September 8, 2007
Underground Railroad: If We Don’t Have to Bike It, We’d Love to Follow It
Cycling in freedom’s footsteps on the Underground Railroad route
The sun is burning down. I’m partway through a five-day ride tracing the path our enslaved ancestors took, risking their lives seeking freedom.
As soon as I learned the Adventure Cycling Association was sponsoring a bicycle tour that followed the route of the Underground Railroad, I convinced three biking buddies - all of us African American - to join me.
We relished the unique opportunity to learn our history by traveling in the footsteps of our ancestors. They traveled for months, mostly by foot, from one safe hiding place to another, often shielded by nothing but darkness and their own determination to be free.
. . .
We joined 86 other cyclists from across the country in a ride also intended to increase interest in cycling among African Americans. … There were 19 African Americans among the 90 cyclists - more than on any previous tour in the 31 years the association has been sponsoring tours. We were black and white, young and old, gay and straight, American and Canadian, beginners and advanced cyclists.
The 296-mile ride that began July 31 in Buffalo, N.Y., would end Aug. 4 in Owen Sound, Ontario, a city settled by many runaway slaves. The route is the final leg of the 2,058-mile Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, which starts in Mobile, Ala.
. . .
On our first day, we gathered on the banks of the Niagara River, where a historical marker notes the narrowest part of the river - the place where thousands of runaway slaves crossed the waters to freedom.
At least 20,000 blacks fled to Canada after an 1850 federal law that encouraged slave catchers to hunt down those who’d escaped to the free Northern states. Some bounty hunters even kidnapped free blacks. …
Filed under: Race/Ethnic Issues, United States
