Resting in Khorog

Day 75-77

I have a list of things to do in Khorog, clean my bike, change the tube in the back tyre (it has a slow leak), write and upload my blog, go shopping for food and eat. And eat. 

I take it pretty easy on my second day in town, venturing out in the morning to go to the bazaar, having a nap after lunch, drink some beer in the arvo, eat some more food. On Saturday a few other cyclists and I try to go to the border market - a market that Afghanis and Tajiks and tourists can all go to. We make the trek into town only to be told that the market is closed for renovations. Oh well, a quick shop, searching for jam in a bag, and we return to the guesthouse for another relaxing afternoon. 

On Sunday I cycle to the bazaar (just for something different!) and stumble across Barbara, the Austrian cyclist I spent some time with in Kyrgyzstan. She has arrived from her Pamir/ Whakan adventure and has found a family to stay with in Khorog. We head to my guesthouse for lunch and plan the next few days. 

We decide to leave town tomorrow arvo, I will cycle with her until Khali-I-Khumb, hopefully arrive there on Friday. From there I will catch a share jeep to Dushanbe and she will cycle on. 

With this plan in place I finally get around to doing my bike maintenance, change my rear tube and get the toothbrush out to try and get some of the Whakan sand out of my chain. 

Preparations and Setbacks

Last weekend was productive, I spent Sunday afternoon with Dan changing the brakes on my bike to Aid BB7s, putting new grips on the bike and installing the front rack.

On Tuesday night I rode my bicycle to work, using the front rack and clipped a barrier with the front pannier in the car park. I fell onto my right hand with my arm straight.  my arm was a little bit sore but I thought it would be ok.  At about 8pm (the crash was at 6.30pm) it was getting much worse.  I could hardly move my arm, hold a pen, use the computer, much less try and do pressure area care on my 77kg patient.  I let my team leader know what happened and she gave me some paracetamol and ibuprofen and sent me to ED. 

A few painful x-rays and a couple of hours later it was diagnosed as a fractured radial head.  I was given a sling, some more pain relief and sent on my way.  It was a very anti-climatic last shift.  The ED doctor thinks I will be able to cycle in three weeks time.  I will go to fracture clinic next week and get it checked up on.  In the meantime Heidi is taking great care of me, reliving the weeks she spent looking after me when I broke my collar bone in Canada.  I am fumbling my way around trying to do everything left handed and regretting purchasing bottles of paracetamol and ibuprofen with child proof lids.