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West Stokes grad to bike 3,700 miles, build houses
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Published: May 9, 2008
Travis Hall, a rising senior at UNC Chapel Hill, has found a unusual way to stay in shape this summer.
He's going to bike 3,700 miles from Manteo to San Diego.
"I've never been to the West Coast before," said Hall, a 2005 graduate of West Stokes High School. "I figure it's a chance of a lifetime to show up on the West Coast for the first time on two wheels."
Hall and 30 other young adults are riding different coast-to-coast routes with Bike & Build, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, N.Y., that gets young people involved in raising awareness about affordable housing through cross-country bike trips.
In the last five years, Bike & Build has given more than $1 million to such groups as Habitat for Humanity.
Hall's route will include about eight other riders. They will leave May 21 and are scheduled to pedal into San Diego on July 23. Along the way, they will help build affordable houses in Chapel Hill and Prescott, Ariz.
Cost of participation
In order to participate, Hall has to raise $4,000. As of last week, he was about $1,500 short of his goal. With final exams behind him, Hall said he planned to canvas Chapel Hill for donations.
The rides are specifically geared to people from 18 to 25, said Amelia Hanley, the executive director of Bike & Build. She said the hope is that they will develop into future leaders in affordable-housing issues.
The program developed as a way for young people to get a close-up look at housing in the United States.
"When you're traveling cross-country from the seat of your bicycle, you see so many different communities, and you see how different housing communities look, from large cities to rural areas," Hanley said.
Journalism major
Hall, a journalism and mass-communications major, has always enjoyed being active. At West Stokes, he was on the football and track and field teams. When he arrived at UNC, he joined the crew team, a club sport.
Last October, he heard about Bike & Build.
"I came to the conclusion that I really wanted to do it. I always try to figure out a way to stay in shape over the summer," Hall said. "What better way than biking 3,700 miles?"
The group's mission appealed to Hall. Growing up in Stokes County, Hall said, he was often struck by the differences in housing. He has also volunteered some with Habitat for Humanity. As part of his involvement with Bike & Build, he served an internship with the Chapel Hill chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Being around Habitat for Humanity building projects showed Hall the power of people working together. Hall is a relative newcomer to bicycling. He spent much of last summer and his Christmas break bicycling around Winston-Salem. And when he wasn't studying or practicing with the crew team, he took long rides around Chapel Hill.
Once the cross-country rides begin, Hall will be logging about 75 miles a day. He said he is hoping that the basic level of fitness he gained rowing will transfer to the bicycle.
"They say that if you come in and haven't trained, that the first three weeks are going to be miserable for you," Hall said. "After that first three weeks, you'll have gotten into shape."
Past riders have warned Hall about two particularly brutal stretches -- the Rocky Mountains, where he might climb up to 20 miles at a time, and the deserts of the Southwest.
Hall and the rest of the group will spend the night at schools and churches along the route. Some days, he will camp.
He is scheduled to ride through Winston-Salem on May 29.
FOOT NOTES: The 11th annual Excellence Triathlon will be Saturday at 8 a.m. at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons. This triathlon, one of the biggest in Forsyth County, is sponsored by the Women's Health Center for Research, Leadership, Education at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Past proceeds have gone to programs aimed at preventing domestic violence.
The distances for this triathlon are a 400-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike ride and a 5-kilometer run.
The N.C. Wildlife Federation will have its annual Canoe and Kayak-a-thon on June 7. The event is a seven-mile paddle down an easy stretch of the Catawba River, beginning at Riverbend Seam Station on Mountain Island Lake.
Paddlers are asked to raise money for wildlife. The Mecklenburg County Natural Resource Division has donated the use of several kayaks and canoes.
For more information, call 704-332-5696 or e-mail greta@ncwf.org.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lo'donnell@wsjournal.com.
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