Cycling in Asia

January 21, 2008

Final Day – Cycling Vietnam

Well the bikes are packed and we culiminated our trip with a day of relaxation in Saigon followed by a group dinner on a riverboat cruise.  It is hard to believe that we have cycled more than 600km across Vietnam and enjoyed many great days and nights in various cities across this amazing country.  The group was really great and the tour hosts did a great job at ensuring that we all had everything we needed to enjoy our trip.  Mr. Hung did a great job at keeping it all together.  Along the way we discovered Vietnam and we developed many great friendships and had many great times.   What else could one ask for?

Dedication

I admire the group for their dedication to completing the tour.  Neil and Charlie both completed the long journey on mountain and hybrid bikes while Bob, Kim and I all had it easier on our road bikes.   Neil has now completed this trip three times, once with each of his sons….what a great and dedicated father.  It was very cool that Neil took his son Charlie to show him the place where he served during the Vietnam war.    Carol, Bob’s wife, is a very dedicated and a very supportive wife: while she did not cycle she took the trip to support her husband on his cycling journey….anybody who cycles is aware of the cycling/spouse balancing act that takes place.     Carol has also done a number of other cycling trips with Bob which is really great!  Bob has completed this tour four times and is now getting prepared to head back to snowy Wisconsin where his bike will stay packed up until March or April.  I think this dedication has impacted Kim who made all the climbs, braved the chaotic traffic and has shown a keen interest in going on future cycling tours!  I think Kim is more than ready to brave the traffic in Singapore and join the  Bus Baits on our weekly outings.  I was fortunate to be with such a dedicated group of people on this great cycling adventure.  There is no doubt in my mind that cycling across a country is a great way to explore, learn and experience all that a place has to offer.

Thank you Mr. Hung

Cycling was better than we expected.  The roads were pretty decent along the entire route and in many cases they were very good.  It was my first exposure to mountain climbs and while painful, they were the highlight of the cycling part of the trip.  I look forward to Mt. Faber in Singapore now.      Kim enjoyed the cycling so much that she is considering a trip to Italy for our 10th anniversary in June.  www.italiancycling.com

Despite it being the last day, we all managed to have a fun time.  Some had more fun than others.

Neil dancing with Honey

Note: Don’t worry Vicky….Charlie kept his dad in line!

Honey

The Ceremonial Pig – Mr. Hung receives Bob’s squeaky pig

Final Dinner

Not sure how much fun this guy had….

Posted by Jeff at 05:26 PM | Permalink

January 20, 2008

Day 11 & 12 – Rest & Recovery Ride

A day of relaxation in Dalat is just what we needed after some major climbing the day before (18 km Ngoan Muc Pass, followed shortly by the 10 km Drann Pass – aka HELLclimb) We spent the day wandering the streets of Dalat which reminded us of a quaint European city. The hotel that we stayed at resembled something you would find in the Swiss Alps, and was really an enjoyable place to relax and take in the cool temperatures. During the day we visited a nice flower market, great restaurants and of course the massage services at the hotel.  Nobody even looked at their bikes.

Lunch at Cafe De La Poste

Footrub in Dalat

Hotel in Dalat

The Final Ride

After a much needed rest day in Dalat, we prepared for our final ride towards Ho Chi Minh City. Unlike the distressful ride up the 5000 ft elevation to reach Dalat, the 70km ride today was mostly downhill. Most of the roads were in good condition which made the final ride of our trip most enjoyable.  Descending out of Dalat was fun and hitting speeds of 60km/h while braking my way down the hill was most thrilling.  Charlie sailed by the entire group down a steep 13km descent displaying either extreme bravery or some form of death wish.  The ride finished just outside of Ho Chi Minh in order to prevent the riders from having to ride through the chaotic streets of the big city.  It was a great feeling of accomplishment to finish the ride.  While there were no Lance Armstrongs in the group, it was pretty cool to watch all of us roll into the finish where we were greeted by children and Mr. Hung….it was our Champs d’Elyse (without the fame, money, yellow jersey or beautiful gals that stand by the winner) and we all reveled in our success for cycling across Vietnam.

Mr. Hung – Champagne at the finish line (well….cold 333 beer actually)

Bob, who has been on this trip four times now, always brings small gifts for the children.  As you can see, the kids loved the whistles and sunglasses.

Reaching Ho Chi Minh

Arriving at the Majestic Hotel was a pleasure as the colonial styled hotel exceeded our expectations. A bit like the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and with WIFI throughout, our room was a welcome sight after the busy (bus) ride into the city. It had been eight years since I last visited Saigon and it is truly amazing the amount of development that has taken place here since 1999. In addition to the cleaner streets, there are loads of great restaurants and many social venues. One of the nice things in Saigon is the rooftop bars/restaurants, which provide a great view of the city and a cool breeze to enjoy while you watch the night pass by.

Is Charlie tired of cycling?

Neil – Fininshing in style…

The wonderful people of Vietnam

Kim & the sweeper bus – Last rest stop before completing the trip

Flower market in Dalat

Today we have a rest day in Saigon and we will have a team dinner on a riverboat this evening. Tomorrow we head back home to Singapore. 

Posted by Jeff at 05:14 PM | Permalink

January 18, 2008

Day 10 – Distress to Dalat

Nha Trang to Dalat. We left Nha Trang at 7 am and got on the bus for two hours to Pham Rang where we finally jumped on our bikes. Unlike the rainy days we had in Qui Nhon and Nha Trang, the sun was shining and the wind was blowing strong when we saddled up at around 9:45am local time in Pham Rang. The 100km ride would take us to Dalat where we would be staying for the next two nights. Dalat is a city that was frequented by French soldiers for their vacation during their time in Vietnam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Lat

The first 32km was fairly flat but a strong head wind and poor road conditions added some extra challenge to the relatively short distance. This was our first venture off the main Highway 1 and we realized that major highways have superior quality to secondary roads. These roads were very bumpy and required a sharp eye to avoid major potholes or other debris that would surely knock our tires out. In addition, they added extra strain to your hands, back, butt, neck and everywhere else. We hit the first water stop at the same time that Bob popped his tire which was very convenient. Mr. Hung sprung into action to fix the flat and had it back on the bike in less than five minutes. By the time we were leaving the rest stop though it had flattened again so the mechanic fixed it up and we were ready to roll onto the beginning of the climb.  After all, Mr. Hung is the guide not the mechanic!

Emotions were running wild as we made two large climbs on today’s 100km ride. As usual, I was apprehensive about the big climb after hearing so much about it from the other guys and the tour hosts. I kept asking Bob if the climb had started and he simply giggled saying ‘not yet’ which added to my stress levels. When we finally did start the climb my legs, lungs and neck all knew it! Turn after turn I wondered when the pain would end but this climb seemed to go on forever. The climb the other day on Day 6 was relatively mild compared to this massive mountain. The pain and agony on the way up was all worth it based on the incredible feeling of achievement we felt when we hit the top of the climb. That was coincidently where we had a rest stop which was great. We ate hard boiled eggs, bread and drank some water to celebrate the conquering of this ride.

Celebrating the big climb

From here, it was a mere 50km to Dalat on what Bob and the tour guides called ‘rolling hills’.   Great! The challenge was over and I would simply spin my bike into Dalat and grab a cold beer to celebrate this great ride with a huge climb. So I thought. The unfortunate thing is that the tour guide has not seen the route and Bob has been using psychological warfare on me when we are on the bike. For example, when we were almost done the first big climb Bob pulled up and said ‘we are almost half way done this climb’. Of course I thought we were close to being done and this almost killed me to hear that we were only half way done.  The reality was that we were almost done. On the Day 6 climb, Bob was encouraging me to eat French fries and plenty of food before that climb….so needless to say I need to keep an eye on this guy from now on! Anyhow, what was supposed to be ‘rolling hills’ turned out to be a killer 10km climb on much steeper grades than the first major climb. I was cursing Mr. Hung and Bob for at least six of the kilometers but managed to make it to the top where I cooled off a bit. I figured after making it to the top that I would have some descents to enjoy however this is when the rolling hills actually did start. I kept pushing through thinking that this ride would never end and when I finally saw the sign that said Dalat I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment and happiness. As I rode through the streets of Dalat I realized I did not know the name of my hotel and had no idea where I was going. Mr. Hung to the rescue: he was standing on the corner waving me down and then proceeded to guide me to the hotel. So whilst I felt like pummeling Mr. Hung during my climb (for not mentioning the grade and distance) I felt like hugging him when he guided me to the hotel. Jumped out of the biking clothes and headed right to the massage place where Ms. Fu was applying iron fist like pressure to my weary body.

What a great day!   Kim is also doing very well.  She managed to do almost the entire first climb and most of the second climb.  She was pushing along when Neil said ‘hey you don’t need to torture yourself’ at which time she quickly threw her arm in the air signalling the sweeper bus to save her from the hills into Dalat. 

Kim and Carol at rest stop before the massive climb

Before I started cycling six months ago I would have never taken a photo of a road.  Now that I have started cycling however I love to take these photos as a reminder of the pain and agony we underwent to climb these big hills.  Here are some photos from the first climb.

Posted by Jeff at 05:48 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2008

Day 9 – Give me a mudslide…but in a glass please

If you have ever been on a cycling trip then you realize that there is not too much to do when you have a very rainy day. I have lived in Asia a long time and I do not recall seeing as much rain as I have here on our cycling trip in Vietnam. Today was a scheduled rest day anyhow to prepare us for the big ride to Dalat tomorrow. There is a new roadway to Dalat from Nha Trang which is supposed to be very scenic and include a 33km incline followed by a 40km descent. This is a new route from previous trips and all the gang was keen to try it out. Many of the people on the tour have done it before so it is only a few of us who are new to cycling Vietnam. Anyhow we spent the afternoon looking at maps and getting prepared for tomorrow’s early departure for the new route to Dalat. We thought it would be a good idea to get all the details worked out before our semi-English speaking tour leader arrived. When Mr. Hung did arrive we provided him with a detailed overview (in English and French just to be sure) of what the plans were for the next day and he crushed our ideas with one simple word: mudslide. The new route was shut completely due to a massive mudslide. While this was disappointing it was not unbelievable given all of the rain that has fallen. The good news is that we will be taking the same route that the tour group has taken in previous years which will include a three hour incline with no descent. This may seem like a lot of hard work without the pleasure of the descent but as I learned the other day, descending is also hard when you ride the brakes all the way down the way I do. Apparently the ride the day after includes a 40km descent so maybe that will be a form of delayed enjoyment.

What you do on rest days on a cycling tour

After spending a day enjoying ourselves in the hotel, we went out for a nice dinner at Nha Trang Seafood. The food was excellent and we had some good laughs over a few ice cold beers. Not too many beers though as we have that three hour climb today and we will need all the energy we can find to get up that monster. One of the things we laughed about was the concerns that Charlie and Neil had about forgetting their malaria pills in the USA and their fears of contracting the disease. Now malaria is nothing to joke about but they were the only guys who actually wanted to take these pills and Kim and I, who have lived in this area for a long time, never take that stuff. So we discussed how funny it was that these guys who were so concerned about getting malaria and suffering its consequences had very little concern about riding the roads of Vietnam in the pouring rain the other day and even worse, riding partially in the dark. It is amazing that a miniature sized mosquito can illicit fear in man while a crazed, speeding, inattentive Vietnamese man speeding down the road in an oversized, under-maintained, over-packed bus with a super loud horn does not scare these guys. With night visibility at low or almost no levels….these guys must be a bit crazy! Thankfully everybody is safe and happy.

Dinner in Nha Trang

Seafood at this place was excllent. They served up some jumbo tiger prawns done BBQ style.   Charlie had commented that he liked to pay more money in the USA to have the prawns all clean and ready to eat (no heads/tails/etc) so I told him that people in Asia eat the prawn heads.   He did not believe me so Kim told him about the time during her brother’s wedding where nobody believed us and we had a prawn head eating competition.  So since Charlie said he would eat one if I did, I chomped the prawn’s head and enjoyed watching Charlie eat one shortly thereafter.  I am sure there are some valuable nutrients that will benefit us on the big climb.

Today we are hopping in the bus for the first 110km which will give us a 135 km ride into Dalat. We have a rest day in Dalat which may be needed after the three hour climb!  it is NOT raining at this moment (5am Friday morning) so we should be good to ride today!

Posted by Jeff at 01:54 PM | Permalink

January 16, 2008

Day 8 – Rain, Rain, Go Away

From Qui Nhon to Nha Trang – no kilometers but plenty of rain. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate today and we were forced to ride the bus all the way to Nha Trang. It is disappointing because the ride would have been very fun with so many rolling hills, challenging climbs and great descents to enjoy. We departed at 8:30 am from Qui Nhon and arrived in Nha Trang at 1pm. We hoped to catch a ride in sunny Nha Trang but it was pouring rain here too so the bikes remained in the sweeper bus all day. When we arrived at our hotel, The Sunrise Hotel, we were pleased to find a great spa, Irish pub and great gym to keep us occupied while we wait for better weather. You can see what the hotel looks like when the weather is nice by looking at the website…. http://www.sunrisehotelvietnam.com/
The bus riders commented many times how happy we were that we had taken the bus instead of braving the elements given the dangerous road conditions and flooded road sections. This is the second truck we have seen turned over in a matter of a few days. Before the day was over, another truck had flipped in the same spot causing the sweeper bus to get stuck for hours.

Since there are no cycling tales to share, I thought it may be a good time to explain how this cycling trip works. In addition to keen cyclists, there are some support staff that keep the trip all together by arranging meals, repairs, entertainment and other logistics for all the vacationing cyclists. The staff consists of a leader (Mr. Hung), two bus drivers and a mechanic. Earlier in the trip we had Ms. Mai, who was the interim leader and well versed in English. Mr. Hung, who has taken over the lead, is super enthusiastic and is somewhat proficient in English. His French is good, so Kim and I have been able to dust off our French to communicate with him. Despite some of the language challenges, his overwhelming enthusiasm and hard work has resulted in a very enjoyable time for all the people on this cycling adventure. In addition to the support staff, there are two buses. The first bus typically rides ahead of all the cyclists to provide water and snacks at predetermined stop points. The second bus, affectionately known as the sweeper bus, rides behind the slowest rider to ensure that all of us show up on time at the hotels at the next destination and provides any mechanical repairs as needed. I am happy to say I have not seen the sweeper bus on this trip so far!

Kim with Mr. Hung

The rain did not scare everybody however. Neil of Los Angeles, one of the Trek Guys, was the sole brave rider through the heavy rains today. At 8:30 am Neil jumped on his Trek mountain bike and braved the weather to make the ride to Nha Trang. Now I could make some excuses like ‘Neil has a mountain bike (unlike my road bike with skinny tires and no suspension), Neil has been on the trip and has more experience (while this is my first time in these exotic parts of Vietnam), Neil has a special relationship with the sweeper bus, etc’ but I am not going to do that. Straight up, he was the true cycling hero yesterday while the rest of us weak individuals chose the warm seat on the bus over the rugged and wet terrain between Qui Nhon and Nha Trang. Charlie, the other Trek Guy, also jumped on his bike when the sweeper bus was stuck but he did that more out of necessity rather than true hero-like riding the way his father did. J Good work Trek Guys! (Both mountain or hybrid riders! )  

Neil the Hero (green poncho)

Tomorrow we hope to catch an unscheduled ride in Nha Trang to make up for the lost kilometers. However, as I say that, it is pouring rain!

Current weather conditions….

Posted by Jeff at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 15, 2008

Day 7 – Not all days are great…Rain -Ride Extraordinaire!

Rain, punctures, dirt and chaotic lunches all added up for an interesting but challenging day.  Today’s ride took the group from Hoi An to Qui Nhon, which is a total of 290 km.  We managed to cycle a great distance of 120km, 30 of them dry and the rest of them in pouring rain.  The ride was basically a flat ride which made it easier than our last, however when it was all over we were dirty and soaking wet.  We managed to benefit from a serious tailwind which enabled us to have an average speed of 26.5km for the ride.  While all of that sounds good, I had my first flat tire today at around the same time I started to think that I was going to possibly finish this entire trip without using one of my spare tubes.   It also occured at the same time as the rain started falling hard and in a location with little shlelters or bike repair shops around.  I fixed the flat in 5 minutes or so and it carried me the remaining 40km we had to finish for the day.  That in itself is a new record as the last flat tire I fixed on my own only lasted 1km (re: Jon Kushner’s early morning repair) so I guess that is the silver lining on the cloud.

After finishing the rainy ride today we drove into a small city for some lunch.  Since we lost  our English speaking guide it was a challenging process to order our lunch today which resulted in a two hour lunch with so much food we were unsure of what it actually was.  The food was good however….but since we had so much we stuck it all on Neil to finish.  I explained to him that it is not polite in Asia to leave food on the table so he took one for the team and managed to eat enough for six people!    When I saw Neil there with all that food and drink it reminded me of the cartoon I used to watch as a young boy called Rocket Robin Hood.  On that cartoon there was a portly fellow named Fryor Tuck who enjoyed eating and drinking copius amounts of food and drink….a flashback to the past!  Neil did a great job for us all.  In Vietnam Neil is known as the Happy Buddha!

When lunch was completed we hopped in the bus and started our three hour bus tour to our next destination.  Nobody was keen to ride anymore as we were all tired, cold and wet.  Arriving just before dinner, we had some time to wash the sand and dirt off our clothes and riding shoes to get ready for tomorrows 150km ride.  We will be heading to Nha Trang from Qui Nhon where we  will stay for two days.  Our ride is scheduled to start in four hours but as I sit in bed listening to the rain pounding down I am not sure what today’s ride will be like…if it happens at all.

Fixing a flat….we pulled into a tailor’s shop to fix this flat as it was the only place that was around when the rain started getting heavy

Charlie – Riding the bus to Qui Nhon

Stops on the way

We stopped at some interesting places along the way (in addition to the tailor/bike repair stop). The people were all very friendly and we also saw some nice dogs.

This dog looks like a mini Shanghai, our friend Annie’s dog.

On a slightly different note, Bob and Carol went to the Rose Bowl before coming on this trip so I thought it would be nice to share a photo from that event.

Posted by Jeff at 04:28 AM | Permalink

January 14, 2008

Day 6 – Resting in Hoi An

0 km today as we rested in Hoi An and were preparing for our trip today which will be approximately 125km.   So yesterday we took in some sights early in the morning before heading to a local place for foot reflexology.  The ambience of the massage place was not that great but for US$6 an hour for a good food / leg rub who can really complain?  After the foot rub we went back to our hotel for an early pre-massage lunch.  The Victoria Hotel in Hoi An is very nice.  http://www.victoriahotels-asia.com/eng/hotels-in-vietnam/hoi-an-beach-resort-spa We have a seafront villa and the pool and common areas here are all very nice.

After a hearty lunch and a variety of massages, we took the opportunity to integrate with the local people in Hoi An.   Of course we did this indoors as I am suffering from an extreme sunburn….whoever thought farmers had the strangest sun tans must not have met many cyclists

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After a lazy day we went to a nice restaurant for dinner before catching a few games of pool at the elephant bar in the hotel.  We decided to have an early night as the main group is leaving at 8am this morning and some are leaving a bit early to get some bonus kilometers in today.  Tonight we will end up in Qui Nhon City.  The total distance is 270km but we need to take the bus part of the way as we could not ride that much in a single day….well maybe but I don’t think so.  Back into the traffic we go!

Enjoying the beach….a bit chilly though.

Exotic Cuisine

Post ride carbo loading session

Posted by Jeff at 02:10 PM | Permalink

January 13, 2008

Day 5 – Why Hill is Hell with an ‘i’ – 137km

Well today we set a new record for the longest ride in my short cycling career.  The ride from Hue to Hoi An took us 137 km over many beautiful sites and over some hills.  Hills are very different  in Vietnam compared to what I am used to riding in Singapore.  I thought that the many days of cycling in Singapore riding up and down Mt. Faber with our fit cycling group would enable me to ride whatever this tour throws at me…..I guess I still have a lot to learn.  First of all, the things that I had to ride up yesterday should not be called hills but mountains.  Second, while descending hills in Singapore is a whole lot of fun, riding down mountains is not only scary but really hard too….my hands were killing from riding my brakes too much.  Now some may say that is not the right way to do it but until I learn the proper way to descend that is the way I need to do it!  Anyhow despite the numerous hill rides in Singapore and all of the techniques I have learned for riding up hills, I really struggled to make it up the 11km mountain.    On a positive note, I did make it up…but stopped a few times to take photos.  Really I did not want to take photos but I needed a break as I thought my legs and heart were going to explode. My heart rate monitor was above my maximum training level for most of the climb so I thought I was going to drop dead a few times.  During one of my ‘photo sessions’, Bob, who is 65, pedalled by me without making a stop.   Now I could start making excuses like ‘Bob cycles mountains in Colorado, Bob has a small chain ring’ etc, but I am not going to do that.  Anyhow it was my first real mountain climb and descent and after it was done it felt great.  It reminded me of doing the ‘normal side’ of Mt. Faber in Singapore but for 11km!  Despite getting a nice book about cycling nutrition for Christmas, which I have actually read, I failed to follow its advice for pre-ride meals.  Right before this mountain climb, I proceeded to eat very heavy foods, including french fries (like what Nazar the cook in Helmand Afghansitan used to make) and too much rice.  Anybody who has climbed a mountain will understand how silly that was…especially given that the mountain climb started 2km after lunch.  Kim also made it all the way up using a variety of methods (cycling, walking, crawling, pleading) but she did it!  She passed on the descent as I think it would have been her first and last descent! 

Photo Opp (break)

In addition to the hills, and the mountain (2 hills, 1 mountain yesterday) we traveled some busy roads, bumpy roads and also got stuck in a funeral procession that slowed our time down a bit.  The 137 km ride took us approximately 6 hours of riding.  Along the way we passed some very cool monuments and once again were met with many ‘hellos’ from the children riding in the streets.

Funeral traffic jam….can you imagine drafting behind this?

Cool monuments

Break time

In conclusion, my butt hurts, legs hurt, back hurts but we are having a great time.  Tomorrow we ride 150+km but we have the day off today in Hoi An to get massages, food, massages and some rest on the beach.  If you ever do this type of trip you start to appreciate the athletic ability of professional cyclists (the ones who don’t dope), especially on the mountains and who ride long distances day after day.  This is really a great way to see a country.

Posted by Jeff at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 12, 2008

Day 4 – Record Ride! 133.6 km

Total km…133.6 from Hue to Lang Co and back again.  This update is late as I was pooped and the internet is slow like me going up the hills!

Today was great!  Kim and I cyclied all the way to Lang Co from Hue on an unofficial bike tour of our own.  (the real bike tour starts today).  I was really impressed that Kim was able to make the ride given that her longest ride to date was only 50km.  In addition, she does not ride as often as I do and has to use a vastly inferior American bicycle.   The roads were much better than the roads in the city which made the 133km more manageable.  Along the way from Hue to Lang Co, there were only 2 major hills and 1 small hill.  On this ride I used every biking skill that I have learned over the past year and invented some new skills along the way.

Drivers in Vietnam are v