Bike riders build homes across the country

Lee W. Eschenroeder
James K. Candler Jefferson Scholar
Class of 2011

May 22, 2008 | Dust filled the air, along with the pounding of nails on Chambers Street on Thursday as 31 young adults crammed into a Lynchburg house and helped transform it into a home.

The Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity house had begun the day without distinct interior walls. By mid-afternoon, drywall framed the home’s rooms to separate what will become a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom.

The group hopes to influence similar projects across the country this summer.
“I love seeing the scenery,” said George Pilzer, a college student from South Carolina. “We’re not even out of Virginia yet, and I’ve already had the time of my life.”

Part of an organization called Bike and Build that organized six similar cross-country trips this summer, they left from Virginia Beach last week and are bicycling their way to Oregon. By the time the group reaches the West Coast in late July, they will have traveled more than 3,800 miles through 12 states and contributed to 10 build sites.

Thursday was special for one of the members, Lee Eschenroeder, who graduated from E.C. Glass High School last year and now is the James K. Candler Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. For his first summer vacation since entering college, he decided to take up his dream of riding across the country.

“After I read up about it, I got really excited,” he said.

He started raising the $4,000 needed to participate and was overwhelmed with the reaction.

“The support from everybody in Lynchburg has been absolutely tremendous,” he said.

While in town, the group stayed at Agudath Sholom Synagogue and ate food donated by local groceries and restaurants. That allows the money they raised to go toward the projects, Lois Watts said. Suffolk native Beau Burwell said the group gets to see more than the average tourist while pedaling through small towns.

“At 12 miles per hour, things look a lot different,” he said.

The group made a special detour to his hometown last week to help clean up from a tornado that touched down in April. From there, they pedaled to Emporia, then Victoria and on to Lynchburg. Today, the group of 18-to-25-year-olds leaves for Roanoke on its way to the next build site in Cincinnati.

“We’ve been singing to each other a good bit,” Watts said of the ride days. “It takes a lot (of encouragement) to get up the hills.”

Michelle Drake, owner of the Habitat home, said she appreciated the work of the group and the many others who have contributed to her home.

“They have rocked.” She said she was amazed the group still had energy to work on the house after biking up to 100 miles per day. She hopes her home will be completed this summer, she said.

Frank Cuoco, a long-time volunteer with Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity, also was impressed with the group.

“These kids are giving up several months. A lot of their friends are going to Cancun, and they’re coming here to build,” he said. “It’s a delight to work with them — they make you feel younger.”

With reporting by Christa Desrets, Daily Progress