Pink Lady

Grabouw Moutains, Saturday, 4 October 2008

I just had to put this on paper for Scott and you guys… excuse my writing style but I write as it comes out… please bare with me as I relive the adventure!

Billy, Henk, Scott and yours truly went mountain biking Saturday seeing that our queen bee was away for the weekend... see Martie, even when you’re gone we train!

Anyway, we were planning to do a long ride up Groenlandberg and back, but due to time constraints our DC captain bullied us into going up Hanskop instead... Billy being a ‘SlapSlang'… well I just could not argue or challenge him due to my inferior rank!

What he did not know was that I already had other plans... I knew about the 4x4 track from last weekend’s Hanskop trip... which I also google-earthed and knew we could ride it… (I meant to do that another day with Desmond, Johan and Kevin my regular mountain bike buddies)...

We reached the cross-roads and I managed to convince Scott to join me, so our party split into two... Billy and Henk going up the tar road to Hanskop... Scott and I the 4x4 track to somewhere...

What a stunning track... very technical, baby heads all over (name for the size rocks lying around), water, loose stone... we were spinning out falling over (Scott actually fell off the side of the mountain once… but he landed softly on a hard rock) and generally trying to act cool and not hurt the ego too much… all the stuff that make your adrenalin pump, gets the heart rate soaring and increase of cause increases the size of the smile on your face... we were two boys out there playing our hearts out!

We reached the top of the long climb and really appreciated the effort and beauty of where we were... Scott even had to 'pull himself towards himself'... but that is our private joke!

Descending was tricky as the loose rocks were large and the road washed away... very technical, but we made good progress... I needed to stop to let some air out of my back tire as I found it too hard and bouncy... so I stopped. Scott was about 50 m behind and seeing me stop he also slowed down and the next moment his front wheel slipped and whack he falls on the rocks, not so soft this time!... I did not really think it was all that serious, but then I heard the sound Scott made once he sat up, I knew we had problems!

His left ankle was bent inwards at a 90 degree angle... eina eina eina!

I immediately knew we had a 'worst case senario' and that getting Scott out would be some major rescue effort! I tried my best to get him comfortable and strapped his ankle the best I could just to stabilize it somewhat.. using and mtb inner tube and duck-tape, from experience I knew he would have excruciating pain should he want to move that foot later! I instructed him to lie with his head down hill so that his foot was elevated… he was very calm and cool I must say. Anyway, I had to leave him to find cell phone signal... did not like the fact, but with Scott so calm and collected I wasn’t too concerned… I had to get signal! Scott asked me to please call Janien and tell her he’s hurt but ok and that she must not panic… now that little task I did not feel like doing, but I had to face the music! Scott’s rescue was first priority though!

I called the Mountain Rescue number on my phone... 'the number you dialed does not excist'!... that's was a shock... I phone Kogelberg Nature reserve office to get rescue number... what a reality check! The lady who answered were completely useless and could not even speak proper English… she basically refused to assist and did not or could not use any initiative to get me a number to phone… I thought we could be screwed if this is the emergency service we were going to get in our new South Africa systems... my last resort was ER24, Medi-Clinic's emergency service! I dialed and held my breath…

A very friendly person answered, Santie, I said I need help with a very urgent rescue and do not have any other number than ER24’s to call, could she assist?... after my previous two calls, I was a little concerned to say the least!... Santie immediately took control, I realized I phoned the best place last!... she asked the right questions and listened to my explanations... she took my number and asked for an alternative number (I gave her Scott's number), she said I must stay put someone would call me asap... the next 15 minutes was amazing... Ettiene from Metro phoned me, he is already on his way... I tried to explain there is no way he would get to where we are, we needed a chopper... within 2 minutes Roy from Search and Rescue phoned, he listened to where we were and said he knows the 4x4 track and agreed a chopper is the only option... he told me to get back to Scott, he'll organize everything... within 2 minutes the chopper's Para-Medic, Ian, called to say they are rolling out the bird as we speak and would be there in 20 minutes... damn they would be there before I could get back to Scott!... I literally had to run about 2km back up the mountain.... and I still had to phone Janine and tell her what’s going on... my phone never stopped ringing... Ian in the chopper asking for directions… what is the color of out clothing etc. Scott had no idea of what was going on and I wanted to get back to him to assure him before the shock, the sun and uncertainty got to him!

I ran up the mountain... I got Scott in sight, but the chopper was nowhere to be seen... I waved at Scott from a distance, he looked ok and gave me the thumbs up… then I had got to a spot where I could phone again. The Chopper phoned me every now and then wanting to know if I could see them… they’ve been looking for us, but obviously way off course… eventually I heard the chopper flying over the mountains to the north somewhere… I phoned Ian and directed them towards us… they eventually spotted me waving and told me they were going to circle a few times to find a place to land… which I thought was impossible due to the terrain and steepness of the mountain… well I cannot explain how amazing it was to see the pilot putting the bird down with inches to spare!

The para-medics, Ian and Salomie, was cool and totally relaxed… must say to our ego’s defence that they could see we were not panicking; the situation was under complete control… they put a drip on Scott, gave him morphine (the good stuff!), cut the ‘zulu’ splint I manufactured off his foot and put a proper one on… strapped him to a stretcher and we carried him to the chopper… then they took off leaving me stranded with two mountain bikes… and one of them pink!

Once I got signal again, I called Elana and Henk to come fetch me at Eikenhof dam in Grabouw which I could see and luckily I know the area well… I told them to give me two hours to get down… actually I had one goal in mind and that was to get down before dark… I had 6 hours+ and did not know how far the rest of the 4x4 track was… ?

I hiked down the 4x4 track for about 1 and a half hours… what a mission! The overgrown track, rocks, and dongas made it a slog of extreme proportions… but I was happy as I was having an adventure!

Eventually I reached the forestry roads (5,1 km hike with the bikes!) and managed to ride my bike and holding onto the pink one… I got into the stride and using my back brake managed pretty well… had one or two scary descends picking up speed and not wanting to lock up my back brake and crash two bi-cycles… how would I explain to the authorities I was out cycling with two bikes?

Anyway I got out in two hours exactly!… Elana and Henk almost arrived there with me. Henk loaded the bike… I enjoyed some coke (no the Cola version!) and off I went to finish my day’s cycling… I had Scott’s iPod with me, duff-duffed my way back through the Grabouw forest over Sir Lowry’s towards Somerset West… the chopper flew over-head at one point towards where Scott was rescued… I assumed they were looking looking for me so I phoned Ian to tell them I’m ok and on my way home… they actually came back for me after dropping Scott!

Anyway an hour later as I came into Somerset West near Vergelegen Medi-Clinic the chopper came over again and landed at the hospital… I was close by and decided to stop there and say hi to the Para-Medics and check in on Scott at ER…

Scott was already home when I got there! Apparently no bones broken… ankle popped out and the doctor popped it back… with loads screams I hear! I now understand why the ‘broken’ ankle looked so alien… the bone’s heads were pushing against the skin! Lucky for Scott… we hold thumbs that his ligaments are not to badly torn etc! Nevertheless he must have been in excruciating pain!

The chopper pilot, Ivan, informed me they have had another rescue… a rally driver drove into a dam and he spent a long time under water… as he put it ‘they had a good day’… suppose he loves flying that bird of his!

Scott took us out for pizza that night… we each drank a bottle of wine and our wifes decided we are not allowed to go out playing on our own as one of us always gets hurt… I threw a tamtrum and refused to eat my food!