Hello all!
My Name is Jeremy Nichols. I was born and raised in the swamps of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a three year stint spent in Manchester, England, and six months in Durban, South Africa as a foreign exchange student. I now live in the ultra bike friendly, uber-hippie Mecca of Portland, Oregon, where I attend Lewis and Clark College. I plan to major in history and religious studies, but mainly I'll do anything to get away from math and science.
When I heard of Bike & Build through a friend of a friend in a passing conversation, I immediately wanted to know more. Once I got to the website I was hooked. To be able to support the affordable housing cause and get to see the country from the seat of my bike? I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to?
I have been a bike enthusiast since my sophomore year of high school when I started riding my bike to school and participating in Baton Rouge’s Critical Mass. I hosted a show, "Mainstream Jazz," weeknights on my high school’s radio station and, without a doubt that is the thing I miss most about Baton Rouge. Here, in Portland, where there is a bike repair shop on every corner and a bike lane on the side of every street, I really enjoy riding around looking for good Indian food, vegan chocolate pecan pie, and cool thing to do to avoid studying.
For me, the Affordable Housing cause is one of the most important issues out there because it is so connected to every other issue facing U.S. citizens today. My father runs a non-profit dealing with homelessness, so I first began volunteering with persons who were at risk of losing housing after Hurricane Katrina. The thing that shocked me the most was that a large number of the homeless population are families living from one couch to another, not the time-honored image of a bearded old guy pushing a shopping cart. In my senior year of High school I was the Vice President of our Habitat for Humanity club. Despite a rough year because of the economy (no money means no supplies), I think we were able to do some good spreading the word about the affordable housing crisis issues in our community. Also, it was fun to get to know the potential home owners who were putting in their sweat equity hours. To work alongside with them was a really fun experience.
Right now I am trying my hardest to train for the difficult journey ahead! I am most looking forward to getting to bike through the east coast and parts of Middle America. I have not traveled through those parts a whole lot and it will be fun to see them by bike.
