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Local students hit the trail for Bike and Build
Bicyclists to travel 3700 miles in support of Habitat for Humanity
By Franklin Hayes Splash! Magazine
 | | Submitted Photo Joshua West left, and Michelle Norberg, a Gulf Breeze High School Graduate, are participating in a humanitarian mission that involves 28 participants who will ride 3700 miles, and build houses for 11 days of their 75 day trip. |
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Most people go on at least one road trip during the summer, but imagine the diverse landscapes and experiences available while traveling from Jacksonville, Fla. to San Francisco, Ca.
Now imagine experiencing all 3700 miles on a bicycle.
Now imagine on an off day helping build houses with Habitat for Humanity.
That's exactly what 28 bicyclists are doing this summer, including 22-year-old Michelle Norberg of Gulf Breeze. The crew of college students is biking around 75 miles a day, and stopped in Gulf Breeze last week after biking from De Funiak Springs in Walton County, a distance of more than 70 miles.
"The first few days were easier than I thought it'd be, and the last few days were harder than I thought it'd be," Norberg said.
Their grueling schedule has them biking more than 70 miles for five days, then taking a day to help construction efforts.
"I don't think anything can prepare you, there's nothing like biking 70 miles for five days in a row," 21-year-old Laura Bishop of Richmond Va. said.
The group departed from Jacksonville on June 17, will be traveling for more than two months and will spend a week in Slidell, La. doing a blitz build to help the area recover from Hurricanes last year.
"I think it means a lot to these people because we're giving them what they couldn't do for themselves. Because of our help, they're getting a suitable home to raise their children in," Norberg said.
In order to participate in the trip, each rider must raise at least $4,000 to help fund student-led affordable housing efforts nationwide.
"I want to thank the community for all their support financially, emotionally and spiritually. Without their help I wouldn't be able to do something like this," Norberg said.
The program, sponsored by Bike & Build, offers five trips each summer all departing from cities on the Eastern Seaboard and ending in four West Coast destinations. On bicycles, the 18 to 25-yearolds will see first-hand the affordable housing need in this country and meet with local officials and community members along the way.
Based in New York City, Bike & Build is a nonprofit organization that encourages young adults to address the country's affordable housing crisis through organizing cross-country bicycle trips. Trip participants support the affordable housing cause through fundraising and building efforts. Since 2001, Bike & Build has contributed $442,804 to housing groups to fund projects planned and executed by young adults in the US, and motivated
over 200 young adult volunteers. For more information, visit www.bikeandbuild.org, or call (718) 599-5925.
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