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

Lolo Pass (Day 53)

We were well rested after having a home to stay at in Lolo. The food was great, and a bed was even better! I was pretty tired today from the 115 miles we had biked yesterday. As we entered the mountains on highway 12 it reminded me of the Blue Mountains near Walla Walla where I went to school. I could tell that we were coming into the northwest. As we bike up to the top of the past I was feeling pretty sad that the trip would soon be over. I kept thinking about what I will do with myself once I don't have to bike 80 to 90 miles... The lifestyle we have been living the past two months has been so different compared to how we have lived our whole lives. It will certainly be nice to have all those luxuries again. I feel our trip has influenced us on the luxuries we have taken for granted everyday. Just realizing that we drove a car 30 miles in less then an hour will be crazy because on a bike that can take up to three hours.

The rest of the day went great once we got over the pass crossing into Idaho. Highway 12 has definitely been one of the most beautiful roads we have ridden! Over the pass we had a steep downhill and then for the rest of the day we were on a gradual downhill along the Clearwater River. While the road was scenic, it also was one of the more dangerous roads we have been on. That is because it was twisty with lots of turns. Every once in a while a truck would pass by too.

As we biked today we also saw four other cyclist heading across the country west to east. It is always great to see other cyclist for advice and how the road ahead is. It was a reminder of how far we have come. Most the cyclist heading west were almost 1000 miles into the trip. It reminded me of when we hit 1000 miles all the way over in Ohio.
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