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*

Sunday, April 10, 2011

More Rain Still (Day 8)

Today started out to be a great day! I was super excited to see blue sky. The day started with a good nights sleep, and loads of pancakes for breakfast. The house we stayed at in Seneca Falls was great! Getting an early start was also exciting. It felt great to be riding through the Fingerlake region of New York. The air smelt clean and fresh as we road. However, that didn't last long. Before we new it clouds were rolling in once again. We were heading on our way to Rochester when it started to rain. So once again we pulled out our rain jackets, and put on our rain pants. Along with the rain came another headwind... I think at this point we were extremely discouraged. At least I know I was. It felt as if every muscle ached withing my body. I think I was at an all time low for the trip at that point. My body felt tired, fatigued, and worn down. Also as we were entering Rochester the traffic was starting to get to me. Another downer for the day was Your News Now from Rochester was going to do a report on us. However it didn't work out. So that was a bummer too. As I ate my lunch that day in McDonalds my body felt exhausted. It was hungry too! I counted up the calories I ate in one sitting and it was about 2200 calories in total.

Despite the disappointment and fatigue the day did get better. Things slowly started to turn. Maybe it was the 2200 calories I ingested while at McDonalds, or the fact that the clouds were thinning. Whatever it was I started to feel refreshed. Riding through Rochester turned out to be very exciting. We were able to connect with the bike maps I had bought which took us on a paved bike path along the Erie Canal. Eventually the path turned to dirt so we had to ditch it and head to route 31. We kept riding till almost nine at night that day. Putting us 60 miles from Niagara Falls. It was another camping night. This time we just knocked on a guys door and asked if we could sleep in his yard. He let us sleep there without any hesitation.
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