Freezing rain, sandstorms, oppressive heat, missing an earthquake by a few hours… just some of the elements Sino-Canada high school teacher Paul Hayes and his student 17-year-old Ho Young faced last summer as they cycled 5,342 km in 44 days.
What was the motivation behind this exhausting trek, which took them from Shanghai to Kashgar? Pleasure? Adventure? A test of will and strength?
Contributing factors, yes, but their main incentive for pedaling through the unknown was simply based on sports equipment – volleyballs, footballs, Frisbees and more. With a small trailer attached to each bike carrying a tent, a few personal items and as much sports gear as they could muster, the duo cycled an average of 130-140 km a day to dole out the goods to children they met along the way.
This was the first ‘test run’ of non-profit We Haul 2 Play, an idea conceptualized by Hayes while he was out running. The vision is simple: provide youth in rural areas with the “opportunity to experience the gift of sport and privilege to play.”
With support from his school, family and friends and sponsorships from CoCos~Pure, Decathlon and Guardian International, he didn’t need much to get the program going. But with all the equipment that could be carried in a van rather than on the back of a bike, why not drive around the country instead?
Hayes is keen to explain that in the case of this cause, the image is just as important as the idea: using their own strength to propel them forward, battling the elements while dragging a trailer of who-knows-what secured inside, to the villagers who can see them coming for miles, it’s more impactful.
“Of course you’re not going to be handing out as much equipment as you’d like,” says Hayes. “But this is something they’re never going to forget… ‘is that hairy guy gonna come back this year, giving out equipment?’”
Despite their small caravans, running out of equipment was never an issue – every four days or so, a fresh donation of Decathlon goods would arrive at their next destination, which meant sometimes they’d have to pick up the pace in order to reach it. Other times they’d arrive to find nothing, which meant taking extra time to figure out where the shipment was and how to get it to where it needed to be, or it to them.
Obstacles cropped up daily, ranging from finding a place to sleep to bike troubles. One time the teacher and student had to separate – although they traveled with a repair kit, when the rim of Young’s bike bent, he had to catch a four-wheel ride to the nearest town – 240 km away – to get it fixed.
Hayes promised to meet him there the next day. With a 4am start time, 50 km winds which forced him to average five-to-six km an hour and going slightly uphill throughout most of the journey, he eventually did.
“There were moments when you miss your family. You’re fatigued. You question if you can do this,” recounts the passionate Canadian. “But I wasn’t going to give up… I wasn’t going to stop.”
Despite bumps in the road, they pressed on, not wanting to let down those cheering them on back home or the children they had still yet to meet. Blogging about his journey, Hayes would check in with his mother, reassuring ‘the sergeant’ – a reference back to his childhood – everything was operating smoothly.
The spirits of the people who greatly impacted his life – like his father and friend Joah – also encouraged him. “When the people you love leave your life, they leave gifts behind which you apply to your own life. You think about those people and it gives you an extra push.”
Hayes and Young were also looked after by many of the communities they met who, impressed by what the two young men were doing, filled their trailers with food and occasionally took them in.
“I remember this one time, I didn’t really know where I was going,” says Hayes. “I didn’t want to sleep in the middle of the desert because then I’m exposing myself, I can’t hide. We cycled down to this place and ended up in this Muslim community. They brought us in and helped us out.”
“I learned so much about China and all the different types of people here. I really saw it for what it was – you wouldn’t have to ask me twice to do it again.”
After returning from the first eye-opening experience, the ‘Asian Santa Claus,’ as he jokingly calls himself, set out the following February, this time traveling mostly on his own through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, to orphanages and underprivileged schools where teachers make less than US$50 a month.
On this trip, Hayes managed 2,232 km in 17 days, and encountered different experiences, like children running for their lives, warning their teachers of a “wild man on the loose.” Once they realized he came bearing gifts though, they’d curiously hustle back.
Since his latest trip, Hayes has been gearing up for a ride through northern Laos starting December 15. His hope is to eventually expand the program to a fleet of five to seven people, but he stresses that going into it you have to realize there are no gourmet meals, you have to know how to survive, you’ve got to prepare and you have to have the right attitude. Someone with an attitude like his determined young protégé Ho Young, who recently graduated from high school, receiving a humanitarian award for his efforts.
“To provide people with something that makes them happy,” says the pedal-pushing philanthropist. “That’s what really keeps you moving forward – you feed off that energy. The smiles and excitement from those kids make all those kilometers cycled an afterthought.”
// To learn more about We Haul 2 Play or to donate, visit the website at www.wehaul2play.com
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