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*

Sunday, May 15, 2011

A Gloomy Day (Day 46)

We woke up rested but a little tired because of the dark clouds that were over us. That morning we helped Bill and Mary Joe pack their bags as they headed off to Jackson. We stayed around town a bit so Abdiel could go to the bike shop and buy some new bike shoes. Once we were off the day was a gloomy one. The clouds were dark spitting rain here and there. About 16 miles out of town I noticed that Abdiel had broken a spoke. The next shop was in 150 miles. So instead of biking we hitchhiked the 16 miles back to lander. By the time we were ready to leave lander for the second time it was almost 3:30pm.

Both a little bummed by the late start we just chugged along. We rode into the dark again till 9:00pm. Around that time with no camping spots around we decided to knock on somebody's door to ask if we could camp in their yard. Apparently we knocked on the right door because we met some people that take bikers in all the time. So in an instant we had beds to sleep on, a shower to take, and a place to wash cloths. It was so crazy and so unexpected! The whole night Abdiel and I were in shock with the luck we had!
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2 comments:

  1. EMILY STARMay 15, 2011 at 10:02 AM

    That's amazing!! :) That sort of stuff makes you want to do it for someone else someday! Keep it up! Emily

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 15, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Wyoming people are the best! Bunch of loving country folk. -Jared

    ReplyDelete

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