Well....look what happened to the old place while I was gone!!!!
The trauma to my right hand has left it swollen and not yet able to make a complete fist. I have limited use of my fingers so bear with me with spelling, etc. I'm still mainly a lefty for quite a while.
I go to physio three days a week with plenty of home exercises to keep me busy.
The cooling fan on my computer quit weeks ago and I just had it repaired this week. Up until now I wasn't very capable of using it anyway so I wasn't in any hurry to get it repaired.
My spirits are good and I'm determined to be as good as I can be once again. No "For Sale" signs going up on my bikes just yet although I'm finished riding for this year.
As many of you know I was scheduled to fly to Brussles next week to visit Joao for a couple of weeks. Of course that had to be cancelled, but I'll do it next year if all goes well and I'm capable of riding safely again.
The tour of Chile and Peru was simply amazing. If the crash had to happen it at least was on the second last day of the tour so I didn't miss much. On the day of the crash we were heading for Lake Titicaca to visit the man-made reed island that the indians live on. Thefollowing day was simply the ride back to home base.
Peru is a very poor country and curves are often not marked. Guard rails are also very rare. The group of seven bikes were quite spread out and the bikes ahead were often out of sight. Everyone rode at their own pace.
The lead group was well ahead of me so I didn't have the benefit of seeing their brake lights at that curve. The leader of the tour knew the roads well so those following him had the benefit of his experience. Not so for me.
We were riding on a velley floor and hugging the walls of the mountains. As I rode from brilliant sunshine into the shadow of the mountain it was only then that I saw the road take an an abrupt left turn with no warning sign. I was only going between 80 & 90 kph but it was too fast for the curve. I knew in an instant that I couldn't make the curve. As much as I leaned and started dragging hard parts I knew I was going to crash. The bike went to the edge of the pavement and when the knobby tires caught the earth I highsided off into a cocrete drainage ditch. I don't really remember the impact because it all happened so fast. I wasn't knocked out and came to rest face down after sliding along the ditch. The full face helmet saved me from losing my face.
My foot was caught under the bike and I couldn't get up although I knew I had severely injured my right shoulder. Three peasants showed up right away and I was able to convey in Spanish that I wanted the bike lifted so I could get loose and sit up. They lifted the bike and I sat up.
I had lost the glove to my right hand in the crash and I could see that it had suffered a lot of trauma. It was swollen and bleeding badly.
I was wearing Technic riding gear and the armor saved me from a worse fate, but nothing could save my shoulder from the impact of 200 pounds smashing into concrete. The jacket and pants were torn all to hell so I threw them and the helmet away before I left for home.
The chase truck found me right away and by that time the other riders had arrived on scene.
The nearest town was 20 miles away and had an emergency room where I was x-rayed. There was an American doctor on the tour and he "assisted" to make sure they were practicing modern medecine on me. He also helped in translation.
The nearest airport was in Cusco 150 miles away and I was taken there in a pile-of-junk ambulance with a maniac driver. I had survived the bike crash but at any moment I expected to die in that ambulance.
Getting out of Peru in a hurry was a nightmare, but that's a story for another time.
The crash was on 5 July and I arrived home on 9 July and was admitted to hospital the same day for a cast on my hand and surgery to replace my shoulder. The head (ball) of the shoulder bone was so shattered that then only alternative was to make me bionic.
The tour was absolutely fantastic! We rode through endless deserts, salt flats, mountains at 4900 m, saw valleys deeper than the Grand Canyon, geyser fields, saw many Inca ruins including Machu Picchu. I'm certainly glad I went, but whether it was all worth it will depend on my recovery. Right now it was worth it, but a year from now I may have a different opinion.
I took over 600 pictures that are still in my camera.
The days are longand boring, butnow that I have the internet back it won't be so bad.
Thanks to all who sent get well wishes.
From now on I won't be such a stranger.
Rocky
The trauma to my right hand has left it swollen and not yet able to make a complete fist. I have limited use of my fingers so bear with me with spelling, etc. I'm still mainly a lefty for quite a while.
I go to physio three days a week with plenty of home exercises to keep me busy.
The cooling fan on my computer quit weeks ago and I just had it repaired this week. Up until now I wasn't very capable of using it anyway so I wasn't in any hurry to get it repaired.
My spirits are good and I'm determined to be as good as I can be once again. No "For Sale" signs going up on my bikes just yet although I'm finished riding for this year.
As many of you know I was scheduled to fly to Brussles next week to visit Joao for a couple of weeks. Of course that had to be cancelled, but I'll do it next year if all goes well and I'm capable of riding safely again.
The tour of Chile and Peru was simply amazing. If the crash had to happen it at least was on the second last day of the tour so I didn't miss much. On the day of the crash we were heading for Lake Titicaca to visit the man-made reed island that the indians live on. Thefollowing day was simply the ride back to home base.
Peru is a very poor country and curves are often not marked. Guard rails are also very rare. The group of seven bikes were quite spread out and the bikes ahead were often out of sight. Everyone rode at their own pace.
The lead group was well ahead of me so I didn't have the benefit of seeing their brake lights at that curve. The leader of the tour knew the roads well so those following him had the benefit of his experience. Not so for me.
We were riding on a velley floor and hugging the walls of the mountains. As I rode from brilliant sunshine into the shadow of the mountain it was only then that I saw the road take an an abrupt left turn with no warning sign. I was only going between 80 & 90 kph but it was too fast for the curve. I knew in an instant that I couldn't make the curve. As much as I leaned and started dragging hard parts I knew I was going to crash. The bike went to the edge of the pavement and when the knobby tires caught the earth I highsided off into a cocrete drainage ditch. I don't really remember the impact because it all happened so fast. I wasn't knocked out and came to rest face down after sliding along the ditch. The full face helmet saved me from losing my face.
My foot was caught under the bike and I couldn't get up although I knew I had severely injured my right shoulder. Three peasants showed up right away and I was able to convey in Spanish that I wanted the bike lifted so I could get loose and sit up. They lifted the bike and I sat up.
I had lost the glove to my right hand in the crash and I could see that it had suffered a lot of trauma. It was swollen and bleeding badly.
I was wearing Technic riding gear and the armor saved me from a worse fate, but nothing could save my shoulder from the impact of 200 pounds smashing into concrete. The jacket and pants were torn all to hell so I threw them and the helmet away before I left for home.
The chase truck found me right away and by that time the other riders had arrived on scene.
The nearest town was 20 miles away and had an emergency room where I was x-rayed. There was an American doctor on the tour and he "assisted" to make sure they were practicing modern medecine on me. He also helped in translation.
The nearest airport was in Cusco 150 miles away and I was taken there in a pile-of-junk ambulance with a maniac driver. I had survived the bike crash but at any moment I expected to die in that ambulance.
Getting out of Peru in a hurry was a nightmare, but that's a story for another time.
The crash was on 5 July and I arrived home on 9 July and was admitted to hospital the same day for a cast on my hand and surgery to replace my shoulder. The head (ball) of the shoulder bone was so shattered that then only alternative was to make me bionic.
The tour was absolutely fantastic! We rode through endless deserts, salt flats, mountains at 4900 m, saw valleys deeper than the Grand Canyon, geyser fields, saw many Inca ruins including Machu Picchu. I'm certainly glad I went, but whether it was all worth it will depend on my recovery. Right now it was worth it, but a year from now I may have a different opinion.
I took over 600 pictures that are still in my camera.
The days are longand boring, butnow that I have the internet back it won't be so bad.
Thanks to all who sent get well wishes.
From now on I won't be such a stranger.
Rocky
