Some might do this 2000km ride to help raise much needed funds for the charities we support. Others might want to experience the geographic beauty of Vietnam. An H2Her might even be doing the 27 day ride for the physical challenge. Those are all good reasons, but another important factor that comes into play would have to be the food. I like food. I like to eat. When your primary activity for a month is cycling, you get to do that.
A lot.
Often.
Today was a "short" day of cycling, "just" 55km of cycling, so we treated ourselves to a lie in at the very posh hotel we stumbled upon in some tiny town before we headed onward for breakfast. Of course, when you are burning upwards of 2000 calories a day cycling, you need to get those calories back in some how, so before breakfast, I had "pre-breakfast."
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| From draught-stricken California! |
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| Peanut butter comes before clothes. Eating it straight up, using the lid as a vessel to transfer sustenance from container to mouth. |
I've also learned that it's important to have a stash of snacks at the ready. One also needs back-ups to replace the primary snacks when they've been depleted. Thanks to our sponsors at Nutrition Depot who provided us with "Oh Yeah!" protein bars, one went in the shirt back pocket. I also readied snacks in both the DHL van that stays at the front of our cycling caravan and more snacks were placed in Mr. Cường's Party Van at the rear.
A few times I've heard our drivers muttering "luôn luôn ăn" (he's always eating) when they see me rummaging through the vans for food.
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| These things are essentially candy, but with protein. So good. |
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| Notice the plastic bag full of snacks. |
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| Wheels, water, and SNACKS! |
Most of the team grabbed breakfast at a bò né place we had visited for dinner the night before. This dish is essentially Vietnamese steak and eggs, and at $1.35 a serving, we were happy to have it two meals in a row.
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| Hoa, Mike, Damo and Rachael tucking in. |
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| Two sides of ngô chiên bơ, please. (Corn deep fried in butter.) |
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| Justin stuffing his bread with meaty goodness. |
Onward we went towards Hưởng Khê, until about halfway through the morning when it was time to refuel. We stopped at some giant monument with no sign to tell us what we were looking at and then stopped at a cafe to hydrate soon after.
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| Please contact my agent with modeling opportunities. |
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| Doing our best flying-V. (You may notice that I am still eating in this photo.) |
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| Getting closer to lunchtime... and Hưởng Khê! |
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| Mango Juice |
Upon arriving at the hotel in Hưởng Khê, I rewarded myself with some celebratory pistachios before a few of us went to get some fried chicken next to the lake for lunch.
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| Salt and pepper pistachios! |
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| Five Star! |
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| Fried Chicken and Mango |
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| Wash it down with some fresh sugarcane juice. |
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| Mía Đá |
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| Hoa, Rachael, Tony and Damo eating their protein to get those sick cycling gains. |
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We ordered a single beer. They brought us a pitcher. One pitcher became three.
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The team split up for dinner, with Hoa, Justin and I electing to have some bún chả nướng (grilled meat with noodles) before stopping for chè for dessert on the way back to the hotel.
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| Almost finished with today's marathon of eating. |
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| From left to right: mixed chè, sticky rice with ice cream, and corn chè. |
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| Two of our support staff joined us for the lake-side dessert. |
All in all, it was a good day of eating. The cycling was nice too. :-P
Six days down, twenty-one to go,
Matt
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