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*

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

First Day in Montana (Day 50)

For our first full day in Montana the morning was very cold. Waking up the tent was covered with frost. It took a while for the sun to start shining in the deep mountain valley we had camped in. Once we got out riding we rode further into the valley. It kept getting narrower and narrower. In that valley we came across Earthquake Lake. The lake was cause by an earthquake. In 1959 when the earthquake happened it created a large landslide which dammed up the river that once flowed through the valley.

Once we passed the lake and moved out of the valley things got worse. The wind became really strong. Even though we were going downhill we had to push to keep a going about 12mph. We had a strong headwind most of the day until the road turned which made it more of a crosswind. When we talked with a local in Ennis about the wind she said it was a good day! She said the wind is normally stronger. Even though the wind was strong we kept pushing to Twin Bridges where there was a place for bikers to stay.

We made it to Twin Bridges just as the sun set. There in a rest area there was a building with water and showers. The building was built for cyclist riding through. It was a really nice place giving us showers and cover from the strong wind.
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