On the morning of March 24, the cyclist group Team 26 departed from the Edmond Town Hall and rode all the way to the Connecticut State Capitol for the March For Our Lives rally to send a message about the need to end gun violence.The Newtown Bee. "People were emotional, they were engaged, and you could just tell the commitment from the students, parents, and teachers was real."To learn more about Team 26, visit team26.org or facebook.com/SandyHookRideOnWashington.

Local resident Monte Frank founded Team 26 in the wake of 12/14 to raise awareness of the lax gun laws in America. Since 2013, the organization has advocated for legislative change and made annual trips from Newtown to Washington, DC - with the exception of last year's ride that started in Washington, with the riders' backs to the country's Capitol, and ended in Newtown.

More than 30 cyclists, including members of the public, participated in the four-hour trek to Hartford for the March For Our Lives rally.

According to Mr Frank, Team 26 traveled through Southbury, Woodbury, Watertown, Terryville, Bristol, Farmington, and West Hartford with only two breaks before arriving in Hartford.

"It was cold," Mr Frank said of the ride's weather conditions. "My feet were pretty numb for the first couple hours, but then it warmed up. By the time we got to Hartford, it was a spectacular day."

When the riders reached the March For Our Lives rally, Team 26 was met with energetic cheers and took a lap around the Capitol Building before Mr Frank made his official remarks.

"Standing up at the podium, which was a little elevated, and staring out at the audience was incredibly powerful. I could not see the back of the crowd," he told

At the beginning of Mr Frank's speech, he told the audience in Hartford that Team 26 was there to deliver a message that "enough is enough." The rallying cry was met with sweeping applause and caused the crowd to chant the phrase back numerous times.

He spoke about how he will never forget the night he had to tell his daughter that her third grade teacher, principal, and others who went to her school had been killed.

"That was an awful day, what happened in Newtown, but that's a weekend in Chicago, a month in Baltimore, a year in Hartford," Mr Frank said. "Our team could be called Team 26,000 to represent the number of children who have been killed by guns in this country since 1999."

Despite some naysayers discrediting the momentum for change that Newtown has made as merely a "moment," Mr Frank assured that our town's passion has turned into a movement and that Newtown stands with so many other towns and cities affected by gun violence.

"Like all great movements, it's the students who rise up and carry it forward… Keep marching, keep riding, keep moving forward, and vote! Vote for gun safe candidates," he encouraged. "I will never let shootings become the new normal - it's not normal."

He ended his speech by saying, "Let's all ride on and march on and vote until gun violence is no more. Enough is enough!"

Team 26's upcoming ride to Washington, DC, will leave from Newtown on Saturday, May 5, with a public rally planned for its send off.