Day 20: Merida - The Forensic Analysis - Grampies' Poc Chuc Pursuit Winter 2021

December 13, 2021

Day 20: Merida - The Forensic Analysis

On the accident day, with Dodie at last in the transport van but with her condition completely unknown and unstable, I had seconds to throw our bikes and gear in, so we could go. I ripped parts off, including the extensively strapped on batteries, folded the bikes roughly, and vamos!

Later we of course tried to reconstruct why the wipeout. With Dodie remembering nothing whatever, we only had what I saw to go on. One key, as mentioned before, is that I thought we were going rather fast. Whether Dodie decided that too, and hit the brakes - resulting in instability - we won't know. Ellen Lee has written of her similar situation, in which she had that thought about braking and then woke up in an ambulance.

But this morning I was looking at the piled up bikes, batteries, and such, and it dawned on me - the "black box" knows something! That is, even with power batteries removed, the console controller remembers stuff. It has a secret internal battery!

So I reconnected power, and here is the report:

42.2 kph! Holy! Almost car speed. And how about average speed - 11.2 kph, now there's a more typical Grampies statistic!

Another question we had, Joni's first one in fact, was to what extent Dodie's helmet had protected her. Answer - it could have saved her life, because not only was the exterior rumpled, but the shell is cracked. That could have been a cracked skull instead.

This photo just destroys me, crying now, actually. It's the blood on the straps. Every single last drop of Dodie blood is precious to me. It should not be there!

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Scott AndersonThe other heartbreaking thing in these statistics is the trip distance. It looks like. You were only about a kilometer from the planned end. What were the weather conditions like toward the end, as in how hot and humid was it? I wonder if heat exhaustion or dehydration might have been a factor here.
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3 years ago

Andrea BrownThat cracked helmet really moves me too. I was in a terrible car accident with my small children in 1987 and we were miraculously unhurt but seeing a drawing on the dashboard that my 5-year-old had made for his grandma covered in broken glass, well, that image is burned into me forever. We had a serious incident here at our house this summer, with Bruce falling off of a ladder and breaking his ribs and spine. It could have been so much worse, and he is nearly healed now, but trauma is trauma and you have to respect the impact it makes on us, both the injured and the non-injured. Take good care of Dodie, Steve. And take good care of yourself and let others do so also.
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3 years ago

Bill ShaneyfeltHelmets are pretty nice to have when needed! A little over a year ago, I did an endo on the bike path doing maybe 12 mph, and ended up with nothing more than shoulder, arm, knee abrasions... and a bruise on my head. The helmet did its job! Hard to do a good shoulder roll in that case, but better than broken wrists, etc.

Good you guys use helmets!
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Scott AndersonActually at this point our water was indeed all gone. But we knew we were almost there. Dehydration can hit quickly, though.
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Andrea BrownThe older one gets the more incidents like these one accumulates, and the impact can be long lasting.

I looked at Ellen Lee's blog from France 2016. Really bad injuries/photos but less whining than in our case. Worst ever (and still lived) was our friend Marvin who took us to the airport. He ditched his scooter to avoid a girl that ran out from between parked cars. Head looked like a grape. They took off his face and reapplied it, somehow!
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3 years ago

Rich FrasierThere's physical healing and then there's emotional healing. I hope you both take the time to recover. Treat yourselves well in the meantime, as best you can.
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Bill ShaneyfeltDodie now gets to shop for a replacement, since they can only take one hit.
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Rich FrasierI thought Dodie would give up on cycling, but no - she is ticked that this will delay our planned circuit of Spain, originally to start in February.
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3 years ago

Laurie MarczakVery grateful for that helmet.

Friday seems pretty far away eh - will you hole up in a single spot and try to apply Poc Chuc to the emotional wounds?

Have you watched to concert video I sent you yet? Some amount of “grandkid’s being accomplished” viewing might be nice. On the other hand, too NOISY with a banged up head?
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3 years ago

Kathleen ClassenI am so happy that the fall hasn’t deterred Dodie. I remember my first few rides after my big splat in 2016 I was nervous, and still am on gravel. I got over it pretty quickly thank goodness and haven’t looked back. Dodie has experience with this, and she is such a trouper. As always, best wishes to both of you. Do look after yourselves. Take it as easy as you can. Your minds must be spinning.
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3 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithI'm a big believer in the therapeutic value of a good cry. Let it out and then cry tears of joy that Dodie is there with you to see you do it.
Jeanna
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Kathleen ClassenAh spinning sounds like a Peleton trainer.

We were able to rebook and will be back in the rain Saturday. Just ran out and got tomato, red pepper, tacos, mandarin, banana,... All tasted so great! Sniff.
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3 years ago

Sue PriceYou two are simply amazing and an inspiration to anyone who has ever been knocked down. We are so thankful that Dodie is ok and that you continue to keep us all in the loop, Steve. The next journey might be delayed, but we are sure you both will be on your way as soon as you can. ❤️
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3 years ago

Marvin PaxmanTo Steve Miller/GrampiesLooking forward to seeing you at the airport on Saturday. We will get you home to your fireplace and beds safely. Might be of interest to some of your readers to know that it was you and Dodie that were by our side on that terrible day I smashed my head 24 1/2 years ago. (Steve was my supervisor and when I didn't show for work he phoned emergency and I had just arrived. He phoned Erika to let her know and then he and Dodie met her at the hospital where I was just regaining consciousness )
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3 years ago

Ellen LeeAll I can say is I am glad that Dodie had her helmet on as I didn't. Not sure if helmet would have saved my orbit as I fell on my face. But I had a concussion for about 4 days, I was pretty dizzy. Then of course I can't whine because I worked in the hospital in x-ray & u/s & I didn't want my friends to think I was a weinie. But like I tell everyone, I am hard to kill. You are dealt the cards, so deal with it!!! Now I religiously wear my helmet & never take it off!!! Live & learn. When I got home I got on my electric bike with the throttle so I could get around. Just get back on & go. No memory, no fear I suppose. My only complaint is that I ended up having more acute hearing & can hear frequencies lower than usual which is annoying. Strange what concussions can do! Hope Dodie doesn't have any lasting effects.
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3 years ago

Keith KleinHi,
Thank goodness for helmets. 42 kph is way too fast for a bike with small wheels. It is likely to start harmonic vibrations at that speed, which can lead to loss of control, as I’m sure you are well aware by now. You two have weathered some nasty accidents if memory serves, and each time you’ve gone back to cycling wiser than before. I am glad to see that Dodie is of that opinion this time, and I think it’s safe to say that the entire community wishes her a speedy and complete recovery.
Cheers,
Keith
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3 years ago

Jacquie GaudetI’m happy to hear Dodie still wants to go to Spain. On the bright side, I can say that perhaps starting in February might have been early…it was chilly away from the coast and the days were really short when we left Málaga last week.

I thought ebikes had speed limiters that were active even on descents, so you couldn’t descend faster than 30 km/h or whatever the specific number is. I guess not.

I agree with a previous comment. It sounds like speed wobble and that’s a frightening and uncontrollable thing. Al’s bike can develop it and the solution for him is to both pack lighter and move the centre of load forward (and, of course, control speed on descents).
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3 years ago

Kelly IniguezI"m just now catching up with the journal. My very best to both of you. Take care of yourself, so you can take care of Dodie!

Jacinto is confused by the Pagare - he thinks that translates to money order and wonders if that was your refund on the deposit?

When you are ready to buy Dodie a new helmet, consider the new Wavecel equipped helmets. We have a friend who is a retired emergency room doctor, he highly recommends the Wavecel as being brain protecting, even over the MIPS helmets.

Please continue to give us updates. This was more excitement than you needed. I can't imagine how gut wrenching it was to see her on the roadway, unresponsive, with blood everywhere . . .

Kelly
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Kelly IniguezFor the two years prior to this trip we (and all of Canada) had given up on handling (virus laden) cash, using touchless cards instead. But here it's almost all cash! However in the case of the refund it's good, because I definitely got the cash in hand (where's that sanitiser?).

Thanks for alerting us to helmet tech and quality. My new one says MIPS, but I bought it because it's yellow!
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Jacquie GaudetIn Europe the assist cuts out at 25 kph but nothing stops you from careening down a mountain!
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Ellen LeeDodie is still pretty shocky and dizzy. She has to depend on me a lot. Your situation was much more difficult. In your tale it does not say who collected your gear from the road, found your ID, health insurance,etc. I am interested in these critical details.
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3 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Bill ShaneyfeltDodie's helmet worked, but now we are reading of claimed better tech : MIPS and Wavecell. Gotta get ready for the next big hit??!!
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3 years ago