Burlington woman makes extraordinary cycling trek in promoting social responsibility

From Burlington Free Press

After bicycling 4,009 miles and taking part in 17 days worth of construction projects, Alicia Marvin is back home in Burlington. The 25-year-old mixed fitness with social responsibility, completing a three-month trek with the Bike and Build program.

Bike and Build raises awareness and money for affordable housing projects. Bicyclists also take part in the building process along their trek.

Marvin’s group of 27 cyclists rode from Florida to California, stopping to do construction work for five days in New Orleans, and two days each in Mobile, Ala., and Dallas. The group also made several single-day stops of volunteer work.

Their efforts included building a playground and clearing a dry river bed in New Mexico, doing landscape work in Deep South communities and taking on finishing work like painting and trim.

The most rewarding day, Marvin said, came when the group framed a house in Dallas. “When we got there,” Marvin said, “it was a blank concrete slab, but when we left it looked like a house.”

For many Vermonters, fitness and social responsibility go hand-in-hand. There are numerous charity walks on the annual calendar, and other events such as the recent Kelly Brush Foundation’s Century Ride that drew hundreds of participants.

Some fitness enthusiasts, such as Marvin, take their commitment to both exercise and good works to a remarkably high level.

Before embarking on her cross-country journey, Marvin raised more than $4,500 for the program. She said she found the trip so rewarding she might do another trek in a few years, this time as a group leader. The high point was riding through New Mexico on the Fourth of July. One of her fellow cyclists attached a 10-foot pole to his bike to hold a five-by-eight foot American flag which he carried for 115 hilly miles. Numerous cars honked as they drove by or shouted encouragement out their windows. One woman stopped to thank him for his patriotism and to tell him her son had just been awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Afghanistan.

Alicia Marvin of Burlington celebrates at the Pacific Ocean the completion of her cross-country Bike and Build charity trek. The group began in Florida and worked its way across the Southern United States, stopping frequently to help with home-building and maintenance projects. / Courtesy photo

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Alicia Marvin of Burlington rides her bicycle on a fog-enshrouded road as part of her cross-country Bike and Build charity trek this year. / Courtesy photo

About Bike & Build

■According to the program’s website, it “engages young adults who exhibit an extraordinary desire to make an impact through uncommon means. Each summer, our participants ride their bicycles across the United States to raise money and awareness for affordable housing, stopping in countless communities along the way to either build with a local housing affiliate or share the goal of creating affordable, decent housing for all Americans.”
The nonprofit’s 2011 annual report states that Bike & Build “has granted over $3.38 million to affordable housing organizations since our founding as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2002. This includes competitive grants, rider-designated beneficiaries, on-the-road donations, and pre-arranged contributions to our most active housing partners.”
■For information, email applications@bikeandbuild.org or visit the organization’s website athttp://bikeandbuild.org

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Members of Burlington resident Alicia Marvin's Bike and Build cross-country charity trek did homebuilding and maintenance work at different stops along the way. Clockwise from top left, some of the group wield sledgehammers; Marvin celebrates her passage into a new state as the group headed westward; and Marvin celebrates completion of her journey at the Pacific Ocean. / Courtesy photoS

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