Packing for the road (Slick Sun-Shield!)

Indiana juvenile detention students learn valuable lesson from Weston teacher

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In June, my sister, Liz Chapel-Kochlany, in Sunrise, e-mailed me about Rafael Giraldo, a teacher at Tequesta Trace Middle School in Weston. Giraldo planned to ride a recumbent trike from San Francisco to St. Augustine, and then back to Weston.

The objective of this tour was to give to his students a life lesson in planning, organization, and commitment. Liz suggested monitoring his trek with my students at the Porter County Juvenile Detention in Valparaiso, Ind.

The GPS feature on Rafael's Web site took us to his exact longitude and latitude on a daily, hourly basis. My students copied the coordinates into Google Maps to see a duplicate of what Rafael was seeing actual time. The site also features pictures and videos that they could post from the previous day's travel. I communicated with Rafael by placing "viewing from Detention" in the subject line and encouraged my students to read the blog and guest book.

It was from a mountaintop in eastern Utah that Rafael first addressed my students in video. Rafael messaged "to those students in that detention center in Indiana" that they were the master and slaves of their own decisions and fate.

There was an initial silence in the classroom, both in surprise and shock that he cared enough to respond. One resident inquired, "Is he talking to us?"

From there, Rafael spoke to the students via YouTube. Since our residents are restricted in their ability to communicate by phone or Internet, I messaged their ideas and questions to Rafael.

Later Rafael e-mailed me and proposed that, when he reached the Mississippi River, he would rent a car and trek to Valparaiso to speak in person to the residents in detention. We accepted.

Along the 2,000-mile route, Rafael has made many challenges, and has even had to change his initial route to bypass Jamestown. However, Rafael did not modify his commitment to my students. He drove from Memphis to Valparaiso this month and spoke with our students, who were unusually animated in their questioning; extraordinarily impressed with the discourse.

So, thank you Rafael for honoring a commitment to those who you never met before. Thank you for affecting young lives. Thank you from the residents and staff of the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center in Valparaiso.

Still watching from Detention! May the wind be at you back. Vaya con Dios!

Roger Chapel teaches at the Porter County Juvenile Detention in Valparaiso, Ind.

South Florida middle school teacher Rafael Giraldo is cycling across the United States this summer. He crossed into Florida on Thursday and is headed toward Tallahassee. Earlier this month, he took a two-day detour, by car, to Valparaiso, Ind., to speak to 21 youths at a juvenile detention center who have faithfully followed his trek via the Internet. An official at the facility, Roger Chapel, wrote this column about Giraldo's visit.

source SunSentinel

 

Cyclist teacher completes his 'manifest destiny'

Teacher Rafael Giraldo cycles into Weston after his cross country cycling trip.
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WESTON, FL - Rafael Giraldo completed a 3,800-mile cross-country tour this afternoon, riding a recumbent Tricycle he calls "Manifest Destiny."

"It's tied to history and fulfilling a promise," explained Giraldo, 46, who teaches history at Tequesta Middle School in Weston.

When Giraldo returned home after the 80-day stretch that began in San Francisco on June 6, he found an enthusiastic crowd of about 30 people waiting at State Road 27 and Interstate 75. He had braved hailstorms, sandstorms and traffic across 11 states, sending dispatches from a GPS transmitter along the way.

"I know you don't like to hug a sweaty man, but today is an exception," Giraldo said as he embraced his wife, Andrea DeStefano-Giraldo, after dismounting--actually, pulling himself up from the semi-reclining position he used for riding.

"I'm just happy he's home in one piece," his wife said as she hugged him back and started to cry. She had not seen her husband since he left, though "we talked every day."

To mark his return, Giraldo got a blessing from his priest at St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church.

The whole thing started with Giraldo's promise to his students at Tequesta that he would show them they could accomplish anything.

"It's a lesson in commitment," he said. "If you prepare, you will achieve."

As anyone who has taken his eighth-grade history class knows, manifest destiny was a 19th century belief that the United States was destined to reach from coast to coast across the North American continent. Giraldo started his journey in San Francisco and rode through the Nevada desert and sandstorms in Utah, ending up on the east coast of Florida.

"I told myself it was my destiny....I'm going to do this," he said.

Along the way, Giraldo tracked his journey through the GPS, allowing students and anyone else who was interested to see how it was coming along. Three other cyclists heard about the trip online and decided to join his team.

"We wanted to share in the experience," said Jim Artis, 63, who rode the last leg of Giraldo's journey, meeting up with him in Clewiston. "Cyclists like to support other cyclists."

Also tracking the trip was Tequesta student Jack Lundell, 12. He greeted Giraldo with a homemade sign that read, "Way to go, you Rock Mr. Giraldo."

"It was really cool to learn about different parts of the U.S.," Lundell said. "It showed me that you should never give up."

At 9 a.m. Monday, Giraldo returns to the classroom, winding down after the summer of adventure. He spent about a year planning the trip, everything from his route to getting physically fit. By Sunday, he had lost 30 pounds.

"If I hadn't done my homework I wouldn't have been successful," Giraldo said. "That's another good lesson for my students."

source Orlando Sentinel

 

In his words: Rafael Giraldo's bike journey across the U.S.

I am a middle school history teacher who spent his summer cycling across America, from coast to coast, simply to prove a point — ideas by our hand become realities.

For almost three months, I cycled from California to Florida, 11 states, to fulfill a promise and teach my students valuable lessons about commitment, life and history. Loaded with technology, photographic equipment, camping gear and "Manifest Destiny," my recumbent trike, I flew to San Francisco where, coincidentally, I began my Tour of Discovery on June 6, the anniversary of D-Day.

Riding alone, the challenges from the 3,800 miles I covered are too numerous to recount. Through California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, every fiber of my body, every crevice of my mind, and all the resilience of my soul would be thoroughly tested for 86 days.

The beauty of the land (see more photos at www.tourof discovery.com) was only surpassed by the generosity of many strangers. In Colorado, I fell sick after climbing Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet above sea level. Before reaching Cotopaxi, a fever weakened me. The charitable hearts of Dave and Teresa White invited me to stay for next to nothing in their Western-style lodge.

On the day of my arrival in Pueblo, the skies darkened, ready to unleash a furious storm. As lighting began to strike, Bob Fredrigill pulled me off the street and, along with his wife Tryna, took me into the comforts and safety of their home. Like royalty, they treated me both in their residence and splendid restaurant, La Renaissance.

In Alabama, a grandmother with whom I shared a few friendly words took it upon herself to catch up with me down the road to contribute a few dollars to my cause. In Tallahassee, a retired teacher, her daughter and her grandchildren tracked my GPS position from my website. Making a colorful welcome sign, they drove to greet and encourage me on.

The environments were extreme. Even with all my planning, I was ill-prepared for California's Sierra Nevada and its mid-summer freezing temperatures. The mountain climbs on my recumbent trike were strenuous. In Nevada alone, I encountered over 24 summits and was exposed to the solitude and dangers of the desert. It was in southern Utah where I truly earned my stripes in surviving several sand storms and temperatures exceeding 119 degrees Fahrenheit. Climbing the Rockies was demanding, yet as strange as it sounds, it was nowhere near as difficult as riding against the winds or through the rain storms on the Great Plains.

From sunrise to sunset, tough work had to be done every day, without exception. Preparedness defeated adversity, determination defeated doubt, work defeated failure, and constant prayer blessed the journey.

The fabric of this story was woven in real time, as it happened. Technology and the human experience merged as one and made the voyage come alive. Soon, many started to contribute with their own postings on my forum and message board. The tour's following took on a life of its own and quickly evolved. Others, such as the members of Bent Riders Online, contributed thousands of postings in their newsgroup. Through the publication of Cycling Experiences, Jim Artis made Tour of Discovery ever so vivid. His knowledgeable comments and richly written articles helped many understand the difficulties faced by the rider.

Yet, what truly touched my heart was the fact that unknowingly I had reached out to the most in need. Rog Chapel, a teacher in the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center in Valparaiso, Ind., was making use of the content in my website to teach his own students about the same values I had set out to teach. With similar principles as common ground, two complete strangers connected and together worked to inspire these imprisoned children. Rog and his students tracked me every day. Their commitment led to my promise of visiting them in person once I reached the Mississippi River.

A full month has passed from the day I rode back into Weston, escorted by two new friends and fellow cyclists, Jim Artis and Josh Beatty. The homecoming was splendid. A welcoming crowd of family, friends, students, parents, colleagues and sponsors was present to greet me.

It became evident with their expressions of support that the Tour of Discovery had accomplished its mission. And that age, sex, ethnic background, skin color, language or condition did not matter. What was important was that we were all in agreement that, in life, one has to choose meaningful goals, prepare thoroughly and work consistently to achieve these. We all shared the same values and knew in our hearts that we are all masters and slaves of our thoughts, words and actions. What we accomplish in this life is in great measure the product of our own will and dedication.

Rafael Giraldo teaches U.S. history at Tequesta Trace Middle School in Weston.

source SunSentinel

On a side note, it looks like he changed out his overhead SUNSCREEN for one a bit more beefy somewhere along the way.(pics below) Still, a neat idea to keep from roasting in the sweltering SUN.

 

As stated in an earlier post "Followers can track the progress of his 5,000-mile, 70-day trip on his website, www.tourofdiscovery.com, and check out photos, which he is loading daily." Loads and loads of pictures and videos there to be seen from all across the country.

I scanned portions of his blog to see what happened and turned up a LINK to Veltop which is what his new top is. But at a price of 349€ (or $513 U.S.) I'd have to wonder if I couldn't construct something functional for a lot less. To their credit, on a DF bicycle the windshield is mounted on a boom that drops down out of the way when you don't need/want it. Nifty, but a tad expensive in my opinion.

And yes Gene, I agree a lighter color would be cooler and probably safer, visibility-wise so traffic could see/notice you sooner, but from what I can tell of the Veltop website they only come in black.