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Letter: Wonderful Bike and Builders

On July 9-11, we were among several households in River Valley Ranch that hosted 31 Bike and Builders. These young people are riding their bikes across the country and stopping along the way to help build affordable homes. This is the ninth summer a group has stopped here in Carbondale to work with our local Habitat for Humanity and local families.

I would like you to know what a gift this turned out to be for the host families, some of whom had participated in the past and some brand new to the concept, like us. These young men and women were a pure delight and so inspiring, especially with all the bad things going on in the world and in our own country. Our “boys” were Jacob, a senior at Amherst, and Amir, a junior at University of North Carolina. They were both the absolute best house guests we have ever entertained. They arrived on a Saturday afternoon after biking over Independence Pass, and the first thing they asked after introductions were if we had any chores for them to do.

What an interesting group and experience. To our surprise, many of the participants were young women, clearly outnumbering the men. Among the further information we learned that this was the first time they had slept in a bed since Mississippi. We wished that they had been able to spend at least another day here and were told by many that this was their favorite stop.



They also said that this was the best-organized bike and build that they had participated in. Kudos to Scott Gilbert and Jim Noyes for that. You too, Laurie. They spent two full days helping build homes in Carbondale and Silt. We were able to spend one evening with them at a picnic at the Ranch House and to meet many of the participants. They also had a little break enjoying the pool and hot tub. Early, early the next morning they departed for their 89-mile ride in the blistering sun to Meeker.

I urge you to go to the Bike and Build website to learn more about this organization, and you can see this group’s blog at: https://sc2sc16.wordpress.com/. Our group started in Charleston, South Carolina, and will end up at Santa Cruz, California, covering over 4,300 miles.



They certainly give us hope for the future.

Holly and Richard Glasier

Carbondale


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