I have pedalled the last 5 days along the section titled "The Elephant Highway", named so because there is a high chance of seeing elephants along the way! And the first day riding we are disappointed. I see plenty of butterflies. Plenty of caterpillars. Plenty of grasshoppers. Plenty of elephant poo (which we're told not to ride through because as well as obvious reasons, elephants like eating acacia trees which are thorny and the thorns don't digest too well and unless you really like fixing flats...).
The second day is better. There's more elephant poo to dodge. I see a deer-like creature which starts with the letter L but I can't pronounce the name or have any idea how to spell it! And then we pass by the biggest piece of road kill I have ever seen - man dead elephant stinks!!! We also pass by some hyena road kill. And then drinking by the waterhole is Bob, the biggest elephant I have ever seen. He's about 50m away from me and Evelyn (who doesn't spell her name like that but I don't know the right way to spell it) and staring at us. Don't think he sees too many bicycles. We get photos of ourselves with him in the background and he takes a few steps towards rider Simon, flapping his ears, and we think he's going to charge. He doesn't though but we don't linger too long and leave him to drink without being watched.
I see two more elephants that day, one crosses the road right in front of me, another I don't see until I've spooked it riding along beside it.
The following day we get warned of the rogue elephant who likes to stand on the highway and take on the cars. He's off duty thankfully when we pass though!
Ok - so now the story with the worm.
Worms are much smaller than elephants and in the Botswanian sand lies some larvae. The larvae have buried there way under at least 3 riders skin and grown into worms that wriggle and itch right under the skin. Some riders are also ill with intestinal worms too, and the treatment for both worms is apparantly the same - so now there is some talk that we all should take prophylactic worm medication. I am thankfully still asymptomatic - but very intrigued about these worms!
The long days in the saddle have led me to now understand what it feels like to have pressure areas! Nothing too major down there yet though!
Hope all is well with everyone back home :)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Victoria Falls - the adrenaline capital of Africa
It took 3 days for us to pedal the 480km between Lusaka to Livingstone, the town near Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls is the adrenaline capital of Africa so of course I don't miss out on the opportunity of lots of adrenaline activities. I am a brave person - brave enough to bike across Africa, brave enough to venture from the suburbs into town on local transport in the city of Lusaka and back again by myself (which I did because everyone else was simply hanging out at the western mall on our last rest day and I wanted to check out the markets in town!). I'm quite proud of myself for this because it was tricky figuring out which bus to get back on again - but definitely worth it and even though I gave up on finding the snake stone, I did find the Rambo Tot (which turned out to be a sachet of orange flavoured liquor), another item we were meant to find for the scavanger hunt. Jolyane and I came second in the great hunt anyhow!!!
Yesterday however I went on the gorge swing. The gorge swing consists of a rope suspended in the middle of the gorge. You stand on a platform on the edge of a cliff, and step off, and after you have had a free fall of 53 metres the rope swing catches you and you fly back up into the air again, fall again, and then its just like a massive massive swing.
I'm standing on the platform in my harness feeling ok, and I walk closer to the edge. The guy at the top says to me
"Are you ready?"
And I look down suddenly scared, and terrified. I don't really want to walk off the side of a cliff. This is crazy. But I am crazy - I know that already (enough people told me before I left, and enough of the locals over here tell us the same thing!).
"No" I tell him. "I'm scared".
He smiles...
"3-2-1" he says
I know thats my cue to walk off the side of the cliff.
"Can we do the counting thing again?" I ask.
And he counts again.
And I walk off the side of a massively high cliff, and fall at 140km/hr down the 53 metres watching the trees at the bottom of the gorge come closer and closer.
The rope catches me and I get the giggles at myself for getting so scared about something that only lasts a few seconds and check out the view of the gorge while I'm swinging backwards and forwards until they lower me to the ground.
I have 2 more goes on the swings - both of them are tandems. It wasn't any easier going over the edge. The next time is with Malcolm the Giant. Malcolm and I get harnessed up again, we get shown where to hold each others harnesses and they tie our feet together. Going tandem you have to go over the side of the cliff backwards. Malcolm is more brave than I am and as we're leaning backwards to fall over the side of the cliff he's leaning backwards faster than I am. I'm scared and start leaning forwards. He starts leaning forwards then too (he says anyway - I didn't realise!) and I pluck up enough courage to firstly swear ("oh f*** it") before I lean backwards and pull Malcolm with me over the side of the cliff. And we're going head first towards the hard rocky cliff face on the other side of the gorge, faster than before (180km/hr maybe) because tandems are faster, and heavier.
It's a funny story now because lots of us are aware that we swear more than we did before we came, but I'm still not a big swearer yet!
This morning I spend more of my hard earned $s (I keep using the excuse that I don't know when the next time I'll be in Africa will be) and take a flight on a microlight glider to see the falls and it was a really cool!!! So much fun. Microlights are kind of like a hang glider with a motor. John my cool Aussie pilot from Alice Springs points out some hippos below us.
There's some more long days awaiting us and tomorrow is going to be an easy 82km day to get us across and into Botswana. 3 countries to go and only 4 weeks.
Janey - you asked if I was looking forward to coming home or sad to be leaving. And the honest answer is that at the moment I'm happy, and in 4 weeks time I will be ready to come home. I love biking, but at the moment I spend 7-8 hours actually sitting on my bike covering all these kms. 5-6 hours a day would be sufficient I think!!! So yes, starting to look forward to coming home, but still enjoying the pedalling (although feeling challenged by the end of the day - which is the whole idea in the first place. This trip wasn't meant to be easy!)
Annie Jo - thanks for your email, looking forward to hearing Adams band when I get home!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!
Victoria Falls is the adrenaline capital of Africa so of course I don't miss out on the opportunity of lots of adrenaline activities. I am a brave person - brave enough to bike across Africa, brave enough to venture from the suburbs into town on local transport in the city of Lusaka and back again by myself (which I did because everyone else was simply hanging out at the western mall on our last rest day and I wanted to check out the markets in town!). I'm quite proud of myself for this because it was tricky figuring out which bus to get back on again - but definitely worth it and even though I gave up on finding the snake stone, I did find the Rambo Tot (which turned out to be a sachet of orange flavoured liquor), another item we were meant to find for the scavanger hunt. Jolyane and I came second in the great hunt anyhow!!!
Yesterday however I went on the gorge swing. The gorge swing consists of a rope suspended in the middle of the gorge. You stand on a platform on the edge of a cliff, and step off, and after you have had a free fall of 53 metres the rope swing catches you and you fly back up into the air again, fall again, and then its just like a massive massive swing.
I'm standing on the platform in my harness feeling ok, and I walk closer to the edge. The guy at the top says to me
"Are you ready?"
And I look down suddenly scared, and terrified. I don't really want to walk off the side of a cliff. This is crazy. But I am crazy - I know that already (enough people told me before I left, and enough of the locals over here tell us the same thing!).
"No" I tell him. "I'm scared".
He smiles...
"3-2-1" he says
I know thats my cue to walk off the side of the cliff.
"Can we do the counting thing again?" I ask.
And he counts again.
And I walk off the side of a massively high cliff, and fall at 140km/hr down the 53 metres watching the trees at the bottom of the gorge come closer and closer.
The rope catches me and I get the giggles at myself for getting so scared about something that only lasts a few seconds and check out the view of the gorge while I'm swinging backwards and forwards until they lower me to the ground.
I have 2 more goes on the swings - both of them are tandems. It wasn't any easier going over the edge. The next time is with Malcolm the Giant. Malcolm and I get harnessed up again, we get shown where to hold each others harnesses and they tie our feet together. Going tandem you have to go over the side of the cliff backwards. Malcolm is more brave than I am and as we're leaning backwards to fall over the side of the cliff he's leaning backwards faster than I am. I'm scared and start leaning forwards. He starts leaning forwards then too (he says anyway - I didn't realise!) and I pluck up enough courage to firstly swear ("oh f*** it") before I lean backwards and pull Malcolm with me over the side of the cliff. And we're going head first towards the hard rocky cliff face on the other side of the gorge, faster than before (180km/hr maybe) because tandems are faster, and heavier.
It's a funny story now because lots of us are aware that we swear more than we did before we came, but I'm still not a big swearer yet!
This morning I spend more of my hard earned $s (I keep using the excuse that I don't know when the next time I'll be in Africa will be) and take a flight on a microlight glider to see the falls and it was a really cool!!! So much fun. Microlights are kind of like a hang glider with a motor. John my cool Aussie pilot from Alice Springs points out some hippos below us.
There's some more long days awaiting us and tomorrow is going to be an easy 82km day to get us across and into Botswana. 3 countries to go and only 4 weeks.
Janey - you asked if I was looking forward to coming home or sad to be leaving. And the honest answer is that at the moment I'm happy, and in 4 weeks time I will be ready to come home. I love biking, but at the moment I spend 7-8 hours actually sitting on my bike covering all these kms. 5-6 hours a day would be sufficient I think!!! So yes, starting to look forward to coming home, but still enjoying the pedalling (although feeling challenged by the end of the day - which is the whole idea in the first place. This trip wasn't meant to be easy!)
Annie Jo - thanks for your email, looking forward to hearing Adams band when I get home!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Long days, the great scavenger hunt and a good nights rest
I have a new purpose as I pedal my way through Zambia - finding objects for The Great Zambian Scavenger Hunt. It's lots of fun and I feel kind of like I'm doing the amazing race! The hunt is all over at 5pm tomorrow and my partner in crime - the wonderful Jolyane and I still have a few more things to find. There is a list of 20 things on the list we need to find and so far we have scavenged:
- a broken discarded shoe
- a piece of amalesa (which we had to firstly find out what it was - charcoal!)
- a ngwe - which is an old Zambian coin no longer used
- a seed from a baobab tree
- a mozi (brand of beer) bottle cap
- a rusty nail
- and many more equally random objects.
We also needed a picture of me on a local bicycle - I chose one with a 3 year old kid on the back, and the frame was really huge and it was a really hard bike to ride, not to mention how worried I was that the kid would fall off the back!!! We have a picture of a Zambian person doing the TDA pose (holding their bicycle above their head).
Today we thought we might have had a lead for the "snake stone" which I think is apparently a special black stone that you rub on a snake bite thats supposed to fix you up. We need to find a Witch Doctor to get one of these. We saw a sign to the "Black Doctor" though 400m off the main road, which we followed into a little village which obviously (although only 50km from Lusaka) saw very few white people. They were very accommodating of us and although the doctor did not have a snake stone one of his 5 wives made us tea, and gave us bread and beans and we had a good chat... it was one of those great moments you get when you're travelling. The doctor himself was 79 years old and looking good. He said he had 62 children, who had 9 different mothers (but only 5 wives). He had some very cute kids (or maybe they were grandkids- I'm not sure!). Anyhow, Jolyane, Miranda, Nate, Dave & I (who were all with me in the village) managed to get behind the sweep rider so everyone was wondering where we were at lunchtime! And then Eric who was the afternoon sweep rider caught me finding my rusty nail in the afternoon. It was only the 2nd time I'd been caught by the sweep - I'm usually up near the front of the pack!
Anyhow, I'm in Lusaka now, the capital of Zambia. And thankful that tomorrow is a rest day because I am feeling tired - the last 5 days have been long - 145km, 175km, 141km, 151km, and today only 105km. But the rolling hills are never ending and there have been some big climbs. Thankfully however I have a new thermarest, kindly donated to a needy rider by Werner who had to go home early in Tanzania after he was hit by a truck and broke his elbow. Werner's thermarest is thick - at least half as thick as mine when it used to inflate, and it has a built in pillow. At night time even though I'm still on the ground in my tent, I feel like I'm back in my bed at home!!!
Mitch the Rockhopper is now feeling like new after Dr Mark operated on him recently and gave him an operation - a Total Drivetrain, casette and chainwheel Replacement he had. He's shifting again like he did when he was new!
- a broken discarded shoe
- a piece of amalesa (which we had to firstly find out what it was - charcoal!)
- a ngwe - which is an old Zambian coin no longer used
- a seed from a baobab tree
- a mozi (brand of beer) bottle cap
- a rusty nail
- and many more equally random objects.
We also needed a picture of me on a local bicycle - I chose one with a 3 year old kid on the back, and the frame was really huge and it was a really hard bike to ride, not to mention how worried I was that the kid would fall off the back!!! We have a picture of a Zambian person doing the TDA pose (holding their bicycle above their head).
Today we thought we might have had a lead for the "snake stone" which I think is apparently a special black stone that you rub on a snake bite thats supposed to fix you up. We need to find a Witch Doctor to get one of these. We saw a sign to the "Black Doctor" though 400m off the main road, which we followed into a little village which obviously (although only 50km from Lusaka) saw very few white people. They were very accommodating of us and although the doctor did not have a snake stone one of his 5 wives made us tea, and gave us bread and beans and we had a good chat... it was one of those great moments you get when you're travelling. The doctor himself was 79 years old and looking good. He said he had 62 children, who had 9 different mothers (but only 5 wives). He had some very cute kids (or maybe they were grandkids- I'm not sure!). Anyhow, Jolyane, Miranda, Nate, Dave & I (who were all with me in the village) managed to get behind the sweep rider so everyone was wondering where we were at lunchtime! And then Eric who was the afternoon sweep rider caught me finding my rusty nail in the afternoon. It was only the 2nd time I'd been caught by the sweep - I'm usually up near the front of the pack!
Anyhow, I'm in Lusaka now, the capital of Zambia. And thankful that tomorrow is a rest day because I am feeling tired - the last 5 days have been long - 145km, 175km, 141km, 151km, and today only 105km. But the rolling hills are never ending and there have been some big climbs. Thankfully however I have a new thermarest, kindly donated to a needy rider by Werner who had to go home early in Tanzania after he was hit by a truck and broke his elbow. Werner's thermarest is thick - at least half as thick as mine when it used to inflate, and it has a built in pillow. At night time even though I'm still on the ground in my tent, I feel like I'm back in my bed at home!!!
Mitch the Rockhopper is now feeling like new after Dr Mark operated on him recently and gave him an operation - a Total Drivetrain, casette and chainwheel Replacement he had. He's shifting again like he did when he was new!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
It really is a long way down...
Well its been a while since I have updated this blog and I'm sorry I haven't had the chance. Firstly I want to say happy birthday to Mum though!!! Sorry its a little late. I tried to call and find internet on your birthday but it was Sunday and all the internet places in the town of Rasungu were closed and Rasungu is not a place with mobile reception of any kind but I was definitely thinking of you!!!
We have entered Malawi. Our last rest day was at Chitimba Beach on the northern part of the lake, lots of sand and somehow there were big enough waves to body surf on. Even though it was rest day there was plenty of activity going on - beach volleyball, scrabble, cards, and a chance to curl up and have an afternoon nap!
My first impression of Malawi was somewhat similar to Ethiopia. Lots of children saying "money, money" at you... it wasn't until a few days after I'd been in the country that I learn that "Moni" is actually the word for "hello" in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, and there is less begging than I thought.
Its this point in the tour however that many riders have in fact taken off to have a holiday from their holiday. A concept that I originally thought a bizarre idea but now understand it much more. Endless days in the saddle, sore bottoms, and a beautiful lake with the chance to scuba dive, beaches to relax on has led quite a few riders away for a few days. I keep riding though, enjoying the time in the saddle.
It rains everyday here - not something I am used to being from the Sunshine State where it barely ever rains. My tent has only had one leaky moment though and I have decided that I am actually quite happy with it these days!!! Should really stop complaining about it haha!
A bridge on our route has been washed away so we take an alternate route to Lilongwe (in fact the short route!) where I am now. We ride the mountains instead and they are beautiful... although we would have loved to ride the road right next to the beach!!! Headwinds and hills has made the challenge continue. We get 2 days to explore this city, the capital of Malawi.
We have entered Malawi. Our last rest day was at Chitimba Beach on the northern part of the lake, lots of sand and somehow there were big enough waves to body surf on. Even though it was rest day there was plenty of activity going on - beach volleyball, scrabble, cards, and a chance to curl up and have an afternoon nap!
My first impression of Malawi was somewhat similar to Ethiopia. Lots of children saying "money, money" at you... it wasn't until a few days after I'd been in the country that I learn that "Moni" is actually the word for "hello" in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, and there is less begging than I thought.
Its this point in the tour however that many riders have in fact taken off to have a holiday from their holiday. A concept that I originally thought a bizarre idea but now understand it much more. Endless days in the saddle, sore bottoms, and a beautiful lake with the chance to scuba dive, beaches to relax on has led quite a few riders away for a few days. I keep riding though, enjoying the time in the saddle.
It rains everyday here - not something I am used to being from the Sunshine State where it barely ever rains. My tent has only had one leaky moment though and I have decided that I am actually quite happy with it these days!!! Should really stop complaining about it haha!
A bridge on our route has been washed away so we take an alternate route to Lilongwe (in fact the short route!) where I am now. We ride the mountains instead and they are beautiful... although we would have loved to ride the road right next to the beach!!! Headwinds and hills has made the challenge continue. We get 2 days to explore this city, the capital of Malawi.
Friday, March 20, 2009
And the hyenas come at night....
Well, I am feeling much better after my big stack. There is still a deep cut on my knee but its healing well, my wrist is still a little sore and will be pleased to have pavement so it doesn't have to put up with all the shaking of the unpaved roads, and I can still feel the bruising of my ribs but it only really bothers me when I sleep.Thanks for the offer to send a new helmet mum and dad however my existing one is looking ok and although it isn't ultra ideal to ride with I have examined it for fractures and cracks and it appears ok apart from a minor hole in the outer shell (which is seriouslz tiny) so I am confident it will still give me some protection.
Tanzania is a beautiful country - very lush in comparison to the rest of Africa that we have seen so far, and although I am a little sore I still love riding unpaved roads! I am taking it much more easy on the downhills because I don't want to do any more damage to myself if I come off again!!!
I have ridden every inch of every day since Arusha, with the exception of one afternoon when I got busy pretending to be an ambo for a little while instead.
Our 3 day safari was awesome. We saw all the big 5 and many other exciting things aswell. I like giraffes the most - they are very graceful animals, especially as they are so large... and they are docile aswell. Frank, one of the riders I was with on safari swears he nearly got eaten by a lion. But seriously, there are quite often hyenas around our camp sites - sometimes I wake up and need to pee but have to hang on because I can hear noises and I'm afraid I might get eaten by a hyena!!!
Today is a rest day in Iringa. The roads are meant to be paved until we get to Namibia now which is probably a good things because my knobblies are wearing out and Mitch the Rockhopper likes to ride all day every day and gets jealous when I stop to help people (like the other day when I was helping Bruce he spontaneously punctured himself, and then did it again when he was getting loaded onto the lunch truck while I was off getting Paul to the hospital!!!). Then he goes and decides to make all his rear gears stop working for a while (had to be a time trial day too! - silly bike!) so he's been to see Mark and Tom the bike doctors who have thankfully made him feel much better, and he now has rear gears that work.
So this morning has been a day of changing tyres, the slicks are back on, done my washing (that's one thing I won't miss when I get home - handwashing all my clothes!!!). Gave Mitchy a clean so he now has a nice clean and oiled drivetrain again. Hope he feels more loved now and will stop spontaneously puncturing himself for no obvious reason!!!
Tanzania is a beautiful country - very lush in comparison to the rest of Africa that we have seen so far, and although I am a little sore I still love riding unpaved roads! I am taking it much more easy on the downhills because I don't want to do any more damage to myself if I come off again!!!
I have ridden every inch of every day since Arusha, with the exception of one afternoon when I got busy pretending to be an ambo for a little while instead.
Our 3 day safari was awesome. We saw all the big 5 and many other exciting things aswell. I like giraffes the most - they are very graceful animals, especially as they are so large... and they are docile aswell. Frank, one of the riders I was with on safari swears he nearly got eaten by a lion. But seriously, there are quite often hyenas around our camp sites - sometimes I wake up and need to pee but have to hang on because I can hear noises and I'm afraid I might get eaten by a hyena!!!
Today is a rest day in Iringa. The roads are meant to be paved until we get to Namibia now which is probably a good things because my knobblies are wearing out and Mitch the Rockhopper likes to ride all day every day and gets jealous when I stop to help people (like the other day when I was helping Bruce he spontaneously punctured himself, and then did it again when he was getting loaded onto the lunch truck while I was off getting Paul to the hospital!!!). Then he goes and decides to make all his rear gears stop working for a while (had to be a time trial day too! - silly bike!) so he's been to see Mark and Tom the bike doctors who have thankfully made him feel much better, and he now has rear gears that work.
So this morning has been a day of changing tyres, the slicks are back on, done my washing (that's one thing I won't miss when I get home - handwashing all my clothes!!!). Gave Mitchy a clean so he now has a nice clean and oiled drivetrain again. Hope he feels more loved now and will stop spontaneously puncturing himself for no obvious reason!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Utter chaos... (and a trip to the local hospital!)
Yesterday was the most chaotic day on tour so far however it is always the unexpected events that happen along the way that make these trips worthwhile.
I'm riding along anyhow as I do most days except rest days and when I get to about 33km I see Alan & Bruce standing up inspecting Bruce's bike. I stop and they ask if I have any first aid stuff on me. Which I don't because I used it all up on me the other day!!! I look at Bruces elbow and there is blood everywhere coming out of it. His clothes are all ripped up too. Thankfully he is standing up and looking ok (apart from all the blood). Times like these we all work in a team however and the next rider is never too far behind. Evelyn is more organised than the rest of us however and she has some first aid stuff. Malcolm has babywipes to clean up all the dirt. And because I didn't bother to keep the fact quiet that I am a nurse, and because I am slightly more used to seeing copious quantities of blood compared to many other people, I am the one that gets to fix Bruces arm. So I clean the wound & compression bandage it and do a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding and Bruce is able to keep riding. I think Erin (the medic) is at the lunch truck & I want her to look at it to see if she reckons it needs stitches.
But further behind me Paul Porter (different Paul to the one helping me when I had my wipe out) also stacks it. He's gone over after not seeing a big huge pothole hidden by the shadow of a baobab tree.
Paul is a great guy and someone who I admire alot on this tour (especially because he's an Ironman, but also because he's 53 and keeps racing with the younger guys even though now he's the only racer in the masters category). He also knows a lot about a lot of things, and is a very interesting person to talk to.
Paul hurts his elbow quite badly, which needs to be sutured. When I get to the lunch truck Erin is not there (and I wanted her to look at Bruces elbow!!!). I missed seeing the 4x4 go by with her and Eddie our local guide for the section. Anyhow, the 4x4 gets back to the lunch truck while I'm still there with Alex & Erin our 2 awesome medics, and Paul. Erin can suture and I want to learn so I ask if I can come up to watch. As they take off the tape applying pressure to Pauls wound the wound opens and blood squirts out - I don't think I've seen blood squirt out like that before and they expect an arterial bleed - which means the artery requires suturing usually under anaesthetic - which means Paul will have to go hospital, but first we need to get Paul back from the lunch truck into the 4x4 and there is so much blood. I am trying to help by holding Pauls arm above his head & it is decided that 2 people need to go with Paul (as well as Eddie to drive the vehicle) to help stabilise the bleeding as best as possible along the way. We are more than 100km from the nearest hospital in Iringa. It's decided that Erin should stay with everyone else because she needs to check out Bruce, and in case there are any more emergencies along the way so I go with Alex & Paul & Eddie in the 4x4. Alex is applying pressure to the wound, I'm applying pressure to a point below the wound and for a while we get the bleeding stopped and stabilised.
We're in Tanzania. The roads are slightly better than the ones in Northern Kenya but it takes a good 2.5 hours in the car to get to Iringa. We get there and Paul is still alive and talking, slightly pale in the face and there is lots of swelling to his elbow and we suspect its fractured.
At the hospital Alex jumps out and finds out where we need to take Paul to. We must've looked weird - 3 Mzungus in lycra - 2 holding the others hand above his head.
Luckily the doctor is also a cyclist - he tells us he has a nice bicycle - it has 6 gears!!!
I was impressed with the hospital - they x-rayed Pauls arm, he was seen by an orthopaedic surgeon and we got his wound surgically cleaned and the bleeding controlled. Paul was admitted overnight and Alex, Eddie and I returned to camp.
Back at camp however, another rider had hit his head which also nearly required suturing (good thing Erin stayed at camp!), the dinner truck had broken down yet again (our dinner truck support vehicle is not feeling so well these days!!!) and hadn't got to camp until late. We don't get there until 1030pm and thankfully Sonja, Isobel & Michel have put up my tent for me - all I need to do is climb in and sleep...
I'm riding along anyhow as I do most days except rest days and when I get to about 33km I see Alan & Bruce standing up inspecting Bruce's bike. I stop and they ask if I have any first aid stuff on me. Which I don't because I used it all up on me the other day!!! I look at Bruces elbow and there is blood everywhere coming out of it. His clothes are all ripped up too. Thankfully he is standing up and looking ok (apart from all the blood). Times like these we all work in a team however and the next rider is never too far behind. Evelyn is more organised than the rest of us however and she has some first aid stuff. Malcolm has babywipes to clean up all the dirt. And because I didn't bother to keep the fact quiet that I am a nurse, and because I am slightly more used to seeing copious quantities of blood compared to many other people, I am the one that gets to fix Bruces arm. So I clean the wound & compression bandage it and do a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding and Bruce is able to keep riding. I think Erin (the medic) is at the lunch truck & I want her to look at it to see if she reckons it needs stitches.
But further behind me Paul Porter (different Paul to the one helping me when I had my wipe out) also stacks it. He's gone over after not seeing a big huge pothole hidden by the shadow of a baobab tree.
Paul is a great guy and someone who I admire alot on this tour (especially because he's an Ironman, but also because he's 53 and keeps racing with the younger guys even though now he's the only racer in the masters category). He also knows a lot about a lot of things, and is a very interesting person to talk to.
Paul hurts his elbow quite badly, which needs to be sutured. When I get to the lunch truck Erin is not there (and I wanted her to look at Bruces elbow!!!). I missed seeing the 4x4 go by with her and Eddie our local guide for the section. Anyhow, the 4x4 gets back to the lunch truck while I'm still there with Alex & Erin our 2 awesome medics, and Paul. Erin can suture and I want to learn so I ask if I can come up to watch. As they take off the tape applying pressure to Pauls wound the wound opens and blood squirts out - I don't think I've seen blood squirt out like that before and they expect an arterial bleed - which means the artery requires suturing usually under anaesthetic - which means Paul will have to go hospital, but first we need to get Paul back from the lunch truck into the 4x4 and there is so much blood. I am trying to help by holding Pauls arm above his head & it is decided that 2 people need to go with Paul (as well as Eddie to drive the vehicle) to help stabilise the bleeding as best as possible along the way. We are more than 100km from the nearest hospital in Iringa. It's decided that Erin should stay with everyone else because she needs to check out Bruce, and in case there are any more emergencies along the way so I go with Alex & Paul & Eddie in the 4x4. Alex is applying pressure to the wound, I'm applying pressure to a point below the wound and for a while we get the bleeding stopped and stabilised.
We're in Tanzania. The roads are slightly better than the ones in Northern Kenya but it takes a good 2.5 hours in the car to get to Iringa. We get there and Paul is still alive and talking, slightly pale in the face and there is lots of swelling to his elbow and we suspect its fractured.
At the hospital Alex jumps out and finds out where we need to take Paul to. We must've looked weird - 3 Mzungus in lycra - 2 holding the others hand above his head.
Luckily the doctor is also a cyclist - he tells us he has a nice bicycle - it has 6 gears!!!
I was impressed with the hospital - they x-rayed Pauls arm, he was seen by an orthopaedic surgeon and we got his wound surgically cleaned and the bleeding controlled. Paul was admitted overnight and Alex, Eddie and I returned to camp.
Back at camp however, another rider had hit his head which also nearly required suturing (good thing Erin stayed at camp!), the dinner truck had broken down yet again (our dinner truck support vehicle is not feeling so well these days!!!) and hadn't got to camp until late. We don't get there until 1030pm and thankfully Sonja, Isobel & Michel have put up my tent for me - all I need to do is climb in and sleep...
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wipe Out!
It was a typical day riding in Kenya. Actually better than typical because we rode right past a herd of Zebras!!! Makes me really feel like I'm in Africa. It's meant to be a 165km day, and I make it to Lunch at 70km feeling strong.
After lunch there is a heap of road works (nothing new). They like piling mounds of dirt over the new part of the road so that cars and trucks can't get across - but for bicycles they are easy to get over, and the new construction road is often smoother and easier to ride on than the old road or the alternative route. Also with less traffic so usually safer too.
So I'm riding along, on a slight downhill that I don't realise when I come across one of these mounds of dirt and think it's not so high, I'll get over it easy. But when I get closer I see it's sandy dirt, and I remember I have my slick tyres on and I'm going faster than I anticipate. I break slightly before the mound then go up and over, and suddenly I'm up high, soaring through the air on Mitch the Rockhopper. What comes up must come down however and Mitch lands too heavily on his front wheel. I fly over the handlebars, and my shoes are cleated into my pedals so my bike flys over me and at some point I become uncleated. I hit the ground. Hard. Face first in to the dust. I roll over and sit up but I can barely breathe because I am winded. I hurt too. I take my helmet off and note briefly that my visor has come half unattached to my helmet. I take off my sunnies and take a look at how scratched they are and I'm glad I was wearing them because otherwise that would have been my eye! I look down at my knees and they're both grazed the left one more than the right. There's a tiny bit of blood coming out of my lip and the side of my face is grazed. Its only a couple of minutes before Paul comes along and finds me sitting in the middle of the road and stops. Then Sven comes along. And Ivo. And I realise I am riding with a truly great bunch of people. Sven has a few clean washers with him that he gives me to clean up the blood. But my knee has a hole in it - and a very tiny bit of fatty tissue is hanging out of it. I'm shocked and I know that normally I'd be okay to clean up a wound like that on someone else no worries, but I'm really shaken up. I have a few bits of first aid kit in my camelbak (which is actually a blackwolf and not a camelbak at all hahaha) and manage to patch myself up ok for the time being. I slowly check the rest of me over and note that my right shoulder is bruised, my left elbow and wrist is sore too.
I get up with help from Paul & Sven & Ivo and go sit under the tree for a bit. Paul is great and hechecks my bike and I'm lucky I've only put one of my bar ends out of alignment so Mitch is Ok, that's easy to fix. He waits with me because I'm still shaking and there's tears in the corners of my eyes but I'm trying not to cry. I know I'm ok but I can't stop shaking. I contemplate keeping riding but my knee hurts, and my elbow won't let me tie my hair back up which has become loose. Paul calls Shanny who is sweeping and we figure that the lunch truck is a few hours away so I could sit and wait for it or hitch a ride back to lunch with the locals where there is better first aid supplies and Erin the Medic. We take the latter option and manage to squeeze two bikes and 2 Mzungus into a vehicle, and they're nice guys that drive us 10km back to the lunch truck. Erin manages to give me a bit of a better clean than I can do of myself. I ride the rest of the way to camp on the truck. I look over my helmet closely and my visor is clipped back in, there's a small damage mark just where my right temple lies - helmets are great things that do save lives!!!
Now I have a new nickname - first it was Nubian (because I always collect dust and turn up to camp and lunch black like a person from the Nubian Desert), then the Mysterious One (I'm not going to write an explanation of that one here because it is complicated) and now I'm Hop-a-long.
Today I ride the truck because my knee is quite swollen but I think it's getting better, and although I'm stiff nothing feels like its broken. Just need to keep up the Ibuprofen!!!
The next 3 days are non riding days and I'm going on safari!!! Excitement +. And I don't doubt that my bruises will be sufficiently healed for me to jump back on my bike the next riding day :)
I forgot to write before I realised when I was writing my reflections about the greatest things about this trip. Here they are:
- Flying downhills at anything up to 77km/hr so far!
- the personal satisfaction of riding a hard day
- Being able to see the culture without the barriers you get when travelling in a vehicle
- Camping every night - although I'm frustrated by my tent sometimes I'm still not sick of camping
- riding lots and lots
- bargaining in markets (I bought a plate the other day for 180 kenyan shillings which I got down from 2700!!!)
- seeing wildlife
- camp cooking!!! I love it!
- the wonderful carefree feeling you get from spending so much time outdoors
Even in my battered and bruised state that I'm in today I still manage to have a great day.
After lunch there is a heap of road works (nothing new). They like piling mounds of dirt over the new part of the road so that cars and trucks can't get across - but for bicycles they are easy to get over, and the new construction road is often smoother and easier to ride on than the old road or the alternative route. Also with less traffic so usually safer too.
So I'm riding along, on a slight downhill that I don't realise when I come across one of these mounds of dirt and think it's not so high, I'll get over it easy. But when I get closer I see it's sandy dirt, and I remember I have my slick tyres on and I'm going faster than I anticipate. I break slightly before the mound then go up and over, and suddenly I'm up high, soaring through the air on Mitch the Rockhopper. What comes up must come down however and Mitch lands too heavily on his front wheel. I fly over the handlebars, and my shoes are cleated into my pedals so my bike flys over me and at some point I become uncleated. I hit the ground. Hard. Face first in to the dust. I roll over and sit up but I can barely breathe because I am winded. I hurt too. I take my helmet off and note briefly that my visor has come half unattached to my helmet. I take off my sunnies and take a look at how scratched they are and I'm glad I was wearing them because otherwise that would have been my eye! I look down at my knees and they're both grazed the left one more than the right. There's a tiny bit of blood coming out of my lip and the side of my face is grazed. Its only a couple of minutes before Paul comes along and finds me sitting in the middle of the road and stops. Then Sven comes along. And Ivo. And I realise I am riding with a truly great bunch of people. Sven has a few clean washers with him that he gives me to clean up the blood. But my knee has a hole in it - and a very tiny bit of fatty tissue is hanging out of it. I'm shocked and I know that normally I'd be okay to clean up a wound like that on someone else no worries, but I'm really shaken up. I have a few bits of first aid kit in my camelbak (which is actually a blackwolf and not a camelbak at all hahaha) and manage to patch myself up ok for the time being. I slowly check the rest of me over and note that my right shoulder is bruised, my left elbow and wrist is sore too.
I get up with help from Paul & Sven & Ivo and go sit under the tree for a bit. Paul is great and hechecks my bike and I'm lucky I've only put one of my bar ends out of alignment so Mitch is Ok, that's easy to fix. He waits with me because I'm still shaking and there's tears in the corners of my eyes but I'm trying not to cry. I know I'm ok but I can't stop shaking. I contemplate keeping riding but my knee hurts, and my elbow won't let me tie my hair back up which has become loose. Paul calls Shanny who is sweeping and we figure that the lunch truck is a few hours away so I could sit and wait for it or hitch a ride back to lunch with the locals where there is better first aid supplies and Erin the Medic. We take the latter option and manage to squeeze two bikes and 2 Mzungus into a vehicle, and they're nice guys that drive us 10km back to the lunch truck. Erin manages to give me a bit of a better clean than I can do of myself. I ride the rest of the way to camp on the truck. I look over my helmet closely and my visor is clipped back in, there's a small damage mark just where my right temple lies - helmets are great things that do save lives!!!
Now I have a new nickname - first it was Nubian (because I always collect dust and turn up to camp and lunch black like a person from the Nubian Desert), then the Mysterious One (I'm not going to write an explanation of that one here because it is complicated) and now I'm Hop-a-long.
Today I ride the truck because my knee is quite swollen but I think it's getting better, and although I'm stiff nothing feels like its broken. Just need to keep up the Ibuprofen!!!
The next 3 days are non riding days and I'm going on safari!!! Excitement +. And I don't doubt that my bruises will be sufficiently healed for me to jump back on my bike the next riding day :)
I forgot to write before I realised when I was writing my reflections about the greatest things about this trip. Here they are:
- Flying downhills at anything up to 77km/hr so far!
- the personal satisfaction of riding a hard day
- Being able to see the culture without the barriers you get when travelling in a vehicle
- Camping every night - although I'm frustrated by my tent sometimes I'm still not sick of camping
- riding lots and lots
- bargaining in markets (I bought a plate the other day for 180 kenyan shillings which I got down from 2700!!!)
- seeing wildlife
- camp cooking!!! I love it!
- the wonderful carefree feeling you get from spending so much time outdoors
Even in my battered and bruised state that I'm in today I still manage to have a great day.
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