Today is "Youth Day" in Vietnam and I wondered whether I would be feeling young or old, especially by the end of today's ride. The first photo shows what we faced at the beginning of our ride which required a 10 km climb over the spectacular Hai Van pass (‘Pass of the Ocean Clouds’).
I'm afraid that I wasn't up to the challenge - in conditions where we estimated the "players' comfort" temperature approaching about 48C, I made it about half-way up and was overcome by the heat and a touch of asthma. Tony struggled further up the hill and we picked him up on the bus about another km or two along the way. On the other hand, Don, Studs, Hobbo, Wal and Chris did the climb in 40 minutes, breaking the previous record of 43 minutes, so we were able to celebrate their success at the top of the pass. Hugh continued the mighty effort, also getting to the top a little later.
Once at the top we freewheeled back to the ocean, then continued through small villages and along a spectacular peninsular coastal road to Hue. Part of the trip involved transfer by ferry, and I was fortunate to catch the captain in the middle of his pre-launch preparations.
In the evening, we dined on the river to the strains of a local "folk" group, who delighted us with a series of instrumental and sung music while we noshed. At the end of the evening we sent our prayer floats off on the river.
I'm afraid that I wasn't up to the challenge - in conditions where we estimated the "players' comfort" temperature approaching about 48C, I made it about half-way up and was overcome by the heat and a touch of asthma. Tony struggled further up the hill and we picked him up on the bus about another km or two along the way. On the other hand, Don, Studs, Hobbo, Wal and Chris did the climb in 40 minutes, breaking the previous record of 43 minutes, so we were able to celebrate their success at the top of the pass. Hugh continued the mighty effort, also getting to the top a little later.
Once at the top we freewheeled back to the ocean, then continued through small villages and along a spectacular peninsular coastal road to Hue. Part of the trip involved transfer by ferry, and I was fortunate to catch the captain in the middle of his pre-launch preparations.
In the evening, we dined on the river to the strains of a local "folk" group, who delighted us with a series of instrumental and sung music while we noshed. At the end of the evening we sent our prayer floats off on the river.
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