Biking And Building

Cross-Country Bicycling Mission Stops In Yankton

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

A group of 30 college students from across the country are biking from coast to coast, a total of nearly 4,000 miles, in hopes of spreading the messages of affordable housing and youth empowerment to people across the country.

The group members started biking in Providence, R.I. in June, and will conclude their journey in Seattle by the end of August. They were staying in Yankton at the First United Methodist Church on Friday.

In addition to riding from Providence to Seattle, the group helps in building homes along the way. The members are part of the “Bike and Build” group, which has other bike routes across the country.

One of the route leaders, Neil Curran, said it took a lot of planning for the trip to come together as it has.

“All the route leaders coordinated the overnight stays, and other lodging and meals along the route,” he said. “We started planning the trip in January, in preparation for the June start.”

In order to become a route leader, Curran had to fill out a longer application than regular riders did. In addition, he had “four or five” phone interviews.

“In-person interviews were really out of the question because people that were applying were living all around the country,” he said.

Riders are offered eight different route choices, but Curran chose this route because he wanted to stay to the north. It also worked best with his school schedule.

“Another reason why I chose this route is because I wanted to see this part of the country,” he added.

He said he has enjoyed the towns the group has stayed in, as he said they all have “rolled out the red carpet” for their arrivals.

Curran said that so far there have been really no problems along the way, except for a few minor communication issues with host sites.

“We’ve really enjoyed every host that we’ve stayed with,” he said. “There haven’t been too many hiccups.”

One thing that is difficult for the group to prepare for is road closures. Curran said that sometimes road closures are not posted online, and the group often has to use maps and their GPS to navigate past the closures.

In addition to those detours, Curran said that he doesn’t think that many of the riders, including himself, were prepared for this heat.

“We have to get up a lot earlier than we normally would in order to prepare for and beat the heat,” he said. “We try to get our daily mileage in before it gets sweltering outside.”

In order to go on the trip, each rider must raise $4,500 — adding up to a total for the entire group of more than $167,000.

Members of the group said they were inspired to join “bike and build” because of their mission of addressing the affordable housing issues.

“I found out about the program through a friend,” said Alex Bloom, a student at Temple University. “I really wanted to try and help the affordable housing problem, and I thought this was the best way of doing that.”

Lauren Johnson, a student at Central Michigan University, said she was drawn to the ride for a number of different reasons.

“The main draw was the challenge of biking from the East to West Coast,” she said. “It’s not just raising money; it’s building houses, too.”

Bloom thanked the hosts that help the riders along the way.

“Without our hosts, we couldn’t exist as an organization,” he said. “They have helped us save a ton of money on lodging and food.”

“The support that we have gotten from our hosts has been amazing,” Arielle Parris said. “They have all been more than willing to help us out.”

One of the main reasons that riders chose the trip from Providence to Seattle was to see a different part of the country.

“I had a curiosity about the northwest, since not a lot of people have been there that I know,” said Michele Finkelstein, a student at DePaul University.

Riders noted they have had a lot of memorable and life changing experiences on the trip so far.

“One of my favorite parts of the trip so far was riding into Kent Falls in Connecticut,” said William Castellano, a student at Lynn University. “After the first few days of riding, it was nice to hang out and relax there for a few hours.”

Parris has also enjoyed all the scenery the riders have seen so far.

“I really loved the Sauk Rail Trail bike path in Iowa,” she said. “The fog was just enough so you can see the tops of the windmills. It was really beautiful.”

Other riders have enjoyed spending time with each other throughout the first month of the journey.

“I really felt we were a family after we rode through the Catskill Mountains in New York,” said Annie LaVigne, a Harvard student. “This was really a milestone moment for us because of all the hills we had to bike up.”

Some riders also mentioned biking in New York as being the highlight of the trip so far.

“Biking out of Ithaca was a really painful experience because of all the hills and mountains,” Bloom said. “When we finished, we could see the entire city and mountains below us, and seeing a physical representation of how hard we worked was so rewarding.”

Riders have also been “blown away” with the sense of adventure they have had biking from coast to coast. Bike riders from urban areas said they have enjoyed escaping the urban lifestyle, and that this trip has re-affirmed their faith in humanity and how generous some people are.

Despite all the groups successes, riders are not looking forward to finishing the trip in August. Many riders said they have not thought about going back into the “real world” when the trip ends. They think it is going to take a long time to adjust to their old eating habits and daily routines.

However, they are still enjoying the trip as it passes its midway point.

“The trip really makes you want to do the same thing for other people some day,” LaVigne said.

Johnson added, “You’re truly transforming yourself throughout the entire journey.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal