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 16, 2011

A Windy City (Day 17)

Today we got a late start from Kettering. That was because I was able to Skype the kindergarten class that I worked with over the year, and Abdiel went to get his bike all fixed and ready for when we are in more rural areas. We also stocked up on some bike gear that would get us out of trouble if we had any major bike issues. I think we are ready for anything as long as our frames don't break.

Once we ran our errands we were able to leave by about one in the afternoon. We knew it was going to storm later on, but we decided to ride anyway. We were both sad leaving Kettering because we had our own apartment to put stuff in. If was too comfortable... As we rode the traffic was terrible. Some of the worst we have experienced. I remember that I was getting annoyed with all the traffic, lights, and lack of a shoulder on the road. Everyonce in a while we would come across a bike path through the woods and hop on that. Around 5:00 the traffic was at its worst. We were getting closer and closer to Cincinnati and it was rush hour. I remember telling Abdiel that if I was to walk across the road blindfolded I had a 95% chance of getting hit by a car. It was that crowded.

As evening came the traffic started to lighten up and rain showers came on and off. We came into downtown Cincinnati as the storm moved closer and closer. Luckily there was little rain but we had some really strong winds! As we biked along the sidewalks of downtown the wind would almost knock us over. I'm guessing it was moving at about 40-45mph. It was pretty intense! However my attitude started to lighten up as we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. Everything seemed so beautiful with the city lights and the fast water below us. Now that we are in Kentucky my goal is to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky!!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 16, 2011 at 3:56 PM

    my name is mark and i go to ur church and no ur mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 16, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    sorry to sound stockerish

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 18, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    You are making a fantastic journey and thanks so much for sharing it with the rest of us.

    Stay safe,

    Kae

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erik DavittApril 23, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    It has been fun sharing the journey!

    ReplyDelete

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