Perspective
Sat here with The Missus tonight, picking the bones on our predicament - I'll spare you the detail.
The thing is, our predicament is the number 1 thing for us. It's the most important thing in the world for us right now. It's right there in our face. It poses some difficult challenges and problems for us which, need I say will not be met without a pretty awesome scrap.
When you're in the shit, you smell. Equally, when you're in the shit, it's difficult to miss what's really going on. As Einstein himself said:
I don't know about you, but I have never - ever - heard of a situation reported along the lines of:
According to Transorientale, Philippe Tonin - rider number 42 - was "involved in an accident with truck 401".
Some of the footage of the last couple of days - especially the in-truck footage - has shown a couple of very near misses with the bikes. This may be because the bikes are riding too slowly, it may be because not enough time is being left before starting the trucks, it may be that the tracks and route are too narrow, or it may be something else entirely. But, believe me, a near miss when you're on a bike is absolutely terrifying.
In less than a millionth of a second, you become aware of your own mortality and vulnerability. You become aware - very aware - that steel is a lot stronger than flesh, and the sense of safety you develop when you are travelling at speed is just an illusion.
Phillipe Tonin died at the scene.
Phillipe Tonin
This morning, a guy got on his bike. He was worried about the day ahead. Will I have enough water? That oil leak, will it hold? What will the grip be like? The roadbook - have I highlighted it enough? Roughly what time to I figure I'll get to the bivouac - will that give me enough sleep? That front mousse is on its way out - it should hold for today but I better change it tonight.
Normal worries, every one of them. He did not set out this morning expecting to be hit by a Kamaz truck.
And, speaking of steel against flesh, please spare a thought for the family of Xu Lang - a Chinese competitor with Team Dessoude.
This guy stopped to help another car which had gotten stuck. The steel tow cable - which they were using to pull out the other car - snapped and hit him full in the face. He was airlifted to hospital and, this morning, he succumbed to his injuries.
Xu Lang
He wasn't even in an accident - he was helping somebody. If everything goes according to plan, The Missus driving in a 4x4, that could easily have been her.
There's a school of thought which says "these guys knew the risks ..." and stuff like that. OK, I'll go with that one. Yes they did. And they went ahead and did it anyway.
These guys are heroes. Not because they died - we all die - but because they had the balls to give it a go. To look adventure in the eye and say "OK, bring it on".
I aspire to be like these people. I do not want to live the length of my life - I want to live the width of it. And if, someday, somebody posts up somewhere that I expired in the middle of the Russian Steppes, then I'd rather it was that than going peacefully in my sleep in some old age care home.
Is it better to burn out, or to fade away?
As for all that other stuff - those really important problems - forget it. It just pales into insignificance.
People dying may well make for good headlines, and give the event some notoriety. In some kind of perverse way, it might even make it more popular in the future - events which have a reputation for being killers tend to also have a reputation for being tough - and this attracts cameras and sponsorship.
But people dying is still a tragedy. People. With families and people who love them. People who did not expect to die today. People who worry about the same things you and I worry about.
The world has lost Phillipe and Xu.
The world is an emptier place today.
The thing is, our predicament is the number 1 thing for us. It's the most important thing in the world for us right now. It's right there in our face. It poses some difficult challenges and problems for us which, need I say will not be met without a pretty awesome scrap.
When you're in the shit, you smell. Equally, when you're in the shit, it's difficult to miss what's really going on. As Einstein himself said:
- "Fish will be the last species to discover water"
I don't know about you, but I have never - ever - heard of a situation reported along the lines of:
- Bike 1, Truck 0
According to Transorientale, Philippe Tonin - rider number 42 - was "involved in an accident with truck 401".
Some of the footage of the last couple of days - especially the in-truck footage - has shown a couple of very near misses with the bikes. This may be because the bikes are riding too slowly, it may be because not enough time is being left before starting the trucks, it may be that the tracks and route are too narrow, or it may be something else entirely. But, believe me, a near miss when you're on a bike is absolutely terrifying.
In less than a millionth of a second, you become aware of your own mortality and vulnerability. You become aware - very aware - that steel is a lot stronger than flesh, and the sense of safety you develop when you are travelling at speed is just an illusion.
Phillipe Tonin died at the scene.
This morning, a guy got on his bike. He was worried about the day ahead. Will I have enough water? That oil leak, will it hold? What will the grip be like? The roadbook - have I highlighted it enough? Roughly what time to I figure I'll get to the bivouac - will that give me enough sleep? That front mousse is on its way out - it should hold for today but I better change it tonight.
Normal worries, every one of them. He did not set out this morning expecting to be hit by a Kamaz truck.
And, speaking of steel against flesh, please spare a thought for the family of Xu Lang - a Chinese competitor with Team Dessoude.
This guy stopped to help another car which had gotten stuck. The steel tow cable - which they were using to pull out the other car - snapped and hit him full in the face. He was airlifted to hospital and, this morning, he succumbed to his injuries.
He wasn't even in an accident - he was helping somebody. If everything goes according to plan, The Missus driving in a 4x4, that could easily have been her.
There's a school of thought which says "these guys knew the risks ..." and stuff like that. OK, I'll go with that one. Yes they did. And they went ahead and did it anyway.
These guys are heroes. Not because they died - we all die - but because they had the balls to give it a go. To look adventure in the eye and say "OK, bring it on".
I aspire to be like these people. I do not want to live the length of my life - I want to live the width of it. And if, someday, somebody posts up somewhere that I expired in the middle of the Russian Steppes, then I'd rather it was that than going peacefully in my sleep in some old age care home.
Is it better to burn out, or to fade away?
As for all that other stuff - those really important problems - forget it. It just pales into insignificance.
People dying may well make for good headlines, and give the event some notoriety. In some kind of perverse way, it might even make it more popular in the future - events which have a reputation for being killers tend to also have a reputation for being tough - and this attracts cameras and sponsorship.
But people dying is still a tragedy. People. With families and people who love them. People who did not expect to die today. People who worry about the same things you and I worry about.
The world has lost Phillipe and Xu.
The world is an emptier place today.
Download the Manic Mission Information Pack for the full story ...
posted by 2009 Dakar at
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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