Got everything loaded and we headed on to downtown for the super Lao breakfast..fried eggs, french fries, toast, grilled tomatoe, fabulous hot Lao baguette of French bread and the best of all..great Lao coffee (Kaffee Lao..dam). Breakfast just doesn't get any better. We sat there eating and it really started pouring rain. It was fun sitting there and watching the locals cruise by on bikes, riding with one hand on the bike and another carrying an umbrella...I kid you not...see pic..
Sitting there watching it pour outside, we spied the monks walking down the road as they were out collecting morning alms (food for the Wat).........
Just as we were leaving the restaurant, we met a Swedish couple also riding to Vientiane. They only rode about 75K a day max they said so they were breaking up the ride for the day into 2 days to Vientiane while we were going to ride the full distance. Kind of interesting meeting them as they were all decked out in full Goretex jackets, pants and even booties. I would of sweat like a pig with those clothes on riding in the rain. I had on mtn bike shorts, my only bike jersey (I ditched the other one back in Thailand a week ago, in my weight saving effort!) and a new bike jacket supposedly full waterproof. We got underway in pouring rain. I was riding behind Colin and kept hearing this squeaking so we stopped and checked his front break again and it was rubbing. I re-centered his brakes and it was fine until he started riding again and we continued to hear the same squeak. Checked the brakes again and they were ok, so I concluded (after thoroughly looking at other possibility on the bike) that the squeak probably was coming from his bottom bracket as it only squeaked when he was riding under torque. More than likely, as it was a brand new bike off the Trek dealership floor in Bangkok, that they had not taken a look at that bottom bracket before he bought it and it could of been lacking adequate grease and the rain only accentuated the problem. That's only one thing I learned from the guys, Rob, TJ and Chris at the Blue Sky bike shop in Longmont, CO. where I've been working for a year and a half in my dream job as a bike mechanic (I'm currently on leave of absence..thanks Guys!). We always take the bottom bracket out and check for grease on every new bike and then re-tighten. This is pretty standard throughout the bike industry, that almost all new bikes need to have the bottom brackets checked for lube and re-tightened..learned that at Barnetts Bicycle Mechanics Institute in CO. Springs from John Barnett and Jenny Skorcz...great place to learn everything!
So we got going again and he rode with the squeak..sorry Colin! I took the lead as I couldn't stand hearing, squeak, squeak!! We rode through a small town on the Mekong which just reeked of fish for about 5K from town...got there and there must of been 200 stalls on both sides of the road selling fresh fish, dried fish, smoked fish...they had it all.......
Fish anyone???
The ride was a dream ride for the first 50K or so as the mountains to our left were so surreal with the fog and clouds rolling down the sides of the mountain and it was still raining. Then we got into the mountain climbs...several long rather steep climbs of about 3K or so, then we were into rolling hills and no more climbing. We decided at 60K we would try to find somewhere to stop and have a coffee, so Colin saw a place advertising coffee and we stopped, but all they had was the Nescafe in cans, cold. So as were getting ready to leave and get something further down the road, I spied this cute little girl of around 4-5 years old looking at us...uh oh...Boulder T'shirt giveaway again! 2 left...she got one...........
Future Boulder triathlete!
I so loved giving out these t'shirts. I only wish I had a couple hundred more with me. It has been difficult giving them out because the kids in Laos are so shy to Westerners and as soon as you try to give them one, they run away (thank God for that...there's enough child sex traffic going on in Asia and the governments everywhere are finally cracking down on people preying on young children). But I was always able to get one or more parents to tell the child it was ok. This little girl was just adorable and afterward, she shook my hand and told me thanks...precious memories!
At just about 1/2 way, we stopped in Phongkong for lunch..ah, a big lunch of stir fried (yep..same same) morning glory with chicken and chillies, and rice..a huge plate for about $.60. I washed it down with chocolate milk, and an energy drink and I was ready to rock on!
We stopped again around 120K and bought banannas..the little golden banannas are so sweet. We called this stop the Bananna lady..........
Thanks Bananna Lady!!
Rock on! Everything started kicking in for us the last 40K and we must of averaged 30K an hour so more the rest of the way into Vientiane. About 15K from city center, the highway broadened into a divided 4 lane with a bike lane, although most of the time it was blocked with cars...hm...what's up with that?? Where's the Boulder police when you need them the most?? Passed numerous night markets as it was dusk, around 5 when we finally got 1K from city central. Saw a sign for hotel and we were onto that like..well, you know. The hotel was cool, but alas..full, but around the corner we found a great guesthouse for only $18 a night...another HYATT!! NO SQUAT TOILET!! Hot water and HBO!!! Ah.........there is a Buddha! And I got to watch the Republican debates (sic)...and hear John McCain say how he thought that the U.S. would have troops in Iraq for the next 100 years...hey John...are you friggn nuts or senile?? I am sooooooooooooooo glad I'm living outside the country at this time of year when those self serving b...d's are on tv. And I missed all this in 2004 as well when I was living in Asia then..I don't miss any of it at all.
Couldn't find a massage last night..everything closed, so we're planning a massage for tomorrow (Friday) morning. Friday is a day off to explore the city anyway as we have another 180K ride on Sat.
Later people....
No comments:
Post a Comment