2021 Juneteenth Underground Railroad Ride

[Fieroguy]

On Saturday, June 19th I was invited to ride ride in the Juneteenth Underground Railroad Freedom Ride in Orange County, New York. As you may know, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States on 19 June 1865. We began our ride at the Erie Depot in Port Jervis, NY which was the entry point on the Delaware & Hudson Canal and later the Erie Railroad for fugitive slaves seeking freedom in the North and Canada on the Underground Railroad. We followed US6 (The Grand Army of the Republic Highway), then through Goshen, Chester, Monroe and Newburgh, ending the ride in Highland Falls outside of West Point Military Academy where we joined a parade and community celebration.

What made the ride very special was to be able to ride with the Buffalo Soldiers M/C who showed up with approximately 50 members from throughout the Tri-State area for the ride. I'm not usually one for group rides of this size, and it was necessary to keep only a 3 second distance to keep it tight, but it was one of the most organized rides of this type I have ever been on, with clear hand signals and 'blockers' at every intersection. Here are some pics from the day...

 

[Phil Tarman]

That sounds like a tremendous experience!

 

[junglejim]

Sounds like a great showing. You must have done good things to earn that honor of riding with them. That would be hard to turn down even if you don't like big groups. But it sounds like they know how to do it right. I'm looking forward to hearing the whole story some day.

 

[Fieroguy]

Sounds like a great showing. You must have done good things to earn that honor of riding with them. That would be hard to turn down even if you don't like big groups. But it sounds like they know how to do it right. I'm looking forward to hearing the whole story some day.

Hi Jim. Running a veteran peer support program and regional veteran task force, I get in on some great opportunities within the veteran community. I also have the honor of being part of the motorcycle escort with our local Rolling Thunder M/C of the Honor Flight buses to the airport for their trips to Washington D.C. I'm looking forward to the Buffalo Soldier monument that will be dedicated at West Point within the next few months. There is a rich veteran heritage in this area. It's also one of the things l enjoy about this group. The NT seems to have a lot of veteran followers (or prior followers in your case, lol).

 

[Phil Tarman]

I've noticed on Facebook that there are growing numbers of Black women beginning to ride sport and sport-touring bikes. One who has become one of my more active Facebook friends is from South Carolina and rides an FJR. She has a magnetic personality and has organized rides for women and a couple of motorcycle peer groups for women. So a Facebook search for Ki Re. She didn't work last year and spent her time riding all over the country. One thing I noticed at the Iron Butt Rally start was that there was not a single Black rider. Back in '15, there was one of our own -- a man from Philadelphia who called himself Mungo Jerry. I he joined the Forum, but he hasn't participated in anything I've seen since 2015 when his bike cratered a few hours and too many miles short of the drop dead finish time. Lisa Landry the Rally Mom, tried to get a battery to him in time for him to get to the finish in Albuquerque.

I just found him on the Forum. User name is mungojerry and has quite a few posts about his IBR ride they're worth reading.

At any rate, I'd sure love to see more diversity in motorcycle riding, both racial and gender diversity.

 

[mikesim]

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the fastest growing segment of motorcyclists are women. Also, Porsche Taylor a black lady is doing a great job of organizing black lady riders. She is an ambassador for Indian and travels the country promoting motorcycling.... good on her!

Mike