MTNAyiti in Haiti-Day 1:

Now that I have been home a few days from Haiti I am going to tell you about my experience at mtbAyiti. Day 1 – Day 1 started on Sunday January 27th and ended on Monday the 28th. I left Vancouver Sunday afternoon and arrives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Monday morning. As I stepped off the plane I was immediately greeted by the heat and humidity of the Caribbean island. The ride from the airport was chaotic. The traffic was crazy and there seemed to be no order. Lots of trucks and small motorbikes with as many as 3 people on one motorbike. The roads were a real mess. Potholes everywhere. First stop was the Olofson Hotel where everyone had been staying for the past few days. Met up with my tandem partner Eric Miller from Pueblo, Colorado. Eric was here as the medical director and also my tandem pilot. The Olofson, built in the 1800’s, is an historic landmark in Haiti. It was a favorite destination for a number of celebrities including Jacqueline Onassis and Mick Jagger.

From there we headed to the Plaza Hotel where we would stay for the nest 3 days. A nice North American style hotel, I heard it used to be a Holiday Inn. One of the first people I met after Eric was Hans “ No Way” Rey, www.HansRey.com a legend in the sport of trials.

The rest of the day was basically spent meeting the other riders, staff, organizers and video crews who had arrived. About half were here and the other half would be arriving on Tuesday.