25 April 2011

SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 8
A Luoi to Hue (70 Km)

Hills. We like to descend them but we like even more going up them and passing people. People that have been pedaling ahead of us, more often than not waaay ahead of us, for the past seven days of this tour, people who seem more focused on getting from point A to point B than on the scenery in-between, people who are predominantly bigger (or if not that, then at least younger) and faster and of a different cycling calibre than us. Not that this is a competition, this SpiceRoads tour of northern and central Vietnam, but when you consistently come in last, when you consistently trail at the back of the pack, when you consistently arrive at the rest stop when others are now ready to leave or at the lunch stop where others are hungrily waiting for you, when you are that cyclist who’s always been strong and able and keen but can’t run on the flats with the rest of them, when you are that cyclist and in front of you are three passes, three steep and grinding and consecutive passes to be tackled in the afternoon heat and you see, for the first time in 8 days, that you can actually pass someone and not just pass them but stay ahead of them, spinning boldly and strongly in your granny gear, puffing past but not feeling fatigued, knowing that you can maintain this speed and this energy level and keep pumping your way to the top of not just one pass or two passes but here I go passing them again on this third pass, when you are THAT cyclist then yes, you become a little competitive and you can’t help but smile and wink at one another when that younger gal or that older but bigger and stronger guy show up at the rest stops after you, several minutes after you, in fact. Now when you are THAT cyclist, you have to admit that feels good. Let’s just say we felt good today. Oh, and the scenery – from muddy roads to mausoleums – was good today too.