Day 26, Lam Ha to Bao Loc, 103km

Day 26, We’re leaving Lam Ha and not too soon for me. Our hotel room was an afterthought, built behind a garage with no natural light, no AC and the password for the non-functioning WIFI scrawled upon the wall.  I slept some but not much. The ride to Bao Loc is 65 miles but with only half the climb we did yesterday. I thought it would be an easy day, and by itself, it may have been but I think I’m feeling the impact of the cumulative miles and poor sleep.

The day started as many do with a Banh Mi and a little coffee from a tea cup. I made the tough choice to skip our morning stretch time so I could finish my breakfast.

Zach and I had a late start, as we left Lam Ha I noticed the streets were littered with fake money and what appeared to be lottery tickets. This continued for a few miles until we soon came upon the source of all this litter and found ourselves in the middle of a chaotic funeral procession with ornate vehicles, a band, and many motor scooters. We had all we could do to navigate our bikes through this so I was unable to get any photos. That was the highlight of the ride as the rest of the day was rolling hills and urban landscape much like this.

While we didn’t have the amazing mountain / valley views, it’s interesting to take in and absorb suburbia in Vietnam.  I came upon a stretch, probably just a few miles long, where all of the road side stands seem to be featuring the same things, see pic below.  I learned later from a Facebook post response that these are used to make salty lemon drinks which are reportedly very refreshing.  So I’m guessing these are pickled lemons, never tried one - maybe next time.

Ho Chi Minh, just keeps getting closer!  I should be excited but instead it’s a reminder that this great journey is coming to an end.  I’m not ready for this to end just yet, I love biking and to be able to do it every day in this exotic land with this wonderful team is such a great adventure.  This is Jane and I, the oldest riders on the team this year.

A big part of each day's ride are the rest stops, whether it's beneath the shade of a tree or one of the hundreds of road-side "cafe's" littered with hammocks.  Not only were these invaluable to replenish our fuel tanks, but they were great opportunities to compare ride notes and share jokes.

There were three 50+ riders on the team this year.  This is Andy, we had a gentleman's agreement not to grunt or groan or produce any other "old man" noises.  Several times I caught myself grunting and quickly looked around to see if Andy may have heard it.

After a long urban ride with just a few glimpses of mountains in the distance, we finally arrive in Bao Loc.  We have a comfy hotel and the promise of good food.  I’m a happy camper!

Any H2H post cannot be considered complete without an amazing scooter feat!   I missed far more opportunities like this than I could capture.  My favorite was a scooter with two full size goats, each one in a gunny sack strapped to the side of the scooter making goat noises.  I was too startled to get my camera out in time.

That night, we took the support team out for dinner and had a great time despite language differences.  Sometimes a laugh only requires a few simple hand gestures and facial expressions.

Our ride leaders for 2019, An Drea and Zach.  It's not easy to lead a group of 15 riders over the course of 28 days riding bicycles across the country. Here we stopped here for some Banh Xeo (pancake-like creations you roll between rice paper and greens) before our dinner with the support team.  I found these to be a tasty alternative to the daily rice and eggs.

Only one more day before we roll into Saigon. I have mixed feelings about this coming to an end, part of me is anxious to get back to my "normal" life while the other part of me wants to keep going, maybe cross Cambodia or Thailand next. I don't know how you top such an amazing adventure as this.  It's hard to describe the experience but it has a lot to do with the cause, the team, the Vietnamese people, the beautiful landscape, and of course, riding every day for a month.  For me, that experience was exponentially greater as I was able to share it with my son.

For the benefit of future riders, I must share some of what I found useful to pack for this trip.  First, start with the H2H packlist which I think Chris Rolls published.  Then I would recommend the following additions:

1.) Sleeping bag liner – comes in handy when you want to put a layer between you and the bedding!

2.) Coffee press – when you just need something hot, dark, and bitter instead of cold and sweet.

3.) Travel powerstrip – many of these older hotels have a single outlet to charge phones, ipads, bicycle 

computers, cameras, etc.  Nice to have a bit more capacity.

4.) Clif (energy) bars – great for energy on the ride or when dinner just doesn’t pass the visual test.

5.)  Zip ties and electrical tape – doesn’t take much room and will likely come in handy.

6.) A cork screw.  You never know when you might be lucky enough to  find an acceptable bottle of red wine.

7.) A collared shirt for the party at the Consulate General's house.


Respectfully submitted by Dennis Kester