Students embark on cross-country cycling trips

From building houses for non-profit organizations to visiting friends and family, two Appalachian State University students have one thing in common.

Junior Cory L. Sherman and sophomore Christopher R. Patino will both embark on a cross-country adventure using only bicycles as transportation.

Sherman, community and regional planning major, was accepted to the Bike & Build program last semester. Each year, the organization works closely with non-profit agencies such as Habitat for Humanity and sends young people on cycling trips across the country to help build affordable housing along the way.

The organization has contributed more than $2.3 million to housing groups to fund projects planned and executed by young adults throughout its seven seasons of existence, according to bikeandbuild.org.

Sherman will be leaving with a team of approximately 30 peers May 27 from Jacksonville, Fla., heading toward San Francisco.

During each leg of the trip, riders will stop at an affordable housing building site and participate in construction.

“Basically, all the riders, when they ride across the country, they stop in different cities and they stop at all the build sites for these affordable housing agencies,” Sherman said.

By the end of the trip, participants will be seasoned cyclists and committed affordable housing advocates, according to bikeandbuild.org.

Before leaving each participant is assigned one city to research and create a presentation about affordable housing issues in the area. Each volunteer will be expected to give a 20 minute presentation when he reaches the particular city.

The cyclists will only have a saddlebag and CamelPack with them as they ride, and a van will follow them on the trip, carrying all of their belongings. Participants will stay at synagogues, churches, YMCAs and community centers during the night.

Over the 10-week trip, the cyclists will average 65 to 75 miles each day, Sherman said. Each rider was asked to make the commitment to ride at least 500 miles on the bicycle provided by Bike & Build prior to the trip. One of those rides had to amount to 65 miles.

Sherman has been training since December and typically cycles 10 to 30 miles per day around Boone.

Before departure, each participant must raise $4,000. The money will help pay for bicycles and food and will be donated to the local non-profits they visit. It will also go to fund a community-based grant and one organization of the participant’s choice.

“I hope to, obviously, learn a lot about affordable housing and get my hands dirty and, you know, just take part in the issue and learn from the people who are actually going to be receiving these houses,” Sherman said.

Likewise, Patino, exercise science major, is currently planning his own cross-country cycling trip. Although he is not affiliated with an organization, he has goals of his own.

“I’ve grown to know that I will probably be spending my time with bikes for the rest of my life,” Patino said. “I know I will always want to be on a bike and I love pushing myself and seeing how far the human body can go and finding new boundaries like that.”

He plans to meet five others from different states who will accompany him on his trip to San Diego. The group will carry all of their belongings with them on their bicycles and will spend many nights camping and “couch surfing” along the way.

In preparation for this trip, Patino has cycled regularly from Boone to Black Mountain, a 73-mile trip. He expects to travel approximately 3,100 miles this summer over a two-month period, averaging 70 to 100 miles each day.

His main goal is to reach California to meet some of his family members for the first time.

Both Sherman and Patino most look forward to challenging themselves mentally and physically in a way they have never been challenged before.

Story: DEEANNA HANEY, Lifestyles Reporter