Published: November 24, 2009 09:52 pm         

St. Mary-of-the-Woods junior plans to ‘Bike & Build’ next summer

TERRE HAUTE — Next summer, rest and relaxation will not be on the agenda for Brittany Simmerman, a 21-year-old St. Mary-of-the Woods College junior, who plans to bike 3,840 miles across the country.

During “breaks,” she’ll build affordable housing for those in need.

The Oolitic native plans to participate in Bike & Build, a program aimed at raising funds for and awareness about affordable housing efforts.

Part of the time, the bicyclists trade their bikes for hammers and assist a local housing organization — such as Habitat for Humanity or Rebuilding Together — construct housing.

To participate, she also must raise $4,000, but all proceeds will go toward affordable housing projects somewhere in the United States by Aug. 1.

“This is probably one of the craziest, extreme things that I could ever do. But the cause is important to me,” said the pre-med major, who would like to be a pediatrician. The Bike & Build journey will take about 2? months, and she’ll finish about a week before the start of school next fall.

“It will truly be the greatest physical and mental test of my life,” said Simmerman, who is a captain of the college’s soccer team and a Le Fer Hall resident assistant.

She first heard about Bike & Build when a group came pedaling through Bedford two summers ago. She researched the organization and spent two years thinking about participating.

She finally decided, “If you can’t get it off your mind, it probably means you are meant to go for it.”

Next summer, she’s going for it.

What gave her the final push she needed was a spring break mission trip last March, when she and about 20 other women from the college traveled to New Orleans to build homes for those who had lost their housing to hurricanes.

That week changed her life, she said. “I laughed and cried probably more than I ever thought possible in a week’s time period. I spent a whole week shoveling sand, drywalling and speaking with amazing people who lost everything to the hurricanes.”

When she returned home, she realized there are many people across the country in the same predicament. “We have issues right here in our own backyards and we all have to step up,” Simmerman said.

Along with about 30 other college students from across the United States, she’ll ride from Virginia Beach, Va., to Canon Beach, Ore. The route will take her through Terre Haute. In addition to riding and building, they’ll also make town-hall style presentations about what they are doing.

She’ll ride through the Appalachians and the Rockies, and some of the building projects are in Colorado. “I can’t wait. It will be gorgeous,” she said. “What better way to see the entire country than on a bicycle.”

While she’s in good physical shape because of soccer, she’s still going to have to prepare. Once the trip begins, daily mileage starts low but builds to an average of about 70 miles per day.

“I’m going to have to work at it to get up to that,” she said. Support vehicles will monitor the riders along the route, and “sweep riders” will make sure that everyone makes it to a destination safely.

Bike & Build is physical, but as an athlete, she’s used to pushing herself. “It’s something I’ve felt that I was meant to do,” she said.

Simmerman said her family is very supportive, although her parents initially had concerns. Her nieces and nephews “think it’s the coolest thing ever.”

They are her inspiration. “I want to show them that there is no such thing as ‘too hard,’ ‘too crazy’ or ‘too impossible,’” she said.

Cveta Picarova, the college’s assistant director of campus life, has encouraged Simmerman with her decision to do Bike & Build.

“She’s definitely optimistic about everything she does,” Picarova said. Simmeran always sets new challenges for herself and then follows through with them.

“I think she will be an inspiration to other students [at the Woods],” Picarova said. “I think she’ll do very well.”

For more information on the organization, go to www.bikeandbuild.org.

Simmerman’s rider profile can be found at bikeandbuild.org/rider/3520.

Those interested in donating can do so online through her rider’s profile. She must raise the money by the end of April and has about $500 so far.

“I am excited to bike across the country raising awareness for this great cause,” she said. Her favorite quote comes from Helen Keller: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

Simmerman has already begun a blog, which she’ll maintain during a bike ride across America, at www.bsim9.blogspot.com.



Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.