A group of 34 cyclists ceremoniously dipped their wheels in the Atlantic Ocean at Great Island Common in New Castle on June 22 before departing on a 10-week, 4,000-mile, cross-country bike trip to Vancouver. They’ll travel an average of 70 miles per day, and during their breaks, they’ll build houses. 

The Bike & Build crew, part of a national nonprofit organization, spent the first leg of its journey on the Seacoast with Southeast New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity. They spent a day working with Habitat volunteers on a duplex in Rochester, which will eventually become the home of the Tufts-House family.

The Bike & Build team, consisting mostly of college-age riders, will stop at nine other locations across the country, building affordable housing units with other organizations that advocate the cause.

Southeast New Hampshire Habitat is currently building four housing units in Rochester and Farmington and plans to construct five houses per year in the future.