089 – Riding Peru, Getting Lost In Bolivia and Helping The Wheels4Life Charity

Todays Guest

Davide Conti – We chat about mountain biking the Inca Trails in Peru, getting lost in the jungle while riding in Bolivia and how this all lead to raising funds and delivering bikes to kids in Guatemala for the Hans Ray Wheels4Life Charity.

On episode #89 we are chatting with Davide Conti about reaching out to help Hans Ray with his awesome non-profit charity called Wheels4LIfe. But Davide’s story that got him to that point is a pretty crazy one. Since starting mountain biking around eight years ago Davide has defiantly had his fare share of adventures, some good, some not so good but all an adventure in one way or another. What Davide has seen on his biking trips to Central and South America lit a spark in him to do more to help these communities he and his friends were visiting via their mountain bike trips. After searching for his next adventure Davide came across the Hans and Carman Ray charity called Wheels4Life. It instantly struck a cord with him and he knew straight away that through his love of mountain biking and travelling he could help these communities by getting involved in the Wheels4Life charity. He reached out to Hans and after a number of emails they had a plan in place and how Davide could help. And help he sure did.

Davide went out of his comfort zone to raise awareness and enough money to donate ten bikes to a school in Guatemala. This is something Davide had never really done before but with the correct motivation and perseverance to help these kids Davide got a plan in place and raised the funds he needed to donate the bikes. To everyone’s surprise Hans then decided to donate another forty bikes making fifty in total. When Davide went to deliver the bikes in Guatemala everybody was blown away with this very kind donation as everyone was expecting only ten bikes not fifty!

Davide is now taking this one step further and is nearing the end of his plan to raise 4000 NZ Dollars to deliver a number of bikes to a much needed community in Colombia. He has only a month left to raise the much needed funds. So tune in, hear Davide’s crazy story and find out how you can help him by donating some much required funds to his awesome Wheels4Life Colombia charity.

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Find Out:

How Davide got into mountain biking
Why he got hooked straight away
What kind of bike(s) Davide owns
Why Davide decided to ride the Inca trails after watching a YouTube video
What experiences he took from that trip
What the local people and communities were like
How the Bolivia trip happened
Why the trip did not go to plan
How Davide and his mates got left in the jungle by their guide at night
How Davide and his friends got back home with the help of local scientists
Why this all made Davide do more to help these communities he visited
How he found the Wheels4Life charity
How he and Hans Ray connected and made a plan to deliver bikes to a school in Guatemala
How Davide was received when delivering the bikes
How this has made Davide want to do more and help communities in Colombia
How you can help and get in contact with Davide and Wheels4Life

Davide has an awesome story to tell. He decided to bike the Inca Trails in Peru after watching a couple of YouTube videos and if that was not enough of an adventure, he decided to plan a trip to Bolivia. Davide wanted this trip to be a little less planned, more of an adventure and exploration experience finding and riding the best trail networks Bolivia had to offer. Well he and unfortunately his friends he encouraged to come along, got exactly what they were looking for. After hiring a local guide to show them about for a few days and after a great first day riding things when a little downhill (not in the good sense). After a number of hours hiking through a thick jungle with bikes, little food and only light clothing their guide decided to leave them to fend for themselves to find their own way out of the jungle at night.The day had started with the guide changing their route and promising that they would only be hiking for about 30 minutes before reaching some amazing trails. But things didn’t really go to plan. After a long night and help from a group of scientists they ran into, they made it through and finally got out the next day. But the adventure did not end there. It took them another few days to get to were they needed to be. They didn’t hear from or see their guide again.

Davide filmed some of their experience (see below) and even though it was scary at the time, him and his friends now look back and laugh about it. And no, his friends didn’t disown him. By the way they did find awesome trails in Bolivia and it sounds pretty amazing. Just don’t hire the same guide as Davide! This has not put Davide of travelling with his bike one little bit. He is keen to visit more places in Central and South America with his bike (not sure about his friends) and explore more trails. He will be delivering a truck load of bikes to Colombia within the next month to those in need and I am sure he will experience some amazing trails there and probably have an adventure or two along the way.

It is great to see what people like Davide are doing with their spare time and helping charities like Wheels4Life. It is a great cause and one we can all relate to as being bikers. So tune in and check out the great work that Wheels4Life is doing all over the world with the help of the normal person like you, me and of course, Davide.

To Connect with Davide, Donate and Wheels4Life:

Facebook W4L Colombia Donate Page: donate/358990044710323/

Give A Little Fundraise Page: wheels4lifecolombia

Website: wheels4life.org

Guatemala Bike and W4L: davideyakuzas/videos/469618323444903

Facebook: davideyakuzas

Instagram: thatdavide

Resources in this Episode: