A shared community: ‘Ride to the Rock’ celebrates Shiprock pinnacle

Posted by Cyrus Norcross | Dec 6, 2021 | Community |

SHIPROCK

Cyclists from the Four Corners area gathered near the Shiprock pinnacle on Nov. 26 to participate in the “Ride to the Rock,” a community event.

Navajo Times | Cyrus Norcross
Siblings Bruce Lane and Breanna Lameman finish the two-and-a-half-mile “Ride to the Rock” near Shiprock on Nov. 26. “It was pretty great and a chilling morning, I wanted to get out, burn off the Thanksgiving meal and enjoy the scenery,” Lameman said.

The ride was a 2.5-mile loop that led riders close to the infamous rock formation.

“I feel like a tourist in my own homeland,” Jackson Yellow, of Aztec, said. “It’s good to get outside and to be up close to Shiprock.”

The bicycle ride was a collaborative event organized by the Four Corners Regional Health Center, Navajo YES, Shiprock Chapter and spearheaded by the organization Strong Warriors.

Strong Warriors is a fitness organization that was founded in Oklahoma in 2010 by Toqua Ticeahkie.

“We originally did this event back in 2018 at this same spot,” said Ticeahkie. “We had about 20 people come out in 2018 and the feedback was that people were truly grateful.”

Navajo Times | Cyrus Norcross
Participants of the “Ride to the Rock” near the end of the two-and-a-half-mile course that took place near Shiprock on Nov. 26.

The ride faced setbacks in 2019 and the pandemic halted the event in 2020.

“Now that 2021 is here, our whole thing was how to provide healthy activities for the community but still following social distance mandates,” he said. “With bike riding, you can’t get right up on someone like a run, so we figured we do the 2018 event again.”

Choosing Shiprock as the location for the ride was an easy decision for Ticeahkie.

“I drive by that thing (Shiprock) every day and I’m mesmerized by it,” he said. “Doing this in 2018 and I got to walk up and touch the monument. It was powerful.”

Ticeahkie has spoken with residents of Shiprock and found out that many have never touched or been close to the monument.

“How cool is it for people who live in this area, to give them the excuse and reason to say, ‘I’m going to touch this thing and be right up next to it,’” he said. “This monument symbolizes what the Four Corners is all about.”

Brianna Lameman, from Shiprock, said, “It feels good, seeing and hearing people laughing and just enjoying each other’s company.”

“The trail was really great,” she said, “the terrain was nice and I came with my family and we enjoyed it a lot.”

“We got tribal members and non-Natives out here sharing the same experience,” said Ticeahike.

“This doesn’t just symbolize Shiprock, or the Navajo Nation,” he said. “It symbolizes what the Four Corners is all about – the outdoors, the shared community.”