If you answered yes to any of this you should consider applying to Bike and Build for the summer of 2016. Applications for leaders are already up and rider applications should be up soon. Bike and Build was one of the best experiences I have ever had and it definitely gave me a renewed outlook on life. If you participate in Bike and Build your summer will be filled of incredible experiences. 10 Bike and Build experiences you can have this summer that will make it unlike any other summer are:
- Making 29 incredible friends who you would do anything for. You wont have known them when you arrive at the start of the trip and you wont be sure what to think about them. You will admit that you all definitely stalked each other to a certain extent via social media, but you can’t judge someone off of a few pictures alone. In under 3 days, before we hit the road, you will be so close that people were asking you how long you have known each other and assuming it must’ve been months if not years.
- You’ll be the recipient of incredible generosity and hospitality. You will stay in YMCAs, gymnasiums, churches, community centers, and people’s homes. Doors will be opened to you, meals were provided for you, people will ask your comfort and health, and will go to extremes to help you with our various needs, all out of the goodness of their hearts. They will want to be a part of your experience and want to support you as you supported affordable housing. It will be more than you could ever expected.
- Being outdoors all day, every day, is amazing. Everyone loves the outdoors but easily forgets how amazing it is sot spend so much time outside. It is easy to get into a routine. People work, have responsibilities, want to see friends, attend various events, and can easily lose track of how amazing it is to just be outside for prolonged periods of time. You will never want to return to your normal routine and the amount of time you spend inside again.
- America is BEAUTIFUL. You have probably talked to people about where they want to travel in their lifetime and their lists are nearly always to foreign countries and far off places. Your list probably includes these same places, but you can also fill a year or more of travel with US based destinations. If you haven’t spent much time in the National Parks, you need to. If you think the middle of the country, the dessert, or just states without major attractions aren’t worth your notice. You’re wrong. You may end up evening signing up for a trim and writing off some fly over states but you’ll probably change your view soon after you start cycling through them. Then after your trip you wont be able to wait for an opportunity to return to them, they will have been some of the most beautiful places you’d ever been.
- Cycling rocks. You may not think of yourself as a cyclist now, but nor did a number of people on my trip. You may be intimidated by planning to bike 4,000 miles across the country. When you break it down though it’s not that bad. You’ll average about 75 miles per day, pedaling at 10 mph is a very light pedal, if you do 10 mph though you can complete 75 miles in 7.5 hrs. 7.5 hours may sound like a long time, but when all you have to do in a day is bike 7.5 hours isn’t all that much time. You can get 8 hours of sleep and then have 7.5 hours of a 16 hour day to ride. You will have time to stop off and check out that cool abandoned car on the side of the road, pose for a picture on top of some hay barrels, or take a nap under that one and only shade tree in the dessert.
- How there are 5 things that can top this reason why Bike and Build is amazing I can’t figure it out, but service is great. You’ll fundraise $4,500 for affordable housing and then complete volunteer days with various affordable housing causes all along your route. You will love giving back and affordable housing is an amazing cause to support. You will enjoy volunteering with the various groups your trip works with and feel a real sense of accomplishment when you help raise that wall or step back and look at the fresh coat of paint on a house. Also don’t be scared of raising the $4,500, Bike and Build helps you come up with ways and you can definitely do it.
- The summer will be the best mental health you’ll have had or will have in a long time. I don’t mean that in the sense that your crazy and in need of medical help, even though the tranquility of parts of the trip can do that for some people. There is a sense of health to your brain and how you feel that can come from waking up with no stresses, minimal responsibilities, a true sense of freedom, the tranquility that only some parts of the country can provide, and the disconnection from modern electronics. You become relaxed and peaceful in an amazing way.
- The stories you will be able to tell can rarely be beaten. You may end up cycling 5 miles with a 3,500 foot elevation change in a lightning storm on the way to the Grand Canyon. You may get the change to say you biked through Death Valley, the hottest place on earth, alongside Audi as they test drove their cars to see if they can service the heat and hills that you physically biked up with your own two legs.
- Glutinos. I am not a vegan, a vegetarian, or a celiac. Bike and Build has them all though and they do fine, that said back to the point of number 9, Glutinos. These cookies and pretzels are AMAZING. They have no glutin so I am confused on how, but they are great and Bike and Build is sponsored by them, so you will get to eat them to your heart’s content all summer. To that note you are biking all day and being active so you can eat just about everything to your heart’s content while you’re biking but these you will never run out of.
- The trip as a whole. The inside jokes, that can never be explained because to anyone else they will never make sense. The road side stops for food, water, or just because. Morning route meetings to go over the cue sheet but which end up turning more into being about a morning chant than anything else. Being with the same amazing people all day every day. Meeting Alumni who drive out of their way so they can be a part of your trip even if just to drop of a watermelon.
Bike and Build is an incredible adventure. If you have the opportunity to participate apply. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have, comment on this page or find me on facebook and send me a message. Also even if you have a job that prevents you from going on Bike and Build, people on my trip took sabbaticals or flat out quit their jobs, knowing this is a once in a life time (twice in a life time if you’re lucky enough) opportunity worth taking.