Day 4

Today Tuesday is bike day. (this blog is one day behind)

We arrive at Hue railway station just after 8.00am after a long 13 hour train journey. Very few of us had been able to get much sleep. Hilly rounded us all up and helped remove our luggage from the train. We boarded our bus and made our way to the hotel and a very welcome breakfast at 8.45am. A very comfortable hotel and a variety of food was available for breakfast. Some of us would have loved to go to bed for a sleep, but no, Hilly had other ideas.

By 10.30am we had to be in front of the hotel in our cycling gear ready for modifying bikes to suit individuals. Max, who in Australia had a run of punctures during the lead up to the trip, brought his good luck charm with him. He only touched the bike and immediately a tire blew. Max was relieved that the mechanic carried out the repairs and hopes that will be his only puncture for the trip. A number of adjustments were made to the well used Trek mountain bikes, to suit every ones comfort. We then were told that we were to ride around Hue to the Citadel imperial Museum.

This was going to be a challenge as there are no traffic rules, cars, trucks, motor bikes and bicycles criss-cross the roads to get to their destination. Hilly emphasized the point he had made early in our talks – signal your intention and make your way to the next point, don’t stop; the traffic will work around you. Single file was the order of the journey, with a distance of 5 meters between bikes; this was for our own protection in case anyone got into trouble. Off we went, with many reservations about talking the traffic. Every so often Hilly, who took the lead, would stop regularly so we could regroup. There were various exclamations and comments made by our group as we as turned right, left or went straight on through an intersection. Most of the comments were “hey we made it..”, “Good on you…. you did well….”, “Great riding…”. After a 10 km ride, we arrived at the Citadel, where everyone was excited and thrilled that we had indeed cycled through a traffic maize. (Note: The traffic in Vietnam travels on the right hand side of the road – as in USA)

The visit to the Citadel and Imperial Museum involved climbing a number of stairways – this activity didn’t suit me as I was having a “not so good Parky day” so I did not venture too far. Following this visit we cycled to Paradise Garden Restaurant for lunch. A few minor modifications were made to people’s bikes, including mine. I requested some cushioned grips for the handlebars as I was constantly getting a tingling sensation in both hands. There was no debate, the mechanics went of and sourced what was required and fitted them. This made a big difference.

After lunch we cycled to Tu Duc Tomb, this was a test as there were a few hills to cycle. I soon found my position at the back of the line, sometimes nearly 200+mteres behind. One of Hilly’s support workers cycles as back marker, so I kept him company. On our journey back to the Hotel we found ourselves amongst peak hour traffic and it really did come from everywhere. We all did well except at the last roundabout before the hotel; traffic was everywhere and Karyn stopped as someone cut in-front of her she lost her balance and fell from her bike in the middle of the roundabout. She was not injured got back on and cycled away. Amazingly the traffic went round Karyn giving her plenty of space to get back on her bike.

In all we cycled some 30km around Hue, this was practice for the start of our cycle ride south, starting tomorrow.