After long periods of good fortune it can be easy to forget how delicate this life is. After a pretty relaxing week following the MTB Himalaya race my head
was still a bit tired and I tried riding my Kona Honzo up the 8 km Triund trekking trail. The first 3/4 of the trail was mostly rideable but the last 2 km is steep and full of rocks as the trail winds itself precariously around the mountain side with big drops all around. The local Indians at the Chai shops along the route kept telling me it was impossible to get to Triund by bike and that I had to turn around. Being stubborn this just fueled the fire and I eventually topped out at the campsite along Triund ridge which was an alright place to ride. There were a few surprised Indians up there and after making myself available for a few selfie requests I turned the bike downhill and started the sketchy descent.
It was a rough go but my Kona Honzo is a fully capable trail bike and we were making good progress until I came around a corner and there were a pile of Indian Trekkers coming up. Having to slow down, I lost momentum which caused the front wheel to lose the force needed to get over some big rocks on a steep pitch. The rear wheel coming up as an endo was inevitable. Unclipping I managed to eject from the bike, hopping over the handlebar. The landing was too steep and very rough, causing a summersault as my body barrelled over the side of the mountain. Reaching out for a rock I made contact but it was an awkward position for my shoulder and the force caused it to dislocate which lead to tumb
le down the mountainside. Using my good arm to try and slow the fall it was a losing battle and pretty soon I landed fairly hard on the trail below. Thankfully the trail switchbacked which made the fall only 15-20ft, otherwise it could’ve been a real good one.
From there on the next 4 hours was a bit of a pain in the ass. When the shoulder dislocates I generally have about 1-2 minutes to get them back into place before the muscles start to tighten up and spasm making it nearly impossible. I failed in this two minute window and then immediately started walking down the mountain t0 try and make use of the adrenaline I had fired up and before the pain set in. Luckily one Indian picked up my bike and took it down the mountain for me, while 3 Trekkers stayed by my side to support the long 7km hike out. The first 2 km took forever as I had a good dizzy spell and was having a tough time figuring a way to hold the arm without too much pain. Eventually we found a pretty good system as one of my newly found friends would support me from one side and I’d lean over with the arm dangling. We tried using a sling but that wasn’t working. It was a solid trek, stopping often for rests, but eventually we made it to within sight of the bottom in which the plan was to hire a taxi and head down to the nearest Tibetan doctor to try and get the sore wing fixed.
This is when Stephi stared talking about the Dalai Lama and how special his powers are. Within twenty seconds of this my shoulder miraculously slipped back into place. This rarely even happens and has made me a big believer in the Dalai Lama and his Holiness. The recovery the past 2 weeks has been really good with the Shoulder feeling normal again, although the wrist is taking a while to come back. The past couple days I could finally start riding offroad again with the vibrations not causing to much discomfort.
Landing in Nepal on October 21st it has been a great few days riding around visiting tourist sights in Kathmandu and training up in the surrounding hills with my ever welcoming Nepalese friends. With the 11 day Yak Attack race up in the big Himalayas starting on November 5th the plan was to arrive early to acclimatize to the turbulent food, reload on supplies and then head up high to acclimatize to the altitude. Tomorrow a friend and I will head up to the town of Manang at 3500 M for a week to finish our preps for the race and hopefully we’ll ready to rip by November 5th!
http://triund.in/triund/TRIUND.html