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, May 6, 2011

Errands (Day 37)

While we tried to get some rest today in Pueblo it was actually a little difficult with the errands we had to run. We biked around town to do them before we checked into a motel to relax. We went to the post office again to get rid of things we didn't need. I finally shipped my water filter and a few other items adding up to three pounds. With all our mailings I believe I have saved up to seven or eight pounds in weight. We also stocked up on some snacks for the next part of the trip and visited a bike shop to get our bikes checked out.

At the shop Abdiel learned that his rear hub for his wheel had become pitted and corroded from all the water and rain we have had to bike in. We noticed a sound coming from that part of his bike about 150 miles out of Pueblo. Abdiels problem was simple this time compared to mine. A day ago I realized that my shifters were not working as good as they should. I had the mechanic check my bike, and the fear that my rear shifter was starting to break became a realization. I already new this was going to be another expensive fix. What made it worse was the fact that my bike is a nine speed bike. Shimano the company that makes my Ultegra shifters has stopped making nine speed shifters and only makes ten speed shifters. So if I didn't want to downgrade my bike to a cheaper component I would have to get new shifters, derailleurs, and a new cassette costing about $600. So I ended up calling ahead to some bike shops for a cheaper Tiagara shifter made for nine speed bikes. I was finally able to find a shop about 140 miles down the road that would be able to just sell me one shifter costing $150. The other shops I called could only sell both the right and left shifter which would have cost $300. Hopefully my shifter holds out until we get there because we will go over our tallest pass in the next two days.
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