Update From The Air

...and I'm off!

As I type this, I'm currently on a plane flying somewhere over Colorado on my way to San Jose, CA then to Portland, OR. I've left the East Coast a week early so that I can join my fellow Bike & Build SUS 2014 riders Laura & Dusty at their wedding this weekend in Portland! I can't wait to celebrate with the happy couple!!

Next Friday, our DirtDrift group will start off our trip with the first of two back-to-back build days. Following this, we'll hit the road and disappear into the mountains for our 250-mile ride.

Despite the extensive cumulative experience of our group of Bike & Build alumni, I can't help but be a little nervous about this trip. Contrasted with the long days spent riding on highway and side streets in 2014, we will be out on the wilderness and expect to have little to no communication with the outside world until it is over. This will be a great test of our group dynamics and capability to deal with any incidents and accidents (hopefully not!) completely by ourselves. Nevertheless, I'm still excited!

Stay tuned for more info and pictures!!! A big thank you to everyone who has donated to my trip so far :) I am still taking donations up through the trip, so if you have some spare change please consider supporting this great cause!

DirtDrift 2018: Update

Biking the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail with the BWI Loop

Only a couple weeks now until I arrive in Boise, ID and head off on my second Bike & Build trip! We had a team meeting over the weekend and squared away some detailed trip info:

• 2 Build Days (in Boise)
• 6 Riding Days
• 250 Miles to Cover
• Camping Every Night
• Weather - Highs in 80's, Lows in 20's
• Cell service - Not likely
• Wildfires - Maybe?

As for me, I'm hurriedly getting ready for this trip along with everything else going on around here! At the suggestion of other Bike & Builders, I am using BikeFlights.com to arrange ground shipping straight to Boise and hopefully I'll have a good review to leave when my bike arrives safely via FedEx (their shipping partner). I never needed to ship my bike when I was on SUS 2014, so I'm a little nervous. My local bike shop was kind enough to give me a used bike box and somehow I managed to fit my 29er into this small box (made for a cruiser bike) during a test fit.

Attempts at Bike Packing

Well I'm home now from my 45-mile ride on the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail, adding in the BWI Loop for good measure. I was hoping to make this 60 miles but I ran short on time... Anyways, I'm quite tired and I shall say goodnight! Thanks for reading my blog!

I'm Back!

Hi friends, welcome back!! I ask that you please take the time to eventually read this whole post, but if time is short or if you want to know why now, 4 years later, I am creating a new post on this blog, go ahead and skip to the end. As always, thank you for your friendship and support!

Just over 4 years ago, I joined an amazing group of individuals on a 4220-mile trip from Jacksonville, FL to Monterey, CA. This trip was the 2014 Bike & Build Southern US (SUS) trip and it opened my eyes not only to the wonders of our great country but to the needs of those within it. All across this country, there is a significant need for decent, affordable housing. Many families lack the funds and support to have a place of their own, something which many of us take for granted. Supporting affordable housing is about helping others to fulfill the basic human need for shelter and giving them the chance to improve their own well-being.

 

On SUS 2014, our group of cyclists met many people along the way that were positively supported by affordable housing. From veterans to single-parent families, those that we met were the kindest, most gracious and welcoming people that I have ever been in contact with. I have been very fortunate to be a part of this and see firsthand the benefits that an organization like Bike & Build and its affordable housing partners can bring to the less-fortunate all across the country. 

My OTHER Ride (Rocky Mountain Trailhead 29er)

Wait, what happened to my road bike??  Well, friends, I am pleased to announce that this summer, I will be joining Bike & Build for another ride, but this time it will be on a less-paved course very far from any ocean. On September 14th, I join the  Bike & Build DirtDrift leaving out of (& returning to) Boise, Idaho!

This ride will be the first test of a future off-road Bike & Build trip and although we won't stray outside of Idaho, we are still following the same organizational goals of my 2014 trip. These include earning our 'sweat hours' on at least two affordable housing build days and raising funds for affordable housing projects. I am extremely excited to be joining Bike & Build once again on this shakedown ride and paving the way (though not literally)  for future generations of service-minded young adults to continue supporting the affordable housing cause. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for your support as I tackle this new trip!

Please feel free to follow me here for updates on the ride. Given the nature of the ride itself, I may not be able to post every day during the week-long ride (or at all), but I will have some amazing pictures after it has wrapped up. I am responsible for fundraising $700 towards this trip, so if you wish to help support me financially, please see my fundraising page at https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/1521309. Thank you once again!!

More information about this Bike & Build trip is available at https://www.classy.org/event/bike-and-build-dirtdrift/e188238.

Training For The Trip (Plainfield, NH)

The Countdown Starts!

4! 15! 29! 30!

It's The Final Countdown!!!! (Cue guitar solo)

What does that mean????
1. I have 4 weekends left to make the most out of (and one of them will be up in NY with family).
2. I have 15 days left of work before my Bike & Build adventure starts!
3. I have 29 days left before I hit the road on a road trip down to Jacksonville, FL.
4. I have 30 days (1 month!) left before this Bike & Build business gets real.

How much do I have left to do?  Lots of course.  I still have 40 thank you cards to hand-write, many training miles to put on, a room to clean up, tasks at work to finish, and a theater to get ready for the summer.  How will I do all of this in my little time left?  I don't know!!!!

Regardless, what I don't have to worry about anymore are donations!  You guys have come through in a fantastic manner and have really blown me away. To everyone who has helped and donated, I am super stoked to say

THANK YOU!!!!!!

How much have I raised?  $1? $4500? $5000?  Nope, I have raised $6440 for affordable housing already and there's still another month left to go!  I cannot believe the generosity of everyone and the amount of support that you have shown for me in this endeavor, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

On a final note, to those of you whom I have not thanked yet, I sincerely apologize.  I have had so little time at home in the past few months with trying to juggle everything on my plate that I have fallen severely behind on thank you cards and follow-up correspondence.  As long as I have your name and your address, I do promise that there will be one on its way to you before I leave on this trip, and that everyone can expect a postcard from me from some point along my journey :)

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By the way, I had the chance to go on a nice bike ride on the B&OD trail with a mix of B&B alumni and newbies two weekends ago.  What an awesome group of people!  Next up is my 65-mile training ride this weekend with JoBeth.  I'm definitely looking forward to it!!!

Fundraising Update

Over 3/4 of the way there!!!

It's official, I am currently at 77% of my minimum fundraising goal of $4,500!  A hearty thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and thank you in advance to everyone that is planning to donate!  I still have my two main fundraising event up and coming, so please come and join me at the...

• Bike & Build Booster!  Tomorrow (Friday, March 7th) at 6-9pm at the East End Arts Carriage House in Riverhead, NY.  You can send me a message at crosscountrydan@gmail.com for more information on this event.


• Trivia Night Fundraiser!  Thursday, March 27th from 7-11pm at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center in Grasonville, MD.  For more information, please click on this link.
 

While I am on the home stretch of my donations, there is no reason just to stop at just $4,500 when you're supporting a great cause like affordable housing!  As I've told my donors before, only half of my minimum fundraising goal actually goes straight towards putting on this great trip.  The other half is given directly back to affordable housing groups (large and small) in grants and donations, which I get to help choose.  Keeping in mind that this is all for affordable housing, let's see how much we can raise together!

Thank you again for taking a look at my blog and for all of your generosity and support for affordable housing!  Please consider  joining me at one of my upcoming fundraising events (and inviting all of your friends)!  Both are bound to be a lot of fun :)

Cheers,
Dan

Source: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/

Full Steam Ahead

(I get really excited about installing door sweeps!)

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to share a little update on everything that has been happening in the big run-up to Bike & Build (starting May 16th!).  A lot has happened in the past week, so let me try to consolidate:

• Last Saturday, I met up with a group of 8 Bike & Builders to spend 6 hours with Rebuilding Together in Alexandria.  What an awesome crew!  I spent the day with 5 B&B alumni (including my girlfriend, Emily) and met two 2014 riders, one of them being on my Southern US (SUS) trip (hi JoBeth!).  We caulked, painted, and installed door knobs at one of RB's foreclosure condos... not bad for a day's work!  That's 6 of my 10 required sweat-equity hours complete!


• As I previously posted, I do have my B&B bike now.  She is sitting pretty in my work office, encouraging me to go on rides after work whenever I can fit in the time.  With everything else going on, it's tough to find time to complete those 500 pre-trip miles, but I'll get it done. :)  I'm currently 21 miles in, so only 479 left!


• Planning is going great for my upcoming fundraisers!  On March 7th, there will be a Bike & Build Booster in Riverhead, NY, which is being organized by my wonderful mom and sister, and on March 27th, we have a Trivia Night Fundraiser here in Maryland at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center.  Please see the links on the side of this page for more info!


• Finally, I am excited to share with you that my fundraising has surpassed the 50% mark!  In fact, I'm currently at 57% of my minimum fundraising goal of $4,500 for Bike & Build!  Let's get that all the way up to $4,500 and then some!!! As I've said before, running the Bike & Build trip only takes about half of the total fundraising amount and the rest is given to affordable housing groups to support them in their work.  Any extra fundraising that we can raise together will go straight to worthy affordable housing groups (and I will even get a say in choosing which ones get it!).

That's all for now!  Thank you again to all of my wonderful donors!  The next round of thank you cards will be going out shortly. :)

The Bike & Build Work Crew (2/15/14)