Day 18: Plei Can to Kon Tum 75km

You've just riden 75km in the tropical heat and what's the first thing on your mind when you arrive?

Cold shower?

Sleep?

Or fish and chips, sandwiches, pizza and pasta all complimented by donuts? 

The team was excited to learn from Trip Advisor that there was a pizza restaurant in Kon Tum. The capital town of Kon Tum Province that boarders with Laos and Cambodia.

BiBi Pizza reviewed the "Best Pizza in Town" by Trip Advisor member joanneandsteve4.

The bad news was that this place did not exist after numourous attempts to find it.

The good news was that we were able to find an amazing place that served fresh rice noodles with barbecue pork and spring rolls. Known in Vietnamese as Bun Thit Nuong.

They say that money can't buy happiness, but it can buy you Bun Thit Nuong which is the same thing.

Above: Our Bun Thit Nuong cooked by this lovely lady.
Left: Our hungry riders ready to eat. The next 5 minutes was dead silent.

With another drama free ride out of the way, we moved closer to Ho Chi Minh City. Spirits are high and moral up, Keith Lamburger hosts a second culture night. 

Here's the game. 

1 team member gets blind folded and 3 other team members are drawn from a hat to have their face touched.

The blind folded team member has to guess the face he/she is touching.

After two successful attempts from Carolyn and Claire we had time for one more. 

However, this time Tat is blind folded and funny man Zak, Isaac and Chris Tran believe it would be hilarious to turn around and allow their bums to be touch. 

Funny when it's not you having to touch the bums....

For the full video, please watch this space. 

Having a sense of humour is about being able to take a joke.

Captain Chris Rolls happy he's just finished the day. 

Rider Isacc Luchini lining himself up for a finishing hi5

First finisher Jack Kimber welcoming last rider Kim.

Jack Kimber watching the world go by allowing his Bun Thit Nuong digest.

Finally,  rider Keith Lamburger caught in a candid shot practising his impressions of the legendary Bricktop from Snatch.

 "I don't care if he's Muhammad "I'm hard" Bruce Lee. You can't change fighters."

Words: Tat Lay
Photos: Tat Lay and google images

Hill Training

Since I work weekday mornings, unlike just about every other rider, I'm usually left to train by myself on the weekend. Sundays are devoted to long rides - usually 60 or 70km - that should get me re-adjusted to H2H days again. While Saigon has some good routes, one major problem (or benefit, depending on how you look at it) is the lack of hills. This makes training for the days in the mountains of central Vietnam almost impossible. The only option we have here is the gigantic Phu My Bridge over the river in District 7. Many people cringe at the prospect of riding over this beast, but I always make sure to incorporate it into rides. When we get back from H2H in late April this bridge will feel like a speed bump.

Hopefully at some point I can get out there with some of the team!

- Mike Tatarski