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

Tornado Watch (Day 21)

Today was very eventful. A lot happened. That morning some locals warned us that the weather was going to be very severe that evening. Because of the severity of the weather Abdiel and I decided that at each major town we hit we would keep updating ourselves and decide whether or not to stay at that location to wait the storm out. The whole day we road it was cloudy, hot, and real humid. The sky always seemed like it would storm but it held of.

At one point during the day Abdiel and I were riding some back roads that ran along route 62. These roads were in a valley close to the Green River. With no signs warning us we came across a flooded road. Instead of turning around we decided to cross to the other side. Some parts were not deep with only a couple inches of water. However as we kept riding we hit a flooded part that was just over our knees. The experience was pretty exciting and was a highlight for the day. It really highlights what our trip is all about. That is its an adventure where we can not see what may lay ahead.

That evening Abdiel broke a spoke. The only bike shop was about 13 miles in Evansville, Indiana. So we crossed the Ohio River via 41. At the time we crossed the bridge was very congested with lots of traffic. It was one of the worst places we have biked since accidentally getting on the Buffalo Skyway on route 5. However, we made it across and things worked out. Once the bike was fixed that evening we stopped at McDonalds to eat. We ended up talking with a few people about the trip. That night we met a guy about our age named Ross. He worked for a power company and only stayed in Indiana to work and went home on the weekends to his family in Georgia. We told him that we were going to be camping that night. He told us about the storm that was coming and offered for us to come over and stay in his apartment. So that night we had a safe place to stay. Around 9:00pm the tornado sirens in the city were going off. A couple hours later Ross had to leave to work for the electric company to fix downed wires. In the morning we found out that the storm did produce tornadoes in other areas. However, over Evansville a funnel cloud was spotted. That night it stormed good with hail and max winds of 76mph. It is good we didn't stay at the campground in town. Otherwise our tent would have been torn to pieces.
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