyone's name! It was a pretty cool detail.

At 3:01 eastern time we entered Alabama and Mr. Brogden quizzed me about how the time zone was invented. This is what happens when you are sitting right next to him. We stayed the night with Quaker friends, Sarah and Daryl who gave us a tour of their environmentally friendly home and provided us with dinner and a place to rest for the night (our first Safe House). We also had the opportunity to swim in a lake. Which I jumped in! It was great to see the catalytic effect on the other cyclists. Mostly everyone jumped in and it was super fun! I Just want to say that day one is over and we have encountered many supportive people and it is just wonderful having all this support!

- Itza


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

Let's Move Outside!

Friday July 1 -Itza

Today we rode about 54 miles today. We left the camp site in Indiana and we headed back to Kentucky. Today's ride was kinda tiring but we where able to sleep in and say good bye to Ms. Jen and her family who came out to support us. The day was hot and windy at times but it was a pretty cool ride. We had to go up some pretty big hills but also rode on flat roads.

Towards the end of our ride Houston got a flat on his back tire. Mr. Brogden patched up the tube but the patches didn't hold for long because once Houston got on the bike again, the tube deflated. Mr. Brogden tried to call but we were at the bottom of a hill so he didn't have service. We decided to go up the hill to see if we could get any service. On the way up we asked this lady if we could use her phone and once again we were greeted with open arms and she let us use it.

We ended todays ride at the church on the top of a hill which had a beautiful view. Later we drove to Burlington, Kentucky where we are staying for the night at a YMCA. I am kinda really excited we get to stay inside a building tonight.

- Itza

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

 Let's Move Outside!

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!