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*

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Another Century (Day 42)

Last night was definitely one of our coldest nights! We woke up with a strong frost. Everything was coated with it! Even though the night was cold we stayed toasty warm! That is because we boiled water and put it in our Nalgenes which we then placed by our feet in our sleeping bags. That trick to stay warm I learned in 6th grade by one of my teachers. We got a early start which was great because we had about 100 miles to go to get to Walden, CO. There in Walden we had a warm place to stay.

Once the sun came over the mountain tops things started to warm up. We were lucky to have another great day in the Rockies. The ride turned out to be very warm until the end. Once the sun started to set it got cold! Luckily we were only a couple miles out from Walden when that happened. In Walden we learned some cool things about the city. First of all Walden is a big place to see Moose in CO. However we didn't see any. We also learned about how cold it actually can be! In the winter it can get down to -48 degrees. Jeremy, the guy we stayed with also told us July is the only time it doesn't snow there! He said you can get snow anytime of the year but it is least likely to happen in July. Around September and October the snow will start to stay around again. He also told us the biggest snowfall he has seen in Walden is six feet!

After talking with Jeremy and a warm shower I was ready to pass out. It was great to have a warm place to sleep after a long day of biking! I don't think a couch has ever felt so good to sleep on!
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