Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506230024
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN DONAHUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
How many other recent college graduates can say they biked across the country to give shelter to a poor family?
Victoria Griggs, 21, is one of 26 college students and recent graduates participating in the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, a 5,000-mile cross-country bike trip that raises money for Habitat for Humanity International.
Griggs, who grew up in Roanoke, is a 1991 graduate of North Cross School, where she played volleyball and tennis.
"I want to do something special for my last summer," said Griggs, who graduated from Yale University this spring with a degree in psychology.
The Bicycle Challenge, created by Antony Brydon of Montclair, N.J., is in its second year. Brydon also graduated from Yale this year with a degree in philosophy but had taken a year off between his sophomore and junior years on a solo cycling trip from New Haven down the East Coast.
He wound up working at the Habitat International headquarters in Americus, Ga. He returned to Yale in the fall of 1993 and gathered support among his friends for a fund-raiser: a cross-country bike trip with the proceeds going to help Habitat.
Habitat for Humanity International has built more than 30,000 homes worldwide for low-income families.
This year's Bicycle Challenge group has raised $74,000 in cash and $14,000 worth of donated items. Three-fourths of those funds will go directly to help a family build a house in the New Haven, Conn., area, where Yale is located; one-fourth will be used to cover trip expenses.
The cyclists attended a groundbreaking for another Habitat house in New Haven before they began their journey.
On the trip, the cyclists show slides about Habitat to encourage others to volunteer for the organization. Brydon says turnout has been excellent for the presentations. The riders also hold bike clinics to help children learn about bike safety.
Cyclists had to raise at least $2,000 before they were invited to join the Challenge. Griggs raised $2,550, mostly by going door-to-door in Roanoke. She said the North Cross faculty really came through for her in the end, when it appeared she wasn't going to have the funds.
The journey started June 1 when the cyclists, joined by a police escort, left the nation's capital. They are scheduled to arrive in San Francisco on Aug. 1, with a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge for a grand finish.
After going through Virginia, the riders will travel through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California.
Griggs logged 67 miles on her odometer the first day of the trip, when the group biked from Washington, D.C., to Manassas.
"I've ridden 10 miles in 10 years," she said with a laugh. "It was kind of baptism by fire."
The riders biked into Roanoke on June 6 and left the morning of June 8.
Griggs said she had met only two of the other riders before she started on the trip. Most of the riders are from Yale, but other Northeastern colleges are represented.
While in Roanoke, the riders stayed at First Baptist Church's Family Life Center. Most of their nights will be spent sleeping in churches and community centers.
Riders provide their own breakfasts and lunches, and usually eat dinner at potlucks. The Oak Grove Church of the Brethren gave the them their evening meal the first night they were in Roanoke.
Griggs said she thought the Rockies would be the most challenging part of the course. "I hear horror stories," she said.
Her first week on the road helped her endurance. "Things that used to be hills, I don't consider to be hills [anymore]," she said.
Griggs has a job waiting for her in San Francisco. She will be working for Andersen Consulting and hopes to continue volunteering for Habitat while on the West Coast.
Donations and and more information about the Habitat Bicycle Challenge can be sent to: Habitat Bike Challenge, P.O. Box 7900, New Haven, Conn. 06519.
by CNB