Day 7: The hills are alive with the sound of cycling.

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"

A particularly relevant quote from the great philosopher Albus Dumbledore. Today was our first day of hitting sequential hills, and although we may not be Olympic athletes we all chose to power through and get ourselves to the top of every climb. Credit especially goes to the team members who were feeling a bit worse for wear as a result of a dodgy dinner but still gave it their all. I tracked the ride on strava and it's great to see names from previous H2H riders crop up, it's like we're claiming all the cycling territory in this neck of the woods.

 It is fair to say that we were rewarded with some absolutely stunning views at the top and as we crawled up the roads, many of us chose to switch off our music to truly appreciate the sounds of the mountain. It was particularly nice to get off the Ho Chi Minh highway for a while and not have to worry about trucks every couple of minutes!

We got ourselves past a bit of a tricky downhill in one piece, where last year a rider came off their bike on the train tracks. Going downhill at speed is always something I'm a little apprehensive about and it was good to get it out the way early on in the ride, more of a psychological thing than anything else!

I also had the pleasure of Mr Sexy Time's company today, kindly nominated by Tony for being a bit of a last minute addition to the team. Despite arriving in Vietnam to begin the ride having never met the rest of the team they've all been absolutely ace, and as they say, teamwork makes the dream work!