Helen Faison Intermediate students explore on 4-day cycling trip
By Rick WillsTRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 1, 2007
For weeks, Anthony Pipkin, assistant principal of the Helen Faison Intermediate School in Homewood, had 10 students riding a stationary bike in his office each day.
The rides lasted 10 minutes at first, then was upped to 20 minutes, and eventually to 30. Later, the students took several long bike rides around the Pittsburgh area.
The preparation paid off this weekend, when the students, all 11 or 12, arrived at the South Side after completing a demanding four-day bike trip from Cumberland, Md.
"I used to think riding 10 miles (was) a lot. We were doing 30 to 40 miles per day," said Alyson McAtee, 11, of Homewood. "It was so much fun."
During the trip, the students rode the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, swam in the Youghiogheny River near Ohiopyle, pitched tents in rain and rode bikes up a seemingly endless series of steep hills.
"My legs really ache right now. They told us it would be a lot of work," said Taymon Russell, 11, of Homewood.
In spite of his achy legs, Taymon said he wants to do the same trip again or another like it.
The Greenway Sojourn trip included 500 people from around the United States and was sponsored by Rails to Trails Conservancy.
The Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh and the REI store in the South Side Works sponsored the Homewood students and provided mountain bikes, tents and other equipment. The goal was to increase minority participation in bike riding.
"These kids face trauma all the time, given where they live. We need to show them alternative ways of having fun," said Stephen Thomas, the center's director.
The center also founded the Major Taylor Cycling Club, named for a black American cyclist who won the one-mile track world cycling championships in 1899, 1900 and 1901.
Marshall "Major" Taylor won the championships despite bigotry he faced during his career, according to the Major Taylor Association, of Worcester, Mass. During races, ice water was thrown at him, nails were scattered in front of his wheels and other riders often boxed him in.
Pipkin, 40, a Hill District native who took up biking five years ago, said his method for selecting students for the trip was simple: "I picked kids who had never been called into my office."
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