Biking Archives - Page 77 of 99

SE Asia bike tour Day 5 – Vinh to Ky Anh

Posted on February 12, 2014November 21, 2019

First thank you to the 68 folks who have signed up for my blatherings, yesterday I had 158 views although Scarpa might not be to happy that my 40 days of wear post is still gaining lots of views per day

Well I finally managed to warm up in my lovely silk sleeping bag inner from my China visit 🙂 and get a good nights sleep.

Today was a rain rest day, cloudy & overcast with many puddles but no wet from the sky. I decided to miss Highway 1 and using Gaia & Open Street Map I found a gorgeous route following the coast on totally traffic free roads with delightful villages full of friendly folks. The Water buffalo is still in extensive use both for ploughing and as a general run about with a cart attached. In fact I saw no motors in the fields at all. Stopping at a market in Cuong Gian I was reminded of Doc Searls famous quote “markets are conversations” as I was immediately swamped with onlookers babbling away 🙂

I stopped for lunch in Ha Tinh, a prosperous little town. Mt new found skill of pointing to the things I like hit a major downside as the guy obviously thought I wanted it all! My, what a spread it was too, totally delicious & it only came to £3 🙂 Everyone was so friendly so a delightful experience. I must say my stomach thoroughly approves of the food here 🙂

The afternoon was spent down Highway 1 it’s in better shape on this stretch & quite enjoyable at times. Especially seeing the bane of my travels, the red buses, having to negotiate around a herd of cows who wandered on the road without a care in the world.

I called it a day in Ky Anh when I saw THe Ngoal Thoong Hotel especially when the receptionist could speak decent English!

Today was 69 miles ( Strava – includes some walking around town). Here is the stats.

Vinh_to_Ky_Anh___Strava_Ride and the pics of the day are here

South East Asia bike tour- Dien Chau to Vinh – Day4

Posted on February 11, 2014August 26, 2021

The route I worked out for today using Bikemap.net was perfect on totally traffic free roads and hugging the coastline. However, the weather was far from perfect! Incessant cold rain, more like an English winter ride than a sub tropical one.
The beaches all looked very sad & desolate even though I’m sure they are idyllic in the sun.

I arrived in Vinh at midday a totally a drowned rat, frozen & shivering. I tried warming up on some broth but that didn’t work as Vietnam places have no heating or even doors. So I decided to give in for the day and find a hotel.

I ended up at the Thien Tan Hotel which looks OK from the outside but the room is basic in the extreme. After closing all the windows and using as much hot water as there was (hint:not much) I wrapped myself in the thin duvet with all my clothes and fell asleep.

Now debating on how I’m going to cross the mountains in a few days time, the forecast is more rain but warming up a little. I’ve bought a wooly hat in the market today but I’m beginning to think more may be needed.

Here is the Strava for todays pathetically small 36 miles:

Dien_Chau_to_Vinh___Strava_Ride

A few pics are here

South East Asia bike ride day 3 – Thanh Hoa to Dien Chau

Posted on February 10, 2014November 21, 2019

With a snore score of 18% and above mild intensity I think Sally’s idea of a low snore score been due to the adrenaline from yesterday’s excitement wins over my hard mattress theory. I remember reading once you should aim to be scared at least once a day 🙂

The breakfast offered by the Sao Mai is the same stuff as dinner, I’m sure the Vietnamese eat the same whatever the time of day. They fried up a couple of eggs for me with some bread to make it more Western I added noodles 🙂

The weather was diabolical raining and really quite cold. I supposed I looked a bit silly in my shorts with everyone else wrapped up. I eventually left at 9.14, although if the hotel had been nicer I would probably have stayed.

I started, like Dave, on the much maligned Highway 1, which to begin with was really quite good and with a tail wind I was wondering what all the fuss was about as I bombed along. Matters quickly got worse with dreadful road surfaces ,excavations for new carriageways etc etc The buses as always charging along heading straight for you as they overtake cars plus people travelling really slowly on mopeds and even school kids two on a bike, making it a real challenge.

When I arrived at the junction where Dave turned of for the hills I stopped to warm myself up with a cup of tea. & ponder. The old lady kept pointing to my knees and shivering. I finally decided to stick with Highway 1 due to the weather and especially the rear wind. This would also mean I should see the coast and also cover the distance quicker.

The road was awful, narrow, potholed surface & incredibly busy in places but I made good time and it was flat. An interesting thing I noticed as my gears were complaining about lack of oil is that all the little bike shops have disappeared in the villages, replaced by new bike/moped shops. Eventually I scrounged some oil from a 5 litre can in a garage workshop.

For lunch I found a cafe and discovered a new technique for ordering food. I walked around the tables with the waitress pointing to the stuff on unfinished plates that I liked 🙂 when it came to pay the waitress pulled her wad of cash out and showed me the note she wanted,

I decided after 64 miles I had enough so pulled into the very grandiose Muong Thanh hotel in Dien Chau which after some negotiation came down to a respectable price.

The Strava report is here (click the image for all the stats):

Thanh_Hoa_to_Dien_Chau___Strava_Ride Not to many pics today due to the weather 🙁 but they are here

Hang Tram to Thanh Hoa – Day2 biking

Posted on February 9, 2014August 26, 2021

With a new low snoring record set for the night of only 11 minutes and an intensity of lower than mild according to Snorelab, it appears that rock hard mattresses are good for me! (Although Sally thinks it was my frightening experience). However, with that and what I could swear was a Hare Krishna mantra wafting through the window it led to me to making an early start at just after 7.30

The sky was still very overcast with very low cloud making for another rubbish sightseeing day 🙁 I found a cafe for my first noodle breakfast. Made with a couple of raw eggs tossed in which then poached in the hot liquid with the greens. Looked disgusting but surprisingly tasty and I guess there was no alternative, except to go hungry.

I followed Dave’s day 3 route to Thanh Hoa, the first part of the road is a nightmare unpaved track full of huge potholes etc, through fields of what I think is sugar cane, but with the immense language barrier it could be anything! The surprising thing to me is just how labour intensive it all is and backbreaking work to. With all the vibration my back mudguard stay broke free – but 5 minutes later a bike mechanic fitted a new bolt for free including a decent cup of tea 🙂

After 20 miles I hit the hills, only 300ft but quite steep. At the summit there were some gorgeous deeply coloured eroded rocks on display. after that it was through endless noisy villages with the frenetic red buses dashing about this with the increasing traffic levels and honking vehicles made me seek sanctuary in the military cemetery for a break.

I made for the same hotel as Dave, The Sao Mai, it’s glory days being well in the past. The bed is fractionally softer than last night, so we shall see what happens to the snoring! I found a neighbouring co-op supermarket (first supermarket I’ve seen in Vietnam) to stock up on some junk food to go with the hand of bananas I bought today.

According to Strava I did 68.6 miles (67.8 on the Etrex) today:

Hang_Tram_to_Thanh_Hoa___Strava_Ride and the other exciting images of the day are here