Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Non-Thorn Related => Topic started by: NZPeterG on February 18, 2013, 08:29:54 AM
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Sad News Sorry about a Couple, Cycle Touring the World.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/9874682/British-couple-killed-in-crash-on-world-cycling-tour.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/9874682/British-couple-killed-in-crash-on-world-cycling-tour.html)
A Sad Pete . .
:(
http://www.twoonfourwheels.com/ (http://www.twoonfourwheels.com/)
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https://vimeo.com/59883919 (https://vimeo.com/59883919)
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:(
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Very sad indeed.
Thoughts are with the family
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RIP very sad indeed what more can you say.
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Very sad.
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Hi All
Tragic, tragic news. Always a very sad day for Adventure cyclists when we lose one of our own; in this case doubly so.
<nods> Yes, things are getting dangerous out there, due not just to crazed drivers. Lars de Wit over at the Durch Weraldfietser (World Cyclist) Forum has had a terrible time this last week thanks to being caught in a flash flood. The first hint of trouble was this missive...Hello, You have not heared from from sime time, with reason. I have had a terrible accident, death actually looked into his eyes twice ... It's a long story and I will tell it later (now I have to go to Intensive Care at the Hospital of Santiago) A few hours ago I was told they have to amputate my right places, just under the knee. My God, I am hoping this is all a bad dream or this mail a funny one but I am Neither afreid ... I hope I can get home as soon as possible. Greetings Lars
Followed by a fuller explanation (Dutch-to-English GoogleTranslation)...First of all whom I have a text message, phone call, email or message here have received, thank you all!
Does a man good Marco and Lisette, thanks for this initiative, I even heard from my parents that you still have more to do, you 're a giant guy! Now to the story but what exactly happened 50 km before San Pedro de Atacama I pitched my tent in a dry riverbed. I did not think further, simple as that. (later I heard only 20 mm of rainfall a year, normally) This night was going to be far beyond normall ..... When I was reading, after dinner, in my tent, I heard noise, a rumbling noise and I felt the ground moving a little bit, like with an eartquake I was thinkig at first maybe a truck passing by but the sound stayed. So I looked out of my tent and was shocked of what I saw, the right side of the former dry river, there was a very strong and fast movement or Water, mud and stones. Oh boy, no good I thought, I have to get out of here like crazy and started to pack my bags. halfway But the water was allready under my tent so I left my tent, first safed my bike by bringing it to a higher part in the riverbed (later it was found there, if only I would have stayed there too but no ....) got back to my tent for my bags, grabbed 4 of them, waded through ankle deep water to the higher parts where my bike lay down safe and then tried to cross the enormous stream, with my bags, to the other side (only 6 meters) but you allready guessed, I guess, The water / mud grabbed me ... So I was dragged down the river and looked into his eyes death. I tried to stay flat and breathe but sometimes was dragged under for verschillende seconds, spinning around. At one point I thought, okay, maybe I will not survive this and that. Fine . But if I have something to say RIP by drowning. That Seemed Such a bad way to go. So I fought and fought, mud in my eyes, ears, mouth, lungs equally (later I coughed up some little stones) and maneged to notch above. After 2 or 3 kilometers horrible like that I finally managed to crawl to the country and lay down. Now, in the water I had allready see my right leg in a strange angle. Heavily interrupted. In the water I lost my glasses so I could't see. Dark. Raining a little. So cold. Not knowing where to go (and how, I could not walk!) Some lights around me, far far away ... So I just lay there and wanted to that, I did not see other solutions anymore ... But it was so cold and I thought of my family. I thought, no Lars, you can not do that to them, maybe they will never find you here and That uncertainty I just could not do that to them. I guess my love for my family saved me ... So I started to crawl, sort of following, the river. 500 th crawls and lay down for a while. 500 more and so on. With a severly broken leg, on bare hands and knees able, through a sandy, rocky area. Oh it was so painful. Later I found out I crawled for 7 hours untill police finally found me (well, I was crawling to Their patrol car lights ) and I was saved. onfortunately But they can not save my leg. So tomorrow morning I having my Firts (yeah!) amputation, just below the knee they promised me. Have to go now for a washing session All which I like Greetings Lars
By today, the news may not be as grim as they looked. A friend in Schiedam (outside R'dam) just sent this update... Very quick update - looks like Lars' leg is going to be saved after all. First surgery done, still counting two feet!
Marco Meijerink over at Bike4Travel/Avaghon in Rotterdam has been serving as comms liaison between the local Santiagoan adventure cyclist community, Lars, Lars' parents, and the Weraldfietser forum. A wonderful example of the community spirit of Giving that ties adventure cyclists/travelers together and a great comfort to Lars and his parents. Wonderful to have such good support while injured so terribly and so far from home and familiar means of support.
Lars was able to upload just a few photos in the days immediately before the flood. I presume his camera equipment was washed away along with his panniers and tent/bag/pad (the bike was found where he had dragged it to higher ground. The rest of his gear presumably damaged/gone). His photos are posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92663566@N05/ A photo of a healthy Lars here: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/11350_429437887131709_2105527332_n.jpg
Be careful Out There.
All the best,
Dan.
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So so sad to hear this news.
They had given me some good advice recently about my planned tour.
Lost for words.
Life sucks sometimes.
:'(
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Very sad news about the British couple :'(. I hope things turn out much better than it seems for Lars, he is a very, very lucky man. Such river flow accidents are something to be very aware of when traveling anywhere, especially in arid country, People have often lost there lives with poor campsite choice or silly acts walking/riding/driving through floodwater. Ankle deep water can be a great danger, water full of mud will move cars and kill.
Do not do this, a nice sandy bed is not worth the risk:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8441454237_1a2f69929a_c.jpg)
This was Toowoomba, a city on top of a mountain range, 2 years ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUpkPTcqPY).
Lessons can be learned.
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Lessons can be learned.
Boy! Truer words were never spoken, Pete. I agree completely. The *best* campsites for my desert travel are always in dry washes -- smooth, sandy, pleasant -- and I never, ever use them for this very reason.
There's several things I *really* don't want to happen to me on-tour:
1) Get run over by a car or truck.
2) Get caught in a flash-flood, especially when sleeping and so unable to escape in time or at all.
3) Get caught in a wildfire of my own making. When the air temps are 52°C and ground temps are 60°C, the plants dry out and the oil-rich ones like mesquite and sage become kindling, just awaiting a spark. Combine that with constant afternoon winds of 63-72kph and there's the makings of a wildfire. You'd never be able to outrun it if you found yourself downwind, and all it would take is a single spark. If it is too dry/dangerous, I eat my food cold and uncooked. Yuck, but far better than a tragic alternative. If it is not quite that bad, I'll take the stove over to the pavement or gravel of the road and cook there, on the shoulder.
Needless to say, I *nevereverever* cook in the tent or near it, where sparks could melt it or me in it. When I taught nursing management and wrote the curriculum for a school of nursing in the late 1980s, I was also a clinical rotation supervisor, assessing the nurse-managers on their rounds in the job. I saw waaaaay too many people who landed in the burn ward as a result of cooking in their tents. One really got to me: A young mother who would never be able to easily hold her children's hands 'cos nearly all her fingers were burned off. Her ear and most of an eyelid, too. Powerful disincentive for cooking in a tent.
Lessons to be learned, for sure.
Best,
Dan.
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3) Get caught in a wildfire of my own making. When the air temps are 52°C and ground temps are 60°C, the plants dry out and the oil-rich ones like mesquite and sage become kindling, just awaiting a spark....
....If it is not quite that bad, I'll take the stove over to the pavement or gravel of the road and cook there, on the shoulder.
Here in Australia those sort of conditions would guarantee a declared Total Fire Ban day - no fires are allowed at all in the open air (or in a tent). Even cooking with a stove on an asphalt road surface would be illegal - very heavy fines ($5500 and/or up to 12 months in prison). You just don't do it. I don't know how they can allow people to smoke on such days though. Lit cigarette butts are believed to be a serious cause of many bushfires.
(http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/01/08/1226549/561967-total-fire-ban.jpg)
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A tragic end. They left the UK together, travelled and experienced so much together, and died together. Really sad.
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Is it just me or are none of the links on the British couple's website working?
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il padrone - only the home page is working. It appears that all other pages have been pulled. Understandable I suppose but I hope someone eventually leaves the whole site working as a tribute to two great adventurers.
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il padrone - only the home page is working. It appears that all other pages have been pulled. Understandable I suppose but I hope someone eventually leaves the whole site working as a tribute to two great adventurers.
Yes - I hope he info comes back up. It was a great source for me.
I still find it hard to believe that they were advising me on tires and wheels such a short time ago.
:'(
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Hi All!
A heartening (GoogleTranslated) followup from Lars (who was swept away in the flash-flood of his river camp) on his condition...Posted to the Weraldfietser Forum: February 17 Thus, 2013 10:16 p.m. -- First, here too, so wanna thank everyone for the moral support, the wise and kind words, for all ... This morning the doctor came to my bed, looked at my feet and felt here and there and asked if I felt something. One place he was just tickling so yeah, I felt it almost all. He looked at me and said the words still unbelievable to me: maybe we do not have to amputate, I do not thinks so. I looked at him in disbelieve and stumbled something like, okay, that would be great! And yes my friends, no.3 big miracle has happened! When I woke up after surgery I still had two legs! So now they are going and try to save my leg, probably need 5 or 6 more surgeries in a couple of weeks. The place was so seriously infected by the river and crawling through the rocky fields and That infection is hard to fight. But I am in one of the best hospitals in Chile and maybe just south america. A very good team of doctors. The nurses are all so nice. chilenean Many other people who are helping me. My family in Holland and Belgium, who are supporting me so good. Equally in The Netherlands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supports me The dutch Ambassy here in santiago. All of you who receice my emails, I am sorry but I can not write all of you personal backup, thank you so muh for your support and nice words And last but not least all my friends from the world cyclist, all of you, thank you so much! I am truly a blessed man with so many supportive friends, all over the world! And, my little sister Nanette's going to be here in Santiago this tuesday! Arranged by the perfect medical care system in Holland. I am looking forward to see her again, I hope she bring a pack of tissues hahaha. Lets hope this good road, with two legs, continues coming weeks Warm greetings, big hugs and love from Lars
Hoping things continue and conclude on the same positive note.
Best,
Dan.