Day 27: We're Coming Home

This final day of H2H 2015 began earlier than the rest, and even the terrible morning people (cough, Damo, cough) were up and ready because we all knew what was at the other end: our friends, our own beds and, most importantly, pizza and BBQ.

I had set a different route into the city from past years in order to completely avoid Highway 1, which is harrowing on a bike, but once I explained it to the DHL drivers they were having none of it. This new way would require a ferry crossing, which they said would take hours since holiday traffic was pouring out of Saigon. So much for that, Highway 1 it was - little did I know that a branch of AH17 has been added to the highway, allowing us to go around the worst stretch. Another benefit was that this significantly shortened the route - instead of nearly 100km as proposed by me, we were now facing a trifling 83. We had told everyone to meet us at Cargo Bar in District 4 at 4pm, so with ample time we enjoyed a long breakfast and could take our time on the road.

We rode differently today: the whole team together, with Kim and Damo out front and me at the back (which, I have to admit, was extremely boring), while the DHL van and Mr. Cuong the white van man acted as buffers at either end. The traffic, especially on the AH17 branch, was surprisingly light and completely manageable, much safer than in years past. After an extended water/Revive/Coke break at a roadside cafe we carried on - our first stop on the way into Saigon would be The Boathouse in Thao Dien, where Bekah, Bex and Thea, the injured riders, would meet us for the final leg into the city.

We rejoined Highway 1 in Thu Duc District and began following the metro construction past Suoi Tien. Coming over a rise you could see the unmistakable silhouette of the Bitexco Tower in the hazy distance and a cheer went up - we could see the end of this amazing journey, and it was an exciting moment.

 We entered District 2 with time to spare and turned off the highway towards The Boathouse, located in the BP Compound. As we went through the security gate at the entrance an extremely drunk Vietnamese man decided to crash his motorbike right in the middle of the group. Unfazed we carried on past the expensive villas and it was high-fives all around as we parked our bikes. Rider Damo is friends with Rod Quinton, the owner of The Boathouse, and he had arranged a 2 million VND tab for the team. We settled into the leafy riverside environs of the restaurant and enjoyed a few very well-deserved brews along with chips and salsa. We also reunited with the three girls who had returned to Saigon earlier in the ride, and it was great to see them in high spirits.

The drivers, Anh Thuong, Anh Thang and Chu Cuong, received Hawaiian shirts as a token of our appreciation for their patience and hard work over the month.

 After one final team picture, and the first full team shot in over three weeks, it was time to head to Cargo and the grand finale. Bekah and Thea, still unable to ride, went in the van, while Bex bravely mounted her Giant and rode along.

Across the river and through Binh Thanh, entering District 1 and riding along the river - it was strange cycling past skyscrapers and condo towers after several weeks of scruffy towns, herds of cattle and epic natural vistas. After one final regroup at a cafe around the corner from Cargo it was time to finish: Bekah and Thea walked along while we held up traffic to finish as a whole. Rounding onto Nguyen Tat Thanh we could see the crowd of friends and supporters gathered at the entrance to Cargo. It was an emotional moment for everyone and, if you'll allow me to indulge for a minute, an especially important one for me. This was my third H2H, and on the previous two I had experienced muscle strains with five days remaining, leaving me unable to finish either time. This year I had sorted the problem out and cruised through the final days with nary an ache or pain. As much as I love the charity, team-building and leadership aspects of H2H, actually finishing the ride was my top priority this time around, and I was doing just that. I'm not usually one for crying, but I couldn't help it as the crowd cheered for us, we chanted H2H and everyone started hugging each other. We had done it. I was so proud to have co-led such a great group of people so a successful finish. (And shout out to co-leader Chris Rolls, who was an absolute pleasure to ride with. To borrow his own favorite phrase, he's a top man.)

And what friends we have - within seconds of dismounting our bikes we were handed pizza, beer and a bottle of Scotch whiskey with a GoPro attached to it (thanks Matt and Alex!). I could see a whole range of emotions on each rider's face: joy and pride at completing such a daunting physical challenge, elation at seeing friends and loved ones, and perhaps a few twinges of sadness as we all realized something special was coming to an end. 

No sadness here though.

It's difficult to sum up something as big and varied as H2H. What I've learned over three rides is that it's a huge undertaking made up of small moments: the smile of a child when you wave back at him; a panorama of utter beauty that flashes by as you rocket downhill at 60kph; the boy in Dong Le who said One Direction sucks; the whole team belting out 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in Buon Me Thuot (Ok, I guess that's a 7-minute moment); stretching with the children at the orphanage in Pleiku; Team North America crushing Team England in kickball; talking to coffee farmers next to the hills they harvest; drinking with cops - the list goes on. As time progresses we'll forget parts of the ride; I'm guessing I'm the only person who can still name every town we stopped in. But I think we'll remember these moments, and we'll certainly remember each other and the causes we rode for.

Of course, the star of the show on H2H is always the incredible country of Vietnam. We've all adopted it as our home, some for longer than others, and what it gives back to you on the ride can never be repaid. The countless people who helped us out of pure generosity, the staggering scenery, the food and the roads. H2H wouldn't exist without this place, and I for one am thankful to have the opportunity to see it in such a way. I enjoy Saigon and all of its creature comforts, but the real Vietnam is out there, somewhere on the road, and I miss it already. Until next time.

Words by Mike Tatarski
Images by Mike Tatarski, Chris Rolls and Tat Lay

P.S. We are still fundraising for our charities until the end of this month! We've nearly broken the $45,000 record set by the 2012 team, and we want to thank everyone for their support. If you'd like to donate please do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/teams/h2h2015

Hanoi Arrival & Cat Dang village

It's almost time for H2H 2015 to start riding! After a couple of days in Hanoi we're down to one final evening before we hit the road. A few team members flew up north early but the bulk of the team arrived Wednesday afternoon (including Carolyn, who went MIA with a dead phone for several hours). All of our bikes arrived in one piece and there were no major luggage mishaps, although Chris G. ended up with a bag of clothes smelling like fish.

Chuong, our trusty mechanic, set to work putting the bikes together, allowing us to enjoy the afternoon in Hanoi. After a filling dinner of xoi a number of us decided to stay out far too late and drink far too much before getting up this morning for a two-hour bus ride south to Cat Dang village in Nam Dinh province. This is where The Children's Initiative, one of our charity beneficiaries, helps support the local school system. Along the way Ms. Lien, the TCI coordinator in Hanoi, told us we would be meeting with the commune- and district-level authorities who are, and this is a direct quote, "real Communists."

Our first stop was the kindergarten, which has been massively improved over the years through funds raised by H2H. Since I first came here in 2012 they've added two lovely classrooms and an impressive kitchen. It's great to see where the money we raise goes in person.

The newest building

 After getting a brief tour some of the children put on a performance while the rest goofed around and mugged for the camera. I love seeing such pure joy in a nondescript town that most of us would consider pretty poor.

 Afterwards we were treated to a feast of rice, chicken, egg, tofu, stir-fried vegetables and soup. I recognized several of the officials from my visits to Cat Dang ahead of the 2012 and 2013 rides, but they were much more subdued this time around. In years past this lunch devolved into a boozefest, where the locals forced shot after shot of deadly rice wine on us until we could barely even put together a coherent sentence. Luckily, given the debauchery of the previous night, the forced liquor drinking was kept to a minimum. I think I only had five shots, which is certainly a record low for me in Cat Dang.

We were then brought to a middle school in another part of Cat Dang, where the team split into groups and played games with the students in various classrooms. Most of the kids were pretty wary of us ugly foreigners, but they seemed to get into the games eventually.

It was then back on the bus and back to Hanoi after an awesome afternoon. We're having a team dinner in a bit and then it's time for final prep - making sure our gear is sorted and our bikes are ready to go. Tomorrow morning we start early so we can have breakfast at KOTO before officially hitting the route. Day 1 takes us to the small town of Dai Nghia on a pretty flat 75km jaunt. I for one can't freaking wait to finally get pedaling - this will be my third H2H, and I'm just as excited as I was the first time. We've got a great team and I look forward to getting to know everyone over the next month.

We plan to post on a daily basis from here on out, so please follow our progress!

If you'd like to donate to H2H please visit http://www.justgiving.com/teams/h2h2015.

Words and pictures by Mike Tatarski

KOTO Charity Dinner @ Wednesday January 28th

Lots to report for H2H since our last post. As of now, nearly all of the riders have a bicycle and have been out on training rides, including the riders who were waiting for what seemed like an eternity for some Giant Escape IIs to arrive. We've had a few team meetings and social events, as well as a short workshop on bicycle maintenance. As of now, we're at about 20% of our goal - that's $7,974.60 out of $40,000.00 USD.

The highlight of January, however, was the KOTO dinner on Wednesday the 28th. KOTO, or Know One, Teach One, is a service that provides two year training programs to at risk youth in the hospitality and restaurant business. They have a restaurant in Saigon and another in Hanoi. You can check out their website here: KOTO. They held a formal dinner for which the H2H riders had been selling tickets for the better part of the month. The final ticket tally was in the vicinity of 120, and the total amount raised was about $1250 USD, or 26 million VND.

The word on the street was "Dress to Impress", and that we did. Everybody looked great, and the food was top notch, as it always at KOTO. We also held a raffle (which accounted for the bulk of the money that was raised) in which several of our sponsors and partners donated gifts. These were:

• Two annual passes for Loud Minority shows, valued around 3.5 million each.
• Two VND500,000 vouchers to The Bike Shop in D2. 
• Two Australian wines from Spotted Cow
• VND300,000 vouchers to Khoi Thom and Tuk Tuk Thai Bistro

There was also a presentation from Chris Rolls and Mike Tatarski, our fearless leaders, and a great musical performance from Ms. Cu, the lead singer of a local band called White Noize. If you were one of the two lucky people who got an annual pass for Loud Minority shows, I'm sure you'll be seeing more of her and her band!

The night was great, and it seemed like everyone had a good time with some fancy food and drink. Personally, the highlight of the evening for me was getting a chance to see one of the charities that we'll be helping firsthand.

Here are some pictures of the night:

- post by Isaac Luchini

Day 8: The best yet

I’ll start by saying that Day 8 has been my favorite cycle of the ride thus far.

After yesterday’s short distance, we knew that we didn’t need to leave as early as usual, which gave us some more time to enjoy our luxurious digs…However, this was another day without sun, and there wassome grumbling when we woke up to grey skies and a light rain. The team rolledout around 9:30, back onto the Ho Chi Minh Highway. The rain stopped quickly,and the surrounding countryside was engulfed in a heavy mist. 

 At around the halfway point we turned onto QL 17, a smaller and much less trafficked road.
This was when things got good. We knew to expect a slightly challenging hillnear this point, and a few of us stopped to refuel before we neared the ascent.The hill started, and it was difficult, as expected. Once we got to the top,though, it felt like we were on the top of the world where no one else existed.It made for a lot of great photo ops, but none of the photos can do theatmosphere justice. 

Then we flew down the hill, and here it felt like the
locals were a lot more awed by our presence than in previous towns. It was aneasy ride to Dong Le-or Dongle-and we were greeted by a friendly and skillfulbanh mi lady. We proceeded to buy out her entire stock, and she informed usthat there wasn’t really anything good to eat or do in the metropolis that wasDong Le. 

The weather was still grim, the hotel wasn’t overly welcoming, and theday was still young. Luckily, quick thinking by Adam and translation by Vienled to another plan. There was, in fact, the world’s largest cave within easydriving distance. An excursion was quickly arranged, and most of us piled intothe van to make the trip. The scenery was continually gorgeous, and we got theopportunity to listen to some of Mr. Cuong’s tunes while appreciating the hillsthat we weren’t climbing on our bicycles. We got to Phong Nha National Parkaround 4pm and managed to book one of the last boat trips to the cave. Thelighting in the cave was predictably Vietnamese in taste, but the cave itselfwas pretty spectacular. In general, it was refreshing to take a field trip.

scary

Bonuses included a delicious, multi-course dinner and a slightly longer ridehome wherein we listened to the DHL drivers’ techno CD-on repeat. All in all agreat day.

Words: Allegra
Pictures: Conor and Mike T.