September 24, 2009
Once again, Baptise and I set off together. While it was nice to have a companion, I tended to go slightly faster than Baptiste and often had to wait for him catch up at the break stops. He was never too far behind though, and in fairness was carrying a lot more stuff than me.
Once again, Baptise and I set off together. While it was nice to have a companion, I tended to go slightly faster than Baptiste and often had to wait for him catch up at the break stops. He was never too far behind though, and in fairness was carrying a lot more stuff than me.
We stopped in a little cake shop in a town along the way and stuffed ourselves full of some very tasty brownies. I am sure this wasn't the diet of a pro cyclist, but it sure beat power bars. The town was also no place for a pro cyclist – or any cyclist for that matter. I think this part of the world only barely realises what cycling is; there were just no provision mades for cyclists at all.
We then carried on out of town, over the hills, where you could clearly see the effects of a hurricane that had come through the area. Large areas of trees had been ripped from the Earth.
I reached the little town of Raymond and was waiting for Baptiste when I heard sirens which I remember thinking seemed a bit out of place for a small town. Next thing I knew, a car stopped by me and the driver asked, "Are you cycling with a friend?"
"Yes", I answered hesitantly.
"He has been involved in an accident, but he is conscious and is just back on the other side of the bridge," the man informed me. The sirens I was hearing were for Baptiste.
So, I cycled back to find Baptiste lying on the pavement with fairly serious road rash, surrounded by fire engines, ambulances, policemen and paramedics. Still, he seemed in relatively good spirits (all things considered), and he had managed to set up his camcorder to record the event. Apparently, a car was making a left turn as he came down the hill and obviously didn't see him. The car hit him, and he went flying trip right over the top of it.
At the hospital several hours later, we found out that he had suffered a compression to his spine and would need to be kept overnight at the hospital for observation. It could have been a lot worse but was obviously going to put his trip on hold for a while.
At the hospital several hours later, we found out that he had suffered a compression to his spine and would need to be kept overnight at the hospital for observation. It could have been a lot worse but was obviously going to put his trip on hold for a while.
However, as the saying goes: every cloud has a silver lining, and the silver lining here was the kindness of strangers. From the moment the accident happened, people went to such great lengths to help. From the policeman, James, who took our bikes to the station and gave me a lift to the hospital and then later bought our bikes to the B&B to the nurse who provided me with a packed lunch – everyone was just so great to us. With incredible kindness, Lynne, the radioographer at the hospital, even realized that we had nowhere to go, and arranged for us to be put up in his B&B. Beverley and Desiree, the innkeepers at the B&B, also went out of their ways for us, shuttling us back and forth from the hospital and town, providing us with meals and me a very much needed cold beer (it had been a very long afternoon). There were numerous other people who all offered support to us both and I really was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of strangers.
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