as many of you will be aware cathi dixon had a crash while on the spr pyrenees trip and has been under french medical care since.  some of you may not be privy to much of the information going on as it is mostly through facebook.  bill darby is just returning from france where he went to help out with her arrangements to get home.  here are a few of his posts in chronological order.  if you want to send any messages of support you can add to the comments or find her through the facebook links below.

• 18th july – UPDATE on Cathi : For everyone’s information: I have just spoken with Cathi. She is in hospital in PAU, southern France after having a cycle crash on Monday 16th July in the Pyrenees. She has multiple injuries including a number of fractures in her upper body, concussion and other matters. She is in pain but thankfully none of the injuries are life-threatening. Medical tests are still being done (scans etc) to determine if / when she can be moved. It could be some time before it can be determined when and how she will be able to return to Australia. She is now aware of what has happened (concussion etc) and is very appreciative of everyone’s wishes, but is shocked and scared by her predicament. She is receiving very good care and has had excellent support from friends who are there. Please give her support and encouragement in the days and weeks to come. It may be a long trip back.
• 20th july –  Cathi is doing well. She understands what happened now, is reasonably mobile for someone with her injuries and sleeping better etc. Her lung injuries are healing well but she is still in pain. I have confirmed today that Allianz Medical Assistance are planning to repatriate Cathi to Australia, hopefully within the next 7 days. The exact way they do that  is still subject to ongoing medical assessment and may be on a stretcher with nurses etc. I am going to France tomorrow to support Cathi and assist with the recovery operation. We hope to have her home by 31st July at the latest and will update you as I can.
• 25th july – Medical review, including assessment by French spinal surgeon to be completed soon, hopefully today (Wednesday). Spinal injury is apparently worse than first thought. Other injuries – abrasions, concussion, shoulder fractures, lungs etc are healing slowly but positively. All that can be done to ensure the very best quality medical treatment and repatriation to Australia is being done. All your support and encouragement is vital and well received. No date for movement set yet.
• 26th july – Got confirmation today that Cathi Dixon will be air ambulance lifted to Paris to receive better care than is available in the small regional city of PAU. She is likely to go to the prestigious American Hospital in paris’ inner west suburbs. This is good news. Unfortunately this may be delayed yet again due to availability of the necessary specialist surgeons at the Paris end.
• 27th july –  Cathi Dixon is feeling a lot more confident that she will get well looked after. The staff at the American Hospital have all been very good, and have helped make her comfortable. She has been fully immobilised pending the decision on surgery. She has some tough decisions to make in the next 24hrs. Your continued support is really helping her.
• 28th july – Cathi Dixon has had CT and MRI scans in the past two days at the lovely American Hospital in western Paris. She will see the surgeon, Professor Clemenceau tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon to decide what will be the best course of action. It will hopefully be spinal stabilisation surgery then a quick recovery before repatriation to Australia.
• 2nd aug – Spinal surgery appears to have gone well this afternoon. She is out of recovery and in an Orthopedics ward, still off her face on morphine and sleeping well. She has enough metal implanted in her to set the airport scanner off at 50 paces…… but hopefully it has done the job to make her safe from further injury and one big step towards getting back to Perth and a “normal” life (whatever that is !!). The next couple of weeks will be long and painful but I am confident she will be well cared for in Paris. Then it’s the long trip home ….
• 8th aug – DAY 25 (Day 6 Post Op) Cathi Dixon is recovering gradually. The surgeon and other doctor are both happy with her progress. She is walking / shuffling around now and has been out in the hospital garden in a wheel chair for the first time. AHHHH ! The healing powers of Parisian air in summer ! The staple sutres were removed yesterday and the other injuries (shoulder, ribs, concussion etc) are also progressing well. Latest estimate is that she should be Fit To Fly back to Australia on Monday 13th August (Day 30). I am leaving Paris late tonight for Australia and Mountaineering in Kosciousko National Park. Cathi will have a Private Nurse to assist her from tomorrow. Many thanks to everyone who has helped me while I have been here. Cathi still needs your love and support and is looking forward to seeing you all back in Australia.

masters state champs – held in conjunction with the pickering brook race series, the masters state champs will be on this sunday.  bit more info here.

cyclo-sportif – a couple of teams registered for this weekends cyclo at toodyay.  good luck to those that are participating.  bit more info here.

men’s night out – see the previous post here.  come along to go-karting to farewell paul o before he heads off to KL for a while.

owen – this saturday is owen’s last ride before he heads off to melbourne.  owen has done a lot of work to promote and look after the transitional type rides and was an important part of getting a transitional ride on tues/thurs morning.  he himself has come a long way in his fitness on the bike over the last year and we hope that he finds a good group to ride with when he moves.  make sure you take the time on saturday to say farewell and thank him for his efforts.

ride routes – quite a few different events on this sunday so many of the normal ride leaders may not be in attendance.  make sure you know what ride route as you may be required to step up and take control.

saturday 11th august

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 41.18km (reverse river ride)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.47km (hale rd reverse)

saturday hills – spr sunday 85.81km (darlington & mundaring weir)

sunday 12th august

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 70.93km (kahuna)

long – spr sunday 92.56km (carradine & peet)