Dazed and confused: A slithering corner!

Welcome to my first real crash or fall with a motorbike, with the first being for the ones among you who like some more sensation and drama in life.

In my blog I try to be honest and share with you the adventures of life, but as it is life this also comprises clumsiness, tumbles and acrobatic stunts to get through. The last event certainly was a tumble, or a slide, or a good portion of bad luck, who knows, but for sure it involved a lot of rain, mist and a beautiful corner amidst the majestic mountains of North Vietnam. Only 50 kilometres away from our destination, Ba Be Lake, things went south. Those last kilometres took a while as my bike and I decided it was time for something new. Not that I had the feeling I had any deciding to do, but anyway, taking a downhill left-hand turn my back wheel felt it was a little behind and started to slide in the hope to catch up with the front. What happened after that will probably remain a mystery. For sure I did not fully agree with my bikes initiative, so most likely I tried to correct the slither with the unfortunate tumble as a consequence. Through the communication system some clear curses and swears could be heard during the few meters I slid over the tarmac. This was followed by the statement “I fell!” and a bit later continued by “I am okay…… I think….”. Quickly I got up and turned off the engine of my bike. By that time Jonas, my boyfriend, arrived to help me pick up the bike and role it to the side of the road. My right mirror was shattered with glass all over the place, but apart from that everything seemed fine. Emphasizing seemed, as soon it became clear this was not fully the case. When getting back on the bike to ride the last few kilometres, something strange was going on. Trying to drive in a straight line implied turning right according to the handlebars. A rather peculiar sensation, but not quite likeable. Conclusions: my front fork was not as straight as one would like it to be and the front disk brake was dragging. Back to the side of the road and wait for someone to pass by. Luckily, some bread had survived my crash so we could eat lunch while waiting. Meanwhile, it became clear that, although the bike had fallen on the right side, I had somehow made a turn and hit the ground on my left side with my hand and shoulder being the main victims, but no time to worry about it. We were invited to the home of some wonderful people who called a mechanic for us. An amazing experience in return of a fine dose of bad luck. Lovely people, a traditional wooden house and many animals around to keep us company. Not a single word of English, but even without words some kind of communication is possible. When the mechanic arrived he wasn’t able to help so we had to head back to the village we passed about 7 kilometres ago. With me still being a little dazed and confused, Jonas took over my bike and road all the way back. I can assure you, riding through the mountains with the wheel and handlebars not aligned as they should be, this was quite a challenge! I took his bike, but still feeling a little shaken, this was the worst drive I had so far. Reaching the village my bike was easily fixed using some, let’s say, alternative methods and of we went. Finally, we could continue and after a very slow ride with again many corners, but no more falls, we reached the lake!

During the night and the next morning, it became quite clear that continuing wasn’t an option as moving my arm was near impossible. This made me angry, annoyed and to be honest, quite grumpy. Stuck because my arm refused to do what I wanted it to. Sounds a little like the initiative my bike took the previous day, although chances are the fall was actually me trying to imitate the local tendency to topple over while riding.

Looking back at this experience it may not have been such a bad thing to be forced to take a break amidst the beauty of nature. Away from city life, peace, clean air and nothing to do except take a walk and some rest. A beautiful experience showing you may plan everything up to the smallest detail, but you can never control what happens along the way. Somehow this just confirms that it’s not about the destination, but rather about taking in what happens along the way. Maybe it is about letting go of the shoulds and replacing them with coulds. Maybe it is about daring to lose control and being the best you can be at that moment, even if that is not how you planned it to be or how you wanted it to be. A lesson learned the hard way, a lesson learned while trying to discover the outside world and ending up being hindered only by my own thoughts. The world will not always give you what you ask for, but maybe if you let it, it ends up surprising you.