'The Most Epic Ride': Tulsa Cyclists Finish Visiting Historic Black Towns Across Oklahoma

A Tulsa man and his friends are wrapping up a 600-mile-long bicycle journey around Oklahoma. The week-long trip was part of a mission to visit historic towns across the state. 

Osborne Celestain and his friend Eyakem have traveled hundreds of miles on their bikes, and their trip is coming to an end, but not before a quick bite to eat on Brookside to reminisce about the long journey.

Related: Tulsa Cyclist Rides 600 Miles To Visit Historic Black Towns Across Oklahoma

As their well-worn bikes wait outside, these riders are enjoying a well-deserved hot meal and a fresh cup of coffee.

"We didn't find any coffee on the trail," said Osbourne Celestain.

The trail was 600 miles of Oklahoma back roads.

"This is what Oz and I call the most epic ride; this is where you are either made or broken, but we didn't want to give up at all," said photographer Eyakem Gulilat.

He says on their mission to visit all 13 historic black towns in the state, an unexpected muddy dirt road nearly stopped them in their tracks. 

"It was all these little signs saying, hey man, you can quit this," said Celestain.

Celestain says they had a goal and weren't going to let high winds, rain, and hills get them down. 

"It's about are you choosing to rise to the occasion that day, so we got up seven days in a row and rose to the occasion," Celestain said. 

He says the hard work was worth it as they met with people from every town they visited, always receiving a warm welcome.

"They was waiting for us. They had little gift baskets for us," he said.

The goal was to promote small communities like Honey Springs and Brooksville and help them attract visitors. 

"There were days when I wanted to just give up, but I was really remembering the history of these towns, how did they come about, right. It is such a beautiful American story that needs to be told," said Eyakem. 

The cyclists say they're already thinking about doing another trip like this next year, but they say they want to get some rest first before they start planning that trip.