College students bike for a cause

Crookston Daily Times (Crookston, Minnesota)
July 26, 2005

By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor

A group of 27 college students from all over the United States and
Canada made a pit stop in Crookston Saturday while bicycling across the
country. The majority of them spent the day riding the 90-mile trip from
Bemidji to Crookston.

The students are participating in the 4,000-mile northern route of Bike
& Build, an organization that raises funds for affordable housing
projects. They started out in Portsmith, N.H. on June 18 and plan to
arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia on Aug. 20.

Now in its third summer, the program has grown from two routes the first
year to four this year. In addition to the northern route, there’s also
the central, southern and Providence (R.I.) to Seattle (Wash.) routes.

Anna Sarkissian of Montreal, Quebec, who is participating in Bike &
Build for the first time this summer, explained that the program’s
purpose is threefold. While bicyclists raise funds for housing projects
chiefly sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, they also work to increase
public awareness of poverty and housing issues. The students spent a
couple of days building Habitat for Humanity homes, too, at some of
their stops.

“Another bonus is that it helps build character in us,” she added. “In
the end, I think we’re all better people for it, knowing we’ve somehow
made a difference. It’s good to give.”

According to the Website, , Bike & Build has
contributed $229,875 to housing groups over the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
The organization hopes to contribute more than $225,000 this summer.

After straggling in throughout the afternoon and early evening, members
of the group took in some of Crookston’s attractions. They then spent
the night camped out in five tents at Central Park. Sunday was to be a
big day for them, said Sarkissian, as they’d bike 123 miles to Devil’s
Lake, N.D., one of their longest legs of the journey.

A handful of bicyclists on the route took on an added leg Saturday,
visiting Itasca Park and the headwaters of the Mississippi. When one of
them excitedly told others he had walked across the Mississippi, they
were leery of his story. However, someone familiar with the headwaters
explained that, yes indeed, one can walk across the river in some areas.

Sarkissian said that overall, they’ve had good weather.

“We’ve been really lucky. There were only two days we came across rain,
and even then it wasn’t much, only a few sprinkles,” she said. “We have
come into some heat waves, though, which were a little rough to handle.”

The worst heat wave occurred about two weeks ago while riding through
Wisconsin was, she added.

Some of the bicyclists have experienced troubles with their wheels or
gears, as is expected traveling so many miles, Sarkissian explained.
Luckily, the trailer hauling the gear also carries bike maintenance
equipment. A few traveling with the group are also skilled in bike
maintenance, “which helps a lot.”

One bike was also stolen along the way, she said.

A few members of the group have taken part in similar ventures in the
past, Sarkissian said. While most will be going back to their respective
colleges in the fall, a few have graduated and are out for their last
summer of freedom before going out into the working world, she added.

“Whatever your reason, it’s just a great experience,” she said. “I’d do
it again.”

PHOTO CAPTION: About half of the college students who stayed overnight
in Crookston Saturday pose in front of the trailer carrying their gear
at Central Park Saturday afternoon. The group is bicycling from New
Hampshire to British Columbia for two months this summer as part of Bike
& Build, an organization that raises awareness and funds for poverty
housing issues. The writing on the trailer says “Honk If You Love
(depicted by a red heart) Spandex.” Others from the group had either not
yet arrived or were exploring Crookston. (Natalie J. Ostgaard, photographer)