It's been a whole year

"It can be found in the most unlikely places, as I discovered that day in convocation. Love can catch you aware, appearing to you as a pleasant surprise. When we're open & willing, the unexpected can happen, because that's the nature of love: It's the most astonishing and powerful bond of all, and it's certainly the greatest source of joy. People come in and out of our lives, and each of them helps form who we are and who we are to become. There are different kinds and different degrees of love, and they change over time, ripening and deepening and changing us in the process."

-Cassandra King   

I love Sundays. I love sleeping in, having a large breakfast, going for a long bike ride, and basically knowing I have no responsibilities until the next week. This Sunday was a little different though. When I woke up, I had a long text from my Aunt Elaine. It occurred to me while reading her text, that my grandmother passed away a year ago. My grandmother, Jane, was one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. I'm not just saying that because she was my grandma, I'm saying that because it is true. JJ (as I called her) never stopped believing in me. Whenever anything was going wrong, I could go over to her house and she knew just what to say, or not to say. Sometimes silence is more powerful. 

It also got me thinking, WHY am I doing this? Riding a bicycle across the country is crazy. I wanted to be challenged physically, but I also wanted my journey to have MEANING. I wanted my journey to be about more than just ME. As most of you already know, I'm cycling for affordable housing. HUD (The Department of Housing & Urban Development) considers housing to be affordable to low-income families as long as the cost of housing, including rent, utilities, etc, doesn't exceed 30% before taxes. Did you know that A THIRD of U.S. families and individuals paid excessive shares of income for housing in 2012. This ends up being around 40 million households. This number is up 9 million since 2012 and even more alarming...5.8 million of this gain was among severely burdened households. This means, they are paying more than 50% of their income on housing. This is absolutely crazy to me! 

Seven of my teammates and I have been discussing several different articles about the AH crisis twice a week. This is the article I chose this week: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/22/opinion/hickey-affordable-housing/index.html. (Yes, of course I chose a CNN article. Don't laugh...typical. I know.) There has been a lot of discussion about what we can do about this crisis. What would help? The statistics that keep popping up are nothing but baffling. This cause really needs our help and I'm excited to be a part of something so meaningful. We may only be a small piece of the puzzle, but EVERY little bit helps. 

How does this tie in with my grandmother? JJ was always giving to others, especially all of us grandchildren. She's an inspiration to me and a reason why I ride. JJ loved me unconditionally, despite all the mistakes I made throughout the years. She never judged me. A couple months ago, I wrote about my dear friend, Anne Prettyman. JJ had that same kind of unfailing love that Anne had. I believe that when people like this touch our lives, we must reach out and spread that same kind of love to others. 

As I was braiding my hair in the mirror before my ride this morning, I took a good  hard look at myself. The person I saw is not the same person I was a year ago, two years ago, etc. I truly believe the people we interact with help change us and shape us, just like Cassandra King said in her commencement speech to The University of Montevallo. I think it's a really beautiful thing...thirty-three young adults cycling from Nags Head ALL THE WAY to  San Diego for something bigger and than themselves. JJ would be proud. In this life, in any adventure, I hope to change adversity into strength, I hope gain new perspectives and mold despair into hope. The girl who looked back at me this morning, will most likely be gone come August. Or maybe I will just be a different version of myself. I cannot say I am sad about this in any way. I am ready for the next chapter and the end of this era in my life. I think my Bike & Build trip will only shape me to become a better person. Will it be challenging? Um...OF COURSE. That's how we grow. 

To my teammates, I am SUPER STOKED to meet all of you in May. Less than fifty days now...

To JJ, thank you for keeping it real. Thank you for your words of wisdom, sincerity, and kindness. Thank you for reaching out and touching me in an irreversible way. You will remain a light of inspiration in the hearts of many. 

Happy cycling friends....

Me:"My legs hurt."

Dad: "Well...Welcome to the world of cycling." 

New Dreams...New Goals

"The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of Novelists and Poets."-Christopher Morley

I have not blogged about my Bike & Build progress in a month! Even though I have not started my trip, I still have some things to say about my progress. First of all, THANK YOU to all of my donors. So far, I have raised ALMOST $8,000. This journey truly would not be possible without all of you. I am overjoyed about all the love, support, and kindness that I have received so far. Since I still have until May before I leave, I am going to keep fundraising! At the end of the summer, we get to give a $500 grant to the affordable housing charity of our choice. Depending on how much I raise, I could increase that number to $1,000. VERY EXCITING! If anyone out there is reading and would like to donate, please visit my rider page at bikeandbuild.org/rider/7818. I also have teammates who have not reached their goals. Please check them out too! We can use all the help we can get!

As a part of getting prepared for Bike and Build, each rider must volunteer ten sweat equity hours with an affordable housing charity. I have chosen to do my hours with Kershaw County's Habitat for Humanity chapter. I had a meeting with Charlotte Rankin, the executive director of the Habitat for Humanity here in Kershaw County. I was so pleased to learn more about Kershaw County's Habitat and what exactly they do for people with housing needs. Every year they choose three families to build houses for based on their needs. Something I was really impressed with (and that I didn't know) is that each family does 200 sweat equity hours on their own house. I think this is really wonderful because not only will the families appreciate their homes more, but they get to be a part of the process. They even get to customize parts of their house on the inside! We also have a Habitat Re-Store here that carries many items such as, sofas, beds, washing machines, and much more. I will be volunteering with Habitat in March to put in my ten sweat equity hours. I'm excited to gain some more insight on the affordable housing cause and learn to ehh...be a tad more handy... 

It is March 1st. Time is quickly ticking away and I've got lots of training to do before I ride seventy miles on May 15th with my team! With the help of my dad and a couple Crossfit coaches, I have put together a training schedule for March. It consists of 3-4 short rides during the week and 1-2 longer rides on the weekend. Yesterday I rode 20 miles and today it was rainy so I hopped on a stationary bike. I will say, I did do my FIRST ride in the rain last week. Luckily, it was not as bad as I had anticipated. I'm hoping the weather breaks soon so I can get more time on Big Blue ( and well....because I hate winter.)  

It is all hitting me at once that I will be riding a BICYCLE across the United States. I am very excited and nervous about my future adventures. I am also so thankful for everyone who has encouraged me when I have been nervous and when I have thought that I couldn't do it. I am learning to be more patient with myself and that anything is possible with hard work and determination. My friend Mandie and I like to watch motivational videos when we feel like we don't want to work out or like we can't push ourselves any further. (I actually had to do that today and it worked!) So...I am going to post my favorite cycling video that keeps me going/encourages me to do more. Video DORK I know! Can't help it! 

Also, for all the cycling ladies out there, Cycle Like A Girl is a GREAT one to follow in Instagram for motivation. 

Thanks and HAPPY CYCLING! I'll be posting more progress soon.....