One N.C. State graduate spent her summer biking across the country and in the process raised $4,570.

Lauren Ramsey, who graduated from NCSU with a degree in Art and Design in 2010, biked across the United States and for a nonprofit organization, Bike and Build. The organization hosts cross-country biking trips and helps fund affordable housing for low-income families. 

“It’s an annual summer program to get young people involved with affordable housing mostly,” Ramsey said. “The whole idea is that you’re raising money for affordable housing and also building houses as you bike across the country.”

Bike and Build started in 2002, with only two cross-country routes, northern and central. Since then, they’ve added six more, reaching their maximum of eight different routes.

Ramsey rode the central route, which starts in Virginia Beach and ends in Canon Beach, Oregon. The route encompassed 3,794 miles in 74 days, from May 31 to August 10.

“Every day feels like a dream because you wake up, and the sun is rising and you’re riding your bike,” Ramsey said. “I really liked climbing the Rocky Mountains.”

Ramsey said working hard to get to see all the view was the most redeeming part of biking through the Rocky Mountains.

According to Ramsey, her detour through Red Canyon is among the most magnificent things she ever witnessed.

“That’s how I’d imagine the Grand Canyons to be, but I’m sure much bigger,” Ramsey said. “There was this beautiful, streaming river flowing through this gorgeous, giant red canyon.”

Bike and Build organizes the cross-country trips and plan them in-depth, according to Ramsey. Each day’s schedule is already planned, with the destination and the miles pre-determined ahead of time.

 “We have a host every night and a certain amount of miles to get to that town. It’s very preplanned,” Ramsey said. “We have a support van that follows us and we each have a duffle bag in it. If we have any mechanical problems or injuries, the van can pick you up.”

Ramsey said the support van makes the trip much safer and a lot less intimidating.

The ages of those who participate in Bike and Build range from 18 to 25 years, and Ramsey just made the cut, as 25-year-olds are the oldest the organization allows.

“I just turned 25 in April. So I was like, ‘This is it. This is the last chance,’” Ramsey said. “This was a good launching point to start something new and go somewhere new.” 

The group of 29 bikers pedaled through the central route, which included roads, trails, hills, and mountains. Through rain and shine, the bikers forced themselves to carry onward.

“There was one day in Charlottesville, Virginia, our first mountain day and one of our longest days, at 86 miles, where it was raining and cold,” Ramsey said. “Only 10 of us actually finished that day and I was the last of two who did.”

Ramsey said that day was possibly the most mentally and physically challenging thing she’d ever done.

Although some days were tougher than others for the bikers, by the end of their adventure, all of the rough spots seemed to be worth it.

The end was happy, sad, confusing and, as Ramsey put it, “a sea of emotions.”

“That last week, we knew it was coming and we were all riding a lot slower and taking our time,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey said biking the last week was bittersweet because everyone is going a million different directions as soon as it’s over.

The bikers celebrated on the beach when they finished, according to Ramsey.

Ramsey said she has a passion for biking for several reasons. She said she loves the challenge and the freedom biking brings her, and that’s what keeps her pedaling.

“I love the independence that it allows,” Ramsey said. “It just allows you, especially as a woman, I think, to be able to go and do whatever you want and to not have to rely on anyone.”

Ramsey said riding on a bike is liberating and empowering for her and that she probably feels the strongest while on a bicycle.

After the 3,794-mile adventure, Ramsey is still just as fired up about Build and Bike and her adventure as she was before.

“If anyone is curious about Bike and Build, I would do jumping jacks telling them to do it because it’s fantastic,” Ramsey said. “Getting everything prepared for it was a little overwhelming because of the gear, the fundraising and the planning, but then once you start, it’s like, ‘Oh, that was nothing. This is fantastic.’” 

Ramsey said she feels accomplished and that she wouldn’t change a thing about her experience.

“It was perfect,” Ramsey said. “It’s the most positive memory ever, and I wish I could just do it forever.”