Shortly after that picture there was some more technical stuff and then some trails in the woods. There was a section of sand which the bike has no trouble with. Then a climb, not technical but looked to be sandy. I should have stopped and walked it first but its just a sandy climb right? Wrong! What looked like the sand I’d just ridden through was now quite solid and I didn’t notice until the front wheel got stuck in a rut. I put my left foot down onto the top of the rut and steadied myself but in an instant the pannier bag hit my foot trapping it. The forward momentum of the bike pulled me off the side and the bike fell. All of this was very slow speed and would have been fine if my foot hadn’t twisted round the wrong way and then got trapped under the pannier.
I had to think of a way to sort this. I was yelping quite a bit so maybe someone would hear. I tried to lift the bike even a little in order to release my foot but some of me was still astride it. When I did lift the bars just a few millimetres the lift pushed down on the rear of the bike more. My left knee was killing me. I needed to release some twist or load on it. I started trying to dig down under it with a twig. The ground was sand like texture but had set solid. I checked my phone, no signal. I couldn’t reach far behind me or even twist to see what was going on. I’m my mind I knew I needed a lever to lift the bike. I thought I could remove the handlebars and use them somehow, but the tools are in the bag behind me. There’s nothing for it I need to get the luggage off. I started gently twisting against the pain forcing the twist more but hopefully not enough to rip or worse snap anything. It was crazy painful but I managed to reach the cargo net. There was no getting that off properly so I grabbed what I could and pulled at it until the hooks bent and came undone. Luckily the Rok-Straps were fastened behind me. With them undone I dragged the dry bag and tent to the front. At least the tent could support my body a bit. I got the tools out and linked the two tyre levers together and tried to lever the handlebars up a bit, again it was futile and painful. I pulled out the multitool. I could cut the boot open maybe. There was now way I could reach and cut that far down. I did manage to loosen the top buckle but that did nothing. However I was now twisting further and I could reach the trapped pannier. With one last twist I managed to unfasten the front of the bag. I unrolled it as best I could and reached my fingers in. Luckily everything inside was in small dry bags. My finger tips got a bag and pulled at it. Little by little I teased the bag until I got a grip on it and pulled it out. Suddenly there was less pressure on my ankle. I couldn’t reach the next bag but with the pliers I could, another bag out and another. Each item releasing the pressure on my ankle. Then……
Having sent the drone up to see how close help would have been. All I needed to do now was lift the bike up with 1½ leg power.
Within 30 minutes the trail intersected a road and I headed off towards the next nearest town. I stopped and used Google maps to find me a hotel. What I found was a Thermal Spa Hotel. It was 30km away but that didn’t matter, luxury awaited.
Earth, Wind and Tyres 