The day started off ok. It’s was super windy and we left out to Walvis Bay. The wind was blowing me all over and I struggled to keep it in the track.
The roads were not good and had a lot of sand and loose gravel piles on the sides of the road.
It was cold so I had put lots of layers on and thick gloves but I wasn’t able to feel the throttle so I took a break and changed into my normal riding gloves and removed some layers.
I got back on the bike and checked for traffic and there was a car a little bit away so I just started out again.
Next thing I know, I’m sitting on the ground with the bike on its side a little ways away from me. Nothing on me is broken, just bruised and sore.
Looking at pics, I could see where the bike got squirrelly again and I must have fought it instead of relaxing and letting it straighten out naturally.
Luckily some nice people stopped and gave me a ride back to the lodge. Andrew wanted me to get checked out so he coordinated a ride to the nearest hospital 260km away.
The ride he coordinated, was a really nice man Reinhard and his friend but their truck kept breaking down and turning off while he drove. He also had a fork stuck into the side of his radio to keep it in place. The roads were super bumpy and he drove really fast over some big bumps and his friend in the back seat flew up, hitting his head on the top of the truck and had to grab the front headrest and yelled at him “you have a patient in the car! Slow down!”. I just laughed and laughed.
We eventually got to the hospital and I walked in, the nurses immediately took me back and did X-rays, cat scans and the works. Every came out fine but the doctor said I had to stay for 24 observation so I was taken to the general ward and had dinner before I went to sleep.
The next morning started very early, nurses and staff kept coming in. Cleaning, taking out the trash, opening windows, taking blood sugar levels and blood pressure.
I am already a terrible morning person but worse since I was more sore. The doc came in and talked to me and said I would have to stay another night since we checked in at 6pm the night prior, it hadn’t been a full 24 hrs. That really sucked and was frustrating but I just slept and watched tv. Laura and Andrew stopped by and spent time with me in between them dealing with the medical insurances and all the bike insurance stuff.
Finally, the next afternoon I was released and we drove to the next town and their friend Quinton is letting us use two of his rental suites. I just relaxed and took it easy. Different parts were getting sore when others were feeling better. Taking naps on the couches.
We got to see a lot of Quinton’s businesses and he took us to see some of his friends planes and different helicopters that were used in the Vietnam war.
We had dinner at one of his restaurants called Tiger Reef. It is right on the beach and just laughed and laughed at all his crazy stories and his wife didn’t hold anything back.
We don’t think that the bike can be fixed in time before I have to fly home so we are trying to figure out a plan for the rest of the trip.
I really feel terrible about messing up Gerrit’s bike and I hope the insurance process goes smoothly and it can get fixed quickly.
It really sucks that this has happened but I’m ok so in the end, that’s the important part.
Stupid fucking gravel and sand
Living A Shattered Life 