The crew
People follow people.
Three riders, ninety days, one job: show up slowly, ask good questions, and get out of the way of the answer.
Rider · Chief Executive Officer, cdcb
Nick Mitchell-Bennett
Nick Mitchell-Bennett is the Chief Executive Officer of cdcb and Administrator of the RGV Multibank CDFI, headquartered in Brownsville, Texas. Since stepping into leadership in 2008, he has led the cdcb team in developing more than 3,000 affordable homes, raising over $75 million in public and private grant funds, and deploying more than $100 million in private lending capital and equity. He holds a BA from Tabor College, an MS from Eastern University, a Housing Development Finance Professional certification, and completed the Achieving Excellence program at Harvard's JFK School. In 2015 he was named Texas Houser of the Year.
I have spent my career building homes along the border. Riding the country is a chance to listen to how housing actually feels in every town between here and the coast.Read Nick's log · 0 entries →
Rider · Housing Partnership Network
Adam Meier
Adam rides with Housing Partnership Network, a peer network of nonprofit housing developers and lenders working to make homes affordable in the places the route passes through. On the road he handles the housing side of the conversation — sitting with local developers, tenants, and city staff in each county and translating what he hears into questions the next town can answer.
Housing is the story underneath almost every town we ride into. I want to hear how people describe it in their own words, not in a policy brief.Read Adam's log · 0 entries →
Rider
Merlin Miller
Merlin Miller is retired from sales and customer service in the agricultural industry, but is still not quite sure what retirement means. Life is too short to hold still and biking is a way to keep moving, see new scenery, meet new people and find new coffee shops. Merlin is the founder of Ride for Missions, a multi-day bicycle ride every summer that has raised over $2million for Rosedale International over the last 21 years. Connecting with people is why he rides. Some, that have ridden with him, might say he rides to find good coffee and ice cream, but the conversations around coffee and ice cream and books are why he rides. Every person I come into contact with has a story that they want to tell and I want value to them and their story.
You see more at twelve miles an hour. Every farm road has someone on it worth stopping for.Read Merlin's log · 0 entries →
Riders from the road
Local wheels, shared miles.
Along the route, riders join us for a day, a county, or a whole region — bringing local knowledge and their own reasons for rolling.
Regional rider · Southwest
Coming soon
A placeholder profile for regional riders who will join segments of the route. Their stories, photos, and route details will be added as the tour takes shape.
Log opens when this rider joins the route.
Regional rider · Delta South
Coming soon
A placeholder profile for regional riders joining through the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast. Full profile coming once route segments are finalized.
Log opens when this rider joins the route.
Behind the ride
The hands that keep it moving.
Not everyone is on a bike. These are the people handling logistics, production, safety, and the thousand small decisions that make the ride possible.
Hanna Lawson
Ride Manager
Hanna keeps the wheels turning, the lodging booked, and the riders pointed toward the next stop.
Daniel Elkin
Producer
Daniel shapes the story, the partnerships, and the long arc of the project from idea to road.
Rider journals