32 young adults met for the first time in a church not too far from the Atlantic Ocean. They checked off their names, handed in their medical forms, picked up a slim, twin sized therma rest, a single maroon T-shirt that said “Pedaling to end poverty housing” across the front, and proceeded to meet and greet each other. Some said good bye to their concerned and loving parents and friends as they were about to learn everything they needed to know for their upcoming journey.
These 32 young adults were about to start a traveling journey across the Southern U.S. Some for the glory, some for the challenge, and some out of the kindness of their hearts and their desire to help people who are in need of shelter. As one alumni warrior phrased it, “I’m not really into biking, but I thought that it would make for an interesting story to tell one day”. And these are the words that kept our spirits high and a smile to our face.
In Jacksonville we practiced how to change a flat tire and how to adjust the placement of our clips. We also talked about the essentials: tire levers, spare tubes, pump, helmet, and water! It seemed too easy, but we were all willing to take that leap of faith. Is this really all we needed to know in order to bike across the country? The answer is YES!
Night time activities of a Bike and Build cyclist: Later on that night, Aylin, Saskia, and I went for a night ride to the beach. I was actually kind of nervous riding at night in a neighborhood that I wasn’t very familiar with. I did ride off of the sidewalk at one point by accident, and I think that Aylin and Saskia did as well since I didn’t have enough time to warn them. All in all, we all made it to the beach and back to the church safely, and just a little more confident. If I remember correctly, that was also the first time that Saskia used her clipless pedals and that was a total success!
Within the next couple of nights our friendships had already started to mold. Some of us went out for a drink or two while others like myself went out for ice cream
Yes, I the oldest went out for ice cream and not beer! This is actually a pretty funny story. The Dairy Queen down the street had already closed, but the drive through was still open. So we all stomped by the drive through pretending that we were driving through, but it didn’t work… Fortunately for us the Sonic which was right down the street from us was still open and provided us with a lot more than just ice cream! Of course, this was before we all discovered the beauty of donated meals! More on that to come in future posts…In Jacksonville we also volunteered at our first build project. We were split up between two sites since there were just too many of us. I long with 15 or so of the other riders volunteered with Beaches Habitat where we worked on the landscaping for a row of Habitat houses. We learned the importance of spreading soil in a certain direction making sure that rainfall drains towards the street, i.e. away from the house. When laying out grass this should mimic brick walls in that the edges should overlap and not line up perfectly. Apparently this helps the grass grow better and not stay in pieces. For me this was also the first taste of community and the greatness of interdependence that I expected to experience on this trip. I remember Aylin and me cleaning up a patch of soil in preparation for the grass and we were so exhausted! That was when a very kind man approached us and offered to help with his tractor!
This was by far one of my favorite build days. We all worked really hard throughout the entire day and the volunteer coordinators were VERY impressed and appreciative of our work. It really was the best volunteer experience that I’ve ever partaken in, possibly one of my best working days too. If you were to look around, you could see that everyone was working diligently, dirt and sweat rolling off of everyone’s eyebrows, and yet the biggest, warmest smiles gleaming from everyone’s face.
We were all so excited and inspired by this wonderful experience that a couple of our riders decided to get mohawks! By the end of that night I believe that about 5 of our cyclists had gotten a Mohawk haircut, and to at least my surprise, they all looked really good too! With enough positive energy and confidence, I’m pretty sure that we could have all pulled off just about any haircut! I can’t even describe what a wonderful, joyous, and fun activity it was to give each other crazy haircuts. Hey, if you can find 30 young adults that are interested in biking across the country, chances are there are a few amongst them that would be sane enough to do just about anything!
By the way, here’s what the Beaches Habitat site had to say about our build project:
“For the past three years, Beaches Habitat has been fortunate to host Bike and Build, a non-profit organization that sends 7 separate groups of college students on a cross-country cycling journey to spread the word about the need for affordable housing. In addition to spreading the word about the need for affordable housing, the group raises money and donates the funds to help end povert housing. Finally, the group serves as positive role models to the communities they visit by providing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity a great deal of sweat equity! Meet the Bike and Build Southern 2008 group on their very first build day with Beaches Habitat! To learn more about Bike and Build, visit their website: www.bikeandbuild.org”
http://www.beacheshabitat.org/photogallery/index.php?showYear=2008
http://www.beacheshabitat.org/photogallery/index.php?showYear=2008
As promised, here are some more pictures:
