It’s been just over a week since we stepped off the ferry and began our 1,700 miles (or, as Clare PTP’24 once said, a 50 day hang out!) and in those first few days it rained. A lot.
We would roll into basecamp on freezing and tired legs, rain seeping through our rain jackets (still questioning whether mine just a windbreaker disguised to look like a legit rain jacket), getting off bikes with squeaky brakes to setup our tent and sort through the packing cube chaos inside our panniers and other wet gear.
Cycling the pacific has been both breathtaking and brutal. I’ve been challenged in ways I’ve never been before. The wind doesn’t just stop when your legs are already cooked going uphill. Rain certainly doesn’t lighten just because the roads are getting slick, but during those times during the day when I’m on my bike thinking about how much I’d rather be biking with my teammates in sunshine, or not have unload my sleeping pad and panniers when I get to basecamp, I’m reminded that I’m in the presence of 9 other incredible teammates and an even larger community of people who are showing up for this cause, and that changes everything. Ride groups hop off their bike to help SAG setup the tent, generous host families opened their homes and hearts to us, SAG mommies keep us safe and hydrated throughout the day. We’re all showing up together, and that makes the harder days feel brighter.
When I’m having a challenging day on the bike, I’m also reminded of what awaits at the end of the day: a sleeping bag, dry clothes, and a team that shows up for one another. That means everything, but it’s also something that far too many people in this world don’t have.
In a Polaris Project survivor survey, 64 percent of survivor respondents reported being homeless or experiencing unstable housing when they were recruited into their situation. (Polaris Project)
People experiencing homelessness or unstable housing are a significantly vulnerable population to trafficking, because traffickers will deliberately target that vulnerability. One study revealed that nearly 1 in 5 runaway and homeless youth had been a victim of human trafficking, and some survivors in the study reported being trafficked by their parents during their early childhood that pre-dated their homelessness.
https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking-and-housing-homelessness/
The people sheltering under torn tents from the rain, lined in streets of the cities we are biking through are weathering the same cold rain we are, but our situations could not be more different. They don’t have a team looking out for them, the guarantee of comfortable dry clothes and a meal at the end of a day, someone they feel safe around to regularly check in with. That thought humbles me, more than any hill, rain, or heat I’ve endured.
For every remaining day of our 50 day hang out, I remind myself that the least I can do is continue to pedal so we can bring awareness to support every person and every team working to protect and empower those impacted by trafficking.
