“It is like a mental relief, a stress relief, like when you’re just out moving freely,” she said. “It’s much funner than driving.”
She considers herself a long-distance skater.
“When you’re on the freeway and stuff, you hardly see anything,” she said. “When you’re like at 60, 70 mph, this is all you see, but [with] long-distance skating or long-distance biking, then you see a lot more. Like you go to small towns, back roads, and cities.”
Adams said she’s taken long-distance skate trips in the past, including trips from Cleveland to major cities like Cincinnati and Niagara Falls. She recently returned from another accomplishment.
“Well, originally I was supposed to skate across the country from Seattle to New York City, but I felt something was a bit off and I kind of felt like I was not ready for it,” she said. “Therefore, I decided to still, like, take the skate trip to a next level. So, I decided to go from Chicago to New York City.”
She said it took her 19 days to achieve. Adams split the journey into two trips, with a quick pit stop in Cleveland, on her way to New York City.
“I’m from Cleveland,” she said. “I stay in Cleveland, so I pretty much gave myself a two-week [break]. Like, just to heal. Rejuvenate.”
These allowances go along with the motivation of her trip. She said she decided to skate this distance to bring awareness to many causes.
“Mental health, racial disparities and advocate for women’s rights,” Adams said.
Adams added she received support and donations along the route, but still faced many challenges like rough roads, traffic and bad weather.
“I mean, it’s a mixed bag of emotions,” Adams said. “Like it could challenge you physically, mentally and even spiritually. It’s a lot.”
Despite the challenges and only bringing a few belongings in a backpack, Adams said the trip was a success in the end.
“I was just having a big, like a big emotional outburst of emotions, like crying when I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. I was really crying, literally. When I got to Times Square, I was just, like, ‘Heck yeah,’” Adams said.
Now, back in Cleveland, Adams said she’s going to recover and take some time off. However, she said it won’t be long before she hits the road again for another long-distance trip.
