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 1, 2011

South Deerfield, MA to Gardner, MA 3/25

Once again we rode our bikes in reverse to save money on transportation. This ride was once again a new experience for the both of us, even though we only road a half day. That is because in the afternoon I had to drive up to the University of New Hampshire for a lifeguard class. In total this ride was about 44 miles.

The weather was a new experience for us. As Abdiel's mom drove us to South Deerfield early that morning the temperature was about 19 to 20 degrees. It was very cold! During the ride my feet only became a little cold. It was a good ride to test out our warm weather gear, and see if it would be sufficient.

Despite the cold and lack of sleep (about four hours) I felt ready to go on my bike. The scenery was beautiful as we road along country roads, through the fields and woods of Western Massachusetts. Abdiel on the other-hand told me his legs felt like lead. This was because he was just getting over a cold he had that week. The ride was gradual uphill from the Connecticut river valley to Abdiel's house which also slowed us down.

The trip was fairly eventful with it being so short. Abdiel and I almost got run off the road by a trucker who cut to close to us. This section on route 2A was fairly busy with many trucks. The road was also narrow because it ran through a valley next to a fast moving river. That experience freaked Abdiel and I both out. We decided that on narrow roads hugging the edge might not be the greatest idea. We think it might be better to ride two feet form the edge. That way if trucks cut close we have two feet of road to slide over on. Another thing that happened to Abdiel was he almost slid out on some slush along the road. Reminding us that we are starting out in early spring. Snow and ice are expected.

We also had our first McDonalds stop! This is pictured above. After that stop we had about 13 miles to go. My eyes were drooping as my lack of sleep started to catch up.
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