GPzMike Abroad

I've been avoiding this entry, but I don't really know why. Perhaps because I want to tell of positive things happening and lately it's been rather hard to see that sometimes. I am not implying that things and events here are negative - they aren't - but they are...plodding along at the rate that Haiti dictates. Time ticks off at a slightly different pace here and for a person that loves to drive fast, ride fast, live fast and loose this pace can be exacerbating.

One interesting thing I've been pondering is I've been told that Haitian people take great pride in keeping their word and yet I've experienced what feels like an unfavorable number delays and excuses and unkept promises - from truck drivers taking a week to show up to community workers at a school not giving what I'd consider an honest day's labor and other things. While it upsets me at the time it's happening I don't hold take it too personally (well, I try not to at any rate) as I must wonder what has transpired in their country must be taking a tremendous toll on them, on their infrastructure, and on their sense of self reliance. These are dangerous times for the psyche of the Haitian people.

In a conversation with Jon last night I was reminded of the humbleness that is core to my attending Haiti's time of need. Strange how I waver from that place of rest and power and kindness and love. There must be a reason my compass leads me off course like this but it's likely to take a few more years of observation and wisdom to understand what is being accomplished by doing so.

Ah! And so to the little bit of the last story that I left out. Hold on!

The next time you are on the road and see an 18 wheeler tanker truck I want you to think of this. But DON'T try this on your own - this was performed under adult supervision in optimal conditions with the aide of extensive computer modeling utilizing the latest in laser assisted gps surveying equipment. The very latest is safety gear was further also used to protect the participants.

So Paul (my passenger) and I are returning from Jacmal. Coming down off one of the peaks while cruising thru a small town at about 40kph we catch up to the truck in question. He is very large for the size of the road. And he's moving quite slow, but I know from experience that if I let him get to the other side of town and build a head of steam he could be hard to pass on the tiny bike. So making this pass soon is a sound decision.

A private tap-tap has caught up to us and is now on my bumper. The last thing I want is to be behind him as well, so I pop left to check for oncoming traffic. There is a Mack dumptruck trundling uphill and so there's plenty of room to make a very reasonable pass. I pull out but as I get up to the middle of the trailer I realize there is one of these spectacular road bumps the little townships love to throw up here and there to either keep speeds down or slow you down at their storefront so you might make a purchase (so far my vote is the latter). Laden as we are I now reassess and know that I should take the conservative approach: fall back into line and make the pass after the bump and the Mack truck. As we roll slowly over the speedbump waiting for the tail of the tanker to come by I catch the tap-tap in my mirror: he's closed up tight to the rear bumper of the tanker and there's no room to slip back in. Drat.

I gun the little bike only to immediately realize there is not time to complete a pass (oh what I wouldn't have given for a proper bike just about then!). Ever the optimist, I decide that at 40kph it can't be that hard to make a go of 3 wide on the road - tanker and me in one direction and Mack dumptruck in the other.

As the Mack gets closer and I am able to asses the required footprints of each of us relative to the vectoring position of the tanker I make a sad discovery: there is not room and the tanker driver is not yielding any room on the roadway at all but the room to allow the Mack by.

Ah, but there is room for a tanker is rounded in the belly! I pull up to midspan along the tanker trailer and squeeze over next to her. Mack check, nope. Squeeze some more. Mack closing. He's pushing as wide as he can and tanker guy is not going to give any. Still not enough. Squeeze some more and along comes the vicious looking dumptruck - the pass is happening ready or not. I realize that I've done it: we are in the lee of the tanker. The Mack would have to drive into the tanker in order to make any contact with us as we are riding along within the wheelbase of the tanker! Paul later confirms this when he says that he was a bit nervous about the Mack but when he looked over my shoulder at the front wheels of the tanker trailer and saw we were right of the left-most set of tires on the tanker (and that he was riding along with is hand on the spare tire typically slung under the belly of the tanker) he knew we were safe.

The Mack completes it's pass, we pop out of our safe haven, wave to the Mack and tanker and cruise on down the road.

So there you have it. Any questions?