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.

FINAL PREPARATIONS...AND 4 WEEKS UNTIL WE RIDE

North American members of Bicycle India 2007 met this evening in Indianapolis to make final plans and preparations for the 2,000-mile trek from the southern tip of India to New Delhi beginning December 30, 2006.

Here we are with our spouses, whose support for this effort is critical. While we ride 100 km each day, they'll be working and caring for many homefront challenges. We simply could not make this investment of time and mission without them.

During our meeting, we conferred on medical forms, documents, and schedules. We divvied up tire tubes and other supplies. We talked through financial issues and walked through our checklists. It's hard to believe we're just four weeks away from living this dream. Everything seems to be coming together for a successful launch.

After our meeting, we broke down one of our bikes and boxed it to check the fit and weight. What a handy and compact package a 23 lb. bike makes. The durable box should be easy to process as one of two pieces of checked luggage in Chicago.

We hope our ride will inspire folks in North America to contribute to help rebuild Umri Christian Hospital. If you can help, you can go to and print out a mail-in donation form.

$50 sponsors us at $1.5o per ride day. $200 sponsors at $.01 per mile. Every gift in any amount is important to reaching the goal of $600,000. And each donation goes directly to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital.

We also hope Bicycle India 2007 raises awareness of UCH in India. We hope it inspires residents of India whom we encounter along the 2,000-mile route to support and sustain UCH as an important medical resource in rural central India.

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

5 POSSIBLE WAYS TO HELP UCH

Consider one these five ways to help rebuild Umri Christian Hospital:

• Sponsor our ride @ $1.50 per ride day = $50 for UCH
  
• Sponsor our ride @ $.05 per mile = $100 for UCH
  
• Sponsor our ride @ $.10 per mile = $200 for UCH
  
• Sponsor our ride @ $.50 per mile = $1000 for UCH
  
• Sponsor our ride @ $1.00 per mile = $2000 for UCH

Umri Christian Hospital in Umri (village), Maharashtra (state), India, has been serving rural residents of central India for 55 years. UCH is in desperate need of a new facility. Serving the poorest of the poor, UCH is led by an international Board of Directors and is supported by charitable donations. Click here to donate to help rebuild UCH.

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

COUNTDOWN TO RIDE: 6 WEEKS

READY TO ROLL? We're just six weeks away from starting to roll on "Bicycle India 2007" - our 2,000-mile ride through India to raise awareness and $600,000 to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital. Hard to believe we're that close! Yikes!

BOXED BIKES. Our North American team members meet together on November 28 - our final preparation and planning meeting before getting on an Air India flight to Mumbai on December 26. We will box up the second of our three bikes. Our three bikes - boxed carefully in containers designed especially for bikes - will be checked as part of our baggage. One of our significant hopes (and prayers!) on logistics is that our bikes arrive in southern India when we do! The difference between riding a single-speed 40-lb. bike (the typical bike used in India) and our multiple-speed lightweight (22-25 lb.) bikes is vast.

ITINERARY FIRM. We have firmed up our daily itinerary, at least to the point of identifying what towns and cities we hope to arrive in each afternoon. We plan to ride over 100 kilometers (62+ miles) five or six days days a week for most of the six weeks. Our goal is to start early each day - around 6:30 am - and try to be at our daily destination by early afternoon. This, we hope, will keep us out of the hottest portions of the day in India's "winter." While the American Midwest will be experiencing freezing temperatures in January, we anticipate 85-95 degree temps and full sun during the day. It will be "cold" in the evenings - down to 75! We anticipate cooler weather as we approach New Delhi during the first week of February.

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

UMRI HOSPITAL GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Here is an architect's rendering of the ground floor plan for a rebuilt Umri Christian Hospital. It provides for 100 beds in three medical wings. When built, it will offer high quality medical facilities for the next generation of rural Indian residents from the surrounding area.

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

OCTOBER TRAINING DAYS

Bob Yardy and Joe James take a break during the first of two 60+ mile training rides we made on Monday and Tuesday in southwestern Indiana. It was 42 degrees and quite windy by the time we ended the ride Monday evening. Quite a cold trek. But it took us past beautiful Shakamak State Park. Our second day took us from Clay City to Spencer and back on a beautiful--and a bit warmer--sunny day. The ride between Clay City and Spencer is hilly and quite colorful. We don't anticipate this cold in India. In January and February it may get as low as...a chilly 75 degrees!

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

WHY WE'LL RIDE 2000 MILES IN INDIA

We need your help! We're preparing to ride 2000 miles over six weeks in India. Why? In order to raise awareness and funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital. The cost is $600,000--a fraction of what a new medical facility would cost in North America.

Your contribution goes a long way to ensure that a 65-year old respected medical tradition is renewed and rebuilt to provide healing to the next generation.

Please follow the instructions on the right sidebar to make an investment. Or, go to our website -- www.bikeindia.org -- and click on "how to donate."

Photo: the aging facility of Umri Christian Hospital is in desperate need of replacement after 65 years of free and low-cost medical care to thousands of Indian residents.

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

FUNDS RAISED FOR 750 BIKES

It started with a conviction back in January that if we were going to bring our sophisticated, lightweight bikes to India to ride 2,000 miles to raise funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital, we ought to at least make sure that those in India who need bikes for basic mobility in their village outreach work should have bikes, too. Before we ride, let's make sure those who are on the front lines every day have a ride!

Well... Friends across North America have helped us raise funds to reach our goal of 750 Indian-made bicycles @ $50 per bike. THANK YOU! Atlas and Hero bicycles will be purchased locally in cities and towns across India, contributing to the local economy. We know that this will make a significant impact in lives for years to come.

Any further funds contributed for bicycles will now be applied to the hospital construction fund.

Thanks for your interest & involvement. Help us rebuild Umri Christian Hospital. Check back often for updates. Learn more @ www.bikeindia.org.

JOE JAMES RETURNS FROM INDIA

Team member Joe James just returned from a brief visit to India. He took advance supplies with him. He worked with Indian contacts on our route and arrangements. We continue to tweak our route to make it possible to be in major cities or points of interest on the weekends. We also want to spend some quality time at Umri, to encourage the hospital staff, nursing students, and hospital leadership. All systems are "go" at this point for the ride.

With the Sumo Victa vehicle that will follow us 2,000 miles through India is (left to right) Bishop Narendra John, Jaya John, and our professional driver Sanju Samudre of Yovatmal. These are wonderful people who are investing time and networking with friends to make our journey possible.

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

FUNDS FOR 635 BIKES FOR INDIA...SO FAR

While the main purpose of this project is to raise $600,000 to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital in rural central India, our team has also challenged North American friends to help us purchase 750 bicycles @$50 per bicycle for outreach workers in India. Bicycles are the primary form of transportation for most Indians. Increased mobility means more effectiveness, greater access, further reach, and higher quality of life. Bicycles like the Indian-made Atlas or Hero bikes are sturdy and last a lifetime.

We're happy to report that, as of this date, funds have been contributed to purchase 635 bicycles in India in January, 2007. Thanks to all who have contributed...especially to the children! Only 120 bikes to go! Can you help us make it a full 750 by contributing $50 or more to this effort? If so, please follow the donation instructions on the right sidebar or go to our website -- www.bikeindia.org -- to print out a donation form. Thanks for what you are able to do.

NEW WEBSITE, UPDATED LOGO

We've updated our Bicycle India 2007 logo (shown here). We've also launched a new website -- www.bikeindia.org -- for those who prefer traditional web pages to blogs. We'll continue to work with both formats. You will find similar content on each site. However, during the ride from December 30, 2006 through February 7, 2007, we hope to post daily reports and photos on this blog. Why not bookmark both (save as "favorites") for easy future reference?

SUMMER TRAINING RIDES SIMULATE INDIAN HEAT

Our team, together and individually, has been hitting the hot pavement of Midwestern roads and byways this summer especially hard. Why? Because mid-summer in North America is similar to mid-winter in India. Sunny. Hot. Humid. Temperatures in Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad were in the upper 80-degrees Fahrenheit when Joe James and John Hay, Jr. were there the last few weeks of January 2006. And that was unseasonably cool, we were told. So, we're riding as much as we can, day after day, while the weather's hot in order to simulate what will be a daily experience throughout the month of January and the first week of February 2007.

Heat/weather issues we're preparing for/anticipating:
(1) adequate and consistent hydration
(2) access to lots of purified bottled water
(3) preventing heat exhaustion
(4) adequate salt/sodium levels
(5) UV protection from cloudless skies day after day

In the photo above, Bob Yardy leads Joe James and a group of riders across the Upper Penninsula of Michigan during a week-long ride in July.

SIX MONTHS...AND COUNTING

We are just about six months away from "launch" for Bicycle India 2007. We plan to fly to India on December 26, 2006 and begin our trek two days later. Hard to believe we are this close; the months are rolling by quickly. There is still much to do by way of preparation and training.

Summer weather in the American Midwest on a hot, sunny day is similar to weather in India in January. January is one of ten dry months in India; the rains fall mostly in August and September. The rest of the year is mostly hot and dry. We experienced 85-degree Fahrenheit weather in Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad in late January and early February of this year.

Photo: Cyclists in Kolkata transport freight from place to place in the city. This tricycle is a common commercial vehicle on the streets and roads of India.

MAY TRAINING RIDE

Joe James and John Hay, Jr drove to Mahamet, Illinois on May 13 to join Bob Yardy for a 63-mile (100-kilometer) bike ride. This is the number of miles we plan to ride each day while in India. We had hoped May weather would be fair. But this day brought rain and temperatures in the mid-40 degrees (Fahrenheit). Our feet and hands were numb by the midway point of the ride. It was so cold! It won't be like that in India. Temperatures in January in India are routinely above 85 degrees Fahrenheit; it may be hotter in the southern part of India, where we will begin.

While we were cold during the ride, we rode well together. We plan to ride together for a week in July. We will join a Champaign, Illinois youth group that will ride across the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. We will ride at least 100 kilmeters each day. It is important that we train together. It helps us become more aware of each other's manner of bike riding. It also gets us better acquainted with each other before the "real thing" in India. Getting along well on the road and off the bikes is important since we will be spending six weeks on the road together in India.

OUR THREE NORTH AMERICAN RIDERS

Three of us who will ride 2,000 miles through India to raise awareness and funds to rebuild Umri Christian Hospital are from North America. Two of us are from the United States of America and one is from Canada. Joe James (on the right in the photo) is from Canada; Bob Yardy (middle) and John Hay, Jr.(left) are from the Midwest of the USA.

We will be joined by two riders from India. In addition, a driver in a support vehicle will follow us along the trek that will take us from Nagercoil at the southern tip of India to the nation's capitol--New Delhi--in the north. We hope to tell people whom we meet on the road and in the cities about Umri Christian Hospital and our project. We also hope you will follow our journey online via this blog.

This photo was taken during a break in the meeting of the Umri Christian Hospital Support Group, an international committee of advocates for the hosptial's important work among the rural poor in central India. Joe James and John Hay, Jr. were able to ride our bikes to the meeting and make a presentation about our trip to India this past January. The Support Group is enthusiastic about Bicycle India 2007.

TREK DIALOGUE

The North American members of our team met recently to discuss some of the findings Joe James and I made during our January 23-February 11 visit to India. Here are a few things we discovered:

1. Based on our rides between Yavatmal and Umri, along with our observations of the many bicycle riders along urban and rural roadways, we feel that we will be able to ride the 2000 miles in relative safety. There appear to be many more bicycles, motor scooters, and motorcycles on Indian roads than autos. I have noted that auto and truck drivers there are significantly more aware of and yielding to bicycles than in America.

2. We gained insight on a number of logistics issues, such as how to travel with our support vehicle (with supply trailer in tow), ways to communicate with each other on the road, access to Internet sources, lodging and camping concerns, connections with friends and supporters along the way, cell phone capacities, etc.

3. Joe charted distance estimates for each day and projected ways for us to be in communities with friends and contacts for public speaking on weekends. We estimate the journey will be over 3,500 kilometers (just about the distance for the Tour de France!).

4. We explored two possible routes: one takes us from Nagercoil in the south and up to New Delhi in the north; an alternative route moves us from Nagercoil to Mumbai, on India's west coast. Both routes would bring us through Umri, which is where we hope our efforts will be most helpful.

5. Our team also did some planning for fundraising, training and some upcoming rides together. Training begins in earnest now, with the ride to begin December 29, 2006.

Photo: Joe James dons a helmet before one of our rides between Yavatmal and Umri.

FAREWELL, INDIA...UNTIL DECEMBER 27!

We finished our exploratory visit to India on Saturday, February 11, 2006. What a whirlwind of activity! Much groundwork has been laid for the 2,000+ mile bicycle tour through the nation that will begin, officially, on December 29, 2006--less than 11 months from now.

Here are a few photos from the last week of our visit.

We drove past a herd of camels on our way to Chandrapur on Tuesday. About 30 of these animals then flowed around our Tata Sumo as we stopped to take a few pictures.

One of the street market stops we browsed in Chandrapur.

This little girl in Mumbai was not too sure about the camera at first.

Ice is one of many necessary items transported by bicycle in India. This block was used in the restaurant we visited in downtown Mumbai on Friday.

The Victoria Terminus, the last train station in Mumbai (Bombay) is the epitome of gothic architecture. I'm told the trains that leave from this station are so crowded you really don't walk, you just move with the flow.

FROM CENTRAL INDIA

We are in Nagpur, the geographic center of India for a conference. On February 2 & 3, Joe James and I rode bikes from Yavatmal to Umri (Thursday) and from Umri to Yavatmal--a total of 120 km. Here's the kicker: it was rolling terrain and we were riding heavy, single-speed bicycles. We were accompanied by 12 Indian village workers and support vehicles. The following photos cover the past four days. In two days we fly to Mumbai.

On the way from the Nagpur airport to Yovatmal, we made a brief detour to visit Sevagram and tour the ashram and home of Mahatma Gandhi. This is the extremely rural home from which Gandhiji led India to independence. This was a very moving experience for me.

Upon arriving in Yavatmal, we viewed the 15 Indian-made Atlas bicycles that had been donated for 15 villages outreach workers. 12 workers joined Joe and me for the ride to Umri and back. Joe is standing with some of the bikes.

We were welcomed graciously at the Umri Christian Hospital campus. We were given a tour of the Helen Rose School of Nursing. Started in 2001 under the passionate leadership of Amirson and Esther Jacob, it focuses on training young women who are disadvantaged to be certified nurses.

Dr. Selwin, the resident physician, gave Joe and me a full tour of Umri Christian Hospital. It is clear: while this facility has served well for over 50 years, its condition has deteriorated critically and needs to be replaced.

Dr. Selwin shows one of the treatment rooms. Along with the physical structure, Umri Christian Hospital is in need of new or more recent medical equipment of every kind.

As I pedaled between Umir and Yavatmal, this family rode up on their motorcycle and chatted with me for awhile. He is a civil engineer, focusing on road construction.

A typical landscape in central India. This area seems to remind me of Oklahoma in the summer--gently rolling, relatively dry, sunny, hot.

This is NOT typical of Oklahoma, but it IS typical to see monkeys along rural Indian roads.

Here's Joe James posing behind one of the 40 lb, single-speed bikes we road 120 km. Wish we had more days to ride. Next year we will--45 days worth of riding! Hope you'll support us and Umri Christian Hospital!