Another un-paved day and in the morning we left bushcamp in sunshine continuing on the road we had arrived on the night before. The road was similar to yesterday afternoon but the wind was much less. It was another enjoyable day and about 35K we all met up in a village for lunch and to continue the rest of the day as a group because there were so many twists and turns that one of the crew would guide us as a lot of the changes in direction were not that easy to describe on paper.
The after lunch section was going well and we were all enjoying the scenery of an extinct volcano that we were skirting around. The going was getting harder with some rough uphill and downhill sections and also some very stoney sections too.
Sadly, after feeling that I was mastering the technique of keeping going over all this stuff I came around a bend where there was a large hole filled in with large boulders which I negotiated okay! This unfortunately was followed by another one where the filling was not as good and my front wheel dug in and I flew over the handlebars. I landed on my head and left shoulder with a thud and in an instant my Andes Trail had ended!!!
I knew immediately that I had broken my left collar bone and that was the end, just 10K from the end of the day and the Salar y Uyuni - The Salt Flats which were tomorrow.
I lay on the road in disbelief that my dream of getting to Ushuaia was over. After others had gone for help a 4 wheel drive arrived with one of the organisers, Rob, and I was carefully driven to the finish town and the help of Didier, our nurse.
The nearest hospital was across the Salar y Uyuni at Uyuni, and it was deccided that I stay in the hotel for the night and we go there the next day as negotiating the Salar y Uyuni in the dark was not a sensible option.
Whilst I was in pain it was not unbearable and with a pain killing injection I had some supper and settled down for a nights "sleep". One split second when a Bolivian road had bitten me back and the ride was over.
all the best! the (bike) dream goes on !
ReplyDeletepeter dreesen