By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer
Inspired by her grandfather, Mickey Begin plans to better the nation’s housing one state at a time.

LEWISTON – Mickey Begin admits she’s no Lance Armstrong, but the athletic 21-year-old is not afraid of setting tires to pavement and heading across the country on a bicycle.

Inspired by her grandfather Donald Robitaille, who pedaled from Maine to Seattle four years ago at the age of 70, Begin plans to make a similar trek of her own this summer.

The difference is, she’s biking for a cause. Working with a nonprofit organization called Bike & Build, Begin will be raising money for affordable housing and also stopping with other riders along the route to help build homes for low-income families.

She needs to raise $4,000 to qualify for the trip, which will take her from Portsmouth, N.H., to Vancouver, B.C. A marketing major at Providence College in Rhode Island, Begin is up to the task.

“I think the first time I heard of (Bike & Build) I was like, OK, I’m doing it,” the determined college senior said Friday. Her parents at first thought it was a a passing whim, but have since realized she wasn’t kidding. She’s already raised $1,100.

The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Bike & Build has been leading cross-country cycling excursions since 2003. Program Director Chris Webber said three Maine cyclists have signed up this year.

New bike routes have been added most every season, accommodating between 110 and 150 cyclists. There are now five different trips from coast to coast across the northern, central and southern states, Webber said.

The catch is, applicants have to be between the ages of 18 and 24. And it helps if they have an interest in affordable housing.

Begin already has spent time working with a program sponsored by her school, Rebuilding Together, which helps residents of the Providence area with major home improvements and repairs.

She is the only Mainer listed on the northernmost trip route so far. “I just can’t think of anything I’d rather do with my summer,” she said.

She’s only been a casual biker up until this point – often riding the bike her grandfather bought her when she was in junior high. Come summer, she’ll be biking anywhere from 26 to 123 miles a day.

Robitaille is equally excited about his granddaughter’s trip. He said he bought all his grandchildren their first bikes in hopes they would enjoy the sport as much as he does.

It’s important to buy children bikes when they’re in seventh grade, he noted with a gleam in his eye. “If you wait until they start driving, they don’t ride anymore.”

Copy the Story Link