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

The Tetons! (Day 47)

It was great to get good rest and catch up with email at the house we stayed at. We had another long day ahead of us. The first part of the day was all uphill. We went over Togwotee pass. Which was our second highest pass of the entire trip. Climbing up to the top was not too difficult. The grade was not that steep and we had a strong tailwind. At the top of the pass the snowbanks were about 15ft tall! It was like we were riding in a tunnel of snow. Once we got over the otherside of the pass the clouds and fog started to clear. As we descended we got our first glimpse of the Tetons.

After about 25 miles of descending between 30 to 40mph we made it to the base of the Teton mountain range and entered the park! I was pretty excited to see the Tetons. They are some of coolest peaks I have ever seen! The whole time we rode I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. As we kept riding it started to get late and we decided to look for a camping spot. Everyone we asked told us about Kelly's Campground. Each time we asked somebody about the campground they would tell us a couple miles down the road... it eventually turned out to be ten miles down the road. So we ended up biking in the dark again. Of in the distance we could see lighting going off which was really cool! We also saw a moose at night. While we were biking I heard something rustle the grass next to us. I turned my head and there was a moose twenty feet away. It freaked me out to have a big animal so close to me without knowing it was there at first. Once at the campground we got ready for bed. We were both tired after going over our second highest pass and putting in about 100 miles.
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