ChC Spring roll ride

2012 Bicycles for the Tour

This past weekend I swept the dirt and leaves from my garage and built a bike rack to keep the youth cyclists’ bikes out of the elements.  We have seen an unprecedented donation of quality bicycles: Cannondale, Kona, Fuji just to name a few.  This year we have 13 cyclists taking a journey of a Lifetime and making a commitment to themselves and their future.  That’s an increase of five from 2011.

But it’s not all about riding bikes for the teens, that’s just the hook. This is a youth leadership program that changes lives and moves teens in a different and for some, a more positive direction.

As an example, at the beginning of the almost 1800 mile 2011 Underground Railroad tour, one cyclist never thought he could go a day without television. Another  gained a greater appreciation of the efforts those who came before us made. All of the cyclists walked away from the experience more educated than they were before they began. The National Park Brice’s Crossroads visit just off the Natchez Trace Parkway made an exceptional impression on the Youth Cyclists as they were told of the 55th and 59th USCT US Colored Troops’ bold defense of the retreating Union Army.  (http://www.nps.gov/brcr/the-battle.htm)

We’re not just grooming the next generation of cyclists and critical thinkers we’re also building appreciation for history and great outdoor activities.

Quoting Milton Chen, a senior fellow and executive director emeritus at Edutopia, ”This is project-based learning at its best, combining travel to powerful places with authentic experience of history and geography, collaboration towards a common goal, and intense physical activity. And using the Internet to document the trip…”. The blogs of the Youth Cyclists can be read here http://spokenrevolutions.wordpress.com/category/ugrr/

Since the spring of 2010, SnR youth cyclists have contributed hundreds of community service hours locally, regionally, and nationally.  Engaging them in community service builds self-efficacy and in turn they recognize that they can make a difference.  The program promotes strong relationships between youth and adults – creating confidence and knowledge that people care about them. The SnR Leadership Program empowers participants to take leadership roles in their schools and communities.  Several of the current members serve on local town boards, community boards, and are peer mentors for younger students.

We begin this summer’s westward tour following the Buffalo Soldiers’ 1896 bicycle route and the Lewis & Clark Trail on June 22, 2012.  At this time we can use all the help we can get.  Will you stand with us in support of youth leadership and development by making a contribution now?

Your support of $5 or more will go to buy tents, or hydration packs, healthy snacks or much needed fuel to power the vehicle that will follow them along the way. Your help is needed.

http://snr.chcpact.org/donate_now

Over 3,000 rubber ducks “racing” down the Eno River is quite a sight!

Adopt a Duck in the race and Help a Kid

It’s duck selling season again. For the fner for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Sunrise Rotary Club’s Annual Rubber Duck Race. SnR will receive half the proceeds from each duck it sells to use for its mission and the other half goes to support the many local and international projects that the Sunrise Rotary Club supports.

The race takes place June 2nd on the Eno River (you need not be present to win). The first 20 ducks to cross the finish line win one of the great prizes. Last year they placed over 3,000 ducks in the river. Adopt your ducks today – get a 6 pack and share with your friends! Every little bit helps us to fulfill our mission!

Checks must be received by May 28th and made payable to: Chapel Hill-Carrboro Sunrise Rotary and mailed to Spoke ‘n Revolutions’ @ PO Box 1188 Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Rubber Duck Race · Saturday, June 2, 2012

Rubber Duck (1) · $10
Ducky Six Pack (6) · $50
Ducky Dozen (13) · $100
Ducky Flock (35) · $250
Duck Herd (175) · $1,000
20 Great Prizes

including…

Show Me the Money $1,000 AmEx gift card

Maine Event Catered by Legal Seafood, a fabulous lobster and clam bake for 4

Take Me Out to the Ball Game 8 tickets to a Durham Bulls game plus a $200 gift card from Tyler’s Taproom

Up, Up and Away Hot air balloon ride for 2

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for a Year

Workout Together 1 year family YMCA membership

Get Away $250 Marriott gift card

Hit the Links Round of golf for 4 at Prestonwood Country Club and Chapel Hill Country Club One Night Retreat at The Umstead Hotel and Spa

Receiving the Town of Chapel Hill Proclamation of Bike Month

The 2012 SnR Touring Team with mayor Mark Kleinschmidt

Wild & Scenic Film Festival

There was a culminating moment for me last night at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival where I could have just had an outburst of excitement and joy. It was when the music for the W&SFF intro began. It’s this high note piano melody that if done with a slightly different tone arrangement could have gone into a horror film.  I’m thinking Jason and a campsite.  But in this instance it was beautifully done and we had listened to this music so many times that when the lights went down and the screen lit up all I could think of is that WE DID IT! YES!

Two years of wanting this to happen and two months of intense learning, arranging and planning have now reached its pinnacle and was being executed.  That’s one of the greatest feelings in the world.  The Masters of Ceremony, Lyle Estill, Tami Schwerin and Gary Phillips were exceptionally wonderful and we are so glad that they took the time out of their schedules to help us bring this environmental film festival to Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the surrounding area. 

It was a great evening of inspiring films that showed how individuals can make a difference and affect positive change in their community.  

Spoke ‘n Revolutions Youth Cycling (SnR) and The ReCYCLEry are excited to be the first to bring to Chapel Hill and Carrboro some of the favorite films of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the largest festival of its kind in the United States. We are proud to live in two iconic towns that are full of activists and people choosing to make a difference in the world. Spoke ‘n Revolutions and The ReCYCLery choose to make a difference in the everyday lives of individuals by building confidence, grooming future leaders and giving many the means to transport themselves to wherever they desire to go. SnR does this by taking teens on bicycle tours across our state and country so that they may learn about the environment around them, the community they live in and most importantly, themselves. The price of admission: Community Service.

The ReCYCLEry has been doing its thing for 11 years. Teaching the art of bicycle mechanics and self reliance by giving the community the means to have reliable transportation that they themselves earned through their own community service. In addition, The ReCYCLEry refurbishes bikes to be given away during the Christmas season and catastrophic moments when bikes were in need of replacement due to tornado or hurricane.

I’m happy to say that we are just as proud of our accomplishments as we are to have Lyle Estill of Piedmont Biofuels, Tami Schwerin of The Abundance Foundation and Gary Phillips of Weaver Street Realty to have been our Masters of Ceremony for the event. These three local environmental champions are affecting change in a community of change makers. We welcomed their participation in this inaugural environmental film festival.

Of the films featured at the historic Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill was “A Corner Plot”; an inspiring story of what one man can do with a small plot of land in the middle of a bustling city. Also, there was the story of how Jen Slotterback and her husband were “Finding Their Way” in stopping their beloved park from being leased out to an industrial gas drilling company in a story on Fracking. And our personal favorite, the powerful story of the bicycle as a necessary means of transportation and empowerment in “My Own Two Wheels”. 

Spoke ʻn Revolutions and The ReCYCLEry perceive cycling not only as a potential solution to many of the problems faced by North Carolina, but as part of a bigger strategy to reduce an environmental footprint. All of our refurbished bikes are built from Triangle area donations and saves useful bikes from entering the waste-stream. We help to empower the community by enabling economical transportation and providing youth an opportunity for some of the best project based learning and leadership training in the area. Empowerment of the people is a very important part of what we do. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a natural extension of SnR and The ReCYCLEry’s work to inspire you to act on behalf of the environment in any way you see fit.

see you next year. stay wild and keep it scenic.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival Intro

Video montage of festival films. Listen for the piano at 43 seconds in.

wild &scenic FF NC

Going on now

Glimpse of 2011 UGRR Tour

30 days in 30 minutes

1down 6 to go

So, we’re in Meadville, PA for a college visit to Allegheny College for my son Mahlique. I had my head down on the dashboard because my daughter, Naya, had said “yeah, that’s awful” for the tenth time when a woman knocked on the window to make sure I was alright.  This must be a nice college town.  Mahlique will like it here.

Coincidentally, we slept in a hotel just up the street when we finished the SnR UGRR tour of 2011. So close. As a matter of fact, we cycled very close to here, about 30 miles, when we stopped at Sarah’s Campground on lake ERIE.  Wow, life is so interesting.

New SnR cycling season has begun

We’re heading into our new cycling season for our youth cyclists with new recruits!