Epilogue

It's now 27th Feb.  I've seen my GP and checked out ok.  I've had a full assessment at the physio and now have a set of dos and don'ts, exercises, and a follow-up next week. It'll just be a gradual soft tissue healing and muscle mass rebuild.  And now, with my chesty cough gradually improving, Anne is in bed unable to move without risking throwing up. Yep, a holiday to remember.

Finally : a massive, massive thanks to Anne for fetching and carrying for me, for tolerating my gasps, shrieks and general helplessness especially early on.  And to Erica the tandem stoker, my medic-on-scene who took charge at the time of the crash and kept a wary eye on me afterwards.  And to the rest of the group for their practical and psychological support, for rescuing my bike and generally for being such a great bunch of people. And of course for the help and support of the Indian support crew who were brilliant throughout. But special thanks go to Jomy, my driver, my shadow, my entertainer, my physical support, my security detail and my friend who looked out for me constantly. Thank you so much!

24th February. Hometime!

Due to the condition I'm in I have to admit to being relieved to be getting home. It's been a great holiday but ...  It's certainly one to remember. The alarm sounded at 04:45 so we dragged ourselves awake, packed our remaining things, and headed downstairs for a cuppa. Then followed a one hour white-knuckle ride to the airport and an emotional farewell to the support crew.  The travel insurance had done well. I was wheelchaired to the front of every queue in Cochin, was met and received the same treatment in Dubai, and even had total assistance at Glasgow right up to the car.  And we even got a business class upgrade.  Pity I didn't feel well enough to take full advantage, but at least we got some sleep.  The 3 hour drive home was a challenge as we were both shattered on reaching the house just before midnight. 

Such a relief to get home!

Playing Tourist

The smells had dissipated so breakfast was taken on the roof at a leisurely pace.  The day started with a ride to the Dutch Palace (built by the Portuguese but rebuilt by the Dutch) during which we became caught up in marching drummers and an elephant!  Here we were given a bespoke tour, then we wandered through the tourist shops with demos of sari cloth weaving, incense stick making, perfume essential oil extraction, and other tourist retail treats.  The excursion finished in a waterside cafe where we had a welcome sit down a cardamom tea and a lime soda.  Then it was back for lunch at the hotel and a bit of chill time before the next muster and walk out for another cultural experience: a demonstration of traditional Kathakali dance which told a small part of a story that would otherwise continue for many hours. The demo started with the donning of the makeup, included key features of expression of emotion, and culminated in the dance. All fascinating, but the whole saga would have been tough to sit through!  This was followed by a rather over-long meal at the Seagull restaurant, and involved way more walking than I was comfortable with. Happily, we managed to leave ahead of the main party (the wonderful Jomy had the minibus on location so 6 of us got a lift back to the hotel). After all, this is the last day and it's an early rush to the airport tomorrow!

Last Moving-on Day

The day (21st Feb) was supposed to be pure cycling from this hotel to the final destination in central Cochin, but town traffic was decreed too bad so a transfer took the riders to a point where quieter roads were accessed. Now that I have my FTF certificate we are way more relaxed and Anne decided that really, a flat ride into the mayhem of Cochin in 35C temperatures was not a great way to end the tour, so she kept me company in the minibus.  We now entered tourist central.  No longer was this the "real India" we had experienced over the preceding 2 weeks.  It was much more affluent (a relative term) mainly due to money sent home by the high proportion of folk who work overseas especially in UAE.  We reached the final hotel (a bit of a letdown to be honest with small rooms, flakey wifi, and a drains smell) and had a wander past all the hustlers and hawkers by the coast just round the corner.  It gave us a chance to see Cochin's famous Chinese fishing nets, but it really was far too touristy.  At 16:15 we were reunited with our bike bags.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in searing heat and filthy conditions trying to dismantle and repack the bikes (and anything else we could squeeze into the bike bag).  Happily I was recovered enough to manage this operation with Anne's help.  If my crash had happened more recently I'd have been stuffed!  It was a great relief to get this job done.  No one could face dinner in the rooftop restaurant due to the smell so Senthil the Guide used his diplomacy to get the food located to the bar across the road.  It was a relief to get to bed that night.

Houseboat Cruise? No, Hospital For FTF!

Shame on me for doubting the efficiency of the travel insurers and their agent. As we are now in tourist India things happen more reliably. The taxi arrived 10 minutes ahead of the agreed time and Anne and I were whisked off to the KIMS Hospital we'd driven past yesterday.  We were welcomed and warned that the doctor was in theatre and would be delayed, but after all, we had no appointment and were a shoe-in within the day's normal activities so couldn't complain.  I had to stifle a giggle as I noticed the welcoming mural shown in the photo.  What NHS hospital would broadcast that message!!  Eventually we were seen by the epically named Dr Ricky Raj Thomas who after a chat and a check of my earlier X-rays happily gave me what I'd come for: a Fit To Fly certificate, without which I couldn't go home!  I was keen for him not to examine me, but take my word that I was mobile enough to make the journey.  No point in him finding anything else at this point. (The cough I was suppressing was NOT Covid-19!!). Clutching my get-out-of-jail card tightly, we headed for the exit where our taxi driver had been waiting for 3hours and returned to the hotel. Of course we had both missed the Backwaters boat tour with lunch on the houseboat, but that was a small price to pay for the relief of being able to go home.  We compensated by taking the hour long free sunset boat trip from the hotel into the bay.  We thought it would be a peaceful cruise until a coach load of Italian seniors pitched up and deafened us with the collective behaviours of a bunch of French teenage school kids.  Ho-hum. At least we'd achieved our main objective for the day. 

Sent from my iPad Mini

A Little Up, & Too Much Down

We all mustered at 08:45 to start off today's ride. I did some maintenance on Anne's bike ... most important job was to source a simple paper clip to make a more substantial pin to hold in Anne's replacement brake block. India doesn't appear to do paper clips so this search was an epic fail. Still, the bent staple remained in place and was still securing the rubber.  Today's ride was a beauty.  Described as undulating, it started with a descent requiring an extra layer to keep warm, and progress was faster on the bikes than in the minibus (much to the lead driver's annoyance as folk were missing the junctions and needed redirecting). The descent was via a hairpinned busy road so it was a relief to lose that and regain quieter country roads despite the reduced surface quality. The route again took us through beautiful tea plantations with pleasant, if warming, temperatures.  This was the last day in the Western Ghats and the final refreshment stop was at a derelict half-built building on a hairpin that revealed amazing vertiginous views of the road ahead.  Handrails, barriers?  Come on, this is India!  All that remained from this point was a plummeting descent to the hotel at Kumarakom (60km short of Kochi). The road was busier and the surface was diabolical so, having done the bulk of the ride, Anne wisely decided to load the bike and keep me company in the bus.  Those who did ride the last bit did not enjoy it, ending up with numb hands and shaken arms.  Momentum could not be maintained because of the plethora of massive potholes and rubbled sections of road.  The hotel resort (Lakesong) was truly beautiful.  Immaculate grounds, good rooms, fine food and helpful staff.  It was just such a long hike on crutches from the room to the restaurant!  At least the wifi was reliable so I could restart dialogue with the insurance folk.  To cut a long and frustrating story short, I was told a taxi would meet us tomorrow at 11am and take me to the nearest hospital.  I was unconvinced ... let's wait and see.  Thankfully we have 2 days at this beautiful hotel.

Anne rode 36.6 miles.

Rest Day: Spice Masterclass

Today had a lazy start with an 08:30 breakfast and a 10:15 muster for a trip to a spice garden. What an amazingly educational 90 minutes we spent there! It was an exceptionally good tour. This, inevitably, ended with a spice spend-fest in the shop which is clearly where they make their money. Whatever, it was worth it. This was followed by a brief stop-off to see some elephants. I could have done without this. Anne and I, and several others, were quite uncomfortable with the conditions they were held in and several were clearly exhibiting stress behaviours (the elephants, that is). We had an excellent lunch including spiced Kingfish (no, not Kingfisher) in a local restaurant where we watched them making tandoori kebabs then Anne went walkabout through the local shops in the town (bought dress and scarf). I, with others, opted for the bus back to the hotel. I was starting to feel that I'd been on my feet too long and needed a sit down. Sightseeing on crutches is a pain! Literally and metaphorically. Then mood took a dive when I had an email from the travel insurance saying that I need a doctor's fit-to-fly certificate before they could arrange assisted boarding. This could all go horribly wrong!