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.....