Blog

Hello all,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter! After a few lengthy discussions with my wife in the fall, I again decided to embark on a supported ride with the Fuller Center for Housing this coming summer. The purpose of the ride is to provide awareness, raise money, and build houses and help those less fortunate along the way, all while seeing the country one day at a time from behind the handlebars with some wonderful people.

A bucket list item, I will be embarking on the longest ride of my life across the country, from Astoria, Oregon to Portland, Maine! It will take about 10 weeks starting June 2nd, 2018.This might be a stretch for my body; however, I believe it will be possible with a good bit of help from some vitamin I and some serious training in advance. We will be planning on riding 80 to 100 miles a day, regardless of the weather we encounter along the way, with some much needed rest days sprinkled in. You can follow progress and expect periodic updates over at Spinning Pedals for Homes.

Many of you helped to raise $11,133 last year for the Fuller Center for Housing which was used for construction of replacement homes for families in Haiti. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! This fall I was able to see firsthand how the donated funds helped build two homes, one for a 65 year old widow who has formed a non-traditional family unit with three striving young adults and another home was built for a family of five. The photo with blue tarp shows the kitchen they made do with before.

One photo of the family and one photo in the building process with many members of the community pitching in,

I hope to contribute to similar projects this coming year in Haiti, Puerto Rico, and wherever needed. My goal is to raise $16,600 for this worthwhile cause in 2018.

There are many great charitable groups out there these days. As you consider whether to partner with me and donate your hard earned funds please consider this wonderfully frugal and effective organization. The organization was started by the folks who started Habitat for Humanity. We greatly appreciate any amount you might be able to contribute.

My training has been interesting with the weather this year. As with other parts of the country, it was very cold and snowy in Maine in early winter, nevertheless my wife Lily still cross country skis at -20F and I join her once a week for the weekly XC Ski series at Great Glen Trail system in Pinkham Notch, NH for the Ski Meister series. In November and December I had been sticking to cross training up Pleasant Mountain on snow shoes with our 16 yr old Dog Annie, however on January 2nd she torn an ACL, and she is slowly recovering. Absent my trusty hiking partner of 16 years and the cold drove me inside to spend more hours on the trusty, but dreaded Cat Eye Cyclo simulator bicycle trainer. The first week I grudgingly forced out two sessions to get to 15 miles, in recent weeks it has been 40 miles and I have been borrowing my daughter Kate's dog to continue ascents of Pleasant Mtn. Old ACDC cd's always help pass the miles on the trainer.

Please, if you have any questions on this or any other relevant subject let's get in touch and chat. Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for updates this year.

-Bill Turner

P. S. For anyone who likes to cycle and is interested in a few segments closer to where you live, or a lengthy cross country trip, and you want someone to lug your stuff in a sag wagon, the Bike Adventure would likely prove to be a wonderful opportunity that you will treasure for many years to come!