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!

Up & Down; Up & Down; Repeat

Another cycling day (for everyone else anyway  ☹️) so it was up, fresh and enthusiastic, grab a breakfast and collect bikes. Today was to be a long 81km day in high temperatures.  It started quite cool and with just a bit of level cycling through town to start, it turned into a 20km descent, so all layers were worn. The descent was pretty steep and very twisty with characteristically bad roads comprising sections of bumpy tarmac, unpaved washed out rubble, and potholes you could park a tandem in. Fine for the riders, they could pick their way on the smoothest bits, but a tough journey in the bus. Nearly lost a few folks at the unexpected junctions as they weren't keeping together and staying behind the support bus. I could tell that Jomy the driver was getting a bit cross. Eventually we turned off onto narrow(er) country roads, or what passes for roads in these parts, and (who would have thought possible?) the surface became even worse. Navigation was a nightmare; even following the planned route was tricky. We're talking REALLY rural here. Thank god I'd taken a lot of time to download all the offline maps to my ViewRanger app along with the .gpx files for the rides, before we came out here because I had the best nav system of all and was relied upon to keep Senthil the guide, and driver Jomy on the right track. Just as well I'm an experienced Support Driver (from times spent supporting the BP Coast-2-Coast charity rides)!  The going was extremely slow due to surface and terrain. It was up and down like Cornish & Devon back-lanes! Absolutely exhausting for the riders and for me, constantly bracing myself in the bus whilst tracking progress. Many refreshment stops were made to regroup and folk started to drop out as it became clear that we'd never make the full distance in the time available. Lunch break for me was spent, not eating, but fixing Anne's bike which had lost a brake shoe (I had a spare). We watched a local picking peppercorns from vines by the roadside, and saw many patches of said crop laid out to dry in the sun. Eventually all bar one decided to load the bikes and take to the bus (and Anne did state that it was an easier ride on the bike than in the bus!). She did very well and completed 27.2 miles under tough conditions. The one bloke, Tom, who kept on riding, overshot the hotel and was eventually hailed in the dark. All ended well but today's plan was too ambitious. The environment was however, truly beautiful. 

Tea Factory Tour “ Rest Day”

Woke up and was alarmed to find I was on my last pain killer. Whilst there has been incremental improvements each day, it's now 7 days since the accident and I still need a crutch and a stick to walk
... oh so slowly. The pain is starting to localise to just in front of my left sit bone and left groin as well as deep bruising. Not sure what exactly happened to my leg, apart from the impact, but there are some tendons that have sure been over stressed! Sneezing is agony and my leg jerks up when I do. Explain that!
Anyway, the day's activities started at 10:30 when we mustered for a ride up to the tea factory and museum. Senthil, our guide, appears to be well known to the factory management (here, Munnar, is his home town after all) and gave us our own brilliant personal guided tour. And we were allowed to ignore the 'no cameras' signs. It was a fascinating place and of especial interest to fans of unguarded rotating machinery and flying drive belts that you could get really up close and personal with. The smells were fantastic. After a tea tasting session and a picnic lunch, we inevitably visited the factory shop and guess what we bought. Yep, tea! Those that fancied it rode back to the hotel. Clearly I didn't, and Anne kept me company. Not allowing our feet to touch the ground, Senthil had arranged a doctor to check me over and recommend a Ayurvedic massage. Hmmm. A doctor, Jim, but not as we know it. 3 pokes at my bruised hip and he said yes, I can have a massage. I don't want a freakin' massage, I want another crutch and a painkiller resupply! He tried to locate another medical doctor but by his time it was late Sunday afternoon so no luck. And no luck here in rural Munnar for a crutch. At least Arun (our other driver) managed to get a pack of prescription-only ibuprofen/paracetamol tabs from a side street stall! Then it was back to the hotel to dose up, chill, shower and get ready for drinks at 7.

More Tea Vicar?

Today commenced early with a mass start from the hotel in Palani through the chaos and out into a major road. It was busy; it was hot. Well not for me; I see all from the window of my air conditioned cocoon. After not too long we turned on to minor roads and continued along at a pace on the flat. Jomy the driver (and my personal security detail and carer!) bought fresh watermelon from a roadside stall and this was well received at the first break. The ride continued for 27 miles, pretty much on the flat, before reaching the Wildlife Reserve where you are not permitted to cycle (tigers!). We rolled through very rural farming country seeing fields of onions, cabbages, bananas, rice paddies, coconut, all with a string of shacks and stalls along the way. There was even a short break at a crocodile sanctuary. The crocs were pretty unexcitingly immobile, but a couple of monkeys put on an impressive porn show right in front of us with at least 3 positions from the Kama Sutra. No shame!
We all drove up through the reserve with a lunch stop at a local restaurant where the food was so good we all ate too much. Once clear of the reserve, at 1000m, the bikes were unloaded and the highlight of the holiday began. The road climbed steadily for 16 miles with no break in the gradient through magnificent sandalwood plantations and, more dominantly, tea plantations with wonderful scenery. The temperature dropped with the gain in altitude and all was very pleasant. What a fabulous ride, it was so disappointing not to take part. There was a break part way at a tea stall where everyone had, unsurprisingly, a cup of tea. Pretty locally grown I'd wager! At the top of the climb we waited for the riders and watched a troop of Nilgiri Langurs, a shy species of  so-called Old World Monkey, which are endemic in this area of the Western Ghats.  They are classified as ‘vulnerable’ due to habitat destruction. Anne summited the climb at 2000m around 16:45 which left 7.1/2 miles of descent and flat before reaching the hotel. We were now risking running out of light (twilight at these latitudes is very brief and light fails very quickly) so Anne decided, having done the hero section, she'd join me in the bus for the descent. Wise decision as it was almost dark when we reached our destination. At the point Anne joined me in the bus there were already 5 other riders in the broom waggon for various medical and physical reasons, so no shame there. It was rush-rush to get showered and down to tea, then back to the room for laundry duties and bed. What I would have given to have cycled today with Anne. Hey-ho, such is life.

p.s. see what passes for RAC Recovery in these parts!

Valentines Day, Love to Ride

Up, packed, and breakfasted, off we set at 09:00. The day starts with a manic steep descent through town, back the way we arrived yesterday. It's like living in a video game!  The steep descent continued for 16km weaving around the contours of the valley side, careering round hairpins and affording hazy but magnificent views. The road was protected with random sections of Armco and random sections of concrete blocks and the rest was just, well, open to the drop. And boy was it a drop!  The air was cool so all the riders had layers donned as not much pedalling energy was expended. The road then started to climb in the same manner varying in width from single track to a bit more than single track. I exaggerate. It was really almost 2-way in places. We had a refreshment stop at the top of the hill at 24km (1750m) and all were coping with the 8km undulating climb, helped by the cooler temperatures. Anne even spotted a Common Green Forest Lizard, a species, unsurprisingly, common in these parts. 

Traffic was light(ish) (for India) but the buses and trucks were a challenge (Anne said not for cyclists, but it sure was for us in the bus). Oncoming traffic in the middle of the road round blind bends was normal, it was oncoming cars and motorcycles on our side of the road that were the scary ones!  It was a wild, white-knuckled descent for an amazing 28km from the stop, again with precipitous drops, and was almost impossible to stay ahead of the riders. Hairpin after hairpin challenged life itself and piles of rockfall debris added to the excitement. This was followed by a long level section where we tried to get ahead of the lead riders. In such circumstances the group had strung out so we had a stop with just 6km to go to regroup before riding into the heat of Palani at 320m. It's around 34C outside! It was a truly awesome ride both in the bus, but especially in the saddle. Riding myself still feels a long way off. Walking unaided would sure be nice. Little by little things are improving but I still can't bear weight on left side. 

Anyway, we checked into the hotel had lunch and changed then headed for the "Rope Car".  We couldn't get there by minibus so we all piled into tuktuks, 6 at a time! When we got to the funicular we realised that we all had to take off our shoes and walk barefoot on the street in the queue which would take an hour before joining a tour that could take 3 hours. Nope. A line has been crossed. Look at the ground!  My feet are not equipped to walk barefoot in that filth ... with crutches. And it's 18:30 already!  And we haven't had tea. Leroy and I baled, quickly followed by everyone else!  We had an intriguing walk back of 800m (on crutches too!) through the crowds and the stalls and the pilgrims and the noise and even a deafening dance troop. Far better entertainment. And I feel the walk has done me good. Still can't put any weight on left leg though. 

And Anne cycled 40 miles today, and loved it.  

p.s. the bus pic is the most modern bus yet seen. It's decorated with heart-shaped wreath of balloons for Valentines Day. For the purposes of balance, I'll include a more typical bus pic later.