Day 4..130km to Hai Thuong but rain made it just 93k, 597m ascent

 After nearly 9 hours of sleep - that massage must've helped, we woke to pouring rain. Apparently it had rained all night long. We met as usual for 7am breakfast at the hotel, which was inedible for my tastes and retired to the coffee bar by the riverside, to make a plan for the day. The rain was set to stay all day long, and it wasn't light drizzle.

Toby, determined to get a cup of tea with milk took our English Breakfast tea to the bar and using Google Translate, asked for 'hot water and milk'.

Out came some condensed milk

He tried again, pointing to the kettle and a mug.

Out came some UHT milk ready to be heated up.

Another attempt at google translate and pointing desperately at the hot water from the coffee machine, 2 steaming mugs of hot water and a jug of cold milk was produced. In went our tea bags and it really did taste delicious! Can't take an Englishman away from his morning cuppa😅

That escapade resulted in more selfies taken with the staff as there were now 5 white people drinking at the cafe, a sight to be seen, apparently. We also earnt a cup of their speciality salted coffee - basically coffee, condensed milk, salt and thick cream on the top - a bit like warm icecream. Interesting choice of morning drink.

A plan was made to stay at the hotel until 10am, get in the van, drive towards the next hotel (150k away), get out and ride if the weather improves, and if not, go out for a ride when we get there. We were pretty much all agreed that we'd like to do something today, and if its just a couple of soggy hours, we can put up with that! 

After an hours drive, we got out and took our chances. We were lucky. The rain stopped and although we'd missed the first 35k or so, we managed a speedy 93k at an average of 28kph. Fast, quiet roads, flattish with a tailwind virtually the whole way - just a dream.

No Vietnamese lunch today as the weather was so uncertain we didn't want to stop whilst it was dry, for it to then start pouring down when we started again. So it was rolls, egg, tomatoes, peanut butter, banana and snacks at a local coffee shop with hammocks. Good enough.

We passed through tea plantations, eucalyptus, tapoica, banana and more rice fields. The countryside was very rural  in this section; green and hilly, with tea being planted into terraces in the farmlands. Very lush and green, but no time for photos.

But time for a little 1k swim in the hotel pool. We stayed in an 'Eco Hotel' whatever that means in Vietnam. Its quiet, in the countryside and basic. The latter like many of them - seemlingly relics from the communist era.

Day 3 ....106k to Thai Hoa, 697m ascent

 

So with a stiff neck and a tight back we had a breakfast cooked by the tour guide in the hotel this morning: White bread rolls, omelette, tomatoes, peanut butter,  bananas and Happy Cow cheese! You just have to learn to eat what you have infront of you, and the peanut butter with banana roll worked a treat.

Todays riding was much faster - mostly flat on smooth roads, all of which were the Ho Chi Minh Highway - the main road leading to Ho Chi Minh City. The first part was through a busy busy road, which was pretty hair-raising - big lorries and trucks on single carriageway roads, and us..

The truck and buses pass from infront and behind by honking their horn very loudly and multiple times. They also overtake into you on the oncoming highway without giving and consideration to cyclists coming the other direction....that freaked us out a few times. Add in scooter drivers going in all directions, concentration levels were high.

Again we cycled through rice fields, industrious shop owners, people chopping wood, moving vegetables on scooters, having coffee, resting on hammocks. Bascially going about their day. It was  cooler today, a little overcast, rather than yesterdays blue sky and blazing heat. 

 

Two water stops involved hammocks and nice roadside local bars, which we relaxed in until ready to start again, generally waiting for English Peter to catch up, recover and eat/drink whatever he needed. Snacks have been anything from pineapple, bananas, homemade lemonade, crackers, sweet biscuits/cakes. Occasionally exceptional fizzy drinks have been bought and tried. Mostly the tea, coffee and soft drinks are so full of added sugar they are undrinkable (to me, anyway). It seems to be the way of modern society in these Asian countries - basicially 30 years behind the UK in terms of sugar consumption.

However, at 82k the heavens opened, lightening and thunder right in front of us caused a few of us to take shelter. Rivers running down the street, and torrential rain for 20 minutes meant we took cover in a local persons front yard which was covered and he offered us tea and his chairs to rest on...thankfully it passed, the roads dried quickly (you could see steam coming off them very soon after the rain stopped), and we continued to a sweet cafe for lunch.

 

Lunch and dinner seems to be a variation on a theme: rice, fish, pork, soup/broth, vegetables. Lots of garlic and herbs but none of it exceptionally tasty. The meat is mostly poor quality so you never eat much of it. The vegetables are local, so I couldnt say what they were. There is definately spinach in there, occasionally pumpkin, and some other green leafy stuff. Its not very spicy so far, apparently that comes further south.

 

Back to the next hotel by 3pm so after cleaning the bikes and checking in, we went out for a massage - my neck and back were killing me after that dodgy bed last night. 3 of us found somewhere in the local town and we must have provided entertainment for the entire month. First there was giggling, then we had to speak with the boss on the phone in English and finally we got in for a massage. Three of us in the same room getting pretty much the same treatment, to the second! Continued giggling throughout the massage - I suspect these young girls hadn't seen white hairy men before. I was right - we had to pose for a photo afterwards and probably the talk of the town for the entire evening!

THe heavens opened again this evening, just as we got back to the hotel after our massage. Thankfully transport to dinner was in the van. Here is a picture of dinner. The brown things are like fried sweet potato, except a local tube, we also had banana leaf salad, beef and garlic, plus more rice, fishand some fried tofu, which was actually very nice.

My tummy is growing.

Day 2 Cycling Mai Chau to Khu Pho. 103km, 1053m ascent

 

After 7am breakfast of omelette, fruit, brioche-style bread and some revolting coffee and tea, we headed back on the road.

 Coffee here is thick, black and often fully loaded with sugar. It is served with a small amount of condensed milk....Tea was luke warm peach tea. Also loaded with sugar. Needless to say I tried both and moved on quickly to fresh orange juice! Adjusting your breakfast routine takes skill, time, patience and a desire to experiment...

Todays ride took us through rice fields, tapioca and banana trees and corn fields. Also plenty of villages strewn along the road, usually with a dog or two hanging around in the heat, someone buzzing about on a scooter, and a cafe/roadside food stall. We saw bamboo being chopped and made into stuff (not sure what - it all looked like  long pipes, but massive!), we passed people washing down the newly surfaced road to reduce the dust, and we waved back as small children and adults who were clearly amused by the white tourists on bikes.

The morning was relatively cool and after 25k we headed 600m uphill for 13k. Windy roads through gorgeously lush and rich countryside. Then a longer 25k down to lunch. Pretty easy riding, everyone going at their own pace.

Lunch was in a local cafe and was local food....rice, green veg soup, spicy overcooked trout, fatty pork, tiny eggplant, which I tried but didn't like (after Andrew referred to it as fish eyeball) and egg (like an omelette).

It was getting hot by this time - midday, and as we had dropped back into the valley it really felt it. The next 30k were undulating, on relatively OK roads (some gravel where it was being repaired) but so so hot. My face and feet were burning in the heat.

We stopped for some refreshments at another roadside cafe, with just 15km to go, cruised into the hotel.

Today our bikes needed a wash, as the wet roads created a sort of soft concrete that covered the bike. It came off easily but the dust just needed to be removed. I fear my bike will never recover from this trip - the dust and the road surface are not kind to a race bike!

The hotel is like something from the communist era. plain, concrete and relatively functional. No restaurant and a bed that seems also to have a mattress made of concrete - the hardest and most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept in, with a sort of cover which looked like it needed a good wash. The room was plain simple and dated, and the shower was basically a sink-tap attachment to a hose and showerhead, which we had to hold over ourselves in the open bathroom to shower with....an experience!

So after a couple of hours cooling in the A/C we headed out with Dutch Peter to a local bar for some beers, where we sat outside by the rice fields and got accosted by some Vietnamese childred who clearly had no seen westerners before. One 10 year old girl (below) was keen to practice her English, and the 10 year old boy was more keen to show us his cigarette lighter tricks but spoke no English. Toby became the star and ended up having to pose with the bar staff for a selfie. He loved it...

We also learned that they Vietnamese like thier pets and this puppy hung around us all evening. He nearly ended up in our luggage.

Dinner was also in a local restaurant that seemed to be used mostly for weddings. It was empty except for us. So we had the usual rice, soup, pork, fish, eggs for dinner..Although the pork dish was very tasty with a completely unrecognisable vegetable that looked (but didnt taste) like seaweed.

Very tired that night - the heat was draining, so we ended up having 10 hours in bed and about 8 hours broken sleep.

Day 1 cycling Hanoi to Mai Chau 60k, 801m ascent

 
Today is the first day of our Spiceroads trip in Vietnam. 

Desperate for a proper overseas holiday after being stuck in WA for 2 years we booked this to fit with our diaries, and to explore a new country. Vietnam has been on our bucket list for a while.

We arrived here 4 days ago to explore the city and surrounds, and get used to the hot and humid climate. It’s safe to say we’ve had enough of a noisy city and really Looking forward to getting out to see the country.

There is always some apprehension on the first day as you start to meet the other riders on the trip and find your bearings. We knew there would be 5 of us plus the guide, but I didn’t expect it to be 4 blokes and me... Good job I can keep up!

We have a 3 hour drive out of the city, 30k til lunch then 30 to our accommodation. It’s dry and overcast but not as hot as precious days.

The drive takes us on single carriageway slow roads through villages and lush greenery. Rice fields, banana trees and fruit sold at the side of the road. 

With hills looming on the horizon. It’s slow and we are all keen to get riding.

60k later……

The ride started with 15k in gravel backroads!!

I was not impressed. As the only two with thin tyres and our own bikes I was feeling very nervous about punctures and not relishing the next 900km on gravel 😟

Slight sense of humour breakdown, but after lunch of noodles in a local cafe it improved. Gorgeous scenery of padi fields, villages, and the dam on undulating roads.

We made it to our accommodation in Mai Chau by 330pm. Pretty bloody sweaty and glad the first day was only 60k. The sun shone all afternoon but the heat was draining. 

The accommodation was a local village family run hotel in a valley surrounded by more lush greenery and stunning hills. Huge air conditioned room with sliding doors leading to a verandah overlooking local fields and village. The room had two massive beds - both with very bumpy mattresses. Having picked one, we proceeded to rearrange the bedding to give some extra protection against the bed springs, lying on top one duvet and grabbing the other sheet and duvet from the other bed to lie underneath. It was optimistic but managed a relatively good nights sleep. 

Dinner was a banquet of Vietnamese food: spring rolls, pork and pineapple stir fry, banana leaf salad (which was becoming a firm favourite), soup, rice, beef stir fry, vegetables, and snails from the family run restaurant. It was just us in the restaurant so we were well looked after and keep cool thanks to the fans set up around us.

Do I really want to do this???

Saturday 19th May was my second attempt at qualifying for the Glasgow Triathlon European Championships, sprint distance.

I'd tried back in September 2017 and got a ranking of 109%. With 60 athletes trying to get 25 places, my odds weren't really that high. So I was approaching this race with caution, and not being an 'A' race, didn't put too much emphasis on the event. Being a sprint, its short and fast, and with a qualifying Olympic distance 'A' race in 2 weeks time, I was happy just to see how I fared in the field of something realistically out of my reach.

That didn't mean I didn't stress over it, nor have rubbish nights sleep the two days before, and a migrane aura the day before - all working against a half decent race. So I got up early, drove to Nottingham on the morning of the event, and arrived with a good 90 minutes spare to register and rack.

200 women went off at 10:15 for the 750m swim in the rowing lake. I can safely say I would much rather be ontop that lake than inside it! It was the most hideous triathlon swim I have ever done. I couldn't breathe or see, and was being elbowed, kicked, jostled and pushed for the first 500m. I had to do breastroke (something I haven't done for 10 years in a race) to get my breath back, and could feel myself moving further and further down the pack. At one point I was ready to roll on my back, put my hands up and give up the whole thing. I also thought 'if this is what the EU Champs is like, I don't want to be there'.

But I carried on, got some sort of rythmn in the last 200m and have never been so pleased to get out of the water!

Feeling despondent, I transitioned as quickly as I could and got on the bike. 4 laps of the lake, no drafting allowed, and lots of leap-frogging with similar-paced athletes. I managed a steady 34kph throughout. Happy with that, it's almost what I've done in time trials with no bends or corners. 35kph would have taken an extra 30s off my time, which I could probably save on transition somewhere!

Onto the run. I set off at 4:27 min/km. WAY faster than I could sustain. So I mentally gave myself a talking to, to slow it down and succeeded in speeding up for the next Km! Feeling good I maintained a 4:27 pace throughout, finally running the best 5k I've ever ran. Amazing.

So, despite a terrible start to the race, I ended up in 5th place in my age group, out of 28. This MAY get me a qualifying place as the lady in 2nd wasn't trying to qualify which means my position is 4th.... as far as I understand. But the dark art of BTF age group qualification eludes me, so I will have to await the official results from Triathlon England, and try not to get my hopes up!

Recovery from injury

Back in November 2017 I pulled a calf muscle in my left leg. It was mostly preventable at the time, because I did a long hard run, then immediately afterwards went on a 1 hour walk and a 1 hour walk/run with my beginner runners. I then did a brick session 2 days later.

Hindsight is a great thing but the journey I have gone through since then has shown that there was so much more to it than just over training.

I realised my calves had been tight for a year. A year of harder racing, and of new minimalist shoes. Not until I went to a physio, a running coach and podiatrist did I realise that 1) I needed to run better and 2) I needed to be more sensible with my shoe selection.

I took two months off running. That was tough. Whilst I could swim and bike and do S&C, I was mildly concerned that my running speed and efficiency would suffer and take a long time to return to pre-injury state. But I had my physio assessment which told me I was well balanced (some would disagree), strong and flexible and in essence, no reason for the injury to re-occur.

So I got back into running slowly - run/walks, building up slowly to 5k then 8 and then 10k. Hard runs were still hurting the calves and then the right calf started hurting.

Eventually I came to the realisation that perhaps the shoes were causing a problem. A trip to the podiatrist confirmed this, and that the 6mm drop in my lovely fast race shoes were not good for my feet which naturally have a higher heel than toe (not normal, apparently).

I'm pleased to say that back into running again, with tentative calves, my speed is as fast as before. in fact my duathlon this February was 1 min per 5k faster than last year. Very happy about that, and it goes to show that some time out of training doesn't cause too much harm in the

long run.

Pumping Marvellous

A couple of months ago, I walked up Snowdon with a charity called Pumping Marvellous, led by some ex-SAS and marines from Intrepid Adventures.

The aim was to raise awareness of patients with heart failure and several of the walkers that joined us did so because they had a friend or relative with heart failure. They wanted to experience the breathlessness that their loved ones experience on a daily basis just by going through their daily activities.

We were each given a heart rate monitor from 'MyZone' and once we had uploaded our personal details such as height and weight onto the App, it was able to track our activity during the day. The idea was that the charity would analyse our activity results at the end of the day and compare them to those of the heart failure patients.


At the end of the day my App told me I had burnt 2750kCal, walked 18k in 8:41hrs. My average Heartrate was 103 and maximum was 158bpm. MyZone allows one to compare workouts with friends and earn "MEPs" as part of that competition. Our guide swears by it and uses as daily as his main workout tracker. Certainly the belt was easy to wear and use, and if you're a competition soul, it could be the App of choice.

Snowdon was, as ever, wet and cold at top, the views were poor. It was still beautiful, atmospheric and green. We walked up the Watkins path which started steady and easy then in the last 400m of ascent, it became steeper and looser under foot. The steps became larger, causing the legs and lungs to work harder. That's when the heartrate would have hit the 158bpm maximum. For me, that is around 87% of my maximum, and not at all challenging. Running at 177bpm is possible for me, and regularly happens!