from Washington DC to Boston, MA for Impact Project Ghana - a start-up non-profit organization -
My wife (Dur) and I (Luis) joined the Bike Ride of Impact Project Ghana 1000+Miles.
We did only half way of the journey- so we biked 500+ miles from Washington DC up to Boston, MA.
We met the co-directors Brittani and Joseph from Impact Project in Washington DC in May 2012 , as they were currently working on reaching their goal of 10k to start their programs for communities in Ghana, So, they came up with the idea of doing a bike ride from Virginia to Montreal (1000+ miles) in honour of people in Ghana who walk every day miles and miles to supplied their daily needs.
The fact was, none of us are bikers and none of us even have bikes.
Before our departure, We just had a couple of days for setting up our trip and obviously, we nedeed bikes! so we tried our luck in some websites and bike shops asking for any sponsorship or discounts but we didn't have luck at all. Also, As this is a charity ride, we didn't want to spend much money on buying gear instead of saving.
Suddenly, Brittani got an email back from a Bike co-op called Rag-Bones in Richmond, VA. We wouldn't be riding on decent bikes if it wasn't for them. They built up four bikes to loan us for our ride!
Since there, things got better and better. REI Richmond has sponsored us with a two-person tent for our journey.
At some point I was excited but at the same time was concerning about of facing this challenge, we didn't know much what to expect of this bike ride, but in some how, we kept motivated by the Ghanaian families.
We took off in the morning of the 7TH of July at Farifax, VA - the Weather was around 110 degrees - it was incredibly hot! but it didn't take us away from our destination.
We did our first stop in small mall in which there was a Subway, maybe about 10 miles away from our initial point, we asked for permission to the staff to let us fill up our bottles of water and as soon as they saw our sign: "Virginia to Montreal" , they were so interested in us and gave us some free sandwiches. It blew away my mind and it help me to feel proud of it instead like a bum!
Making an Impact:
One of my favourite things about this trip was the opportunity to talk to kids at the former high school summer program in Levittwon, PA. - Joseph from Impact Project, was part of this program a few years ago and it helped him a lot. He was invited to do a short talk to kids, they seemed so interested about his work, about Ghana and our charity ride.
Hope it made an "impact" in their lifes. Check out Co-Director Joseph of Impact Project Ghana:
As further we pedalled as more supportive people were!
We went through nine states of US, from Virginia to District of Columbia, Maryland, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
In total, from Virginia to Massachusetts, we spent 29 days on the road (we took a couple of days off) and slept in so many places as parking lots, churches, schools, parks, back yards and even hosted and feed for a family in Mystic.
In every single state, people supported as with food, money, places to sleep and just being kind overall, even thumbs up through the window's car!
Check out this video I made about our trip and see some of the good Americans we have met along the way that made our first visit to USA a good one!!
• Over $1000 in donations and free food along the way
• Had our picture published in The WesterlySun
• Got a brief and free ride on our own private metro bus, in DC.
• Only one flat tire
• Got $75 fine for biking over the the Hatem bridge, MD
• we camped in two national state parks: Hammonaset Park and Burligame Park
• Many misdirections and a lot of trying hills.
• Big Thanks to:
- the staff of Hosteling International in Baltimore for letting us crash for a few hours. :)
- Brittany's family and Joanne Brown-Upcavage and Anthony Simone for having us
- Ana Bartz and her husband for such an incredibly meal
- Melissa Mckinstry, Rechele May Vaill, Steven Silva, for having us.
-Gabe Panko for supported us along the way
- Yurany , Nestor, Yeilin, Santiago and Lina Hincapie for having and feeding us.
- and BIG THANKS TO all the people who have supported us along the way!!!
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