charity ride i am doing next week Andean Health and Development

[3bs]

well, next week i will be buzzing around parts of Oregon with a bunch of standard cyclists. Yes, a lone CB v20 in a group of carbon uprights.

As some of you who know me in real life, I am a strong proponent of local acts of goodness. We have things we need to address in our local communities and our country. But, we often overlook those in our backyards in favor of something more exotic. I have always tried to see to those needs first, and i urge others to do the same. That said, there are a few needs that are not in my backyard that I support, and this is one of them.

Andean Health & Development is an organization started by my friend and classmate from Notre Dame, Dave Gaus, MD. http://www.andeanhealth.org/ He has a great story. He is the personification of commitment. Dave, with the help of Father Hesburgh and many others created this organization, and executes on its mission. Its value as both an active enterprise and a model for others is expanding geometrically.

I believe in their model of sustainability and self-sufficiency. This is not a donation pit. AHD is the only rural health provider in Latin America that delivers quality care based on a proven model of self-sufficiency and capacity building. AHD offers the only residency program that trains rural family physicians — where local faculty train Ecuadorian physicians to work in their own communities. AHD’s facilities utilize a unique combination of local financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships in order to be financially self-sustaining: fees for service, payments from Ecuador’s Social Security Institute, contracts with local companies, and contributions from local municipalities.

This important aspect means that personal donations are used to expand the model and training programs, as opposed to paying for day-to-day operations at AHD’s facilities. Sustainable models of goodness are moral investments worthy of our time and money. AHD is not just about its delivery of medical service, it is also an example to others of a repeatable system that can in itself be exported and through this aspect deliver goodness with geometric success. It is my personal hope that using modern opportunities, AHD can provide a delivery mechanism for health care in similar environments throughout Latin America.

On top of that, the personal part is that these people that I get to ride with are my friends, and they believe, and their contributions far exceed anything I will ever do. In spite all of my personality flaws and my recumbent bikes and trikes, they still let me come along on this ride.

If any of you are able and so inclined, I am asking you to consider investing in AHD. Your donations may be why they let me come back next year as the token CB!

NONE OF THIS MONEY GOES TO ME. NONE OF THIS MONEY PAYS FOR OUR TRIP. WE COVER ALL OF THAT OURSELVES.

here is the direct site page for this year. https://www.andeanhealth.org/2019/05/20/2019-andean-health-bike-ride/

In order to show cruzbike tribe suport, in the comments section please put: CRUZBIKE PHIL K.

Thank you in advance for whatever you do.

 

[3bs]

ride over. still waiting for my bike to get home, but that's another story.

thanks to all for your donations. your money will be put to good use. i will report our final tally for the ride when i get the data.

as for the bike itself, the v20 did well. all climbs were within the power of the bike, particluarly with the 34/34 first gear. there were three problems. some of the ride routes had huge traffic and high speeds. i really dont like riding on this sort of road any more. second, i broke a chain on a short but hard climb. dropped down a few gears and hammered the pedals and kablam. sram 11 speed chain, less than a year old. did not blow the connecting link, blew a standard link. luckily had a spare connnector link on me. third, the motor has some issues. i have some recurrent respiratory issues that stopped me a few times, and then i got a new inhaler (helps when you are riding with several doctors) and then i was able to do fine from there.

i also got to sample an e assist bike. it was very heavy, so riding it in off was a good workout. i think the wave of these is only beginning. they will transform bike riding. i am not sure entirely for the good, but it is happening.

 

[Seth Cooper]

Nice pic! Looks like a beautiful day.

[Digression]

they will transform bike riding. i am not sure entirely for the good, but it is happening

Yeah. I just got back from Belgium, and the e-bike revolution is in full swing. Probably 40% of the bikes in the bike corral at my work were e-bikes, and there were a good number that were the "fast" e-bikes, that have to be registered as like a motor-scooter would (need a license plate and mandatory helmet). My wife came back interested in buying one and using it to commute to work, but once she realized she would basically be alone on the route, her enthusiasm went down.

If she is an indication, bike commuting in this country could really take off once a certain critical mass is reached and people feel they are not all alone on the road. E-bikes could certainly make that happen by greatly extending the range people can have on a bike, which you need in this country as services are so much more spread out.
[end Digression]

 

[3bs]

One half day of rain sleet. Sunny the rest.

True. And also we have some very variable weather. And some pretty high speed traffic.

I live 6 miles from my office, but I never know where I have to be next or which or when I have to pick up a kid.

If I were single and had a known work schedule I would bike it. I have several friends that bike to work year round, but they have no kids and are urban