Day 5

Temperature: 25ºC - Humidity 87%
Destination: Hue to Hoi An

Breakfast was scheduled for 7.30am however many of us arrived at 7.00am. The breakfast restaurant is on the 11th floor and due to the humidity you could not see anything through the windows. Everyone was looking forward today’s ride. After breakfast we needed to be ready for cycling at 8.30am and our entire luggage removed from our rooms and loaded on the bus.

My Parkinson’s medication schedule is to take my medication 4 hourly, the first at 6.00am, and then 10am etc. During my training I found that due to the increased physical energy in riding the bike, the Parkinson's medication was not enough to sustain me over long distances. So in between the doses I added an extra Sinemet tablet to boost my dopamine levels. I made mention of this in an earlier blog. So at 8.00am I took another tablet ready for the ride. Our ride started from the Hotel in Hue and took us through town and onto the back roads heading south. It was an easy ride once out of town as there was very little traffic and the roads were pretty flat, but we had a head wind all day.

We passed through a number of small villages, with many of the villagers waving as we snaked past. One thing that stood out was the friendliness of everyone we passed, especially the children. Every time we came close to a group of them they would rush to the roadside and shout out “HELLO, HELLO”, some holding out there hand for a high five as we rode past. All the school children would rush to the school fence and also shout the hello chant as we rode past. We all waved and returned the hello chant and did the high five as we rode on. Max had a problem with his bike, which caused him to fall off, fortunately no major damage to Max or the bike. Hilly immediately changed roles and became the first aider, cleaning and covering Max's grazed knee.

We stopped at a mushroom farm and had a look around. Then off again on our bikes we went. We had covered about 20kms and the heat and humidity and wind was starting to take effect on some of us, so Christine and Karyn decided to take the bus for a rest. The mechanics truck was at the rear with the bus so it was made very easy to get on the bus. By this time I was at the rear of the field together with “Knock” our support worker. I continued to ride for a further 6kms and then decided to get on the bus. After about 46kms everyone boarded the bus for an hour’s bus trip into Lang Co Beach Resort, where we had lunch.

Following lunch we had a bus trip to Danang for a visit to Marble Mount. There were various items of marble in all shapes and sizes available to purchase. We then retrieved our bikes for the final leg into Hoi An. I was feeling extra good but unable to keep up the pace set by the leaders, so I just kept to my own pace at the rear with Knock keeping me company. Every so often the group would stop and regroup, but I still found myself at the rear. Not to be undaunted I cycled on with the bus and mechanic truck following closely behind, waiting for me to call it a day. I had a few extra drink stops but managed to regroup with the main group. As we neared Hoi An we regrouped again. We would cycle into Hoi An as a close group. I did mange to keep up as the leaders slowed the pace down, so as one, we road into the Lotus Hotel courtyard and checked in. I was exhausted and was congratulated by the group on completing the 30+km leg without the bus. That head wind stayed with us all day, but those extra sinemet tablets helped me have a good Parky day. I have achieved one of my personal challenges now - I had managed to cycle over 50kms in one day.

A quick shower and brush up and we were out for dinner and an evening walk.

It was an exhausting day and I was ready for bed – hence the reason for the lateness of this blog.