Hey everyone, I'm going to be writing my second post in a row! Time sort of got away from Annamaria and I, and it was better for both of our schedules to switch up our days.
One of the things that I am most looking forward to during Bike&Build is, well, the biking. Spending every day in a new place seeing new sights and meeting new people will be one great way to pass 10 weeks. You may ask "Where will they sleep? What will they eat?". Fear not, I have the answers!
A typical day in the life of a Bike&Build-er starts at 6am. We'll crawl out of our sleeping bags, pack up and eat breakfast; this is followed by a 7:30 morning meeting at which a leader of our trip will outline the day's route and distribute directions, and we all do a last minute tune up of our bikes. After the meeting, we're off! We'll take our time with the morning ride, stopping for photo ops and interesting places along the way in small groups of 3-4 riders. By 11:30 it's lunchtime, the support van that will be following us around during the summer with extra gear and all of our luggage will set up at a lunch spot where the whole group will meet up again and get some food in our bodies. After lunch we finish the day's route, and by 4:30pm the whole group will have arrived at our host for the night! At this point, all 30 (or so) of us will be smelly and sweaty, so *hopefully* there will be showers awaiting us at our destination, and we finish our daily chores (grocery shopping, cleaning, etc). We eat dinner with our amazing hosts in our new place and then give a presentation to the community about what Bike&Build is, and generally raise awareness of the affordable housing cause in the U.S. (Annamaria and I will be well practiced in that by then!).
There are days, however, when we don't bike from one town to the next. We have Build Days and Days Off - let me explain these days that need no explanation. During Build Days we get up and, instead of setting up to continue our ride across the country, we go to a construction site with an affordable housing organization and build a house (raise the roof!). I'm sure you can imagine what a Day Off entails - we hang out, relax, explore, and have fun in a host community.
As for our hosts, they will usually be community centers, churches, YMCAs and the like who are gracious enough to allow a group of 30-odd bikers sleep on their floors for a night or two. They are pre-arranged by our group leaders, and can even be nice enough to provide us with dinner and/or breakfast during our stay! Sometimes we will need to cook for ourselves, and in this case we shop and cook as a group; our lunches on the road will be picnic style usually including a sandwich, fruit, juice, etc. By the time we're done with our day we will certainly be ready for some sleep, and excited to get up the next morning to do it all over again!
On a different note, I hope some of y'all were able to tune in to hear Annamaria and I on the radio last Friday! We were really excited about the opportunity to spread the word about our cause (and hopefully snagged some new readers). We are also trying to think of some fun and interesting ways to fundraise, so I have another plea for help. If you have ever needed to fundraise for anything (seriously, anything) tell us how you did it! Bake sales, info booths, making a spectacle of yourself, another crazy idea that you've never seen done by anyone else. Tell us your stories!
Welcome to Kathryn's and Annamaria's Bike & Build blog! We will be posting our progress as we train for our bike across the country and work to raise $4,500 each for affordable housing!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Radio Interview
We're are gonna be on the radio tomorrow talking about Bike & Build!
Tune in at 12pm to WUSB 90.1or steam it at:
http://www.wusb.fm/listen
Tune in at 12pm to WUSB 90.1or steam it at:
http://www.wusb.fm/listen
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
B&B Beginnings
Tonight I will answer the question that is on everyone's mind: When did someone decide to start a program that sends people biking across the U.S. and building houses?
For those of you who know about the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, this idea probably sounds pretty familiar. For those who don't - the Habitat Bicycle Challenge (HBC) was a similar cross-country cycling tour that took place annually during the summers of 1995 - 2007. The HBC was directly affiliated with Habitat for Humanity, and began with Yale University student Antony Brydon in 1995. Antony wanted to raise money for the Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven, an idea that expanded over twelve summers - the student-run program attracted 90 participants each year and added two new routes. When the HBC had finished its final tour in 2007 it had raised $2.4 million in total!
Marc Bush, a former trip leader for the HBC, wanted to expand on a program that motivates young people to take social responsibility. In 2002 he founded Bike&Build, and the first two Bike&Build trips cycled across America in the summer of 2003. In only six years B&B gained six national routes and a regional route - 2009 saw the debut of the Capital Ride. An important difference between B&B and the HBC is that B&B is not directly affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. While B&B still supports Habitat across the country, B&B also raises awareness and funds of those smaller community organizations for affordable housing. Even though the majority of B&B participants are college students, B&B, unlike the HBC, is not a student run organization and employs a small full time staff, a seasonal intern and a part time Coordinator. This year will mark the 10th summer of B&B rides - in the decade it has been running, B&B has had over 1,600 participants and raised a total of over $3.3 million!
The route we are doing - Providence to California - was added in 2006 and has raised a total of $519,150 over the past seven summers! It's easy to see why Annamaria and I are so eager to take part in this great program, but we really need your help - if everyone reading this gave just $5, we would both be $200 closer to our goal! If you are unable to donate money, you can still help us out by telling everyone you know about our cause.
Thanks so much to everyone who has already donated - the history of B&B would not have been possible without contributions like yours!
On a different note -
Cyclists, marathon runners, triathlon participants, weightlifters, anybody that goes to the gym or keeps in shape by exercising, we need your help! Annamaria and I still aren't able to afford our bikes(!!!!) but we want to get a head start on training. If you've ever needed to train for anything, or have a favorite training regimen, tell us about it! What exercises are your favorite, or the most convenient, or the most difficult? We are willing to try anything and everything - so whatever you think we should do, shout it out!
For those of you who know about the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, this idea probably sounds pretty familiar. For those who don't - the Habitat Bicycle Challenge (HBC) was a similar cross-country cycling tour that took place annually during the summers of 1995 - 2007. The HBC was directly affiliated with Habitat for Humanity, and began with Yale University student Antony Brydon in 1995. Antony wanted to raise money for the Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven, an idea that expanded over twelve summers - the student-run program attracted 90 participants each year and added two new routes. When the HBC had finished its final tour in 2007 it had raised $2.4 million in total!
Marc Bush, a former trip leader for the HBC, wanted to expand on a program that motivates young people to take social responsibility. In 2002 he founded Bike&Build, and the first two Bike&Build trips cycled across America in the summer of 2003. In only six years B&B gained six national routes and a regional route - 2009 saw the debut of the Capital Ride. An important difference between B&B and the HBC is that B&B is not directly affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. While B&B still supports Habitat across the country, B&B also raises awareness and funds of those smaller community organizations for affordable housing. Even though the majority of B&B participants are college students, B&B, unlike the HBC, is not a student run organization and employs a small full time staff, a seasonal intern and a part time Coordinator. This year will mark the 10th summer of B&B rides - in the decade it has been running, B&B has had over 1,600 participants and raised a total of over $3.3 million!
The route we are doing - Providence to California - was added in 2006 and has raised a total of $519,150 over the past seven summers! It's easy to see why Annamaria and I are so eager to take part in this great program, but we really need your help - if everyone reading this gave just $5, we would both be $200 closer to our goal! If you are unable to donate money, you can still help us out by telling everyone you know about our cause.
Thanks so much to everyone who has already donated - the history of B&B would not have been possible without contributions like yours!
On a different note -
Cyclists, marathon runners, triathlon participants, weightlifters, anybody that goes to the gym or keeps in shape by exercising, we need your help! Annamaria and I still aren't able to afford our bikes(!!!!) but we want to get a head start on training. If you've ever needed to train for anything, or have a favorite training regimen, tell us about it! What exercises are your favorite, or the most convenient, or the most difficult? We are willing to try anything and everything - so whatever you think we should do, shout it out!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Bikes, Camera, Action!
Happy Valentines Day!
For those of you in the Northeast you may have noticed we got some snow this past weekend. We even got Monday off from school and Kathy had her first proper snowball fight. Oh the memories. Also this past weekend my boyfriend gave me his belated Christmas gift: a GoPro Hero3 HD camera! This means that awesome training/trick/informational videos are coming your way. Tricks you say? Yes, tricks! Maybe not quite the tricks featured in the last video I posted, but I promise you they will be awesome. Kathy says she'll just be filming but I'm sure we can get her to try something. Of course bike tricks will have to wait till we receive our bikes. Kathy and I are still each roughly $800 short of getting our bikes and that's if we decide not to upgrade any of their components. The bike which Bike & Build has selected for our trip across the country is the Giant Avail 3. Were both pretty stoked about this model but it's important that we have ample riding time before our trip to grow accustomed to them and replace anything which may be unsatisfactory, like the saddle for instance. So it's important that we raise this money sooner rather than later any amount you donate helps.
For those Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt) lovers out there in the Stony Brook area, Kathy and I hope to hold a fundraiser with them in the weeks to come. With any luck 20% of their revenue for a day will be going to affordable housing so stay in touch to learn how to participate by simply eating frozen yogurt.
Please feel free to leave a comment or email us we'd love to hear any suggestions or opinions!
Here's one of my favorite trials video, enjoy:
For those of you in the Northeast you may have noticed we got some snow this past weekend. We even got Monday off from school and Kathy had her first proper snowball fight. Oh the memories. Also this past weekend my boyfriend gave me his belated Christmas gift: a GoPro Hero3 HD camera! This means that awesome training/trick/informational videos are coming your way. Tricks you say? Yes, tricks! Maybe not quite the tricks featured in the last video I posted, but I promise you they will be awesome. Kathy says she'll just be filming but I'm sure we can get her to try something. Of course bike tricks will have to wait till we receive our bikes. Kathy and I are still each roughly $800 short of getting our bikes and that's if we decide not to upgrade any of their components. The bike which Bike & Build has selected for our trip across the country is the Giant Avail 3. Were both pretty stoked about this model but it's important that we have ample riding time before our trip to grow accustomed to them and replace anything which may be unsatisfactory, like the saddle for instance. So it's important that we raise this money sooner rather than later any amount you donate helps.
For those Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt) lovers out there in the Stony Brook area, Kathy and I hope to hold a fundraiser with them in the weeks to come. With any luck 20% of their revenue for a day will be going to affordable housing so stay in touch to learn how to participate by simply eating frozen yogurt.
Please feel free to leave a comment or email us we'd love to hear any suggestions or opinions!
Here's one of my favorite trials video, enjoy:
Special thanks to our donors thus far and please continue to tell friends about our cause!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Oh, the places we'll go!
Hey everyone!
As I type there is about 28" of snow on the ground outside my dorm room in NY - I hope everybody in the area has stayed warm and dry as Nemo wreaked havoc!
Well, as you know Annamaria and I have not yet been able to order our bikes - we are planning on posting videos or photos of rides we take, how long they are, etc. However, since neither one of us has the required $1,000 for our bikes(ahem!), I'll fill you in on the details of our route for the summer instead.
We said in our first post that our route takes us from Providence, RI to San Fransisco, CA (from here on out it is referred to as P2C) - just one of 8 routes crossing the entire country. There is a Southern route (Florida to California), a Central route (Virginia to Oregon), a Northern route (New Hampshire to British Columbia) and five other routes in between. All national routes begin on the East Coast in the beginning of the summer and finish somewhere on the West Coast at the end. For those busy cyclists who don't have the time in the summer that us college students have, there is the Capital Ride - a route that takes just two weeks in July to help out from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia, PA, and a week long Chris Weber Memorial Route in the winter; starting in Orlando and finishing in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, this ride is for Bike&Build alumni only and is dedicated to the memory of 2005 trip leader Chris Weber who passed away in 2007.
P2C crosses 17 states, going west through New England and climbing the Rockies to end up on the beach in northern California. Here is a full look at our itinerary:
You may say "Hey! They're only building for 14 out of 82 days on this trip!". That is completely true. However, on the days that we aren't building houses, we are going to be cycling through America raising money and awareness for the affordable houses we build, and we might throw in some cycling safety as well.
In the future, I will be posting information on various towns we will be building in or riding through, and what we plan to do for the community. If anyone has a particular town they would like to know more about, tell us!
More from us soon,
Kathryn
As I type there is about 28" of snow on the ground outside my dorm room in NY - I hope everybody in the area has stayed warm and dry as Nemo wreaked havoc!
Well, as you know Annamaria and I have not yet been able to order our bikes - we are planning on posting videos or photos of rides we take, how long they are, etc. However, since neither one of us has the required $1,000 for our bikes(ahem!), I'll fill you in on the details of our route for the summer instead.
We said in our first post that our route takes us from Providence, RI to San Fransisco, CA (from here on out it is referred to as P2C) - just one of 8 routes crossing the entire country. There is a Southern route (Florida to California), a Central route (Virginia to Oregon), a Northern route (New Hampshire to British Columbia) and five other routes in between. All national routes begin on the East Coast in the beginning of the summer and finish somewhere on the West Coast at the end. For those busy cyclists who don't have the time in the summer that us college students have, there is the Capital Ride - a route that takes just two weeks in July to help out from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia, PA, and a week long Chris Weber Memorial Route in the winter; starting in Orlando and finishing in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, this ride is for Bike&Build alumni only and is dedicated to the memory of 2005 trip leader Chris Weber who passed away in 2007.
P2C crosses 17 states, going west through New England and climbing the Rockies to end up on the beach in northern California. Here is a full look at our itinerary:
In the future, I will be posting information on various towns we will be building in or riding through, and what we plan to do for the community. If anyone has a particular town they would like to know more about, tell us!
More from us soon,
Kathryn
Monday, February 4, 2013
Where did my money go?
Hey all, Annamaria here!
Kathy and I will be alternating our posts every 5 days. Today is my turn.
Normally, I would post how many miles we were able to do last week while training but unfortunately neither me nor Kathy have a bike yet. For Bike & Build to send us our bikes we have to have raised $1,000 and passed a safety and policy test. Right now Kathy is coming in first with a whopping $241.00 while I'm in second with a mere $105.00. So help me out! This brings me to the main topic of today which is where does the $4,500 we each raise end up? Well if only $4,500 are raised than approximately 45%-55% are donated to local affordable housing organizations sometimes affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. 35% is used on programming costs, and only 10% is used on admin*. A good way to look at these percentages is that half goes straight to affordable housing organizations while the other half goes to facilitating awareness and in turn more donations! Currently there are 30 riders on our route which has previously been able to raise a total of $180,119* and over the year Bike & Build has raised $4 million. Help us raise the bar!
Last Wednesday we had 79 views, if everyone had donated $20 we would have raised $1,580 in one day! Please take two seconds to donate what ever you feel you can afford:)
I will leave you with this awesome video:
We'll be sure to post a video of our tricks once we get our bike!
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