Gideon's bike life - Genesis, Graham Weigh, Cinelli, Land Shark & Ritchey

Ah perfect thanks - that makes sense

I look forward to the Tenerife report

Some words & pictures of mine on the Restrap blog. Also more photos on my IG - one, two.

Trip was pretty mega - Tenerife a gorgeous place to ride. It's been quite a shock coming back to 5C from 25C, & £6.60 from €1.20 for a large wine!

We did a rough variation of the Gran Gaunche route, plus a few extras to make up ground to where we were staying - generally at around sea level. All the gravel was at altitude, so to make our way back up we had some pretty spicy road & off-road climbs. I had the hardest gearing & the smallest tyres of all my friends, & do wish I'd gone for the 40T front ring instead of a 44T, but generally survived, knees intact.

Gran Gaunche recommends 45mm tyres, but I was fine on a wide 37mm tbh, didn't really feel like I needed more as there were plenty of fast luxury gravel sections of quick rolling stuff. In general, while the surfaces were variable but all very rideable apart from a few small sections on the first day out of Vilaflor. On the north side of the island we even encountered mud at one point which we thought might've been caused by helicopters dousing the extinguished wildfires we rode through - we were later informed that there had been huge dramatic storms the week before we came. A friend had been up to the summit of Teide the week before we'd come & found two dead bodies caught out by the same storm, must have been quite dramatic weather (though I guess it wouldn't take much at 3,700m).

One thing that worked out really well from our trip was managing bike boxes. We'd taken a roll of black clingfling & wrapped the folded cardboard boxes after unpacking bikes. With the use of an inner tube we wore them as backpacks & cycled with them to a patch of wasteground just outside the airport, & hid them among some cacti & shrubs. Came back a week later & they were undisturbed, so made sorting out getting bikes home much simpler than hunting down new boxes! Did look a bit like we'd hidden some bodies though.

Oo, got a new highest speed I've been on a bike too - 52mph on the top plateau. Perflectly straight, downhill road with a tailwind. Beat my previous top of 50mph on Bernina Pass/Pendle Hill.

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Like any other crank really, but pretty! I quite like them, it's handy having two sets of Rotor cranks with the same axle as can swap (power meter) spider & so on. Wish they did a spider which did a better 1x chainline though.

Not much updates this year as the weather has been rubbish so not got out as much as I'd have liked over winter. Heading to Vietnam in about a fortnight & am on-call for half of that time, so not much chance to get further miles in. Am sure it'll be fine though.

Started to collect together a few bits for the trip - hoping to spend most of the time in hotels/wherever we can find to stay, but will be taking a hammock as an emergency backup in case. Need to go & pick up a new sleeping bag liner later from Decathlon.

I'll be taking the Ritchey & started setting up some new tyres - went for blue again partially to annoy my friends. Did my usual rigmarole of attempting to seat the tyre without a shock pump, getting frustrated, giving up, ordering an air-blast pump, calming down, attempting to seat again, succeeding, cancelling my order for an air-blast pump.

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Back from Vietnam on Sunday, & come down with some horrendous illness which I suspect I caught on the flight. A bit frustrating as the weather is actually lovely in Leeds at the moment - sunny, warm & not windy for a change.

In synopsis, the country was absolutely amazing - scenery unbelievable, roads super smooth, gravel unexpected, heat intolerable, bugs non-existent, food questionable.

I'll do a full writeup soon as I think that'd be really handy to have that in the public sphere - information on the country for bike touring (outside the Ho Chi Minh trail) was hard to find when planning. Our original route up to Ma Pi Leng pass was roughly adhered to, but we expected a dynamic plan & things changed on the ground.

For now, some photos.

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Just about recovered from the dreadful lurgy I caught on the way back from Vietnam, so about time to write a bit of a report.

As before with Croatia, Turkiyë & Tenerife, the route was mainly down to me. Planning for Vietnam was pretty hard, as there wasn't much data at all on what the roads were like or what facilities there were. With that in mind, we agreed that a dynamic plan was the best approach, & to treat the planned route as a rough outline, making adjustments on the fly as & when we felt appropriate. The only non-negotiable was to ride the Ma Pi Leng pass.

The original route & what we ended up doing.

In the first few minutes of riding we realised that Komoot's tendency to prefer the smallest possible roads was going to be a bit of a hinderance. While originally intimidating, the main roads were fine to ride - ou quickly got used to million mopeds, odd truck & non-stop beeping. Plus the road surface was very good, much better than back home really.

On the beeping, it seems that the beep in Vietnam means here I come!. Nobody ever looked behind them when they made any sort of move on the road, guess they just listened out for the horn. Didn't see a single person shoulder-check on pulling out of a junction, & if turning across a lane they'll often ride on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic until they move across. It's a different sort of system if you can call it that, & no doubt it's been written (or filmed
) about to no end so while I could write about it for ages I won't bore any longer. The cliche of it's mad but it does work stands true though.

On our second day we diverged from our planned route to give ourselves the best change of finding somewhere to stay. It also meant pushing on a bit further than originally intended for two reasons:

1. It was super flat & we were smashing through the miles.
   
2. I'd had a look at a forecast for the week ahead & could see that temperatures were on the rise. It started off in the late 20s but it was expected to hit 40C towards the end of the week - eek.
   
   

We did almost a hundred miles on our third day to get the miles in the bank for when we hit the mountains. The flatlands were mainly taken up with rice paddies; in the hills - tea; & in the mountains - corn on every available bit of land. The terrain was either pan flat or egg-shaped mountains, which didn't seem to really form into identifiable valleys, the landscape was nothing like I've ever seen before.

We met the mountains proper at Ha Giang, which is apparently some sort of Mecca for gap-yah sorts. Had no idea this was a thing, & we later found out that a three-day, all-inclusive moped trip from Hanoi cost about 100USD, so no wonder it was so busy with tourists being shepherded around on the back of bikes. Have to admit, it took a bit out of the awe of the landscape, getting buzzed by such huge groups of bikes while climbing, but they did make for a good target on a descent. As much as I hate Sweet Caroline, I did take some amusement out of the sheer absurdity of it being screamed at me by a bunch of drunk Brits on the top of a mountain on the other side of the world.

We were lucky that our route didn't coincide with the tourist loop for all of the mountains, & when we reached Ma Pi Leng pass late on our fourth day, we had it all to ourselves. Our original research told us that it was the highest road in Vietnam (it wasn't), but that didn't matter, it was stunning. A vast limestone landscape with the road crazily cut into the side of the mountain, made the Verdon Gorge look small.

Tune in next week for chapter two!

Photos:

1. Komoot's preference for the smaller roads on our early days ended up with us being routed through temples & military bases. We rerouted.
   
2. They love their flowers out there. Many many florists.
   
3. Humidity in the mountains. Despite the extreme mugginess, we were grateful for not being exposed to the sun.
   
4. Windy roads in the mountains.
   
5. Ma Pi Leng pass all to ourselves. Needed a wider lens to capture things.
   

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Whoops forgot to continue my Vietnam story, I'll pick up from where I left off as have other bike updates to cover.

It was on our fifth day of proper riding that the heat really started to hit us. Had an oddly clear morning - normally were hazy due to the mugginess - which we can probably put down to the warmth. Had a climb first thing which was blissfully quiet, but we soon got caught up with moped riders which grew tiresome quite quickly. At one rest stop on a hairpin it was absolutely heaving with western tourists on bikes all across the road, making it quite hard for the HGV to squeeze through (though of course it did).

In the afternoon we left the loop & the drop in tourists on mopeds gave us great delight. The area we were now in was a sharp contrast to what we'd left - certainly feeling a lot poorer. Houses would be made of bits of wood, people were wearing donated clothes & lots working in the fields in the heat. The temperature became a real battle for us at this point, & with it being 38C in the shade, a two & a half mile climb had me waiting at the top for almost an hour. Thank goodness for the availability of refreshments basically everywhere. We took the opportunity to do a shorter day in terms of distance, but the heat meant that it still took longer than some of the hillier days.

Continuing the theme, the next day was another scorcher. We set off early to try & beat it but respite didn't last long. The night before we'd replanned our route a little to avoid heading into a desolate looking area, as with the temperatures we figured it could be pretty dangerous - one of us was showing signs of heat stroke towards the end of the previous day. Of course, with routes planned off-the-cuff relying on Komoot, it ended up having a 10% gravel climb in the middle. I quite enjoyed this tbh (great descent), but not everyone is such a fan of the rough stuff. We lost one of our friends for over two hours & started to get pretty worried - trying in vain to ask a local moped rider if he's seen him (quite the language barrier). Eventually he did turn up though, he'd gone into what he described as battery saving mode & had decided to take it slowly & walk to keep his body temp down. Probably a more sensible approach than mine which was to ride hard until I found a shop to cool down in.

That night we struggled to find food - all the places we found were judged a little too high risk, or simply didn't have anything which they specified on their menus (a common theme). All went to bed a little hungry & uncomfortably hot due to poor air con. We knew that the next day would be easier on the miles though, so it gave us some respite.

A week into our trip, we had a frankly painful thirty miles to cover to Ba Bể nature reserve -where we'd be having a rest day. The temperatures had risen again & I don't think anyone was enjoying riding at this point. We did however find an air conditioned café & discovered the local iced coffee was pretty good - was quite hard to leave that place. To avoid more miles, we got a boat across the lake to our hotel which also offered some slightly cooler breeze off the water - amazing. We'd spend the next day cruising around the lake on a boat, exploring a huge cave, visiting a temple & generally chilling (though not in a literal sense) - always nice to have a little bit of time off the bike on a trip to get a feel for an area, & it was a beautiful nature park.

Photos:

1. An example of one of the poorer shops we visited. The line between where people lived & did business all across the country was very blurred. Even in Hanoi you'd go to the bathroom in a bar & there'd be someeone's toothbrush in there. In this place their bed was in the corner, just behind their shop's shelves, with a scraggy chicken wandering about. Still had Wi-Fi though.
   
2. Rubbish being burnt at the side of the road. A common sight, & consistent with their air pollution concerns (seemingly none).
   
3. Windy gravel descent from our ad-hoc route.
   
4. Exploring caves by boat.
   
5. First temple we'd seen. We saw surprisingly little religion in the north, my (uninformed) theory being that the collectivism of communism kind of takes that role in society.
   

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Great reporting

Argh, Vietnam is such an amazing place to ride. Ma Pi Leng is just the right scale for cycling, it's awe-inspiring but kinda intimate at the same time. Thanks for the report!

@t-v @ough thank you! What I'm mainly aiming for here is to share info on touring Vietnam as frankly info was hard to find before we went, if I'm not boring people also then that's a win.

After our rest day was the hottest day of the trip - however relief was on the horizon with the weather breaking that night, so we set off at 0530 on our eighth day of riding, with the aim of getting the bulk of the miles out of way before things got unbearable. It was still about 30C at that time though, so didn't offer much of a break from it, but by that point of the trip that felt cool. We were starting to leave the mountains now & the hill farming we'd got used to was giving way to rice paddies again, & the traffic increasing a little.

I stopped to regroup & refresh at one of the little shops which was filled with quite raucous & interested locals. Turns out it was a national holiday & despite the fact it were still early in the day, most of them were drunk on one of the local drinks - described to us earlier on the trip as happy water. As my friends arrived each was greeted with a shot of it (didn't actually taste that bad though). At first we were a bit flustered & it was exactly not what we'd wanted, but it turned out to be a fun experience once we'd cooled down. The best way to explain the trip is to simply show a map, & they were all fascinated with what we were doing.

That night the weather finally broke with a huge thunderstorm. We were woken up by the air con flicking off as the power went & leaving our windowless room to swelter. Thankfully our friends room had a balcony to go & experience the storm. Wild night, but the worst night's sleep of the entire trip in an airless room.

The last two days riding of the trip went by pretty quick. With cooler temperatures, a flatter landscape & fast dead-straight roads we absolutely flew into Hanoi. We spent the next two days wandering around the markets, cafes, bars & various sights. I bought a new camera lens for less than half the price in the UK (23mm f/1.4), alongside a lovely handmade print, & a friend found a lovely 70s Seiko for a good price - decent souvenirs. We were starting to feel ready to come home, but we had one last ride to do - to the airport.

In the absence of any public transport we could rely on to take a bike, we knew we'd have to ride. We found riding into Hanoi pretty crazy, but heading out to the airport on a Saturday night was the next level. I can only liken it to riding an alleycat for twenty miles in a tunnel of two-stroke fumes, the sort of ride where you constantly need to keep aware of everything. I kind of loved it, but glad it wasn't my every day!

At the airport we'd folded our cardboard bike boxes & stored them in left luggage. It wasn't cheap ~£40 for two weeks IIRC - but we expected finding a box & getting it to the airport to be hard. As our flight was at 0130 we got a lounge which meant we could have a shower before boarding - very much welcome after the ride in. A long journey back, but managed to survive without any jet lag, matching the way out - success!

In summation, Vietnam was a wild place to go, & a very enjoyable one. I expected it to be harder - with the language barrier, being vegetarian & unknown state of the roads - than it turned out to be. In the end, the things we didn't consider were the toughest - heatwave temperatures, absolutely no chance of camping anywhere, some food hygiene issues. I maintain that bikepacking across the bits which people skip is the best way of seeing & understanding a country.

Photos:

1. Laser sun rising above the rice paddies.
   
2. Kid with a sweet brkls fixie. Didn't do DAS on request though.
   
3. Train street. We waited a while but no train came, they only have a few a day & we weren't that bothered about waiting around for the shot.
   
4. Denizen of Hanoi on a rather nicely considered bike.
   
5. Packing up bikes outside Noi Bai. Riding into an airport is not understood by security, took a bit of convincing!
   

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Awesome

Not much to update on recently. Got some larger chainrings for my road bike as I've been enjoying riding a bit harder lately, & I quite like the way bigger gears make me ride (got to throw yourself at a climb more).

Did a little twenty-four hour adventure last weekend, from Leeds to the Hope valley & back again. Was assured the route would be 'all road', which is quite ambiguous really, & resulted in riding a lot of gravel & walking some MTB trails. Thankfully I'm not prissy about this sort of thing (quite enjoy underbiking) so had a good laugh.

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It's a meaningless milestone, but last week I hit 10,000 miles on both my Ritchey Swiss Cross & Genesis Volare. Crossed that threshold with three bikes this year (Cinelli Mash Bolt too).

Been a bit absent here lately - life has been getting in the way of riding for a number of reasons I won't shoulder you with. The forum has been great in its support, & I am very appreciative.

In terms of actual updates, a few things.

Spent three weeks around France in September in the van with bikes. It was unseasonably cold & wet for the entire time, across the Vosges, Jura, Savoie, Provence & Tarn. Highlights include riding the Trouée d'Arenberg, closed roads on Grand Colombier, revisiting Sallanches (where my partner's insurance flew me out to visit her in hospital when she broke her collarbone after hitting some gravel); camping on top of Ventoux &

Bought a new bike. A friend noticed a pretty bonkers sale of accoustic full sus MTBs so I took advantage & got myself an XC one. Seems everyone wants an electric one these days. It's a Rocky Mountain A50 Element. It's about 500% more bike than I need, & it's utterly bonkers how capable it is. Having never had an MTB before, let alone any bike with suspension, I am finding it a lot of fun - makes trails I'd always avoided in the CX very doable. I'm very much enjoying learning a new type of riding, had it for about six weeks now & still need to take it to a proper bike park.

Additionally, got a bit eBay excited on Sunday & bought a Chorus groupset for the Land Shark. I felt a bit sad about it languishing unbuilt in our bike room (having donated its Potenza groupset to my partner's Woodrup back in May), so looking forward to building it back up.

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Glad to hear you're back! Your Genesis Volare is top tier as always.

Also, glad you caught the mtb bug! Wait until you discover really grippy tires (both for knobbies and compounds) and what they'll let you get away with!

Third picture is dreamy! I guess this must be around Sallanches as you mentioned above. Where exactly? Mont Blanc in the background or did I get it wrong?

Was a fantastic descent - next to no wind, perfect road surfaces & didn't meet a single car. We're heading north east down Col de la Colombière, so I don't think it is Mont Blanc in the background, but not far - proper high alps.