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Building homes with pedal power

Cross country cyclists help out with affordable housing crisis

When Dustin Englebet rides his bicycle to help build a house, he doesn’t mess around.

He started in Jacksonville, Florida. Then he rode to Mobile, Alabama. Then New Orleans, Dallas, Santa Fe. The list goes on.

On Saturday, he woke up in Durango, and he won’t be done until he reaches Monterey, California. But he is certainly not alone.

Englebet, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is part of Bike & Build, a group of 250 young adults ages 18 to 25 that is pedaling across the country to help what is being called an affordable housing crisis.

“We’re advocates,” Englebet said. “Some of us have never swung a hammer before, and for quite a few of us, it’s our first time on a road bike. It can be intimidating, but it’s very rewarding.”

Eight groups of 32 have embarked on the journey, each with a different route from coast to coast.

The bicycles were splashed with mud, covered in stickers from their travels. Riders had odd tan lines – cycling tans – defining where their riding apparel sits on their skin.

Laura Schaefer is from Portland, Oregon, and she said she likes doing something that inspires people.

“We all have a common interest,” she said. “It’s nice to be free and get away from distractions at home and do things for other people.”

After a rigourous application process, participants must raise $4,500 to secure their place on one of eight routes. Bike & Build, now in it’s 12th year, has donated more than $4.5 million since it’s inception in 2005. Over the course of 80 days, riders contribute 17 build days – 190 work hours of labor – at each work site.

“If we’re not building, we’re biking,” Englebet said.

In Durango, 32 participants worked at Habitat for Humanity’s Fox Fire Circle in Bayfield. Then it was a rare chance to do laundry. The group was hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Durango, which made room for them to sleep, and fed the hungry cyclists, who average 75 miles a day in the saddle.

“We eat more than you would believe,” Schaefer said.

Englebet described falling asleep at a dinner in New Mexico before he could pay for his meal.

“Yesterday we road 111 miles,” he said, noting the landscape changing as they move west. “And we’ve come to learn that after you descend, that means you’re climbing again.”

He called it a chance to challenge themselves, riding 59 days, building 17 and working for a cause. A support vehicle is always nearby.

Next it’s Montezuma Creek, Utah, then Kayenta, Arizona. Then, a well-deserved rest at the Grand Canyon.

“It’s not a race,” he said, “but it’s about getting to the next place.”

bmathis@durangoherald.com In an earlier version of this story the towns of Kayenta, Arizona, and Monterey, California were misspelled. Also, the age group of the cyclists was inaccurate.



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