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*

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Bike Repair (Day 30)

Today Abdiel and I stayed in Pittsburg, Kansas for the first half of the day. We camped in the town park. Last night we called the local police department to see if it would be OK and they said it would be. That night I went to bed early and woke up early too. It felt good though because I was totally rested. The main reason we had stayed in Pittsburg was because Abdiel had broken another spoke. The bike shop didn't open till ten so we just rested, and went to the post office to ship some more unneeded items. We are becoming picky about weight, and are trying to lighten up as much as we can. This will allow us to move faster and put less strain on our bikes for the rest of the trip. When you are living off of a bike it is amazing to learn how little you are able to survive on.

This shop has been the least helpful. He kept trying to get us to buy things we didn't need. Of course in the end to put on a new spoke he charged Abdiel $38. A new spoke only cost $5 and the work to fix it should take less then 30 minutes. However he took over an hour to do it. We were both disappointed in his service and the shop. As we left he kept trying to get us to buy power bars.

Leaving at 12:30pm we only planned to ride about 65 miles. The progress was slow at first because of the wind. We could tell we were starting to get out there. The towns were spread out with populations of only 200 or so. As the sun started to set the wind began to die down. It was pretty awesome riding at that point. It was fairly flat with no wind. We were able to cruise at 15mph no problem. We made it to our camp spot just before the sun went down. The area had a Pizza Hut so we set up our tent and went there for supper. As we got to the parking lot we hit our 2000 mile marker. It was amazing to think of how far we have come. We are just about halfway now.
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3 comments:

  1. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsMay 2, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    msr dt

    i.m s that your friends bk b down.

    from
    EMMA

    I am sorry that your friend's bike broke down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsMay 2, 2011 at 6:15 PM

    hi mistr davitt
    i hop you havv no morr fllat tirrs and i
    miss you.
    from owen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erik DavittMay 6, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    Thanks guys! Things are going better! We are in the rocky mountains now! I hope you all are learning a lot!!

    ReplyDelete

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