Update

Ok so its been a while scince I have made a post so, let me first start by saying thanks to Nick Veiga, all the guys playin darts for Mackenzies, Gary in the back, Jeff Burns from volley ball, and everyone else who has made a donation since my last post. I am now over $1200 into my fundraising and I have passed my online saftey and policy quiz and have just been informed by Bookoo Bikes that my bike is on its way with a scheduled delivery date of this friday 12/11. Dude I am so stoked. I can wait to start riding...next summer cannot come fast enough. Still got alot of work left but hey thats all part of the experience.

So yesterday I got out and did 18 Miles. The longest time Ive spent on a bike in 5 years. Man it felt great. I was shocked that it was as easy as it was considering how long I've been away from biking, I guess the fact that I stay active helps. But man when I woke up this morning my butt let me know that it doesn't remember what its like being in the saddle for that long. And I even had padded biking shorts. But its good that I'm getting my butt used to it again now since come next summer I'll bee in the saddle almost 8 hours a day. And ya know I was never a big road biker but I am hooked, it's absolutely amazing how smooth and efficient those things are.

Well people things are lookin pretty good. Id like to say thank you to my Aunt Nadine from NJ for her support. Thanks Chocie, you rock. Hope your gonna be around for turkey day, and if not hope you have a good one.
I have raised $741 so far ... that means $259 and Ill be cruisin in style on my sweet new ride, and $3000 away from taking that ride cross country next summer and helping build houses for low-income families. Not to mention spreading the word about how Affordable Housing issues affects over 30 million homes in the US. How roughly 11 million people live in decrepit, run down homes. Homes with no heat, no hot water or no electricity. Homes that no one should have to live in, let alone raise a family in. So please help make the communities of America a better place for the generations of tomorrow. Even by donating as little as $1 will help put a family in need into a decent and safe home. If we all help just a little we can make a huge difference. Spread the good word. BIKE AND BUILD NUS 2010...PEDALING TO END POVERTY HOUSING!!!

Holy crap!!! I'm now at the $600 mark for my fundraising. Thanks to my sisters friend and B&B alumni Cristopher for his $100 donation. That was uber cool of you man. Thank you again also for meeting with me before I was even enrolled to give me some advice and words of encouragement. Dude you rock so much. AHHHH!!! Im so close to hitting the $1000 mark I can taste it. Oh I cant wait to get my bike and start the real training. Till then its volleyball, the gym and the sweet 1975 rode bike my buddy Bill is lending me until my B&B bike comes. Chris, again thank you so much man you are awesome.

500

Alright alright alright. I have officially hit the $500 mark. Things are looking good. Dr. Greg from the volleyball court thank you for the donation. Mare, my big-sis, thank you. Your donation is the reason for me making it to this mark. Everyone thanks for the support. Bill, thanks again for the trainer bikes. I cant tell you guys how much I appreciate all this and cant wait to get biking and building. And please spread the word everyone. This is and awesome cause and every little bit helps. Plus then you can brag to people you know that you know some crazy fool who's gonna pedal across the U.S. Trust me they'll be jealous.

Thank you Billy for the donation and the 2 bikes you loaned me to train on until I get my own.

Thanx everyone from the Cardinals Club. You guys helped me raise another $53 towards my adventure. Im workin on getting a jar made up just for down there...thanx for the support.

Peter, Rob, Sebastian, Eddy, Chris and all the other guys from the polish club who put somethin in my collection jar last night...thanx. you guys totaled $68 more towards my adventure and helping a family somewhere get a nice house.

I'd like to say thank you to Peter from the polish Club, Mike Simmons, John and Connor for their support and contributions. Thanks guys

Alright everybody.....the Bike and Build site is back up and running. Feel free to go see what its all about. Maybe make a donation to. Thanx everyone.

To anyone Ive talked to recently about making a contribution to my bike and build effort....bike and build is having problems with their server. If you were planning on making a donation please just keep checking back. I will try to make sure I inform everyone when it back working properly again. Thanx again for all the help and support guys.

http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/3637 Yeah its a link to my bio page...now go and check it out. Pretty please with sugar on top.

That's right people, that's my route. That right there is what I plan to ride next summer on my bicycle. Now I know some of you already think I'm nuts for wanting to do this ride. But now you can its really not that big a deal. I mean how hard could it be to ride 3 1/2 inches lol. In reality though those three inches represent 3830 miles. I know what your thinking, " man this dude is gonna have a blast next summer." But its not all fun and games my friends. I got a lot of work ahead of me still. I have to raise $4000 before I can go on this trip. Now I have something like 6 months at this point to raise all the money. I haven't gotten the final departure date for my route yet. That's where all of you come in. Is it for a good cause you ask. Yes, a great cause actually. I'm raising money to help build houses for low income families across the U.S. And the trip, well that's to help bring awareness to the cause. Myself and the other riders on this route are going to stop along the way and give presentations on what the affordable housing cause is all about. We will also help in the construction of actual homes. I appreciate all the support I can get. Log on to www.bikeandbuild.org and see what its all about. You can find my bio on the 2010 Riders list, Northern,U.S. route.

On the roster

WOOT WOOT!!!!! I made the roster for the 2010 Northern U.S. Bike and Build team!!! I'm so stoked its not even funny. Let the fun begin. I wanna say thanx to my family for being supportive of my decision to partake in this adventure. Anyone who wants to donate....the B&B site is acting kinda funny right now but as soon as it calm down ill make sure to get a link up to my bio page for people to check out. Right now though you can check out www.bikeandbuild.org and go to the 2010 riders list, scroll down to the Northern U.S. Route team and find my pic. Click that to see my bio and if your feeling generous make a contribution. Any amount helps me towards my goal. Thanx everybody. And pass the word along, remember its for a good cause.

Whats this???

Hey there people. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Paul Northrop. My friends call me Bubba. Anyways, this blog is going to be about my Bike and Build adventure. From all the training and prep I'll be doing before embarking all the way to the end of my ride. Now I'm sure some of you are asking whats the heck is a Bike and Build adventure? Bike and Build is a non-profit organization that helps bring awareness to the Affordable Housing cause. And here's the cool part. To bring that awareness my self and hundreds of other young adults from across the country are going to ride across the country on bikes. No not motorcycles, BICYCLES. That's right I'm gonna ride roughly 4000 miles on a pedal bike. And on the way my group and I will stop and do presentations on affordable housing issues, as well as actually help in the construction of actual houses. Also along with the intense train regimine I'm going to have to take on, I will be doing work with affordable housing groups in the area and working to raise money for affordable housing.

Ok so now you get the jest of this blog. So keep track and see how I do in the adventure of a lifetime.

For more about Bike and Build check out www.bikeandbuild.org