Welcome to Bike for Haiti By Erik and Abdiel

The idea of this trip began ten years ago on a family road trip. As the sights of the United States passed by me I dreamed of riding my bike across the country. I brought the matter up during our road trip. I remember saying something like “Next time lets do this by bike...” Of course at the time everyone thought I was crazy. Then five years ago on another road trip I discussed my dream with Abdiel, a friend of mine. He thought that a bike trip would be crazy, but also a great experience. Overtime the idea slowly started to develop and take hold.

While this bike trip will be a great learning experience for Abdiel and I we eventually decided to ride for a cause. We not only wanted this adventure to mean something to us, but to serve a purpose for others. This is why we have decided to ride for Partners in Health (PIH), and Haiti. As many of you know it has been about a year since the earthquake devastated Haiti displacing people out of their homes. Even more then a year later people are still living in tented communities. PIH is not only dedicated to continue to help those harmed by the quake, but has existed in Haiti for many years. As a co-founder of PIH, Dr. Paul Farmer has been revolutionizing how medicine is brought to those in need throughout Haiti. The mission statement for PIH states “When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well... Whatever it takes. Just as we would do a member of our own family - or we ourselves were – ill.” This means that PIH is very adamant about helping those who fall ill upon their doorstep. (To learn more about what PIH is doing for Haiti visit PIH Stand for Haiti website)

Any donations are greatly appreciated. We hope the links to our blog will help better inform you about PIH and Haiti. A great book to read is “Mountains beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder. You can make a one time donation to our cause and give our ride purpose by going to our PIH Fundraiser Page or if you would like to donate an X amount of money per mile we ride that can be done by going to Pledge per Mile. Remember even the smallest contributions help.

* Your donation can: give a years worth of tuberculosis medication for one person that costs about $10-$20 dollars in poor countries such as Haiti. Antiretrovirals for HIV range from $70-$80 per year, per person. *All donations will go to PIH*

Friday, April 15, 2011

Amish (Day 12)

Today we road from Erie, PA to Windsor, OH. We stayed in Pennsylvania for only a day and then entered Ohio. My first thought as we entered Ohio was that it would be long and boring. Everytime I think of Ohio my first impression is flat with lots and lots of cornfields. As we entered Ohio we came upon our first warm streak of weather. It was about eighty degrees and sunny. I was able to wear all my summer riding cloths which I hadn't done since last summer.

The riding was great except for the headwind. Eventually we came to a bike path that was about 13 miles in length. The path took us from an industrious part of Ohio through the woods to farmland. As night was falling we entered the town of Windsor. It was here that we asked somebody if we could sleep in their yard. They seemed a little shocked at first but eventually pointed to a spot we could sleep.

That night was one of the most sleepless nights I've had in a while. We were about fifteen feet from the road. Everytime a car or truck drove by it sounded like it was going to drive straight into the tent. What was more astonishing is more Amish passed by in carts that night then cars. Every twenty minutes we heard the sound of a cart pass by. We were shocked to still hear them passing by at one in the morning. One cart that passed us was playing rap music. I was still awake as I heard music and an Amish cart slowly coming closer and closer. As the cart past an Amish guy yelled out in a deep voice “wakie wakie wakie!” This woke Abdiel up and from then on he could sleep anymore. We were both shocked that an Amish would be playing rap music. However the next day we learned that the Amish are allowed to have boom boxes as long as they are battery operated...
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