Halfway through Habitat For Humanity's 350-mile Cover Indiana Bicycle Tour, cyclist Nathan Ainslie returned to Fort Wayne on Wednesday to repair his bike. Despite mechanical problems and multiple flat tires, he is undeterred from finishing the tour, he said, with a goal of raising nearly $1,000.
“I couldn't get it in the right gear. The bushing in the mount had derailed and pivoted into the wheel,” the 24-year-old Ainslie said about the problems as he put the bike back together. “I also had six flat tires, more than everyone else combined.”
But today, the Heritage High School graduate, who works at Habitat's ReStore, a discount home supplies store, is rejoining the more than 70 cyclists who left Lafayette on Monday, then traveled to Crawfordsville, Waveland, Marshall, Rockville and Terre Haute on Tuesday. That day participants logged 70 miles, the longest leg of the journey, which will continue to Linton, Bedford, Bloomington and Plainfield, ending Sunday in Indianapolis.
“The goal is to raise $50,000,” he said, noting he has raised $600 so far. He also paid a $250 registration fee and for any other costs incurred along the way.
Cyclists stay overnight in churches or schools. All money raised is used to build homes for carefully screened families and individuals, who must make $500 down payments and put in 300 to 400 hours of sweat equity before taking ownership of their homes, which will have 20-year, interest-free mortgages.
The money Ainslie and two other local participants raise will be used by Fort Wayne Habitat, which built 10 homes last year and rehabilitated another home. This year's goal is to build 14 to 16 Habitat homes, said Carol Keplar, executive director of the Fort Wayne Habitat affiliate, which is in its 22nd year of operation.
With the struggling economy, donations are down this year, said Ainslie, who participated in the bike tour for the first time last year.
“This year, it's not about raising money,” he said, although he hopes more donations will still come in. “It's about raising awareness. As we go along in these communities, we're able to tell them what we do,” that more than ever, the need is there for responsible families to have the opportunity to work their way from poverty housing to safe, affordable homeownership.
Ainslie trained for the tour by riding his bike, which he custom built, about 200 miles a week. He wears long-sleeved and long-legged biking clothes, including leg warmers, which, he said, “protect you and slide easily” in the event of a fall, preventing painful road rash. A year ago, he took a nasty tumble while riding on the Greenway, getting a concussion that landed him in the hospital, even though he was wearing a helmet.
He hopes one day that Habitat's Cover Indiana Tour will begin in Fort Wayne, noting, “We have a huge cycling community here. If we started here, I think Fort Wayne would raise a lot of money.” For now, he just hopes the last four days of the tour will go smoothly for him and his bike and that additional donations will come in.
“It's been difficult,” he said, “but people have donated with the idea I'm going to complete this, so I'm going to finish.”
