ANN ARBOR, MI - Most college students spend their summers hanging out with friends and working at a fun job or internship, just after they throw themselves a big party. But Northville High School grads Robbie Moore and Chris Leonetti will celebrate the end of their first year at University of Michigan with the rear tires of their bikes in the Atlantic Ocean. The friends will spend the summer riding their bikes across the country as participants of Bike and Build, a non-profit organization which takes 18-24 year olds on cross-country cycling trips to benefit the affordable housing cause. The pair is required to raise $4,000 each for the cause, before launching off in Providence Rhode Island on June 5 on a central United States journey that will end in San Francisco on August 12.
Moore and Leonetti, along with 29 other riders who mostly reside in New England, will forego cell phones and lap tops for eight weeks on the open road, and one week building houses. Moore first learned about Bike and Build from his brother who knew people who had cycled with the organization. "I looked into it and thought, 'Wow, I can bike across the country and be apart this organization,'" said Moore. "And I thought, 'I can do it with Rob,'" said Leonetti.
The pair trained for the cross-country journey in Northern Georgia with the U of M Cycling Club during spring break in February. The group covered a good couple hundred miles in one week. "We rode on the same mountains as the racers from Tour de Georgia and we would see 'Go Lance' painted on the roads," Leonetti said.
But it was the 3.1 mile, 3,000 foot trek up Brasstown Bald, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which challenged them the most. Before that, they had only trained on stationary bikes on campus. "We were pretty nervous going to Brasstown," said Leonetti. The young men risked frostbite and gained a few sore muscles. "We would be coming down mountains and it gets really cold and we're going really fast and our fingers and toes got so cold," said Moore. "Our knees were cold and sore."
"Georgia gives the illusion that it's so warm, but one day it was actually warmer in Anchorage, Alaska at 30 degrees," said Moore. "We were expecting sunshine and peaches," Leonetti said. But covering nearly 100 miles in a day and peddling 1,300 feet in elevations didn't put a damper on their spirits. "Our hands were frozen and we couldn't shift gears," said Moore. "We thought it was great and couldn't wait for more."
"It just made us excited about cycling," Leonetti said. "This morning we were riding and I looked back and Chris is smiling," said Moore. "We just can't stop smiling." Moore and Leonetti will bike an average of 70 miles in a day along the 4,000 mile route, stopping just long enough to sleep in churches and community centers that will provide hot meals. "We literally will start with our rear tire in the Atlantic and end with our front tire in the pacific," said Moore.
Bike and Build riders spend 8-10 days en route building houses for various housing projects. Families who qualify for home builds are required to put in around 300 hours of sweat equity themselves. "People can't afford food and gas, and now they can have a home," said Moore.
Source: HomeTownLife.com