{"id":94,"date":"2010-04-22T01:08:35","date_gmt":"2010-04-21T23:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/?p=94"},"modified":"2011-10-06T10:59:37","modified_gmt":"2011-10-06T02:59:37","slug":"cycling-with-burmese-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/2010\/04\/22\/cycling-with-burmese-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling with Burmese Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve gone on a lot of bike rides through the countryside of Thailand over the last two years (2006-2008) with the children who’ve stayed at my shelter and home-school. We\u2019ve also gone through a lot of bikes. Of course, many of them, made of cheap steel in Thailand, were always going to be the \u2018fix or repair daily\u2019 bikes of the group. Not that any of the bikes stood a chance in a contest with my Burmese kids and the Thai countryside — none were \u2018geared\u2019 or suitable for riding across baked clay rice paddies or up and down tracks over the hills and across streams, ponds, and rivers. This means the kids were practicing for \u2018Motocross\u2019 without even knowing what that sport is. The guys at right are ‘naturals’ of course — tells you something about us humans who’ve lost their ‘sense of balance’. \u00a0My kids’ collection of scrapes, bumped knees, banged toes, cuts, gouged chins, nicks, bruised shins, and scars were the \u2018badges\u2019 of their victory over the Thai countryside. We reigned supreme in the group\u2019s ability to go anywhere, on the road or off, at least, until recently.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This means we\u2019ve also spent a lot of money on repairing bikes. For sure, one of the kids is destined to be a bike mechanic. Another should become a paramedic or at least learn a little first aid. We now have a dozen bikes in various stages of repair or disrepair. Some have been crashed beyond repair. We\u2019ll soon be salvaging parts to build other bikes, I presume. At least, we\u2019ve learned the value of a well-built Chinese bike, but only for riding on-road. To present, my own mountain bike has passed all the tests. It\u2019s only required me to replace a broken pedal and adjust a derailleur once in the past year. I wish I could say the same for the other bikes. But, it has taken me many years of owning bikes to finally figure out which one will be the best for a given price. I must have owned a couple dozen bikes of my own during the past 10 years or so. I hope to use bikes in the future to generate electricity \u2013 another dream.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But, to get back on subject \u2013 bike crashes. I had my first at the age of 14 \u2013 same as our A-aaw who had his first serious bike accident a couple of weeks ago. I spent a week in the hospital and my elbow required reconstructive surgery. A-aaw is still enduring the merciless attentions of a Thai surgeon. He is slated for a third operation on his foot tonight. He\u2019s lost a bit of it each time. I only hope his third operation is the last. He can\u2019t afford to lose much more of his foot. Wendy, a friend of mine and a nurse, visiting me then, warned me of the dangers of wound infection in Thailand but I didn\u2019t take her seriously. I\u2019m the eternal optimist at times and a fatalist at other times. I\u2019ve seen too much of Asia to hold life too dear. It\u2019s a painful truth too often hidden from Americans cocooned in their comfort zones at home \u2013 maybe they need a dose of the Asian reality they hope to one day dominate.<\/span><\/p>\n

A-aaw lost part of his foot to a combination of foolhardiness on his part and a hit-and-run driver on another part. I\u2019ve lost a father and grandfather to hit-and-run drivers as well. So far, the score is all tied at 1-1 on the scales of justice. My father\u2019s driver met his own death as well as causing others. The driver who hit my grandfather still roams the world, free and unidentified. The hit-and-run driver who hit A-aw has been identified and his employer will help us even though the driver himself is nowhere to be found. It\u2019s amazing how many people in the world want to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences of their own actions upon others. While the world and its fools may never come to terms with each other, the rest of us are still here dealing more honestly with what we CAN do to help each other. Often, this means \u2018giving up\u2019 on tightly held and cherished illusions to grow into Truth and Light. Unfortunately, America\u2019s journey upon this path seems destined to end up going off a cliff (too many lemmings). Or, has it already gone off the edge and the country is in free-fall, in that moment of \u2018never-never\u2019 before it \u2018crashes\u2019 upon the rocks far below? Many have concluded so \u2013 myself amongst them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I am learning to live in a changed world. I no longer identify myself as American \u2013 I\u2019m just a man lost in Asia. I may have lost my country and A-aaw his foot, but I think we are on the same path and journey into the unknown. At least, we will share one path for the foreseeable future. One would hope it doesn\u2019t end in a presumptive, quick trip to the other side. I wouldn\u2019t wish that on anyone, especially for anyone unprepared to go there. It may yet be America\u2019s fate \u2013 she has sent enough on in front of her. Perhaps, they are the \u2018trailblazers\u2019 \u2013 the true Americans, the native Indians who may only lay claim to the land that once was. But, again, I have digressed. It appears I still have \u2018phantom\u2019 limb pains. I have been self-amputated from America but the pain still lingers in my heart. The doctor would only say there is no going back. Not even a good trauma surgeon can transplant that heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

I lost another good friend in Nepal. Synchronicity again \u2013 I only met him and his wife because I wanted to buy her bike. He was also in my Nepalese class. His wife was Japanese and they had two lovely children. They made a living hand-stitching beautiful silk embroidered Buddhist tangkas. Visiting his house one day to get parts for the bike, I was shocked to learn his whole family had just perished in a Thai airbus crash on a mountainside near Kathmandu. At least, their passing was quick and, hopefully, painless. Echoes of 9-11 ring in my mind. I went on with my bike journeys. I had a couple of more crashes cycling in Korea and China \u2013 once being knocked over by a van and another by another cyclist bent on getting through the intersection before me. Both hurt me and left my body with cuts, bruises, and scars \u2013 but I\u2019m still here to tell this tale. All of these wounds have healed \u2013 I\u2019ve moved on and am more balanced after building half a dozen bikes and cycling the countryside of China.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As for the wound in my heart, it\u2019s slowly healing. If I can survive my three bike crashes, I am sure I can survive the economic crash of America. It has already happened for me. I have become a cold-eyed realist when it comes to what I once believed in. Non-belief, itself, is a more rewarding psychological space to be in. It arms the observer with a perspective that doesn\u2019t lie. I\u2019d prefer a painful truth to a comforting lie any day. For those still lost in the web of lies foisted off on us by those we once trusted, I can only advise them to \u2018get real\u2019. Life goes on, no matter whatever crashes we put ourselves through. <\/span><\/p>\n

The kids in the shelter have learned their lesson as well. Now, we take it easy on the bikes \u2013 no more cross-country jaunts, except on the road. We have discovered a new sport \u2013 not Motocross \u2013 but water biking. The kids like to swim \u2013 Thailand has plenty of inviting swimming holes with cool, refreshing water. Now, we\u2019ve learned that riding a bike into the pond and crashing it there doesn\u2019t cost any injury to our body. The landing is soft and refreshing. We\u2019ve already investigated all the local ponds this spring, during the dry season \u2013 at low tide, so to speak. All the bottoms are soft and muddy \u2013 no harm to anyone. Since we don\u2019t have a water-park or slide anywhere near Mae Sot, I expect we\u2019ll continue this new found sport. We only hope A-aaw joins us soon \u2013 foot or not \u2013 we still love him. I only need to learn to love myself after losing my American heart. Maybe, with a miracle, it can be transplanted with an Asian one.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve gone on a lot of bike rides through the countryside of Thailand over the last two years (2006-2008) with the children who’ve stayed at my shelter and home-school. We\u2019ve also gone through a lot of bikes. Of course, many of them, made of cheap steel in Thailand, were always going to be the \u2018fix […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9087],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cycling-in-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":805,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asianomad.biketravellers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}