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Monica Cycling

Monica at Crooked Creek Nature Center

Youth Spotlight

Monica

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A Classic Athlete

From what her father tells me, she's an early riser for training days. Gets up, makes breakfast, and is dressed, ready to go. Sometimes waiting on him to get going. This is Monica's approach to most things she loves. With intention and with planning.

Monica's changed in subtle ways.

Ways that may not be perceptible to you or me.

Her love of cycling didn't begin in the spring of 2019. But that's when we introduced the concept of the Spoke'n Revolutions (SnR) cycling program to her mother. Me and the SnR Team Captain were speaking to the PTA at Hillside High School in Durham. We didn't land any new recruits that day but we did peak some interest.


Monica's mother reached out to Itza to have something to do for her older sister. But now, that sister's in college. One year and a global pandemic later, Monica dropped her once favorite sport of tennis to begin riding with us and is now loving every mile.

 After her successful completion of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Summer Experience tour she's been interviewed twice. The tour has changed her in subtle ways. Ways that may not be perceptible to you or me but they are glowing differences to her parents.

From

Tennis

to Biking

Monica displays greater confidence in self and her abilities. The summer tour was the first time she was away for an extended time without family and we did a lot of camping. Monica now petitions her family to go on camping trips.


It's easy to think of Monica as the spokesperson for Triangle Bikeworks but she’s not (officially, that is). She's relatively new to the program but when she’s asked to speak about her experiences being a member of Spoke'n Revolutions, she steps up and delivers.

Here are two articles Monica was featured in where she was able to share her experiences:

Trips to Maple View Farm

Pre-Summer Tour Training

100 Mile Club

100 Mile Club

‎⁨Blythe Island⁩, Georgia⁩

Rest Stop For Rain

‎⁨Angier⁩, North Carolina

Break Time Fun

‎⁨Yemassee⁩, ⁨South Carolina⁩

Events

We were fortunate to have two back-to-back events in October that were all about building community and having a lot of fun.

Tarwheels Fun Ride

Youth from Triangle Bikeworks helped lead the Tarwheel's Fun Ride, a 6 mile tour of historic Hillsborough, NC. Triangle Bikeworks has been pitching in and helping this great cycling organization in this capacity for five years.

This year's tour offered a small glimpse into the vibrant and profound African American community that has flourished in Hillsborough, despite race laws, segregation, and discrimination throughout the history of North Carolina.


Hillsborough had a large population of freed blacks in the antebellum era, which was rare for a small southern town. African Americans created their own communities within the larger town. Unfortunately, much of this history has been lost over time. 

Women and many of their experiences have been overlooked by historians too. Prior to the mid-20th century, women had few legal rights, including the right to vote, hold property or own their own business without a man’s support.


Topping off the tour participants visited the

reconstructed 17th century Occaneechi Village located on the banks of the Eno River, close to where the Occaneechi had their village more than 300 years ago. The timing was spot-on and we were able to speak with an interpretive guide.

Parent Only Ride

Inspired by their children and at the suggestion of parents whose children participated in the Summer Experience tour cycling the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor we planned a ride for parents.

The parents only event was coordinated by Wilhelmina Green was a great success.

We started at Southpoint Mall and took the American Tobacco Trail/East Coast Greenway into downtown Durham. There we ate lunch and got to know each other a little better before heading back to meet the youth who were finishing up their training ride.

Fall Excursions

We're training now for the Fall Excursions program which will be a three day outing discovering Civil Rights history in Greensboro, NC. This season the youth in the Spoke'n Revolutions Fall Excursions will be traveling from Carrboro, NC to Greensboro, NC. A distance of 50.4 miles via bike.

While there they plan to visit the International Civil Rights Museum and the Gateway Gardens before heading back east and home.


  •   International Civil Rights Museum  
  • Gateway Gardens
  International Civil Rights Museum  

International Civil Rights Museum

Non-violent direct action


Animating an iconic landmark recognized across the globe, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum opened in 2010 as a comprehensive museum of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and an innovative educational organization devoted to understanding and advancing civil and human rights in this country and the world. It commemorates the Feb. 1, 1960, beginning of sit-ins at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, by the N.C. A&T Four college students, reflecting careful planning carried out with colleagues at Bennett College.

Greensboro 4
Gateway Gardens

Gateway Gardens

Conserving and enhancing beauty


Spanning almost 11 acres, Gateway Gardens provides a stunning entryway into the City of Greensboro, a playful and interactive garden, and a horticultural oasis integrating elements of history, movement, discovery, and community.a

Damarcus Lafoe

Street Dance Instructor


Animating an iconic landmark recognized across the globe, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum opened in 2010 as a comprehensive museum of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and an innovative educational organization devoted to understanding and advancing civil and human rights in this country and the world. It commemorates the Feb. 1, 1960, beginning of sit-ins at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, by the N.C. A&T Four college students, reflecting careful planning carried out with colleagues at Bennett College.

Exploring Greensboro

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Triangle Bikeworks

117 W. Main Street

Carrboro, NC 27510

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