Bert rides again!

If you didn’t know me in 2011, you’re probably wondering who is Bert? What about Steve?

Never fear, Steve is still here, in full support mode of my next undertaking.

This is Bert. Filburt Norbert to be exact.

This is my trusty steed who carried me across the country from Charleston, SC to Santa Cruz, CA in the summer of 2011. That summer, I rode 4000 miles across the country, along with 33 other riders, with an organization called Bike & Build (B&B). Along the way, we would stop and build with a local affordable housing (AH) organization, like Habitat for Humanity. My route was out for 81 days: 61 ride days, 17 build days, 3 days off.

Before the trip, each rider was required to fundraise $4000. This money covered our bikes, cost of support vehicle, and overhead office costs, with the remaining money going to donations and grants for AH organizations. Approximately 60-65% of funds supported AH. Across all the trips, that calculates out to roughly: 34 riders per trip x $4000 x 8 routes x 60% = over $650,000 raised for the AH cause in 1 summer!

That trip would require many, many blog posts to really cover the significance of that summer (which 21 year old me attempted to do and failed miserably at). Now that I blog a little better, I will write a few posts over the winter as I’m preparing for this next trip, as it was the catalyst for signing up for this adventure.

So, what is coming up??

I found an organization called Fuller Center Bike Adventures (FCBA), based out of Georgia, which has a similar mission and method as Bike & Build, but it is for all ages and time availability <https://www.fullercenterbikeadventure.org/>. B&B trips were an entire summer commitment, perfect for young adults with college summer breaks to fill. FCBA has one cross-country route & a handful of week-long to multi-week-long trips, all of which can be joined for as many weeks as you have time for.

I’ve chosen to join a new route called “Wild West” <https://www.fullercenterbikeadventure.org/wildwest/>. It’s a 4-week long trip that runs from Moab, UT to Glacier, MT. I will be riding the first week from Moab to SLC. I chose this section for the new scenery & that it has 2 build days during that week. The AH cause is a significant component to me. Yes, the cycling is awesome and an excellent adventure, but the humanitarian aspect of helping people have an affordable place to live and raise their family has become an important cause to me. I spent my spring breaks in college on Habitat for Humanity build trips. I’ve built in 12 different states on 20 different build sites. I’m so excited to have found this organization to ride with in 2024.

A big similarity, yet difference, between these two organizations is the fundraising component. For my week long trip, the required fundraising amount is $1200. B&B turned out to be about $1 per mile I rode, with 60% of funds going to AH causes. FCBA is a higher amount per mile (261 miles = ~$4.50/mi) but 97% of funds go toward their AH organization. I think two big differences are: 1) you bring your own bike and 2) all meals and stays are provided by churches along the way. During B&B, the majority of our accommodations and meals were donated/provided by communities/churches, but we still had to provide some of our own. As a faith-based organization, FCBA seems to be more supported through churches in the communities along the way.

I’ll share more about my fundraising efforts and events in future posts (hint: lots of snow & frozen fingers). I’m looking forward to sharing this trip with you all over the next year!

If you’d like to contribute to Bert’s AH ride, click here <https://my.fullercenterbikeadventure.org/JockischSierra41> Every dollar gets us to our goal!

Sending warm thoughts and lots of love to you all!