Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City: Day 4 - Yên Cát to Tân Kỳ

Day 4

H2H is now well underway. Various ups and downs through the first 310km, one word that could certainly sum up the trip so far is eventful. I'll try and sum up the experience so far.

After the first 3 days of 65-75km rides, Day 4 we rode 91km from the weird and wonderful little town of Yên Cát to the somewhat louder Tân Kỳ. Most of the team feeling fresher thanks to the superb massages we had in the hotel (these were very much legitimate, which is more than we could have expected in the hotel in Cho Ben), Claire had an impromptu boogie with the security guard, while we had a morning stretch session led by Tat, who gave us a frankly, inspiring speech to motivate us.

We set off and rode out of the hotel. I passed David who had managed 400 metres before pulling up on the side of the road. I stopped to ask if he needed any assistance, to which he cheerfully replied "No, everything's fine!" so off I went.

I should point out here that while I would have stopped to help him anyway (I'm nice like that) there was an ulterior motive: H2H Bingo - something we all take very, VERY seriously indeed. We each have 16 things we have to do on this list, and one of which is assist a fellow H2Her at the side of the road.

Today was a bingo day - so many of us made sure we touched some animals, borrowed (and rode) bikes from young children, did some dancing and took some extremely sexy photos. And I got my chance to roadside assist when Kim became the third rider to have a non-serious spill for no apparent reason.

We all arrived in good time, apart from David. Turns out his non serious problem was that he snapped his axle. Which is really quite a large problem. All credit to him arriving with a big smile, a lot less upset than I would have been in the same situation.

We went and had a lovely duck meal, before Mike hosted a very entertaining culture night. We now know more than we wanted to about Tat, Carolyn, Zak, Isaac, and their ultimate fantasies.

*shudder*