Today is the last bike ride of the trip. My legs will be happy, but I am sorry to see it come to the end of this wonderful ride 😦

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Ride 9: 96.5 km and 976 m of ascent

The original ride that Spiceroads had on the agenda was 140 km from Nong Kiau to Luang Prabang. Then, after we got to Vietnam, they changed the route on their website to be 96 km where you rode for a while, got a transfer, and then finished off with a 45 km ride into Luang Prabang. Xue said we were not going to do either of those because the last 30 km into Luang Prabang was very busy traffic and not at all nice riding. Instead, we would ride 96 km and then drive the last 44 km into Luang Prabang.

I was feeling good and really felt like riding on my own. So after a short 3 km warm-up, I started riding at a pretty full-on clip and left everyone behind. Sometimes I just like the feeling of going hard. You could argue that I miss a lot of the scenery by riding at that effort level, but I think it also hones your senses to feel the ride more. You have to focus on your heart rate and output closely, so you notice every little change of grade. I don’t think there is a right or wrong, I think you see two perspectives of the world when you are cruising and when you are going hard.

The road was pretty rough, with tons of potholes that would eat you if you weren’t careful. It took me 1 hr and 2 minutes to cover the first 30 km to where we had our first rest stop. We had our snacks and headed out. I cut back the pace and rode with everyone for most of the next section.

We got to the second rest stop and I was thinking “if it stays like this, I might just pull the plug and get in the van.” I decided to do one more section and if it was bad, that was it. Thankfully, it got a better—still some trucks, still rough, but at least the scenery improved significantly.

I picked up the pace again and was riding on my own. There was one pretty good climb and then a descent down to our lunch spot. I passed a kiwi couple just at the top and I should have stopped and chatted, but I was a man on a mission. It was getting hot, I was ready to get off the busy road, and I was feeling strong.

We had lunch at a nice little restaurant and then headed out for the final 15 kms of the ride. I just rode in the back of the pack. I’d had my fun going hard earlier and now I just wanted to cruise it in to the finish.

We pulled in to the end point and there was a bit of a restaurant that had a nice view. While Xue and the driver packed up our stuff, we all sat and had a beer and celebrated the amazing ride.

The drive into Luang Prabang was slow. There were tons of trucks; it was super dusty and rough. If we had ridden it, there would have been nothing about it that was nice. I was so glad for Xue’s local knowledge about the route; it would have really been a crappy way to end such a great ride.

We got to the hotel and checked in. Xue took my bike and gave it an amazing cleaning for me, as I would need to get it through New Zealand biosecurity. I don’t think the bike had been that clean since it was new. The pool was great and we hung out, having a few drinks before heading out to dinner.

I was grateful to have been on a trip with 3 other people that turned out to be amazing to hang out with. They really made the whole experience that much better.

To add one more SNAFU to the logistics, I had booked the trip through an Aussie 3rd party, who had booked it through Spiceroads, who had coordinated the various 3rd parties in Vietnam and Laos. To get communication was a giant game of telephone. On the Spiceroad’s website they had listed the hotel we were going to be staying at, so I had booked an extra night there. Turns out, that is not the hotel we were at. Bummer. Now, I was going to have move hotels the following night.

Asian logistics … you just gotta roll with the punches.