December 14, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Celebrate the Holidays with Wine and Habitat for Humanity...
Hello everyone, We have now raised over $80,000 in pledges and paid donations and money is still coming in!!!  This came from nearly 200 separate donors. You may remember our target was to raise $71,000 to match my age of 71 by riding my bicycle across the country.  Thanks to all of you who supported the Habitat Cycle of Hope ride to help those less fortunate purchase good housing.  Your financial support as well as ongoing encouragement and other assistance was very important.&n...(click to read the full text).

 

November 28, 2008 at 05:39 PM

We Are Having a Party To Thank All Those Who Have Supported Our Habitat Cycle of Hope Ride!
When:  Sunday December 7th, 2008 (3pm-5pm)Where:  Our Home (3374 McGraw Lane, Lafayette CA 94549)What:  Come and enjoy "bike grub" tails of trails, a trip quiz and meet our sponsors and other supporters.  Humanitas Wines will also be served.  Twenty percent of their revenues goes to charity.  www.humanitaswines.comRSVP:  Yes, No, Maybe, please respond to this post or email Barb directly at kesbarbfrick@comcast.netWe are looking forward to thanking all of you in person.www.habitatcycleofhope.com...(click to read the full text).

 

November 16, 2008 at 08:41 AM

Finished! Total Raised.....$78,000!!!!
Hurrah!!  We made it the entire 3300 miles and had an incredible celebration in St. Augustine!  Thanks a ton to the St. Augustine Habitat as they were incredible hosts organizing a 5 mile group ride along with a celebration on the beach.We exceeded my goal of $71,000 by raising a total of $78,000 (and counting)!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that donated to this cause!I am pretty worn out today and will be posting one more blog in the coming days summarizing this en...(click to read the full text).

 

November 14, 2008 at 04:40 PM

Day 69....I Made It and am featured in the St. Augustine Paper!
Day 69 - Nov. 14th I am in St. Augustine and am getting ready for my final 5 mile ceremonial ride through St. Augustine tomorrow starting at 10am!  See the following article that came out in the paper today as I have been told the St. Augustine Habitat office has been receiving calls all day about people that are coming out to join in the celebration!  Also...tomorrow we will have the final tally on fund raising and will have one final blog to update everyone on our success!ARTICLE:&nb...(click to read the full text).

 

November 12, 2008 at 09:34 PM

Day 68....Sooooo Close!
Day 68 - Nov. 12th I rode 40 miles today and Tom joined me for part of those miles.  You can see Tom is smarter then I when it comes to riding these distances.  Also, see the below picture as I got caught in the rain and the bridge I was to cross got washed out.  I had to laugh when Barbara took this picture as I was soaking wet.  Barbara was actually smarter then both Tom and I as she did not ride at all today in the wet weather.  At this point of the ride I think I am ...(click to read the full text).

 

November 11, 2008 at 11:20 AM

Bob Says.... Whine No....Wine Yes!!
A Special Message From Team Bob - As Bob is closing in on his finish in St. Augustine Florida this Saturday Nov. 15th we are getting very close to our $71,000 goal of Bob's age of 71 years old.  We do understand that these are difficult economic times which does make it a little harder to raise funds.  But please note....Habitat for Humanity has built over 1 million homes World Wide!  Habitat is a 4 star charity and runs on an approximate 9-10% overhead which means for every $1 given, 90 cents g...(click to read the full text).

 

November 11, 2008 at 11:01 AM

Day 67 (Florida is a great place to ride)
Days 67 - Nov. 11th I rode 60 miles today as Tom my riding partner is getting use to the mileage and Barbara put some miles in today as well.  This is the flattest place I have ever been!  I am told the highest elevation is 300ft which is much different then the California, Arizona parts of my ride.  There is no doubt in my mind that Florida wins the price for best place to bike as it is smooth, flat, no headwinds and great weather and scenery.  Along the route I met Tom Mart...(click to read the full text).

 

November 10, 2008 at 02:01 PM

Thank you Sutter Health (Sponsor)
Thank you to Sutter Health for supporting the Cycle of Hope bike back when I first had this idea.  Your support goes a long way to assisting those in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties of California.  We also welcome any Sutter Health employee's to come out for a volunteer build day as anyone can register to volunteer at www.habitateb.org.Thank you again for all your support!!

 

November 9, 2008 at 10:38 PM

Day 66 (Barbara rides today!)
Day 66 - Nov. 9th I rode about 70 miles today on flat, smooth, low traffic roads with great weather ending up near Live Oaks, Florida.  The roads are beautiful as they are lined with mossy oak trees.  Tom, my riding partner to the finish rode about 50 miles today and even Barbara got into the act doing 15 miles herself!!  We are now 190 miles from St. Augustine and plan on getting there sometime Thursday unless it rains or something.  Below are two pictures, one of Tom a...(click to read the full text).

 

November 9, 2008 at 07:51 PM

Days 64 & 65 (Tallahassee Habitat Visit!)
Days 64 & 65 - Nov. 7th & 8th I rested on Friday as I got here a day early for my visit...so it gave me a chance to catch up on my computer work.  On Nov. 8th I got the opportunity to visit the Tallahassee Florida Habitat where they must of had 50 volunteers from Florida State University and TCC students working on several houses at the same time.  There were also 6 Board Members in attendance as well.  Also, we got the opportunity to meet 3 new, or potential home owners w...(click to read the full text).

 

November 7, 2008 at 08:48 PM

Day 63 (I am in Tallahassee FL...300 miles left!)
Day 63 - Nov. 6th I rode 63 miles into Tallahassee Florida today.  I got here a day early so Friday I am resting and then Saturday morning we will ride over to visit the Tallahassee Habitat Build Site at 8:30am.  Then after my visit I have only 300 miles left on my Journey to St. Augustine.  The local Habitat Director Tyler Turlock met us coming into the city so that we would not get lost.  We then followed him to the lovely home of Danny and Allison Manausa to stay...(click to read the full text).

 

November 6, 2008 at 02:03 PM

Day 62 (Rode 107 miles today!!)
Day 62 - Nov. 5th I had great weather with relatively flat roads and ended up riding 2 miles past my personal best as I did 107 miles!!!  I passed over Alligator Creek which was a pretty scary looking swamp.  The picture below does not do justice to how scary it was!  I ended my day in Chipley Flordia as I was worn out.   With only 83 miles left to Tallahassee....I am looking at taking Friday off to rest and then I have an 8:30am visit with the Tallahassee Habitat.I...(click to read the full text).

 

November 5, 2008 at 10:24 AM

Days 60 & 61 (The winner is...Habitat Pensacola!)
Days 60 & 61 - Nov. 3rd & Nov 4th started with a rest day on Monday outside of Pensacola.  (More information and pictures can be found under "Photos" above)! On Tuesday (Election Day) I had a great visit to the Pensacola Florida Habitat affiliate.  The build site was a five bedroom home that was being rebuilt have a fire had destroyed it.  Dennis and Ed were the Crew leaders on this site supervising five young men from the Pensacola Boys Base who are doing community s...(click to read the full text).

 

November 4, 2008 at 12:29 AM

Day 59 (I am in Florida!)
Day 59 - Nov. 2 I rode 65 miles from Dauphin Island to Pensacola Florida.  Please look at the picture below as it was the only sign I could see letting me know that I have entered Florida.  This place looked like one wild spot!!  The road today was along the Gulf Coast and I could see the ocean a great deal of the time.  Last night we stayed in the Dauphin Inn B&B on Dauphin Island.  The Island has a population of about 1200 permanent residents but can grow to 5500 w...(click to read the full text).

 

November 4, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Days 57 & 58 (Dr. Jack / Alabama)
Days 57 & 58 - Oct. 31st & Nov. 1st I rode 125 miles over the past two days from Wade, Alabama to Dauphin Island, Alabama.  Flat roads through mostly forest country with great weather.  Alabama was a short ride as I rode through the Southwest Corner of the state toward Florida.For the blog readers in the San Francisco Bay Area you may have heard my on Mondays as I have been giving weekly morning radio updates to KFOG radio since the start of this trip.  One of the hosts al...(click to read the full text).

 

November 3, 2008 at 05:13 PM

Thank you to Akawie & LaPietra Law Firm for your Sponsorship
I just wanted to write a quick blog thanking the Law Firm of Akawie &LaPietra of Oakland California for their sponsorship of my ride along with their support of Habitat for Humanity East Bay!  I appreciate your support and am very much grateful.  Your sponsorship will help make a difference in Oakland!

 

November 1, 2008 at 09:25 AM

Day 56 (Trick or Treat)
Day 56 - Oct. 31st I rode from Wiggins Mississippi to Wade Mississippi for a total of 63 miles today.  If you are trying to follow my route online, many of the towns are probably not on most maps and I can only tell you about the larger ones.  Some towns consist of little more then a few houses, gas station, a church and maybe a general store.  More thick forests, rolling hills and lots of Bayous (see pic).Answers to my Quiz in an earlier blog:1. The Mississippi River runs through how many state...(click to read the full text).

 

October 31, 2008 at 01:41 PM

Day 56 (Rode 63 miles)
Day 56 - Oct. 30th I rode appox. 63 miles today which include a couple of extra miles as I got lost.  A number of the back country roads in this area are not well marked or not marked at all.  When you ask local people about directions they often do not know the names of the roads although they know the area well.  The morning started out at about 40 degree's but thankfully warmed up into the 70's as it got later in the day.  The ride is very nice but can be hilly at times and the roads are very...(click to read the full text).

 

October 31, 2008 at 01:29 PM

Day 55 (Dog-Gone day)
Day 55 - Oct. 29th I rode a good part of the day covering 83 miles!  Temperature started out with a chilly 36 degrees but started to warm up to 70 degrees by the afternoon.  Around Easleyville, LA in about one hour of riding I had 7 different dogs chase me!  Frankly this scared me to death although none actually caught me as I was riding on either a flat or slightly downhill road at the time.  I found out that even small dogs can run up to 22 to 25 mph for a short distance.  One dog got a bloody...(click to read the full text).

 

October 31, 2008 at 01:12 PM

Days 54 & 55 (A visit to the French Quarter)
Days 54 & 55 - Oct. 27th & 28th I took a two day rest and decided on a little sightseeing.  Barb and I went down to New Orleans and took the Greyline walking tour of the French Quarter.  Liz our guide was great....and here is a quick summary:  New Orleans and Louisiana were taken over by the French in 1718, controlled by the Spanish from 1718 to 1801, then taken back by the French in 1801.  Then French then sold to the U.S. in 1803.  In the War of 1812 (intro mus...(click to read the full text).

 

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