AFTER ONE DAY IN THE SADDLE

POST #5

Our first day of riding took us over 75 miles, nearly 128 kilometers. It was a long, hot ride and we were weary when we arrived at the youth hostel in Anandapuram. The day had three high points and several mini-crises to overcome.

GETTING STARTED. First high point: mounting our bicycles at 6:30 am at the Lysander’s home in Nagercoil and actually getting this long-anticipated journey underway. We were full of excitement and rather nervous at the same time. Dr. Lysander prayed for us and we bade his household and the families of Anand and Jose farewell. In no time we were out of the city and on our way to Kanniyakumari—the southern-most point in India—across wetlands, palm trees, rice fields, vacation resorts.

FURTHEST POINT FROM NEW DELHI. Seventeen miles after launching we saw the beautiful Indian Ocean in Kanniyakumari at Cape Comorin. This windswept point rises from the sea rather sharply. We made our way down to the rocky beach, dipped the back wheels of our bikes in the sea and joined hands in a circle of prayer. Here was the second high-point of the day. We were at the furthest point we would be from New Delhi, our anticipated destination. So much is planned but unknown. But we are confident in the purpose of our ride and hopeful that safety, health, and open doors will be with us all along the way.

STRONG HEADWINDS SLOW US. Leaving Kanniyakumari, we headed northeast and right into to 25-35 mph headwinds. We rode through a massive wind farm with what seemed like thousands of giant modern wind mills with blades over thirty feet long. The wind slowed our pace considerably. We wore ourselves down and had to rest a bit. John hit a rock and punctured, but quickly repaired. John also fell in the rough road and sand as we travelled through one village; he and the bike are fine. Then, Bob took a wrong turn and we rode 10k in the wrong direction before figuring it out. But this is the stuff of riding cross-country. In all, we felt good about the day's ride.

ARRIVING AT THE YOUTH HOSTEL. The third high point was arriving at the youth hostel in Anandapuram. The children lined the roadway into the campus and showered us with flowers as we rode through. We were overwhelmed. After a night's rest, we shared the morning church service with them. We wish you could here these children, age 6-17, whose families were all impacted by the 2004 tsunami, sing and pray. John spoke to them about giving and receiving gifts. After the church service, we packed up and headed on up the road.

SUNDAY JAUNT, LOOKING TOWARD MONDAY. Our journey today was rather brief, only 47 kilometers. We started around 10:45 and rode until 3:00 pm. Still, we travelled through many villages and across fields of rice and through wooded areas. Riding in India is a feast for the eyes and heart. We are spending New Year's Eve in Palayamkottai, staying at a school for deaf children. We hope to strike out early on Monday morning for another long ride--about 120 kilometers--to Thirumangalam. The following are some more photos from today's trek. Check back often for updates, but know that we do not have Internet access every day.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

READY TO RIDE - DAY ONE

POST #4




















READY FOR DAY ONE. As I post this entry, we are ready to head out on the first leg of our Nagercoil to New Delhi trek. Today’s ride is to be a 130 kilometer ride, one of the longest we have planned. It will first take us south to the southern-most tip of India. We hope to dip the wheels of our bikes in the Indian Ocean at Kanniyahumari (Cape Cormorin). Then we plan to ride north along the east Indian coast. We have been invited to stay at the youth hostel overnight.

WHY WE RIDE. As we begin this core part of our journey, we are very much aware of the support and prayers of many people. We are grateful beyond words. Such care and concern give depth and joy to our journey. Our hope, first and foremost, is that our effort will result in a rebuilt and revitalized Umri Christian Hospital. May care translate into open hearts that are willing to make a donation to the project.


Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

GETTING READY TO RIDE

POST #3

PREPARATION DAY. We had our first experience of riding bicycles on the roads of India this morning. After assembling our bikes and fitting two bikes for our Indian riders Anand and Joce, two young men from Nagercoil, we toured around the city before lunch. Sunny and in the mid-eighties, the ride was pleasant. I think we are going to encounter more pedestrians and vehicle traffic than I imagined. This is not a problem, just a footnote for how we ride—single-file, in good communication, and carefully. The pace may be slower than anticipated, too, because of these factors along with some rough roads.

DEDICATION AT TSUNAMI YOUTH HOSTEL. This afternoon, we drove three hours on bumpy roads to a youth hostel that was expanded after the tsunami that devastated the south east coast of India in December 2004. Founded and guided by local Free Methodist leaders, the hostel is home to 82 boys and girls whose families were directly impacted by the tsunami. We were honored to be part of the dedication of two new buildings—a girl’s dorm and an assembly hall—that have been build through people who participate in the Free Methodist child sponsorship program. We arrived back at Nagercoil late. We are in great anticipation of our first day of the Nagercoil to New Delhi trek on Saturday.

Here are a few more photos of today's preparation activities...

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

FROM TRIVANDRUM TO NAGERCOIL...OUR STARTING POINT

POST #2

ALL ARRIVED SAFELY TOGETHER IN TRIVANDRUM. We and our bikes arrived safely in Trivandrum (this is the traditional name of the city; it has officially been changed to Thiruvananthapuram). Our flight from Mumbai followed the Indian Ocean coast into a lush south land. As we approached the southern tip of India, we noted many salt mines. Trivandrum itself is a beach haven; a high percentage of passengers on our Jet Airways flight were non-Indian tourists. Here the Indian Ocean’s hue is light and inviting.

FROM TRIVANDRUM TO NAGERCOIL. We were met at the airport by Sanje Sumadre, the professional driver from Yavatmal, near Umri, who will be our primary support during the trek north to New Delhi. Nicknamed “Gope,” he is an essential part of our Bicycle India 2007 team. With Gope was Sathi Sam, the Umri Christian Hospital administrator who is from Nagercoil. After greetings and hoisting the bike boxes on top of Gope’s SUV, we drove from Trivandrum to Nagercoil, a city further south in the state of Tamil Nadu. Nagercoil is less than 45 miles from Trivandrum, but it took over three hours due to pace and traffic. It was a two-lane road which is shared by cars, trucks, motorbikes, three-wheeled motorized rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians, goats, dogs, cattle…you name it. This, we are told, is typical of the highways and roads on which we will pedal 2,000 miles.

OUR FIRST TWO RIDING COMPANIONS: ANAND AND JOCE. We met our first two Indian riding companions when we arrived in Nagercoil. Anand and Joce are two young men who, without us knowing them, have been anticipating our trek together for some time. We look forward to building friendship with them. They will be riding 6-speed bicycles which our project purchased for this purpose. Anand and Joce helped us unload and reassemble our bikes, which survived the air travel and drive from Trivandrum quite well. We can’t wait to start riding. After so much time sitting on airplanes, we are a bit stir crazy.

OUR NAGERCOIL HOST: DR. LYSANDER. But first things first: our gracious host in Nagercoil, a distinguished Free Methodist physician Dr. Nesamoni Lysander, took us on an after-dusk drive to one of his new hostels for young women. Joe James offered prayer in dedication of the facility, which houses 20 of the more than 90 young women who are involved in Dr. and Mrs. Lysander’s ministry. We returned to Nagercoil late and exhausted and looking forward to a good rest in anticipation of beginning our trek in earnest on Saturday, December 30.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

WE ARE IN INDIA!

POST #1

WE’RE IN INDIA! We are safely on the ground in India! The flight from Chicago to Mumbai (Bombay), including a 2-hour refueling stop in London, was exhausting. It’s just hard to sit still that long. We boarded the Air India 747-400 at Chicago O’Hare at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, December 26. We arrived in Mumbai, India at 1:00 am on Thursday, December 28. So, we literally lost a day in the air. Go figure.

OUR BIKES MADE IT, TOO. Good news: our bicycles arrived together and in one piece on this important leg of the journey. All three bike boxes were waiting for us as we walked up to the baggage claim in the Mumbai International airport. This sight allayed much anxiety. We have one flight remaining--from Mumbai south to Trivandrum. It’s only a two-hour domestic flight, so we are hoping all goes well for our “vehicles” in the cargo bay of the Jet Airways plane.

DRINKING IT IN. We were extremely tired when we arrived in India in the wee morning hours. But the sights, smells, and culture of India are instantly invigorating. You gulp it in on the walk to the taxi and the drive along Mumbai’s roadways. It confronts you in the distinctive protocols at the hotel and in airport procedures. You do not know the rules, exactly; you just know the customs are not American. You have flown into the most internally diverse culture--or matrix of cultures--on the planet. Its poverty is excessive. Its wealth is exploding. Its burgeoning population—one fifth of the world’s population in a space one-third the size of the USA—is as dense as the smoke-thick air. Its colors are bright against the dullest of faded grays. Its people are beautiful, its customs inexplicable, its promise vast. We look forward to experiencing India outside the tourist areas, outside the barrier of a automobile—on two wheels on open roads at a pace that lets us encounter India’s heart and soul.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

READY TO FLY

We converged on Chicago O'Hare airport to check in and board our flight to Mumbai, India. The flight, with a two-hour refueling stop in London, would last over 17 hours on a 747-400. But it's much better than a boat and we are full of anticipation of the days and weeks ahead.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

ON THE EVE OF A GREAT ADVENTURE

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS. It's the eve of our departure and a 2,000-mile trek through the heart of India. Anticipation has mounted, along with nervousness. Plans and preparations that go back two years are coming together. On Christmas Day we are on the brink of a great adventure. We will spend this day with our families and loved ones--our last day with them until February 10.

PACKING DECISIONS. Our bikes are already boxed and ready to be checked through as luggage. We're packing our bags painstakingly. We weigh them carefully so that we clear weight limits for both international and domestic flights. What would take with you on a six-week bike ride through India that weighs under 100 pounds--including your bike? Decisions, decisions.

AVOIDING MALARIA. We also begin our rounds of oral malaria prevention medicine today. No one in North America will think a thing about mosquitoes or malaria in January. But this dread disease--and other common tropical conditions--is on our minds. Temperatures in India are in the high 80's and malaria-carrying mosquitoes are prevalent, particularly in south India--where we begin our journey. On Sunday, 90-year old retired man who worked in India for 25 years offered this blessing to us: "May your mosquito nets not have holes in them!" Mosquito nets? Okay, we'll have to get some of those!

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Let us hear from you. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE...

To borrow from the title of Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong's bestselling book, our project to ride 2,000 miles thru India is "not about the bike."

It's about...

...RECOGNIZING THE FAITHFULNESS AND COMMITMENT of people who have served the medical needs of hundreds of thousands rural central Indian residents for 55 years.

It's about...

...REBUILDING FOR A NEW GENERATION, replacing deteriorating 1920's-era buildings with a modern facility that will provide for advanced medical interventions.

It's about...

...REGENERATING SUPPORTING AND MAKING NEW FRIENDS within India, support and friendships that are vital to long-term vision, sustainability, and growth of UCH as an important healthcare provider for underserved people.

It's about...

...CELEBRATING A FUTURE OF HOPE that professional medical care, community health outreach, dedicated caregivers, and sustained support make possible.

Our commitment to ride 2,000 miles thru India isn't a matter of "having fun" on wheels for six weeks. It's about riding through villages, towns and cities, talking hundreds of times to people along the way about UCH, encouraging their support, and enlisting their commitment to celebrate its opportunities. The bicycle entourage is a method that makes possible such face-to-face contact that UCH needs to win the hearts and minds of people within India.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

BISHOP ON WHEELS

Meet our Team Members

Bishop Joe James
British Columbia, Canada

When he learned of the planned project to ride 2,000 miles thru India to raise awareness and funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital, Free Methodist Bishop Joe James became very interested.

ON A SABBATICAL? The ride coincided with the time of his upcoming Sabbatical. It was in an area in which he was invested and familiar, having served in an oversight capacity as a Bishop of the Free Methodist Church and making semi-annual visits to India. And he had some experience with cross-country bicycling, though he was not currently active in cycling.

TAKING WINGS. It didn't take long for Joe James to decide to spend his Sabbatical on wheels. He threw himself into the effort. He bought a bike and gear and began to train. Outside, he rode his bike around Indianapolis International Airport. Inside, he rode it on a trainer in his living room. He dieted and took off excess weight. He talked about the project with lay and pastoral leaders across North America. When he committed to the project, it seemed to take wings.

750 BICYCLES. On a visit to India a year ago, Joe James realized that bicycles were a basic mobility need for village outreach workers. Without bikes, their efforts to help villagers were limited; with bikes, they might multiply their effectiveness. So, Joe spearheaded an effort to raise funds to purchase 750 Indian-made bicycles--each costing $50. Children, youth, congregations, organizations, and individuals contributed the full amount by October 2006. The bikes are being purchased in local Indian villages, towns, and cities. Even before the Bicycle India 2007 team hits the roads of India, Joe has already made a big difference.

RIDE OF HIS LIFE. Joe is from British Columbia, Canada. He now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, his base of service as a Bishop in the Free Methodist Church of North America. He's a husband, father and grandfather. And now he is a prepared cyclist looking forward to the ride of his life--a mission unlike any other he's taken on. Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

I'VE NEVER EVEN BEEN TO IOWA

Meet our Team Members

John Hay, Jr.
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

NOT IOWA...INDIA! It's true: I've never been to Iowa, though only Illinois separates Iowa and Indiana, where I live. But that's what I thought about when I was asked to participate in Bicycle India 2007 by tour organizer Bob Yardy a little less than two years ago. No matter, as soon as Bob discussed with me the charitable cause and the challenge of the 2,000-mile ride, I was "on board."

INDIANAPOLIS LOVING. I've invested all most all of my adult and professional life in Indianapolis, Indiana. You might say I feel "called" to this metropolitan area. I've served as an urban pastor, a community center director, a regional metropolitan planning coordinator, director of a homeless day center, and now an urban pastor again. I graduated from Plainfield High School, adjacent to Indy, and have been living, cycling, serving, and learning around Central Indiana ever since, leaving only for college and seminary. If you've got the time, I can show and tell all about the best of Indianapolis!

THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE. It wasn't until our other North American team member, Free Methodist Church Bishop Joe James, invited me to tag along with him on his semi-annual administrative trip to India back in January 2006, that I'd been outside the United States as an adult. That three-week visit took us from Hyderbad to Kolkata (Calcutta) to Nagpur and, finally, to Mumbai (Bombay). It opened my eyes and heart in powerful ways. I wasn't in Kansas, er, Indiana, anymore. Mark Twain was right, India surpasses the experience of all other places combined. Since our return, I've been so looking forward to getting back India for this unique adventure.

ON THE HOMEFRONT. I'm grateful to my community of faith and family for their support and readiness to allow me to leave my place of service for six weeks. Our church leaders have been gracious. My wife and four children are both excited for me and anxious about the project. During these last two weeks before we ride, I'm busy trying to do all I can to make preparations for smooth operations and care for all in Indy during this special mssion. I hope to get on the Air India jet and be able to focus fully on the challenge of our ride and effort to raise awareness of--and funds for--Umri Christian Hospital's important work within India.

IOWA...SOMEDAY. I also hope I get to go to Iowa someday. I've always wanted to ride the RAGBRI. Maybe next year! Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

TOUR ORGANIZER: BOB YARDY

Meet Our Team Members

Bob Yardy
Mahomet, Illinois, USA

This the instigator of this crazy dream to ride 2,000 miles thru India in 6 weeks in order to raise awareness and funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital.

BORN IN INDIA. Bob Yardy lives in Mahomet, Illinois, USA. He works as a physical therapist at a university hospital in Champaign, Illinois. But a little over half a century ago he was born in India, at Umri Christian Hospital. His father, Dr. Paul Yardy, was the founding physician of UCH. Bob lived in Umri in the Yavatmal Disrict of Mahrashtra, India, until he was in middle school, when he moved to America.

FIFTY YEARS LATER. When Bob returned to UCH five years ago for the hospital's 50th anniversary, he was struck both by the wonderful outreach of the hospital and its ancillary services...and by the deteriorating physical condition of the facility. He vowed to try to make a difference. Bicycle India 2007 is the way he hopes that difference will be made.

PUTTING A HOBBY TO CHARITABLE PURPOSE. Bob has been an avid cyclist since his early days in India. He's pedaled thousands of miles since then on individual and group cross-country tours. But he's never done anything like what he's attempting now. He recruited John Hay, Jr. and Bishop Joe James--both of Indianapolis, Indiana--to join him in this project. Two Indian riders will accompany these North American cyclists as they make their way from the southern tip of India northward to New Delhi. The ride begins December 30.

Please track their journey for charitable contributions on this blog. Updates and photos will be posted as often as the team can access Internet cafes along the route. Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

WE'RE IN COUNTDOWN MODE

NOT NECESSARILY FLAT TERRAIN. This enhanced satellite photo prominently features the southern tip of India, where our 2,000-mile (3,218 km) trek begins on December 30, 2006. It also reveals something of the terrain we will encounter--not necessarily flat! The weather in Nagercoil, India today is 88 degrees and sunny. Heat index is 94 there. The night-time low was 74 degrees. Ahh...the January you've always dreamed of!

MAKING A LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE. As our December 26 departure date moves closer, we're getting into countdown mode. We continue to train, riding our bicycles indoors on Cyclops trainers now that the American Midwest weather has dropped below freezing. We also continue to work on checklists both for our work and families from which we will be away for six weeks, as well as for our trip and ride.

RIDE ALONG WITH US. We hope you will join us for this project--go with us via this blog. Check in on our progress as we wind our way northward toward New Delhi at an average of 100 km (62 miles) per day. We hope to post photos, updates, and insights on this blog as often as possible. So, save this site in your "Favorites" (bookmark it) and return often in January and the first week of February.

PRAYER PARTICIPATION. We also welcome your participation in prayer. One community of faith is signing up friends to pray for us each day of our journey. Thanks! Please pray for our safety on the roads, but also for completion of our mission--$600,000 raised to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.