News Bike and Build riders cross Benton County en route from Providence to Seattle

Just two weeks before thousands of bicycle riders head east across the state during the annual RAGBRAI, a few dozen riders are heading west across the state as they continue a journey across the U.S. Ironically, they will be in Sioux City just 10 days before the 2010 RAGBRAI begins there July 26.

Approximately 25 members of Bike and Build rode through Benton County Monday morning, en route that day from Mount Vernon to Marshalltown. They plan to arrive in Sioux City on Friday, July 16. They will spend a day there helping to build a Habitat for Humanity home. They will then continue their cross-country trek, biking to raise money for housing programs, and stopping at several cities along the way to help build houses. 

The riders who stopped for a photo in Van Horne Monday Morning include, from left: Paige Hicks, St. Louis; Spencer Smitherman, Shreveport, La.; Sam Kent, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Brian Hochman, Miami, Fla.; Olivia Matheson, Miami, Fla.; Vidya Gopinath, Reston, Va.; Maddy Sturm, Princeton, N.J.; and Anthony Lazarus of England.

Lazarus said he has always wanted to bicycle across the U.S. He heard about Bike and Build from a friend and flew across the Atlantic to join the group.

There are several Bike and Build groups riding different routes across the U.S. this year. The group that is riding through Iowa began in Providence on June 14,  and will arrive in Seattle Aug. 18. They have been in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois before crossing the Mississippi into Iowa. Their westward journey will take them through Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho before they arrive in Washington.

Paige Hicks is one of the organizers of the event. She said each rider must raise $4,000 in donations or pledges. Along the way, each rider can choose on housing charity to donate $500. The rest of the funds go to Habitat for Humanity and similar projects. 

For more information, visit the web site, www.bikeandbuild.org. The event has been taking place annually for several years.