Tip: Please read the previous two blogs dated the 3rd and 12th April as the blogs follow on each other.
Due to the length of this blog I have decided to divide it into two. The title ‘when the wheels come “loose”’ will now be the next (part 2) blog.
So the Thursday night after I heard the news that my friend who was going to help me at SA Champs had to pull out due to her own health, I hardly slept. In fact I think for the next two or three nights I got little sleep. I was feeling that I was under immense pressure and as my biggest sports dream of my life just became a slight possibility, everything was falling to pieces. I remember posting this photo of my gym watt bike session with the words ‘Did a bio and easy watt bike session today. I refuse to believe that this is where my cycling year ends already…there has to be a way!’
When I got back from gym I sat back down and started to rethink and plan. My mom said she was willing to come with but she had her arm in a cast so that would not work. My friend who worked at the gym said she would have loved to gone with but she had to give her boss two weeks’ notice. As I went down my list of potential helpers I realised they all had the same issue …. They needed more notice. It was now Friday afternoon and we were due to fly Tuesday morning. Friday night Anet briefly popped over and just a hug from her calmed my a bit. I even had friends on Facebook asking their friends. By Saturday I was becoming increasingly stressed and teary. Around 11am I thought of asking my aunt. She was retired and had attended a few of my races, including my race two or three weeks ago, as a spectator. I had but doubts whether she would say yes but at this point I needed to ask everyone who was a possibility. After two phone calls and about two hours she surprisingly agreed to go with me! I could breathe somewhat again. Now on a Saturday afternoon and Sunday when businesses were closed I had to arrange plane tickets for my aunt, a hired car, and a few other details. Thankfully the travel agent I used was still checking her mails at that stage and I also got hold of the bus company we were going to use.
Monday came along and thankfully my domestic worker was coming in that day because I was still busy rearranging things. My aunt arrived that afternoon and after time for a quick greeting and packing the last few things Anet arrived to drive us to JC’s and Elbie’s house where we were going to stay for the night as JC still had to pack my trike and he was also taking us to the airport early the next morning. Just before Elbie gave us a good supper, JC packed my trike. I had seen him pack my trike many times before but this time I had to pay closer attention because this was the first time that I was traveling with someone who did not know how to put my trike together on the other side again. This was just one of the many extra tasks that I had to take on.
My aunt hadn’t flown anywhere in about 35 or 40 years so arriving at the airport the Tuesday morning was another first. She was totally lost at the airport, so instead of giving Anet everything and allowing her to check us in, call for the wheelchair, and help JC book my trike in, this time it was up to me to take my aunt’s stuff and start to direct the show. After he had parked the bakkie, JC thankfully came and took the trike off my hands and took it to oversized baggage. After we had booked in we went to sit and wait for our time to board in the section where people requiring special assistant were told to wait. All in all my aunt really enjoyed the plane journey but getting to Johannesburg airport was the easy bit.
I had arranged everything as best I could. We were due to land about 1 1/2hrs before our bus was due to depart from JHB to go to Hoedspruit where we were going to spend a night before hiring a car and driving out to Swadini Spa. It was my aunt’s idea to spend the night in Hoedspruit because she didn’t know the area and she didn’t want to drive in an unknown area after dark. And it was a good decision because as we were going to bed the previous evening a got the message that the bus would leave the airport 1 1/2hr later than usual.
So as we landed in JHB we decide to go sit at a restaurant and have something to eat. But nothing at JHB airport was easy. As we travelled through the airport it was difficult. I had a woman pushing my wheelchair, another one pushing a trolley with our luggage, and my aunt was pushing the trolley with my trike in the box. Unfortunately the box with my trike didn’t fit in the lifts, so at every lift the box had to be unloaded and carried in and then out the lift. Another problem we had was that when we had lunch in the airport the porters couldn’t leave the wheelchair with us to assist me to get to the bus stop. (I had left my own wheelchair at home to save on space as we were traveling by bus and hiring a car, and not a van like the team does when we travel overseas.
After our time at the restaurant, my aunt had to leave me at the restaurant and go in search of a wheelchair. And man, did she have to search! Eventually she found two porters again, and we could start the journey to the bus stop, having to unload my trike’s box again at the lifts! Finding the bus was relatively easy and I was hoping to have a relaxing 5hr journey. But again that was not to be. Apart from my aunt waking me up from a doze for random sights, I was still trying to confirm our hired car. They didn’t have the car I wanted to fit my trike in once it was re-assembled, so as we travelled I was sending emails and looking at quotes for our car.
We finally arrived at where we were staying. I hesitate to call it a hotel, because as they said it would be, it was an office and a row of rooms. There was no restaurant or other aspects that one would expect. The lady was kind enough to give us a torch as just as we got there the power was due to go off as part of the rolling power cuts. Adding to our dismay was the fact that we had put cable ties on our luggage to prevent theft at the airports but, now in the dark, there was no knives or scissors or anyone else in the surroundings, to open our suitcases! We had several fits of giggles as we tried different implements to open our luggage. It was only about 2 or 2 ½ hours later when we found someone to give us something to open our bags and we could finally shower and get to bed.
The next morning we got up early to receive our hired car. When it arrived we were relieved that it looked like my trike would fit in, although we would not be 100% sure until the trike was built. As soon as we could, some guys from the hotel carried the trike box to the bike shop which was just around the corner. Once the bike was at the shop my aunt came back, we loaded the luggage in the car and went back to the bike stand. By the time we got there they had just begun the process. We hung around the workshop for a bit but the gentleman working on the bike seemed proficient enough. Having not had a big supper the night before (we had leftovers from our meal at the airport) and not having had breakfast yet, we decided to set off in search of breakfast. While we were out and about we also did our grocery shopping for the week. In hindsight maybe it would have been better to stay at the shop and watch them assemble the bike, but at this stage I was getting very uncomfortable as far as time was concerned.
Usually I arrive at our race venue at least two days before I race. That gives me time to settle in, get some rest, and crucially ride the route that I was going to be racing on (if it is safe to ride). We were now heading towards late morning and we were still in town. I had already missed my chance of my training ride as a late afternoon ride would be too close to my race the next morning and would affect my fatigue levels. I had been playing catch up since Thursday night and I was still at it and stressed! We returned to the bike shop and my baby was ready! Before they packed it in the car I wanted to get on it to check. I only had a small car park to test things out and I went through the obvious tests such as my breaks and my gears. Those seemed ok so I got off the bike and we started to put the trike in the car. The first few attempts to get it in failed but eventually, after some tense moments, we got the trike and our luggage into the car. We were finally on our way to the Swadini Spa resort!
Next blog: when the wheels come “loose” !
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