Day 58 - Tuy Hoa to Nha Trang (October 26)

Today was an early start - we began riding at 6:00 a.m. It was raining very hard. In fact today, it would rain all day long. We found highway 1A and turned south. Not five kilometers from our starting point, we came to a roundabout. I negotiated the roundabout ahead of Terry, but behind me I heard a quick woosh of air - Terry's tire had a flat again.

In fact, it was worse than that. Terry rode through what looked like a small puddle. It is almost impossible not to do this. Because it has been raining so hard for so long, there were puddles and flooded roads everywhere. However, this puddle was actually a deep pothole.

Hitting the pothole, Terry flipped over his handlebars. He had some small scrapes on his leg and some damage to his front tire. This was actually fortunate. He could have been hurt much worse. His bike was still salvageable and he could continue riding.

Terry brought his bike over to the island in the center of the roundabout. Inspecting his bike, he discoverd a tear in his front tire (the "replacement tire"), his forks had been bent back eliminating the normal "rake" of the forks, and his tube had slightly buckled and cracked in a few spots. With his bent forks, the handling of the bike would be much different.

It took quite a while to figure out how to fix the bike. Terry was limited to a torn tire and a damaged tube. He would need to position them carefully so he could continue to ride.

By 7:45 a.m., Terry was still not ready to ride. I was getting cold. Because it had been raining heavily, I was wet and the wind was making me cold. I couldn't put on a jacket because I had left my jacket in Quang Ngai a few days ago. Terry suggested that I continue riding to stay warm. So I got on my bike and headed south.

The ride went well and at a point, the wind was blowing nicely at my back. The views were very nice along this stretch of road. When the rain cleared and the clouds lifted, I could see for many miles. I was surrounded by green hills on my right and sandy flat lands surrounded by rice fields on my left.

The Climb to the Pass at Vung Ro

Vung Ro Port

Coastal Views South of Vung Ro

Beach at Dai Lanh

I neared Nha Trang. The rain came down heavily. The road became a small river in places. The road began to climb. There was one last steep hill to climb coming into Nha Trang. I crested the hill, and turned towards the city. The road was narrow and traffic went by quickly. I crossed many flooded sections of road until I came into the city proper.

In the city, I now rode in the center of the road. For a kilometer or so, the entire road was flooded, but there was less flooding in the center of the road.

Eventually, I found the tourist/backpacker quarter and booked a room at the hotel Sakura (1/32 Tran Quang Kai). An hour later, Terry limped into town on a tire that he had to continually reinflate along the way from Tuy Hoa. I had been there before (See my Wyoming posts).

Day 58 - Tuy Hoa to Nha Trang - 120 Kilometers

Day 57 - Qui Nhon to Tuy Hoa (October 25)

Rain and more rain...In fact, rain all day long.

My pre-ride inspection was foreshadowing of things to come later in the day. I tried to inflate my rear tube because it looked as though it were going flat. Unfortunately, the tube tore at the stem and I had to replace the tube in the pouring rain. Fortunately, that tube didn't cause me any grief for the remainder of the ride.

Leaving Quy Nhon, we took the coastal route. The Coastal route had less hills (not that it mattered much) and, more importantly less traffic. Although it was raining hard, it was a fantastic 18 miles of coastal riding. At first the road was rolling as we road along the cliffs near the ocean. The rain was falling hard, but it really didn't matter because the scenery was so nice.

While Terry was taking a pit stop, I sat on the shoulder of the road. A local beer truck came along. Wondering why I would be riding my bike in the rain, he offered me a ride. I had to wave him on, because I planned on continuing to ride.

Today marked the beginning of the end for Terry's bike. He blew one tube during a heavy downpour. It was nice to take a break from the rain. We pulled into a local gas station to hide from the rain under the awning and to give time for Terry to fix his tire. We discoverd that the blown tube was caused by a tear in the sidewalk of his tire. I had the same problem coming into Hue. So he took out his spare tire, which was a narrow racing tire. There was a problem. The only tubes that he had were too big for the tire, but without any ohter choices, Terry chose to put the larger tube in the tire.

So with the tire and tube repaired, we travelled on. But no more than 5 kilometers down the road, the tube gave way. It turns out that the larger tube would not work in the smaller tire. So I rode on as Terry fixed his second flat.

As I entered the northern part of Tuy Hoa, I was shocked by what I saw. I saw at five kilometers of newly graded land that was bare and ready for development. Electrical poles were placed along empty avenues awaiting new houses. Pump stations for water or sewage were also placed at equal intervals along the avenues. This was just one example of the roaring economy in Vietnam. Houses, buildings, and hotels are being built everywhere.

Tuy Hoa - Empty Lots Awaiting Development

Looking to the North

Looking to the South

As I sat around admiring the empty lots that would soon have new buildings sprouting from them, Terry rode up. He had fixed his tire. As we rode through town, the roads were flooded. We turned towards the ocean to find a hotel. As we did, we passed an old American Huey helicopter placed inside the wall of a government compound.

It was windy and wet at the beach, but we were able to find a nice hotel, Nha Khach (03 Duc Lap) across the street from the beach. After cleaning up, we went to dinner. The restaurant was actually very nice. It was the type of restaurant that large groups or families come to celebrate, drink, and eat seafood.

A neaby table was eating a flat bread that intrigued me. At this table were a young group of Vietnamese. I was interested to know what it was, but I was hesitant to approach and ask. Eventually, I walked up to the table and pointed at it. The people at the table told me that it was "Bun", a deep-fried flat bread. It was one of the friend's birthdays and they were celebrating. They spoke some English and were interested in having a beer with us. However, we had to ride the next day, so we didn't have time to spend time with them.

Day 57 - Qui Nhon to Tuy Hoa - 105 Kilometers

Day 52 - Dong Hoi to Dong Ha (October 18)

Quang Binh Quah. Dong Hoi.

Today was a day of mechanical problems. I discovered a tear in the side wall of my back tire and Terry replaced his chain with a new chain that he found this morning in Dong Hoi. His new chain is not an exact fit, but it is good enough to keep the wheels turning.

Today was a nice day, we rode the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Highway 15, (during the war, the actual Trail paralleled this highway, but went through Laos). This road was a completely different experience and gave a welcome break from the riding on the busy Highway 1A. Although there was now no shoulder, the traffic was significantly lighter.

Also, there was something other than flat road. There were some slight rolling hills and a few small climbs. This was a welcome change from Highway 1A. Also, there was not a mass of humanity overwhelming us on our ride.

Along our ride, we stopped at Ben Quan for food. Another day of eggs and rice. Sometimes it is not so easy being a vegetarian on the road. Can I just get a grilled cheese sandwich?

At this point in our ride, we rode into the former demilitarized zone. We rode on to Tru'ong Son Cemetery where the bodies of Vietnamese soldiers who died on the Ho Chi Minh Trail were buried. In many cases, the soldiers were buried where they were killed and later their graves were exhumed and moved to Tru'ong Son. More often than not, the names of the soldiers were known for those who were buried where they were killed. Sometimes the names weren't known and the family members had to try to figure out which graves belonged to their loved ones. Sometimes the families just guessed.

Many Graves at Tru'ong Son Cemetary

Monument to the Fallen Soldiers of Hanoi

A Memorial Statue of Soldiers in Action.

After Tru'ong Son, we stopped at an intersection to try find the former military base at Con Tien. As usual a group of kids amased around us, some on motobai. Then a few minutes later, a couple of drunk kids rolled up. This really made for interesting conversation. They weren't very helpful in trying to locate Con Tien. Then some adults arrived and they indicated that Con Tien was back 3 km from where we had come. We decided just to continue on to Dong Ha because it was starting to get dark and we didn't want to ride in the dark. Coming into Dong Ha, Terry was spoken at in English. The women, who was riding on the back of a motobai said "welcome to Vietnam."

Although Terry may have received a warm welcome, we later met a Thai who did not receive such a warm welcome. Noi had been twice duped when crossing the border from Laos into Vietnam. First someone had changed her money and had given her an awful rate. Second, someone had then overcharged her for a ride from the Border to Dong Ha. So without any money, being young and far away from home, she tried to figure out what to do. Fortunately, she came across one tall bike tourist and one cranky vegetarian bike tourist (that would be me).

Terry and I tried to do the best we could. She asked us to find help her find a hotel. I felt an conflicting set of emotions - on one hand, I wanted to help her out as best as I could, on the other, I was wary of being tricked by some ploy or game. I wasn't sure if she was legitimate or not. Although she seemed very Thai - spoke English and was shocked by the Vietnamese culture (too many honking horns...), I didn't want to be seen helping a young southeast asia woman in a way that would be compromising.

So we gave Noi some food and some reassurance that everything would be okay. We then went to help her find a room. Two white men walking into a hotel with a young southeast Asian woman sets off some alarm bells. At the first hotel that we went to, Terry and I flanked Noi as we tried to negotiate a room. Of course the room was too expensive. Undeterred, we went to our hotel and tried to negotiate a reasonable room price. Still no luck.

The owner of our hotel suggested the sister hotel. Cheaper rooms could be found there. So although the price was right, no rooms were available. That was strange, it was 8 p.m., yet none of the hotel windows were lighted. The owner must have been suspicious and thus wouldn't make any rooms available.

Terry and I pointed Noi to the hotel next door. Noi went over to try to get a room. Terry and I waited and waited and waited. Finally, we were tired of waiting. We crossed the street and headed to our hotel. Turning to look back, Terry noticed Noi coming out of the hotel. She and the hotel manager crossed the street. It seems that she had broken down in front of the hotel manager and he had taken pity on her. Terry and I were a little wary. Although the manager seemed friendly, to express his empathy for Noi, he stroked her hair. Hopefully everything worked out for Noi and she returned safely to Northeast Thailand.

Buddhist Gravesites.

Day 52 - Dong Hoi to Dong Ha - 100 Miles

Day 31 - Lander, WY to Rawlins, Wy (August 6)

What a long strange trip its been...

It's been 13 years since I last passed through (via I-80) these parts and I won't mind if it is another 13 or more years before I pass through again.

There is a lot of wide-open space between Lander and Rawlins. So much so that horses here are wild and run free. Yesterday, I noticed a horse running towards me. Fortunately, it was on the other side of the fence. I thought this was weird behavior. Most horses I had seen were grazing, not running around. This must have been the first wild horse I noticed. Later on today's ride, I passed by 6 more wild horses grazing in a field far away from any farm house or dwelling.  In 2012, Tom Davis would disappear many of those horses (ProPublica).

The ride today passed through an interesting area - a great basin. There is a point in the continental divide (I prefer the French phrase, which roughly translates as "the parting of the waters") where the divide actually splits and in the middle is formed a basin. From this basin, no water escapes. Rain that falls over this basin does not flow to the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean (or from certain peaks in the Canadian Rockies, to Hudson Bay).

Three Experiences.

The first experience involved my back tire. Yesterday, I had struggled with my back tire. Today, as I finished the last climb, I noticed that riding my bike was more like riding a pogo stick. There is a mushy feeling in the back tire when it goes flat. And when I checked, it was becoming flat. So I had a choice - either change the tire with my last spare and potentially ruin that spare - the only tire I had left - or continue to re-inflate the tire for the rest of the trip. I chose the later.

This choice seemed to be working until I stopped at the point 1/3 of the way through the trip. I was hoping to stock up at a store at this point. Not finding a store, I was at least able to find water at a rest stop. But stopping at the rest stop, I noticed something important about my tire.

A week or so ago, when I was in Cody, someone pointed out that my back tire tread was gone. I just shrugged because, I knew I would change my tire soon in Boulder, Colorado. I didn't, however, bother to look at my tire. If I had, I might have noticed, like I noticed today at the rest stop, that some of the iron-reinforcement for my tire was showing through the tire. So I had a flat tube, a deteriorating tire, and 80 more miles of riding ahead of me! I spent the remainder of the day re-inflating my tire every hour or so. And in the last 16 miles coming in Rawlins, I re-inflated my tire at least 8 times.

The second experience was my lunch (if you could call it that) of a grilled cheese sandwich, chips, and a green apple in the little (!) town of Jeffrey City. The menu said that family, friends, or children may be my server, my waitperson, my cook, or take my check. The youngster who helped me must have been early teens or almost a pre-teen. She was very professional though, but without personality. At that age, it is hard for a youngster to show their personality to a stranger. The mother seated me, but the youngster served me and took my order. I saw her brother (?) in the kitchen. Did he make the grilled cheese sandwich? I think his father or mother was yelling at this kid.

I had a nice chat with the only other customer, an indian (native american) BLM agent who was responsible for mining activities. It seems that this area is rich in uranium. I had read somewhere (the Utne Reader, perhaps) that uranium was becoming valuable once again. If true, this may improve Jeffrey City's fortunes, though not the World's. Apparently in the 70's, Jeffery City had a population of 6,000. Now it is 100 or 200, if you count the surrounding area. From what I saw at the Cafe, apparently, it is not easy to make a living in Jeffrey City.  I might have stayed in Jeffery City if Monk King Bird Pottery were open at that time (it opened in 2009).

The third experience involved the ride from Lamont in the Continental Divide Basin to Rawlins. Most of the ride this day was on a wide road with 6-foot shoulders, but past Lamont, the shoulders shrunk to just the width of a cyclist and the far side of the shoulder slighly sloped into the dirt. Fortunately, there was a rumble strip between me and the fast moving vehicles. Other than the width of the shoulder, there were two problems. First, the shoulder was rough and uneven. Second, the vehicles, including the trucks drove by at 90 mph. When a truck passes at this speed, even a fully loaded bicycle gets drawn towards the truck. This can be a problem if I get drawn to close or if I get drawn after a truck and there is a truck or other vehicle behind the first truck.

As I rode this section of highway, I noticed a thunder storm to the west. It was really dark and I could see rain streamers descending from the clouds. I could see lightening and hear thunder. While there was no rain over the road yet, I could see the storm passing over the road a few miles ahead of me.

What choices did I have? To ride in the rain (with a flat tire and a rough shoulder) or ? I realized that I shouldn't ride while the storm passed. The wind might blow me towards the trucks and cars. The rain would obscure the driver's vision. I might get struck my lightning. Shocking!

I wouldn't want to just stand on the side of the road and wait for the storm to pass. I would get too wet and I would feel silly just standing there in the rain. So, I decided that I would pitch my tent, but just not yet. Even though I had just passed a turnout on the road, the rain hadn't started yet even though I could see it approaching.

So I waited - until the rain started. Then there was no turnout. Finally, I saw one - on the other side of the road. I had no choice the rain was beginning and the wind had really begun to blow. I crossed the road, put down my bike, put on my rain slicker, and went to work.

Nice Spot in a Pitch

Pitching a tent in the rain and the wind is not easy. For one, how do you keep the inside of the tent dry? My tent has three parts: a ground cover, the tent, and a rainfly (why do they call it a "fly"?). There wasn't time to use the ground cover.

I began to set up the tent. But rain can just fall right through the tent. That is why there is the rainfly. Chicken or the Egg - which do I do first, place the tent to give structure or cover the tent with the rainfly to prevent the tent from getting wet? Well, I had to put up the tent. This was not easy. I got the two main support poles placed, but when a tent is pitched in the rain, it becomes a sail. So even though the poles were placed in a manner that would give the tent its normal shape, the wind caused the tent to smush (technical term: "smush", def. to push together) together.

After a few minutes of restling with the tent, I placed the third backside tent pole. However, the tent almost took off from me a few times because the wind caused it to sail. I decided that I would place my bike bags inside of the tent to weigh it down. Before I put the bags inside, I placed the rainfly over the tent. Considering the wind and the rain, it was suprising that the inside of the tent was mostly dry.

One more problem existed though. Because I was too close to the road and because of the speed of the trucks (I guess it is too much to ask drivers to slow down in the rain?), the rainfly still shimied when a truck passed. So I went out in the rain one more time and tide one side of the rain fly to my bike and the other side to one of my bike bags. After this, the tent was stable, the rain was falling, the storm was passing, and I was able to take a nap.

All together, this entire pitching-a-tent-at-the-side-of-the-road-while-waiting-for-a-storm-to-pass-ordeal took an hour. As I emerged from the tent, I noticed that to the east (the storm traveled west to east), the mountains had disappeared behind a dark blue wall of rain, but where I was the wind and the rain had stopped. I packed my bags and got on my way.

There should have been mountains visible at the horizon. Instead, only a wall of rain was visible.

Day 31 - Lander to Rawlins - 125 Miles