Habitat Bicycle Challenge
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The Habitat Bicycle Challenge (HBC) was an annual cross-country bicycle trip that by 2004 had become the largest yearly fundraiser for any Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the United States. Led by Yale University students, the 4,000 mile ride raised money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity. Prior to departing, each rider raised a substantial sum of money ($4,000 each by 2007), which was donated to the Greater New Haven chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The students then biked across the United States, raising awareness of Habitat for Humanity and participating in builds across the country. Each cross-country trip took approximately two months to complete.
Founded in 1994 by Yale student Antony Brydon, the Habitat Bicycle Challenge raised about $50,000 in its first year. The trip eventually grew to include ninety riders on three trips—all starting in New Haven, Connecticut but ending in San Francisco, California, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washignton respectively. Even as it grew, the ride retained its origins as a student-run organization, with a core group of twelve leaders organizing the three trips. By the time of its cancellation in 2007, HBC was the largest annual fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, raising over $400,000 a year.
The Habitat Bicycle Challenge was plagued by three significant and independent casualties. Two students died as a result of accidents in 2005 and 2006. Following a third injury in 2008, in which a rider suffered permanent traumatic brain injury, the Habitat Bicycle Challenge was canceled due to continued safety concerns.
Across the country, HBC riders were supported by the generosity of the communities through which they traveled. Typically, riders slept on church floors and ate with the parishioners who provided their accommodations. This community support—along with corporate sponsorship from Green Mountain Gringo Salsa, Clif Bar, Cannondale, and Mortgage Lenders Network, among others—allowed the majority of the trip's proceeds to go directly to the construction of Habitat homes.
The Habitat Bicycle Challenge is the subject of the 2004 documentary Hammer and Cycle.[1]
The final Habitat Bicycle Challenge departed from New Haven, Connecticut, on June 2, 2007, having exceeded its goal of raising $400,000. HBC has now become simply the Habitat Challenge, an extensive volunteer construction program which retains the ethos, student leadership, fund-raising and awareness goals of the original Bicycle Challenge, replacing biking with building homes.[2] The Bike and Build program also carries on the legacy of the Habitat Bicycle Challenge.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Official HBC Website, including rider rosters
- http://oregonbiketrail.blogspot.com/ Habitat Bicycle Challenge 2007 Riders' Blog
