Moving to Africa

About a month ago I finished bicycling across the USA. We rode 3050 miles in 30 days to raise awareness and money for different aid projects in Burundi, Africa. So far $303,551 has been raised! 

After cycling across the USA for people in a far off land that I don't know, I now want to meet them and volunteer for them. This is not the ideal time for me to go, but it never will be, and I believe God wants me to love Him and love people, even in Burundi.

I leave on May 20 for Gitega, Burundi, where I will be volunteering with Youth for Christ for 10 months. I will be helping start the Gitega International Academy (secondary school) and will be teaching English and Computers. Other than that, I will be helping out with odd jobs around the Homes for Hope orphanage and the Future Hope School.

I will need about $7,000 to cover the costs of me going to volunteer for 10 months. Please pray for my time there and please make a donation. There is a donor who is willing to match all other donations, so twice what you donate will be given to support my work in Burundi! If you want to know more about the trip, call me, facebook me, or email me. There are tons of obstacles in the way when going to serve and show people love in the third world (Burundi is the 2nd poorest country in the world), but knowing that you're praying for me as I go out on a limb will mean a lot.

Me and YFC Burundi director Freddy Tuyizere

To support me and Youth for Christ as I spread the love of Jesus to the kids in Burundi...

Please make checks out to:

Jeff Hennessy

On the memo line write...

Burundi YFC

Mail check or cash to:

Jeff Hennessy

123 Pinecrest Dr

Annapolis, MD 21403

Haircut

What You Learn When Cycling Across the USA

After 2 weeks and over 1,200 miles I have learned...

1. People are incredibly generous. They have given food, showers, beds, computers, watches, massage machines, books, dvds, and over $200,000 to the Bike for Burundi mission
2. Eating 40 Clif bars / week gives you incredible "tail winds"
3. I have seen far more cattle than humans on this trip
4. Even though we have huge overpopulation problems in the world, mostly all of the land in the Southwest of the USA is unoccupied
5. British humor is not actually hard to understand...they just aren't very funny ;)
6. You can tell the exact direction and speed of the wind while cycling by the difference in time between seeing and smelling road kill...it's science
7. Pancakes, pasta, rice, and cookies provide the best energy
8. You get incredible sleep when cycling over 100 miles / day
9. The body is pretty good at adapting to ridiculous physical challenges...most of the struggles of carrying on have become mental issues
10. When riding into rough headwinds and wanting to quit, it helps to look down at the Burundian flag on my bike and remember all of the children that I'm cycling for

11. Long hair makes for an itchier head than short hair
12. The countryside of the USA is gorgeous
13. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut is by far the best Clif bar flavor


The good stuff is at http://bikeforburundi.com/team-blog/

photos from Bike for Burundi

Maryland Ave in Phoenix

Cacti in Arizona

See the guys ahead of me cycling down the road?

Entering AZ

Looking into New Mexico

Sea Lion in Redondo Beach, California

Los Angeles, California

John next to the RV

Pictures From 1st 2 Days of Bike for Burundi

Craig leading the pack through the desert in California

Jack rabbit at the 1st night campsite

Cycled on a road between 2 bombing sites near Mexico

It's pretty out here

Right after we dipped our tires in the Pacific

Photos are courtesy of David Strauss

We have ridden 388 miles in 4 days and are now in Phoenix, AZ

More info at...

www.bikeforburundi.com/team-blog

http://www.simonguillebaud.com/

First "Group" Ride Ever...Fail

Today I went on my first group ride ever. It was supposed to be a 63 mile loop from the foothills up to the mountains, which summited at Caesars Head. This trip did not go as I had planned...but I learned a few things.

1. A steel touring bike with wide tires (my bike) is about 5 times slower than a carbon fiber road bike
2. Even if they may have a $5,000 bike and are in decent shape, it's no fun to get passed by a 75 year old guy
3. Its also not fun to get passed by a 45 year old guy who looks pregnant
4. I really want one of those fast road bikes so I can actually see what I'm made of!
5. The directions are important to figure out before you start riding. You could take a wrong turn and end up cyling 20 more miles than expected (Oh well, it was nice to get 80 miles in)
6. I wish there were break stations on all of my rides that were stocked with delicious food
7. Cyclists make all sorts of crazy hand signals when riding together in a group...I have no idea what any of them mean

Even though I was inconsistent with my speed and wasn't able to stay with a pack for most of the time, the experience was nice.

A couple other nice things from this past week...

1. TTR bikes hooked me up with some new tires and a tune up for an amazing discount! My new friend Micah from over there is about my age and has a cool story. His dad is a missionary in Thailand who started making extremely nice bamboo bikes over there so that he could employ some locals and reach out to the community. Check out their website at www.bamboobikemaker.com Here is one of their bikes

2. I have now lived in the same city as my girlfriend for a week and a half :)
3. While finishing up my ride today I saw on a church sign the verse that I wanted to be my theme for the recovery of my achilles. "Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers work in vain" Psalm 127:1...so again, praise God for a great recovery so far!

8 days until Bike for Burundi! Make a tax deductible donation at http://www.bikeforburundi.com/

The scariest thing that's ever happened to me on a bike!

So long Seabrook Island. The beach front resort where I have lived for the past 1.5 years can no longer be called home. Although I will probably never live in a place as beautiful again, more so than the daily dolphin sightings and the pristine maritime forest, I will miss the people. I was blessed with an incredibly encouraging atmosphere to work and teach children in, but it was time to say goodbye to dear coworkers and welcome a new phase of life...the phase of full time missionary (aka unemployment).

I'm now in Greenville, SC and am training for the next 2 weeks to prepare for the Bike for Burundi (http://www.bikeforburundi.com/) challenge. It's an exciting time, but after only 2 days, the mountains have humbled me. The Appalachians are probably 1/3 as tough to ride as the Sierra Nevadas, but I have been huffing and puffing nonetheless.

Yesterday, after I climbed Sassafras Mountain, the tallest mountain in SC, which measures in at a "whopping" 3560 ft, I almost died on the descent. This mountain did not have switchback roads. This mountain road also had springs next to it which leaked onto the asphalt. These factors did not phase me when ascending, but when I started back down I was in for the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever experienced on a bicycle. It was not that my brakes stopped working, but that they worked too well. Since it was not raining, my rims were dry. The road, however, was not. As I plummeted at 40 mph I tried to pump my brakes, but my touring bicycle does not have as nice of an ABS brake system as my old Subaru Legacy did. My rear tire locked up and it whipped to the left, then to the right. My heart stopped as I thought I was going to be thrown from the bike and would slide down the road face first...somehow I recovered and made it down the mountain. My adrenaline was rushing for the next 15 miles or so and I was pretty afraid.

Lesson learned = Fishtailing is scary = avoid braking too hard on wet roads = avoid wet roads whenever possible, especially if you are going downhill at a 45 degree angle.

That experience on Sassafras Mountain was more frightening than when I severed my achilles tendon in a crash last summer. The achilles accident happened so quickly and then I was in shock. With the wet road situation yesterday, I actually had to think about the reality of what almost happened. But anyway, speaking of the achilles injury that happened on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, I bought a Swamp Rabbit Trail cycling jersey yesterday! It was a bit on the expensive end, but I had to buy it as a sort of souvenier, or a "take that, stupid stinkin trail! you didn't keep me down forever, and now I'm going to ride across the country!" sort of thing.

Here is an example pic of the jersey.

I actually love that trail, and 100% of proceeds go towards trail maintenance. Hopefully they use the dollars I gave them to smooth out the trail edges!

18 days until the ride! Help the orphans and pygmies in Burundi by making a donation dedicated to Jeff Hennessy at www.bikeforburundi.com/donate/