Bike and Build

I thought I would jot a few things down about my links over there on the left. I linked to Bike and Build because my cousin Austin is on the Providence to Seattle trip right now. Yup, you read right: Providence, Rhode Island to Seattle, Washington. And yes, they actually bike. Crazy, right?

Maybe so, but Austin is an adventurer -- grew up in Nevada, hiking, camping, skiing, etc. with his dad. A very active family to say the least. Dad's a cardiologist -- perhaps that influences things a bit, but they are genuinely an outdoorsy, adventurous, "You-never-know-what's waiting-just-around-the-bend" kind of family.

Anyway, Austin has left the American West and traveled east to Brown University in Providence. He just completed his freshman year and I guess he decided to top it off in a big way.

Bike and Build teams with Habitat for Humanity. These kids (I was a teenager when he was born; I can call him a kid!) are riding between 50 and 100 miles a day and several times in the course of the trip they stop for "Build Days" where they work on Habitat houses. They are raising money for a house that will be built in Providence during the next school year.

Check out the link -- you can get to Trip Journals where they tell about their experiences and encounters along the way. Right now they're in Nebraska. They're in Nebraska for several days. Now that I am seeing states in a new way I realize Nebraska is very WIDE. This would be difficult for me mentally. "Wake up, Jennifer. We're STILL in Nebraska!"

And while I am not, let us say, as physically fit as I once was, I know I would be able to handle the physical task of riding. I WAS in the Army, after all. My body is a powerful tool. But mentally I would struggle, I know.

I think of these kids often as I go about my comfortable, often lazy existence. They are doing good things for others, enduring physical hardships while making other people's lives better. This is a good thing; I hope I raise my kids to think of others less fortunate.

Austin, here's to you and your pals. Way to go!