About

This journey started back in November of 2013, when I abruptly woke up in the middle of the night with just one inescapable thought on my mind - I'm going to bike across the country. It was not a fleeting idea or a lofty dream, but a conviction, a fact, an absolute truth. I spent the rest of the night wide-eyed and wondering, unable to shake this realization that I'd come across at 3:00 a.m.

Let me back up. I grew up in Memphis, TN, but for the last five years I've called Montana home. Four of those years were spent in Missoula, but when my partner made a career move to Whitefish (3 hours north of Missoula), I knew that meant a move and a career change were in my future too. I saw it as an opportunity to do something I've dreamed of doing - cross the United States of America by bike. I hooked up with the organization Bike & Build and jumped on board as a trip leader for their Maine to Santa Barbara trip in 2014. Our group of 33 young adults biked 4,000 miles in 75 days. We had 14 build days with affordable housing organizations and raised more than $160,000. We ran full-speed into the Pacific Ocean and embraced each other. It was the best experience of my life, so naturally I signed on for another trip this summer (see Drift West page).


I'm continuing to live what I call the "Bike & Build life". Affordable housing is no longer just a distant cause but the reason I go to work each day. I now work for Habitat for Humanity Flathead Valley, working alongside volunteers and family partners to build affordable homes. I love my job and am challenged and rewarded by it every day. Since my cross-country trip I've also developed an obsession for adventure on two wheels and plan to spend the rest of my life satisfying that hunger. I bike and I build. So here I am to ride again for the same cause, but on a different ride, in a different place, and as a different person.

Biking to the Grand Canyon, ME2SB14