At Philadelphia Bike Expo, cyclist tells of his Underground Railroad freedom ride

Erick Cedeno with Lawson MabryĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s children, Elizabeth and Will. (Mabry is the man who hosted Erick through WarmShowers.org and showed him the historical ledgers from his familyĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s slave-owning days)PHOTO: Courtesy Erick Cedeno
Erick Cedeno with Lawson MabryĆ¢€™s children, Elizabeth and Will. (Mabry is the man who hosted Erick through WarmShowers.org and showed him the historical ledgers from his familyĆ¢€™s slave-owning days)PHOTO: Courtesy Erick Cedeno


Erick CedeƱo, founder of the company Bicycle Nomad, has been car-free for five years. So when in September 2013 his bicycle was stolen in Buffalo, N.Y., less than 20 miles from the finish of Adventure Cycling Association's 2,000-mile Underground Railroad route, he was crushed.
"At first I was like, 'How am I going to get around? How am I going to finish this route?' " CedeƱo says.
But he wasn't going to let his hardship prevent him from reaching his destination at the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Cliff Madell, owner of Teen Treks, a Buffalo organization that promotes adventure cycling to teenagers, loaned him a bike to finish - something Madell says was "the right thing to do."
"I kept remembering the people that walked the same path I was going," CedeƱo says. "Every time I had challenges, I remembered those people. Just to have freedom, they had to face those challenges."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/living/20141107_At_Philadelphia_Bike_Expo__cyclist_tells_of_his_Underground_Railroad_freedom_ride.html#tMxE12uC7SuQuvur.99

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