tour reports » My tale of woe

Sorry to put a dampener on Tour Reports but members may be interested in my tale of woe in the Italian/Austrian Dolomites. I travelled over there to join an Ozzie group on a conducted tour of this area. There were a total of 8 bikes all rented locally. We travelled from Balzano locally at first and then on the 3rd day went up the Stelvio road (great fun) and over the Pass. Next day we travelled into Austria and as we rode along the road to Landeck an 8 wheel tractor pulling a large box trailer came in the opposite direction around a bend at high speed. I was second in line and could see the trailer tipping over at an alarming angle. The tour leader in front of me got through but I was in danger of being squashed so I swerved to avoid it , ended up in the roadside gravel and hit a timber wall. I was flung from my bike and lay there dazed. the police and ambulance came quite quickly and i was taken to the hospital in Zams. I was there for two weeks and had surgery for a busted ankle and kneecap. My hand also suffered but two fractured bones were allowed to heal without surgery. I was the lucky one! the four riders on the two bikes behind me went into the trailer, suffered extensive damage and were airlifted to Innsbruck where specialists put them back together. One lady had a leg amputated and a prosthetic hip installed. One rider was in a coma for weeks and one had extensive damage to his spine and face.

The tractor and box trailer both went over. The trailer contained six cows and all were not injured! I later found out the trailer had a maximum speed rating of 10 kph and was doing over 50+ coming around the bend. The farmer is being prosecuted by the Landeck police. Anyway, finally I managed to fly home with a plaster casing on my leg and hand. Singapore Airlines did a great job - was I glad to get home! My leg is still suffering but I can now walk unaided. My hand is not right and I'm seeing a specialist this Tuesday. Heaven knows when I'll be able to get on my bike again, probably another couple of months.

Apart from that I had a good time!

Bloody hell Grant,that's terrible,sounds like you had a lucky escape compared to other members of your group.
Get well soon mate.

Holy crap! Nightmare!!

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

Cheers

Paul B.

Always gives you a sick feeling reading about other bikers having accidents, especially when it is not their fault. Get well soon and hope you have no long term problems.

Oh God. That's not good. Glad to hear you are on the mend.
I live in rural area, and feel the size of farm vehicles and the age of the drivers leave a lot to be desired.
Hope you are back up and running soon.

That's terrible Grant. Praying you have a speedy recovery!

Jeeez......that’s horrendous! Sounds like you were very lucky indeed.

I feel for you, having been bounced down the road and hospitalised 6 weeks ago.

Get well soon.

"Apart from that.........."

Is that what they call understatement?

Grant

so pleased you are on the road to recovery after your horrific accident and those of your fellow tourers. I hope you can get back biking as soon as you feel comfortable to do so.

Graham

Good to hear you survived the accident and sorry to hear the 4 behind you did not fair as well.

That's grim Grant but on the plus side at least you all survived and got decent health care while you were in Austria. Hopefully you'll make a full recovery and get some decent compensation from the farmer's insurance

Just thinking about this makes my undercarriage retract! Get well soon.

Sorry to hear of the mishap. Happy to hear you are on the mend and the others are pulling through.

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

That is a very sad end to your trip and I can only reflect on how there was nothing much that any of you could have done. Wishing all the speediest of recoveries.