The “Junior”
Ride, A Country Narrative
THE
“JUNIOR” RIDE – A Journey of National and Personal Discovery.
Do you want a journey this
summer of unpredictable richness? //
Want a challenge unlike others out there?
// Want to do something special, something epic, something to which
others might say “Whoa?….Really? You did that?” // (This trip is open to all returning Peddie students, not just juniors)
After gathering
at Peddie and then driving south, you will begin your adventure at the Ebenezer
Baptist Church and the King Center in
Atlanta, and then, in a fitting coda almost a thousand miles later, you will
conclude your trip through Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. Now who, besides you, will have done that??
There is one slot open for
an eager adventurer, male or female, for this three week bicycle tour that
follows a handful of powerful American narratives, a ride conceived by Juniors at Peddie and designed by junior Charlotte Babcock ’08 (working with Mr. Clements). Open to all returning
Peddie students, the trip requires an eager attitude and a considerable level
of fitness. To move nimbly and quickly, and to ensure easy contact with the
people we meet along the way, the group will remain small: three to five students,
and one adult (PJClements). We ride the
best backroads we know; we camp in the evening
(commercial and state park campgrounds are scattered along the way), and do our
own cooking, a style of travel called “self-contained bicycle touring.”
DATES: June 24-July 18 +/- [24
days = Three
weeks of bicycle touring, three days of pre/post travel = 900 + cycling miles,
self-contained.]
TRIP COST, GEAR: Transportation, food, shelter, and group expenses will be divided
equally. Preliminary research suggests maximum expense to be under $1,000 per
person. Peddie will provide camping gear, cooking equipment, and bicycle travel
trailers (BOB
trailers): riders provide their own clothing, cycling gear, and bicycle.
INTERESTED? Contact
teacher Pat Clements
[pclements@peddie.org] or Project Leader Charlotte Babcock ‘08 [cbabcock@peddie.org].
TRIP ROUTE: Specifically, here’s a more robust
version of the route. We will ride from Atlanta (GA) -> New Echota-> Chattanooga (TN) -> Knoxville -> Bristol ->
Wytheville (VA) -> Roanoke -> Lexington -> Charlottesville -> Washington DC (see map above).We begin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and
the King Center on Auburn Street in Atlanta,
where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and later preached; we end on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial, where he
delivered his most famous
speech. Within this story of civil right are more American stories, all
linked. We ride through the rural south, toward
ORDER OF MAGNITUDE:
Any three week tour = 20 riding days @50
miles/day = 1,000. So, delete a riding day for an additional rest day off the
bike; subtract two more riding days for weather, oddities, or opportunities;
increase the average of actual riding days and/or subtract 150 miles from
1,000. So a three week tour with a small, able group can cover 850-1,00 miles with plenty of flexibility and necessary wiggle
room. This ride, designed by Charlotte Babcock ‘08 fits these design
principles perfectly.
GOOGLE EARTH
FLY-BY: Link
document last update: May 24, 2007 by Patrick J. Clements pclement@peddie.org
Copyright (c) 2007 Peddie School
URL:
http://falconnet.peddie.org/faculty/pclements/cycling/JuniorRide2007-Index.html