"One of the things I wanted to do was pay homage to freedom seekers and people that traveled this same route prior to me." said Erick Cedeño, the founder of Bicycle Nomad.  "I started in New Orleans, but the route I followed from Adventure Cycling association actually starts in Mobile, Alabama. Obviously, the Underground Railroad had so many routes, but this particular one follows an old song ["Follow the Drinkin' Gourd"] that was sung on plantations. It was the GPS on how to escape to freedom. The song literally says you follow the banks of the Tennessee River, that connects to the Ohio River, and then continue following the North Star."  Read more at cntraveler.com