People Bike & Build To Help Habitat For Humanity

FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ) -- Imagine riding a bike from city to city, helping Habitat for Humanity build several homes. That's what one group of riders has done for the last week and a half.

Gigi Barnett reports one of their stops took them to Frederick.

Brick by brick, the goal for the group is to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Frederick.

They aren't construction workers or contractors. They're cyclists.

"I've done everything from drywalling to roof trusses to finding good bricks in a pile," said Kristie Gerhart, Bike and Build rider.

They're a part of a nonprofit organization called Bike and Build. For two weeks, they tour the region on two wheels, riding from the first work site in Richmond to the last in Philadelphia.

"The fitness aspect of it is so rewarding and challenging and just a good way to keep yourself in shape," said Shanna Hoar, Bike and Build rider.

The middle leg is in Frederick at an abandoned home site to search for bricks to recycle.

"You can really see the impact you have right away on the communities that you go to," said Erica MacDonald, Bike and Build Co-Leader.

The bikers travel light. Everything from food to shelter is donated by groups along the way.

"There's no downside to it," said Hoar. " The roughing it just adds to the binding of other people."

By the time this tour ends, this group will ride nearly 600 miles, help build at least five houses and donate $1,700 each to Bike and Build.

Bike and Build hosts about nine tours every year. The 600-mile ride from Richmond to Philadelphia is the shortest.