Matthew Wegner

Today had two distinct characteristics. It was long. And it was hot. In fact, it was the longest day of the tour (100km), and it was definitely the hottest (we’re moving south, so things are getting warmer).

Ride, Ride, Ride

I spent 6 hours and 15 minutes pedaling today. Total time, including the short breaks and lunch, was 10 hours. The riding was nice, with some great scenery and mild traffic for much of the day. I took some more photos to give you an idea of how the terrain is changing. By the way, nearly all of the photos are actually taken while riding. It’s gorgeous out here!

Saddle soreness was a big issue for me today, especially before lunch. I stood up and pedaled, played music, and shifted my weight as best I could, but old man gravity just wouldn’t let up. This probably comes as no surprise, but unicycling vast distances is very, very uncomfortable. You may think you can imagine it, but believe me: You can’t. It’s something you need to experience firsthand.

The Heat

It seems like the heat was the major problem for many of the other riders. I made out alright, thanks to my acclimation to Phoenix, but it was still a lot of time in the sun. I’m developing a delightful tan line of my riding shorts/shirt. Most of the time we had a breeze of some kind—even a headwind was welcome—but there were stretches without wind that were just brutal. All told, I think I drank 6L of water today. Everyone has salt cravings come lunch time.

One More Day!

The beach is right across the street from our hotel, so everyone jumped in for a swim to cool down. Next we’re off to our group dinner, before cashing in for an early night. Tomorrow is the last day of riding! Our daily distances have changed from the initial plan, but I think tomorrow is still a measly 60km. It’s not a hard distance, and combined with the light at the end of the tunnel it should be a fantastic day.

We spend the night in Nah Trong tomorrow, and then head to Saigon the following day. Initially we were supposed to take a fancy 12-hour train to get there, but unfortunately the train schedule changed to overnight. There’s not much point in staring at blackness for hours on end, so now we’re flying instead. There’s a night in Saigon included on the tour, and then it’s officially over on Friday morning. I’m hanging around two extra nights to wander the city, and then I return! It’s been a wonderful trip, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting ack to my life too…

Today’s riding was utterly fantastic. Saddle soreness wasn’t much of a problem, the weather was fine (if a little hot), and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. One stretch of the trip in particular was amazing. I took video for parts of it, which should convey the immersion a little more clearly, but I’ve also uploaded a new batch of photos to the Flickr set.

Stronger, Faster

The pace today was definitely faster. I’m also adapting to the riding–it seems like my body is used to the notion of a stressful workout for several hours in a row. It’s a great feeling to zoom through an off-road section, pedaling quickly and dodging potholes and rough terrain. I did a have a bit of a crash myself, though, although it wasn’t much. I ended up going over a drop on a downhill section with my brake engaged. I didn’t notice it until I was too close to disengage the brake, so my only hope was to hold it perfectly steady on landing to avoid being thrown. No luck!

Nich’s Crash

The youngest rider on the tour, Nich (13), had a pretty wicked crash today. It was on a downhill section and he rides without a brake. I wasn’t near enough to see him fall, but I was the second person to quickly come across him. He was in a lot of pain and didn’t have t move his arm–at first the group was worried it may have been a broken collarbone, but the final diagnosis was a nasty cash a road rash and a possible sprain. The tour organizer, Ken, is actually a practicing doctor and was there on the scene within a few minutes. Tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully he’ll be back riding after that!

Rest Time!

We’re here for another day–the beach is right across the street–so it’ll be nice to hang out and go for a swim. There are only two riding days left in the tour. I feel great and am looking forward to tackling them head on!

We were on the road again today after spending an entire day lounging around Hoi An. The day began with a 45-minute boat ride down the river, to a back road that went along the coast.

Music and Dirt

I really enjoyed today’s riding, for two reasons: Most of the trail was unsurfaced off-road, which requires more engagement, and today was the first day I broke out the iPod. The roads were quieter, but I’m also much more used to traffic, so it didn’t seem at all dangerous. The music helped a lot. It’s surprising how far you can go in under an album’s length of tunes. I found myself going much faster in parts, too, as I would accelerate to match the rhythm of a song.

Videos

I took a bunch of videos today. I wanted to capture random parts of riding on the trip, so everyone can get an idea of what it’s actually like for the 90% of the time when we’re actually riding.  I likely won’t be able to upload them once I’m back in the states, so look for those in a bit!

I did take some photos, though, which should be in the Flickr stream by the time you read this.  We’re staying in an absolute dump of a “4-star” hotel.  Cold shower with no curtain, stains on the carpet, electrical wires stapled to the walls to run up to the ceiling lights.  We ate here, too; I haven’t had any digestion problems on the trip, but if I’m going to it’ll definitely be this place.

The ride tomorrow is a little longer, and then we have another rest day.  The last two days of the tour are the big ones:  100 km and 90 km days.  Should be fun, if a little brutal in terms of saddle soreness.

Today started with a 10 km (6.2 mile) climb.  It was fairly shallow, at least as far as mountain passes go.  I rode the whole thing in one slow, methodical go, without any dismounts.

All told today was around 65 or 70 km.  I forgot to fully charge my GPS, though, so it died shortly after the hill.  You can see the stats for today here, and yesterday’s full route here.  The heart rate data is false–I wasn’t wearing it, but it got so humid it started sending a signal anyway.

I only took a few photos today.  Mostly it was because the riding was a little harder–not physically, it’s the saddle soreness that kills everyone–and the sights were pretty much the same as from before.

Tomorrow is a free day in Hoi An, so I’ll do a longer update after that (I’m posting these from a tiny laptop on free wireless, by the way).