With pain shooting through her hands, sweat dripping and muscles cramping, she powered through her last mile of the journey that changed her life. Through the grueling, hilly terrain, her heart was pumping with adrenaline knowing she was going to see her family after the nearly three-month trip across the country. After biking 3,875 miles, Otterbein senior Ashley Parker rode up to Cannon Beach, Oregon, overwhelmed with emotion.
It all started when Parker, a marketing major, saw an article in the Columbus Dispatch about a nonprofit organization called Bike & Build. Bike & Build’s mission is to “benefit affordable housing and empower young adults for a lifetime of service and civic engagement through service-oriented cycling trips.” The organization was founded in 2002 and offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for people, like Parker, looking for an adventure. However, it requires serious commitment.
Parker did not know anyone who had taken on this challenge before, other than the Ohio State University student she read about in the newspaper during her sophomore year. She planned on spending that summer biking across the country, but she didn’t believe she could do it.
“I chickened out,” Parker said. “I was not a biker. I didn’t even have a bike. I remember riding a bike when I was like twelve. That’s the last time I rode a bike before this.”
But she couldn’t stop thinking about it and finally decided, “I’m just going to do this.”
After going through the application process and writing multiple essays, Parker was accepted in December 2016. After the holidays were over, she began preparing for the exciting excursion. The bikers pledge to raise a minimum of $4,800. If the money is not raised by the day of orientation, the rider can’t participate. Once $1,000 is raised, the riders receive a brand-new, free bike.
Parker raised her funds by writing personal letters to family and friends asking for donations, setting up fitness classes and using social media. It took her three months to hit the $4,800 goal.
“Once I hit that mark I was ecstatic because it made the whole experience real,” Parker said.
Before a trip, all cross-country Bike & Build participants are also obligated to ride at least 500 miles outdoors, including one ride over 65 miles. Stationary bikes and spin classes don’t count. The miles are tracked using Strava, a running and cycling tracking app. Parker did most of her training on her own because none of her family members or friends are bike riders. She rode on local trails and back roads because most of the riding during the trip was on the road.
In addition to training on the bike, Parker visited different bike shops around Columbus to learn basic bike knowledge such as how to change a tire. She bought all her biking gear and essentials, including a hydration pack, gloves and cycling shorts and shoes to go along with her Bike & Build jersey.
Following all of her preparation and anticipation, Parker traveled to Yorktown, Virginia for orientation and to begin the journey. She felt nervous because she thought everyone else would be a bike expert, but the 36 other riders that soon became lifelong friends were in the same situation she was in: diving into the unexpected.
Some riders were Parker’s age and still in school, others were older with full-time careers that they decided to quit to experience this ride. The large group left Yorktown on May 25, 2017. What was to come was the most difficult part of the trip for Parker.
On day four, Parker was tested with climbing a mountain range on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Only 11, not including Parker, out of the 36 bikers finished. Parker described the 6,000-foot climb as brutal.
”I don’t think anything could have prepared me truly and trained me for what we did that day,” Parker said. “You have to be in the mindset that you can do it.”
The bikers started out by riding in groups of two to five, but ultimately could ride alone after a while. Parker rode with the friends she grew close to, and they averaged about 75 to 80 miles each day, with the longest day equaling 110 miles.
The Central United States route offered various terrains, but part of the reason Parker chose this route of the five offered was to see the mountains. Along the nearly 4,000 mile route, the Bike & Builders stopped in a new city every day. In 13 of those cities, the team helped build houses and worked with organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together, to raise awareness for affordable housing. Parker and her peers worked on siding, drywall, painting, roofing, landscaping or any other project that would help the families.
Since high school, Parker has been involved with affordable housing service projects with her church. This work has made her very grateful for what she has and has sparked her love for giving back. “Not many people can say they biked across the country,” Parker said. “Obviously that’s so cool to say, but a nice part of it was that you’re also doing something for the community.”
Parker’s life for these two and a half months was eye-opening, and most would say the Bike & Build day-to-day life is not easy. Every morning, the bikers wake up around 4:30 to 5 a.m. to start their day. The group had breakfast, packed their bags and attended a daily route meeting to find out what their day looked like and talk about any pressing issues. Once the sun rose, they were on the go, riding to the next stopping point.
They rode for hours, stopping when needed, until they eventually got to the church or community center where they would sleep. Sometimes the team even camped. The Bike & Build organization relies heavily on these locations. The big group would go to the local YMCA or even the pastor’s house to take showers, but sometimes, Parker would have to shower with a hose outside. They did laundry every three days, stopping at laundromats throughout the route because the bikers were only allowed to bring a couple outfits apart from their riding gear. Most of the dinners that the churches and community centers served consisted of carb-loaded meals to replenish their energy. They slept with Therm-a-Rests (small blow up mattresses), sleeping bags or on the floor every night. Even though the bikers were exhausted, Parker and others would stay up past midnight because of the adrenaline rush. Then, they would wake up at the crack of dawn the next morning to do it all again.
Despite the fact that each bike has elite lights, called Bontragers, the riders were not allowed to ride in the dark for safety reasons. The team took many safety precautions throughout the whole ride. They had two safety vans, MIPS-certified helmets, mirrors on both the helmets and the handle bars and much more. These precautions are important because over the past 15 years four Bike & Builders have died on the trip. One of them died in 2016 on the same route that Parker was on.
Thankfully, there were limited injuries on Parker’s quest. One rider had a blood clot and was hospitalized for three days. Parker’s carpal tunnel syndrome developed into a major, painful problem that impacted her riding. Some days she wasn’t even able to ride because of the pain, and her hands would go completely numb. She now has to have surgery to repair the damage done to her hands on this trip.
But the toughest part for Parker wasn’t the physical, it was the mental challenges. Having a bad mentality would ruin her day. Parker had to believe in herself. She says the support from her new friends helped her get through, too. But the one thing Parker missed the most, other than family, was her emotional support dog. This was the longest period of time she had been away from her life at home.
So Aug. 5, 2017, the day she rode up to Cannon Beach, was the most memorable and emotional piece of her journey. All of the bikers’ families and friends were on the beach waiting to reunite with the riders. Although her parents couldn’t make it, her brothers drove all the way from Seattle and Iowa to celebrate with Parker at the final destination. It was a breathtaking moment that she will never forget.
In the end, the connections she made with 36 new friends created a hard goodbye. Their last day together was bittersweet. The team all held hands, ran into the ocean, hugged and chanted. They did it. They rode close to 4,000 miles across the country.
“I was so happy just that 36 of us could do something so big, but so small at the same time,” Parker said. “You experience the world in a different way that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to experience again.”
If she could, Parker would hit the road for the lengthy voyage countless more times. She calls it the best experience of her life. The memories of floating down a river in a tube, shopping, hiking, watching fireworks from the top of a mountain across the entire state of Colorado on July 4th, going to the bar and just spending time with people she never would have met if it weren’t for Bike & Build, will last with her forever.
