Bike & Build

June 10th - A General Store

By Ben Nitkin on

Helen having some Gatorade
Refueling in the middle of nowhere

An unremarkable day, all told. Or as unremarkable as any day when you're biking across the country. 

We did run across a bona-fide general store that sold gas, snacks, live bait, animal feed, basic medicine, ... you get the idea. 

I also ran laundry in the evening with the rest of my chore group (there are 6ish of us). We packed up everyone's laundry and got to the laundromat at 7:45, then learned that the laundromat closed at 9. We managed to finish almost everything. I was impressed. 

June 9th - Scottsboro, AL

By Ben Nitkin on

Dawn at Berry College
Berry's campus is pretty at dawn, too.
Today's ride brought us across the state line into Alabama. Beyond crossing the state line, we changed timezones. I am now in Central time! The ride covered lots of rural roads, and host cities have been getting a little smaller.

June 8th - Deconstruction

By Ben Nitkin on

Jackhammering a sidewalk.
Tearing up a sidewalk that went the wrong way.

Today was a little odd. We were working on rehabbing an old Habitat house. The original owners hasn't taken care of the house, so Habitat was rebuilding it for a new family. New siding, replaced flooring, new appliances, the works. 

We spent the day working on siding and demolishing the original driveway. A property dispute with the neighbors cost the property street access from the original driveway, so we ripped up the concrete in preparation for a new one. 

June 7th - Berry College

By Ben Nitkin on

Loading the trailer before dawn
Predawn packing

Today's ride took us across nearly 50 miles of bike trails on a 90 mile ride. Flat trails felt like highway after some of the the roads we've been on. 

We stayed at Berry College today, a smallish college with a huge campus. The building we stayed in was very modern and mixed old-style masonry with lots of glass. They had real beds, too!

June 6th - Helen's birthday

By Ben Nitkin on

Helen in her birthday hat.
Helen wearing her ceremonial hat.

Helen turned 22 today. We're getting old. The group bought a birthday hat to commemorate the occasion and plan to pass the hat around for those with summer birthdays.

June 5th - Athens, GA

By Ben Nitkin on

Helen in front of a hay truck
Look at all that hay!

Today was really nice. The church we stayed at organized a bluegrass concert (sorry, but I didn't take photos) after a potluck dinner.

June 4th - Biking Again

By Ben Nitkin on

Abandoned rail station.
An abandoned station. A few people live inside, but the floor on one side of the building burned out.

Today's ride was nice, but early rain and a forecast for afternoon thunderstorms bagged the camera for the day. 

I did get some nice shots of an abandoned train, though. 

June 3rd - Three Homes at Once

By Ben Nitkin on

House missing siding on the top of the front wall.
The house I worked on at the start of the day.

Today we worked in a small Habitat development. Helen told me the brief story: the city had brought in roads, sewer, and water for a contractor, but he fell through. They offered Habitat the proprrty for $29,000, and Habitat bought it. The subdividsion is mostly developed now and contains a mix of houses built by Habitat for Humanity and Homes for Hope.  

I worked on siding the top of a houses front wall. Others installed subfloors or painted. Helen made a bus stop. 

June 2nd - Handicap Ramps

By Ben Nitkin on

Church at dawn
Yet another pretty church at dawn.

Today we worked with Rebuilding Upstate to build handicap ramps. Unlike Habitat, Rebuilding maintains and adds additions to existing homes. Our group divided in two and each built a ramp. My group built this long serpentine thing. 

June 1st - Greenville

By Ben Nitkin on

Predawn clouds
As usual, I was up a little early. Morning clouds are gorgeous.

Today's tide was around 70 miles and took is into Greenville, SC. Due to an unhappy accident, I had to ride in the van for the second half of the trip. (I rode down a driveway without a helmet. Oops.) I did get some cool pictures from the van, though. So it wasn't all bad.

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