From the border of Peru to Chiclayo, bicyclist Orien Welling rode with Peace Corps Volunteers Susan and Kristin



From the border of Peru to Chiclayo, bicyclist Orien Welling rode with Peace Corps Volunteers Susan and Kristin

Custer cyclist's trip through Peru takes detours


By Journal staff

It's taking longer than expected for Custer bicyclist Orien Welling to cross Peru.

Welling stopped to spend time visiting with other cyclists, relaxing and celebrating his 21st birthday while on his cross-country bike trek.

From the boarder of Peru to Chiclayo, Welling rode with friends Will, Susan and Kristin. Welling's reports to his family and friends are being featured in the Journal during his yearlong trip.

"Lots of nice roads through desert wasteland that I really find very enchanting," Welling wrote home this week to his family and friends. "We spent a lot of time drafting slower trucks to break the tough headwinds. At one point, Kristin even paid a trucker a few dollars to drive at 25 kilometers per hour for 30 kilometers so we could draft."
Welling parted with Kristin and Susan, who are working with the Peace Corps, and left with Will for Trujillo. There, they visited a famous cyclist house.

"When we arrived, there were eight cyclists staying in all, and I was number 626 to have stayed since 1985."
The owner of the house drove to Lima to replace tools that Will had lost. In the meantime, Welling stayed at the house to celebrate his birthday.

"Ariceli, Lucho's wife, ran a cake shop out of the house, too, and with the promise of a chocolate cake and a big party, I really couldn't say no. We hung out for a few more days then had a great party with a lot of dancing and a bit of drinking (my 21st birthday) before heading out toward the south."
Soon after Will broke the chain ring on his bicycle. The men stayed at the house of a friend of Lucho while it was replaced.

"When Will returned, we decided we were getting a bit tired of the Pan-American and all the traffic, so a bit out of town we turned east to go up into the mountains," Welling wrote. "The road we took was probably the most difficult and absolutely one of the most beautiful I've ever been on."
There was no pavement, just a lot of dirt, sand and rocks, and the road climbed from sea level to about 4,000 meters - about 13,000 feet. It took three days to do the climb and another day for the slow decent down the horribly rocky road on the other side.

Upon arriving in Yungay, they got rooms in a hostel for about $2 each. Welling stored his bike there while he flew to Boston for an interview at a school where he could possibly get a full ride scholarship.

"I figure it's well worth the hassle of flying back," Welling wrote.

When he returns to Peru in about a week, he'll be heading south alone, at least for a while.

When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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March 5, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Senate FR Committee approves $345 M PC budget 4 Mar RPCV's "Kennedy's Kitchen" records second CD 4 Mar Sam Farr asks Army to reconsider burial policy 3 Mar Bayanihan jewelry designed by Philippines RPCV 2 Mar Todd Vetter receives calling during PC service 2 Mar Sargent Shriver still on Washington's A-list 2 Mar Photographer Bill Owens publishes new book 2 Mar Crisis Corps to open new program in Sri Lanka 28 Feb PC wants new stories for "The Great Adventure" 28 Feb Ukraine PCV asks "Is Bush right on Iraq?" 28 Feb Carol Bellamy defends "feminism" in aiding children 28 Feb John Bridgeland discusses role as Bush assistant 28 Feb Paul Theroux recalls high times with Hunter Thompson 28 Feb Elaine Chao Leads Delegation to Uruguay 28 Feb RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years 27 Feb Kay Muldoon-Ibrahim's photography on exhibit 27 Feb Jim Doyle displays political brilliance on tax cuts 26 Feb

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler Coates Redmon, a staffer in Sargent Shriver's Peace Corps, died February 22 in Washington, DC. Her book "Come as You Are" is considered to be one of the finest (and most entertaining) recountings of the birth of the Peace Corps and how it was literally thrown together in a matter of weeks. If you want to know what it felt like to be young and idealistic in the 1960's, get an out-of-print copy. We honor her memory.

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

Read the stories and leave your comments.