Bamacross Anniston Race Report

22nd November 2011

No one knew what to expect traveling to Anniston to race our cross bikes under the stars, “will we be able to see where we are going? will I be able to make it through the long sand pit? will I get scared on the back side of the course where the light fades out? will I hear banjo music at any point during the race?” Well, we were able to push past our misconceptions and pull off a stellar race. Sergei raced a double in both the masters and cx4. His races were focused more on pulling his performance back together after his stint in Italy for two weeks. You can tell his fitness is coming back because he placed better in the latter race than the prior. The Men’s 1/2 field saw the likes of a few Georgia folk including Nate Sibley, Brandon Pruitt and myself. The start was fast and furious with riders droppin’ bows and cutting people off both of which are excellent and worthy race tactics. Nothing is more fun that getting into a physical altercation while traveling at your max effort on a bike – seriously. After the pushing and shoving ended the top five spots had fallen into place and the remainder of the race was simply holding on as long as possible. Brandon Pruitt took off early and managed to stay a good 30 seconds ahead of the field for the entire race. This is quite impressive as Brandon is a junior and has a strong cycling career ahead of him. Behind Brandon was a gent from Birmingham followed by his teammate then me then a hard chasing Nate Sibley. Attrition started setting in, I caught Birmingham teammate only to be passed again after a blunder in the sandpit. Nate Sibley continued to take ground on us and eventually caught and passed both myself and Birmingham teammate. Brandon stayed away for the win, the Birmingham bomber held onto to second, Nate sped away from the Birmingham teammate and I managed to hang on to fifth. The Bamacross series is very well organized and the people are great. I’ve never heard so many screaming people, vuvuzuelas and air horns. The beer and waffles were always up for grabs on every lap which made things even more interesting. Our hats off to the folks in Alabama for their great race and excellent competition. This race will be on our calendars for next year.

Comments (0) | Posted in General |News |Racing by Josh

Momentous Day for Bike Raising

5th November 2011

November 3^rd 2011 we received notification from the IRS that we’ve been granted tax exempt status. For us this not only means that your charitable donations are tax exempt, it also places a watermark on our mission. Bike Raising Inc. was not created for us. It was created to use the incredible sport of cycling to prop up the underdog. Our mission is to bring light to human afflictions around the world by spreading awareness and generating funding. Through our races and events we connect athletes to parts of the human race that may be hidden or over looked. Our hope and goal is that when an athlete leaves our events they take home much more than a trophy. We hope that they take home a refreshed understanding of how a little love can go a long way.

Thank you to all of you that have participated in our events. We look forward to serving you for many years to come.

RACE. GIVE. LOVE.

Haiti: Aftershocks

28th October 2011

There really isn’t much I can say about this. You will just have to read for yourself. While you are seated at your desk, couch, or chair this is what is going on in the world around us.

From Seth Barnes with Adventures In Missions:

Help stop Haitian officials from trafficking orphans

Posted in Orphans by Seth Barnes on 10/15/2011

I have some news that I need your help in distributing:

Backed by corrupt government officials, an orphanage we work with in Carrefour/Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been trafficking its orphans.

Suspecting foul play, we’ve been investigating for the last year. We’ve not been ready to go to the media until we had the facts.

As a result, the orphanage director is now in jail, but the 75 children left in the orphanage are still in danger. A worker said, “The kids are in terrible condition – the doctor gave them some prescriptions, but we doubt that the medicine will ever be administered to the children. Instead, the medicine will probably be sold.”

The problem is that those running the orphanage are still protected by corrupt government officials. Our goal is to get this information to media outlets in order to put pressure on the government to protect the kids.

An AIM staff member just returned from Haiti and filed this report:

The situation at the orphanage is an EMERGENCY right now as kids are sick and dying and still disappearing. We’re trying to mobilize any connections in politics and media to expose the corruption and put an end to it. The lead investigator, said we “hit the jackpot of corruption.”

What we’ve discovered:

•    Food gets donated to SOG orphanage, but disappears very quickly, while children remain malnourished.

•    Reports by the children of physical abuse by orphanage workers.

•    Reports by the children of sexual abuse by orphanage workers.

•    Clothing when donated, instead of going to orphans, gets sold.
•    Dozens of children have disappeared.

Another report about Katia illustrates the urgency we feel:

One five year-old girl, Katia was in the worst condition I have seen of any of the kids. A couple of months ago she had mumps from head to toe; a month later she was in a body cast that covered her from her waist to her feet. When he found her on Saturday she had an extremely high fever and like all of the other children – horrible skin conditions. She was lying on a bench and someone moved a bench towards her but she didn’t have the energy to move out of the way. She has lost most of her weight and she couldn’t even lift her head. After pleading with the “caretakers” of the orphanage, they released her to let us take her to a local medical clinic.

The doctor at the clinic examined her and determined that the infections are destroying her; she is nearing death. She only weighed 14 pounds. He told us that if she doesn’t get proper care right away she will die of infections and malnutrition. He gave us a prescription and orders to give her a high protein drink and medicine three times a day for the next two weeks.

Recent reports indicate Katia now weighs a mere 11 pounds.

Please distribute this blog by twitter. Use these hashtags: #cnnfreedom, #endslavery, #not_for_sale

You can also sign this petition. We are petitioning CNN to bring their international media voice and passion for ending slavery into the Son of God Orphanage. Please urge CNN to expose the corruption within the Haitian government, and allow international organizations to secure the children from the child traffickers who are now controlling the orphanage.

Thanks for caring.

Comments (0) | Posted in General |News by Johnny