"Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." -Mark Twain

So I called Zanes in CT and soon the bicycle will be on my porch. Kim Starr was really helpful with getting me all the Info that I needed, Thanks. www.ezanes.com She even equipped us with a how to attach the pedals and handle bars manual, with live action movies! Score! ha ha ha.

I have new shoes for my bike, they will be fun to play with, Here is a joke to explain:

Q. Do you know what is the hardest part of learning to ride a bike?

A. The pavement.


I would also like to thank the Oberkotter Family Foundation for the scholarship for my books next year. You guys are doing me a huge favor, Thank you SOooooooo much!! I appreciate it very very very much!

Bike and thanks

This is the baby i'm crossing the country with..mmhmm. Thanks to Aunt Germaine and Brian Morron for your donation. Thank you to the Lemieux family for your donation, It was nice seeing you guys the other night! Thanks for Claremont Cycle Depot for sizing me up...

Hey Cool Thanks Patrick!

By Patrick O'Grady News Editor Swinging a hammer and pedaling a bike may not seem to have much in common but for Laura Maki of Claremont they are the perfect combination. Maki, 19, a sophomore at Green Mountain College, is planning on hammering and pedaling her way across the United States this summer with the organization Bike and Build. “It combines my passions,” said Maki, home recently on her winter break. While at Stevens High School, Maki said she was enrolled in the building trades program at the Sugar River Technical Center and for years has enjoyed bicycling. But it wasn't until a friend told her about Bike and Build that she saw an opportunity to do both things she loved, while helping others. The 4,000 miles bicycle trip from Portsmouth, N.H., to Vancouver, British Columbia, includes regular stops at affordable housing projects. “We have 10 sites so far, the first one is in Lebanon, N.H.,” Maki said. “We'll be helping Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, basically any affordable housing project.” To be part of the project that departs Portsmouth on June 18, Maki is busy trying to raise $4,000, a dollar a mile, for the van-supported ride. The money will go toward the housing projects. To that end, Maki has set up a blog on www.bikeandbuild.org. Under rider blogs, Maki’s name appears on the Northern U.S. route. The trip will take the group of about 20 riders across New Hampshire and Vermont and into New York State.The cyclists will dip below the Great Lakes region through Ohio and once past the southern edge of Lake Michigan, head north through Illinois and Wisconsin before turning west through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The expected arrival date in Vancouver is Aug. 24. “Our shortest day is 20 miles and the longest is 140,” Maki said. “We will be staying in churches, YMCAs, places like that. I’m really excited about getting started.” Maki is also hoping for an early spring to begin riding more miles in preparation. “Riding indoors is getting boring,” she said. Having been on work crews with the Student Conservation Association, Maki said she is aware of the physical demands of the trip but is confident her training and experience will help her complete the journey. Maki has raised about $1,000 so far. Anyone interested in making a donation can do so by going online at BikeandBuild and clicking on Maki’s blog or through the mail with checks made out to BikeandBuild and sent to Maki at 5 Hartford St., Claremont, N.H. 03743.

Why thank you.

Thank you Janet and Ken Coulombe you guys are great! Thank you to Don and Wendy Woodman, it was nice seeing you at dinner!
I'm nearing on $2,000, almost halfway there. 89 (I think?) more days before I leave, woot. Thanks

Marro's is a great place

Thank you Marro Home Center for your donation to Bike and Build. You guys are great, thanks for your note Patty.

I am now at $1605! Thank you About $2400 to go. Thanks all

Thank you guys.

I would like to thank Patrick O'Grady for talking to me and printing an article about my trip in the Eagle Times, you are great!

Thank you to Marcy and Paul Obymako, Uncle Brad Schnyer and Aunt Kathy Schnyer, Chuck and Sue Ober, Don Taylor and Joan Coleman. You guys are making a huge difference in my summer and in the lives of the people I will be meeting along the way.

Thanks so much!

Thanks you!

The first thing that I want to do is to thank my Grammy and Papa (Doug and Joanne Schnyer) for thier donation to my trip! Thank You so much!

The next wicked exciting thing is that I just got an e-mail about ordering my bike, woot! The next step that I will have to take is to go get sized up for it at Claremont Cycle Depot and then order it and perhaps go pick it up at Zanes in the lovely state of CT.

yay!

I love my sponsors

Sorry,

 I went back to school and then I couldn't access my blog but now I have a computer.  Thank you to my most recent sponsors, Roy Funeral Home (Mr. Roy Thank you!) , The Gassett Family thank you guys soo  much you are awesome!  Thanks to Margie and Larry Thibodeau (I hope you are enjoying the warm GA weather, I'm really getting antsy for some warmth here).  Thank you Betty Woodman and Stringer Funeral Home (Mr. stringer Thanks!)  And My Mom thank you!

To this day I am at $950 woot!  $3050 more to go!!

thank you guys...you all rock my socks.

donations?

So yes...It has been a month since I have written, but my excuse will be that I haven't had access to a computer.

The Spring semester has just started here at GMC and I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to this bike and build trip, but I am really really nervous, because raising $4,000 seems a little crazy, but I'll have to keep faith. I'll get there.

Also If you are ever in Rutland, Vermont I reccomend checking out the pyramid center they have this really cool Himilayan Salt Cave that is a very peaceful place to visit and relax in. (its by appointment only, sooo look them up online, its worth it.)

Training

First and foremost, Thank you to Mary Jane Eastman and Michael Ankuda! Thank You Marion Schettino for your donation to my trip!

At home in Claremont we have the stationary bike, located in my fathers office. I've been taking frequent rides through feilds of system analysis graphs and the valleys of understading controls and integration posters...sadly I still don't understand, perhaps the rest of the vacation on the stationary bike will help me understand. Somehow though, I think not.

I'm in the Rutland Herald!

Sorry, I'm not very computer saavy, otherwise you would be able to read the little words, but they say
"Saturday marked a day to raise awareness across Rutland County. Dave Coppock (right) hands out "One Earth, One Chance" T-shirts to participants Laura Maki (left) and Megan Healy. At left, Coppock (front right) leads a group of bicyclists on the ride. The group started in Rutland and rode around the entire county."

I was pretty psyked to be involved in the ride, I got to meet some pretty cool cyclists in the Rutland area. Megan and I rode our mountain bikes for the ride, since neither of us have yet made the $1,000 mark, which is when Trek sponsors our road bikes. I can't wait to get there and then begin cycling, but for now I will be doing wintery things.

My First Donations

Today I'm really excited, because I recieved my first 3 donations!

Thank you to the Coppocks, the Haynes' and the Devengers, you guys are awesome! Your donations are very appreciated by me and will be very appreciated by the families I will meet along my way.

Right now I am home for Christmas Break, I am really enjoying my break. Since it is snowing I can't take my bike out for rides so I am snowboarding at Arrowhead. Arrowhead is such a cute little ski hill, they also have snow tubing there and thats pretty fun also.

Laura's Bike Route and Build Dates

Date City - State Mi.
06/18 Portsmouth - NH 0
06/19 Portsmouth - NH 0
06/20 BUILD DAY 0
06/21 Concord - NH 65
06/22 New London - NH 38
06/23 Lebanon - NH 38
06/24 BUILD DAY 0

06/25 BUILD DAY 0
06/26 Rochester - VT 45
06/27 Silver Bay - NY 65
06/28 Indian Lake - NY 66
06/29 Boonville - NY 75
06/30 Palermo - NY 67
07/1 Rochester - NY 86

07/2 BUILD DAY 86
07/3 Lockport - NY 61
07/4 Niagara Falls - NY 20
07/5 Westfield - NY 90
07/6 Ashtabula - OH 90
07/7 Avon Lake - OH 67
07/8 BUILD DAY 67

07/9 Bowling Green - OH 97
07/10 Camden - MI 77
07/11 Edwardsburg - MI 75
07/12 Chicago - IL 90
07/13 BUILD DAY 0
07/14 Grayslake - IL 60
07/15 Janesville - WI 87

07/16 Madison - WI 43
07/17 DAY OFF 0
07/18 Gays Mills - WI 107
07/19 La Cross - WI 53
07/20 Pepin - WI 75
07/21 St. Paul - MN 70
07/22 Sandstone - MN 85

07/23 Duluth - MN 65
07/24 BUILD DAY 0
07/25 Grand Rapids - MN 77
07/26 Bemidji - MN 75
07/27 Crookston - MN 86
07/28 Devils Lake - ND 119
07/29 Rugby - ND 59

07/30 Minot - ND 66
07/31 DAY OFF 0
08/1 New Town - ND 75
08/2 TRNP - ND 64
08/3 Culbertson - MT 98
08/4 Wolf Point - MT 54
08/5 Glasgow - MT 49

08/6 Malta - MT 70
08/7 Chinook - MT 69
08/8 Chester - MT 85
08/9 Cut Bank - MT 67
08/10 Glacier Nat'l Park - MT 72
08/11 White Fish - MT 78
08/12 DAY OFF 0

08/13 Eureka - MT 52
08/14 Libby - MT 73
08/15 Sandpoint - ID 91
08/16 BUILD DAY 0
08/17 Chewelah - WA 72
08/18 Republic - WA 75
08/19 Omak - WA 64

08/20 Okanagun Nat'l Forest - WA 61
08/21 Rockport State Park - WA 82
08/22 Lynden - WA 74
08/23 BUILD DAY 0
08/24 Richmond - BC 55
08/25 Vancouver - BC 28


THE END! ~ 2 Months Later.