For many students at Auburn, biking across the state seems nearly impossible, much less biking across the country.
But for Hillary Rizk, an Auburn graduate who works with the Wesley Foundation, she knew she could do one better.
The Ohio native was recently accepted to be a part of a cross-country Bike & Build trip in summer 2016.
Bike & Build is an organization that organizes bike trips across the United States where bikers can help build houses for the poor along the way.
The group builds with nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity.
The organization offers eight routes, which begin at different parts of the East Coast and end at different points on the West Coast of the continental United States.
Rizk will be biking the Southern United States route, which will take her from Jacksonville, Florida, through Monterrey, California, stopping in cities such as New Orleans, Las Vegas, Mobile and Dallas.
The route will also take Rizk past the Grand Canyon as well as other natural wonders such as Death Valley and Yellowstone National Park.
Rizk first heard about the opportunity to bike one of the routes from what she heard about her cousin’s friend's experience.
“I actually heard of the ride because my cousin had a friend that was doing it like three years ago, and from that point I knew I had to do this,” Rizk said.
Rizk picked up biking during her sophomore year at Auburn because she did not have a car and wanted a new sport to be involved in.
After deciding summer 2016 would be the best time to take the ride, Rizk began the application process.
Riders are expected to log 500 miles in the months before the trek. Though prior biking experience is encouraged, it is not necessary for the ride.
Rizk said she knows about several on the trip who have little biking experience, and she is amazed by their courage.
“One of our trip leaders just started training, and I told her she was super brave," Rizk said. "I mean, I’m a cyclist, and I’m not even ready for this trip.”
The bikers on the trip must be ready to speak about themselves and the mission of Bike & Build, as there are stops on the way where they will speak at town forums to discuss their trips.
The trips can be treacherous, as three different attendees have died on the trips, having been hit by cars along the way.
Though it is illegal for bikers to ride on sidewalks, whether on a trip such as this or in any community, motor vehicle drivers can be inconsiderate, when not outright dangerous.
“A couple of us were riding down the road one day and this truck pulls over in front of us, and I was a little farther behind, so at first I didn’t hear what he was saying at first, but by the time I got up there, I just see him yelling in my friend’s face, wagging his finger, saying we can’t be on the road and that there are bike lanes," Rizk said. "So yeah, there are some people who really don’t understand.”
Though the trip seems difficult and dangerous at times, alumni of the trips continue to remember them fondly.
Justin Villere, Bike & Build’s director of operations and development, attended his first Bike & Build trip in 2009.
“It really is the experience of a lifetime," Villere said. "I mean, as you’re biking from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you are making lifelong friendships along the way."
Bikers attending the trip participate in fundraising as they train for the trip.
You can support Hillary’s trip here: classic.bikeandbuild.org/rider/8671
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