Cape York & into Asia via Timor-Leste, Indonesia, etc

Great ride Bigfella. Thanks for taking us along. I'll be in Singapore/Malaysia in September for about 3 weeks so now I'm thinking I need to arrange some sort of world wind tour on a bike somehow. My wife has family in both Singapore and KL. Can't wait for you to get back on the trail.

Russ
Tucson

Thanks Russ. Its great riding over there... so many different styles to choose from too.

My getting back on the trail just hit a snag. I've got tickets booked back to Siem Reap, but I'm booked in for a knee reconstruction tomorrow and the Doc says its serious and at least 3 months off.

I was trying to start the BSA for the first time and the kick starter pawl slipped and I hyper-extended the knee. The femur drove the central part of the tibial plateau down into the bone. So its bone graft (synthetic, apparently) and a selection of plates and screws. It will lead to a full knee replacement relatively soon too apparently.

All that from a frigging kick starter.

Gotta watch those high compression singles

Well, I've been bionicked, if there's such a word. I'm flying high on the morphine and enjoying the fabulous care at the San. Looking forward to seeing how many plates and screws it took.

I keep harbouring thoughts of getting back on the bike sooner rather than later, but am haunted by the memory of having to slam that right boot down to avoid dropping the bike on the marble like gravel. Conundrum eh?

I'm annoyed that I'll have to miss the talk by Simon and Lisa tomorrow night at Revolution Fitness in Duration. I bumped into them last week and hadn't seen them since Lake Toba in Sumatra, a year ago. Get along to it if any readers are in Sydney. It costs $10 I believe .

I just shattered my tibial plateau yesterday. I now know how you feel.

I made one big mistake though, told them I was ok with panadeine forte when I was in the hospital yesterday. Its not working very well today, def need something stronger.

I have to say, the mix I'm on works well... there's endone, panadol and targin (a slow release endone with naloxone), along with some magnesium tablets to relax the knocked around muscles. I just pushed it an hour longer than the nurses had suggested.... and sheesh, it sure starts to make itself felt - the pain, that is. The unspoken side effect of these things is guaranteed constipation... but the nurses just smile and hand you a glass of a guaranteed cure for that.

I'm told that some folks find it hard to get off these pills... they are basically heroin in a pill. I've given up smoking and sugar cold turkey in the past, so I've got my fingers crossed here.

Here's a crappy shot (the lines are the blinds in my room... this is just iphone shots of scans with a window behind them)... of my MRI. The tibial plateau damage is a 17mm area that got rammed 4mm down into the tibia. There's a big crack in the tibia too.



The solution.





Bear in mind, these aren't riding injuries.... that's from a kickstarter pawl slipping. I guess I won't be riding without my knee braces again, eh?

I've got my crutches licence now and hope to be heading to the rehab hospital tomorrow. Home isn't exactly conducive to rehab... and the dogs are a worry. The guy that I was sharing a room with for a couple of days got his catheter out, headed to the bathroom in a fit of joy and went arse over tit - he was back in surgery again today... so I'm taking it easy. I've had a bit smoother run, but had a pretty nasty hematoma for a while.

Bloody ell! I leave you by yourself for 5 minutes...

Swift recovery, big fella.

SJ

Any news of the joint venture?

The recovery isn't proving to be rapid.... I'm still in the rehab hospital... may be here 'till late April. See the surgeon again on Monday. Got a thread running in face plant with the details.

I've emailed my mate in Cambodia where the bike is stored... haven't heard back from him, which is a bit of a worry. I'll give him a couple more days and ring him.... hopefully he's just busy with the new van and doesn't want to talk to me in case I want some money paid back (I don't)... the alternative option is that maybe the bike isn't there.... but I don't want to think about that.

Got a message recently that the family in Sumatra were selling the first couple of pigs to cover education expenses for the two still at school. Good news eh?

get well as soon as possible, dude, this thread must go on

That proves how quickly life can turn to shit

Get well soon Big Fella

Beautiful news!

I should be back in Asia again next week.

One of the guys I was riding with in NW Thailand is getting married, so I'm going back for the wedding. I won't be doing any riding... other than a scooter. I can't afford to stuff the knee up any more.

The plan is to do the wedding and 3 1/2 weeks of this:



That isn't me btw... its an English guy who lives in Chiang Mai.... also with a dud knee.



Its a little resort place, a bit run down, in Chiang Mai. Not far from Riders Corner. I'll get in there (subject to the OK from the ortho tomorrow) and do some leg strengthening - see if I can build the muscle back in a hurry. Its close, easy access and cheap... and I'll follow it up with some massage



I sure as hell need something to focus on... so that will be it. While I was in hospital, I got a "your boat is sinking" call... which has been neither cheap, nor pleasant. I could buy another Super Enduro for less than what the last three weeks has cost.

Still, she's a lovely old boat. This is her during her anti-submarine patrol days during WW2. Pity they won't let me run depth charges and mount the machine gun any more.



As for the leg... I'm weight bearing now, but still walking with one crutch most of the time.

I'll post up some photos, but don't expect anything other than cultural....

The plan is to catch up with Andras in Singapore for a beer on Tuesday night and lunch there with an old work colleague on Wednesday.... then off to Thailand for the wedding.

Glad you are sort of up and about - a few weeks of pool, massage, food, drinks, pool, massage, drinks should do the recovery process wonders. Good luck

Is there more about Grantala at that other place?

Good luck Ian,
I hope the recovery goes smoothly.
I still find myself sighing deeply in relaxation and relief completely out of the blue since selling my boat last year- best thing I ever did with that thing- but then I just wasn't getting the proper use out of it. Motorbikes are where it is at for me now, besides I've still got a 12 foot sailing pram to play with in the water and it just sits happily on a trailer rather than threatening my wallet out there on the mooring

Are you dropping through Laos at all?
I might be heading back next week for another month of work based out of Vientiane again- not going to know for sure until last minute but it is looking pretty solid now. We might have to catch up for beer somewhere.

Be careful on the scooter too- still very easy to fuck things at this point no matter what you are riding. Personally I wouldn't be doing anything to threaten that knees recovery at this point:eek1
Cheers,

.. so were you ever able to get hold of the guy in cambodia about your bike ?

Thanks guys.

Re Grantala... not really, other than scattered stuff, unless its back in the archives and a lot of that is stuffed due to Imagestation disappearing. I've done a massive amount of work to her - new transom, new cabin sides, new deck, rebuilt engines, boxes, other systems. Still a long way to go, but like Ontic, I'm enjoying bikes more. I've got some mates needling me to crank up the old grey matter and shake out some funds to get things happening, so maybe I'll do more to her soon. Maybe I should organise a Sydney-based boat trip down the river for the ADV mob?

Yes... I'm going to be super careful with the knee. I won't be going into Laos again this trip (unless a mate is driving in and wants a passenger). The plan is to attend the wedding and to concentrate on building leg strength. If I feel at all uncomfortable riding, I'll be going via tuk tuk. I've got a pool here that I could be using... about the same distance away, but here its impossible to get to. There... its a dollar.

Off to see the ortho in a couple of hours. Looking forward to that.

Yep. Rang him. Its fine.

Not sure when I'll get back to it... probably around Christmas. I'm under pressure to do some work this year. Apparently the country is stuffed and needs some fixing. Oops... let's not get political.

Shan't digress too much... but here's the boat





and there's plenty more wood butchering to do... but I've swung towards spanners for a while

What a trip. Damn good write up too. I'm a very jealous man right now.

Hope your knee fixes up well.

Yeah these are for drying /curing the tobacco crops you probably saw hanging beneath houses. The light a fire in the open area at the bottom.

Did you ever end up getting a new sidestand fabbed up while in PP? if so, I'm curious as to who did it. My 450 has been two years without one. . .