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 22, 2011

Crossing into Illinois (Day 22)

Waking up after the storm it was cloudy and cool. The air was drier and not as humid as the day before. That morning I decided to wash some of my cloths in the sink with dish soap. I then air dried them by attaching them to my trailer. Today was rather uneventful. We just kept riding. Instead of crossing back over 41 to our planned route we decided to stay in Indiana and meet up with the maps again in Murphysboro, IL. The riding was pretty flat today and was very rural. We are now hitting towns with populations of 300 people.

In the evening we rolled into the town of Galatia, IL. There we had some dinner at a local restaurant. While we were eating we asked a fellow by the name of Bill if there was a place we could pitch a tent to camp for the night. He ended up referring us to the major who was not helpful at all. His only suggestion was that we bike another ten miles at night to another town... In the end Bill ended up helping us out. He said we could stay at his house. So after our meal we biked over. Just looking for a place to set a tent Bill helped us more then we expected. He went through the effort of helping us get a roof over our heads. He was able to get it so we could stay in the Presbyterian church he goes to by his house. People have been very helpful here throughout the Midwest. The place where we ate called Kelly's Kitchen served us a terrific breakfast. Everyone has been very generous.
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