Coping with heat

Coping with heat.

Pineapple shelters - yum

35 degrees and  85 % humidity, is hard to cycle in. We have noticed that we need a break every 20 kms to cool down or you feel quite sick. It’s too hot to eat, so we drink copious amounts.
although we’ve discovered the shelters that cut up pineapple for you today.  That was excellent. The “sugar lump” karst limestone hills and islands around Halong Bay were very beautiful, although it was hard to get a decent photo as they were sort of misty with the humid air.

Halong Bay

 

At one point the road ended in a inland estuary and all the scooters and bikes had to cross by ferry, incidentally a little later we had to cross a large bridge coming into Haiphong. There was no cars at either of these crossings, where did they go ?

Waiting for the Ferry.

Karst Limestone hills from the Ferry.

Cycling into Haiphong.

We are hoping in the next few days when we get next to the sea, that we can go for a dip in the water. That would be awesome.

Hanoi Madness

Hanoi madness.

I dropped an unhappy Bob off at the cattery. It breaks my heart leaving him, but he’s safe there.

After finishing the chores around the house, Niel and I cycled off to the airport. He decided not to use a helmet in this trip ( I am), so we had to stick to the cycle ways so that the powers that be, don’t issue him a fine. Everything went to plan except for our gear being overweight. Our on board bags were under weight, so we spent half an hour trying to reduce our weight and juggle things around. Niel tricked the ticket lady by holding some of the weight off the scales so that we got within our 23 kg weight restriction.

$200 NZ = 5000,000 Vitnamese Dong

 

It was hot when we got to Kuala Lumpar, and we spent our time looking around the terminal shops and took the sky train, to and from the terminals 3 times to entertain ourselves.

 

We thought KL was hot Hanoi was stifling. Over 30%C, and humid.  It was fine though and not raining. We took a taxi the 40 kms into Hanoi. It was total madness. 4 million people live in Hanoi, and I think all of them are on scooters. No one gives way to other traffic, people merge and swerve all over the place and constantly toot at each other. It is total chaos and very noisy. It was unbelievable the loads these scooters and bicycles carry – everything from whole families to huge loads of say bricks or even whole carcasses of animals. We saw one scooter with 3 pig carcasses on the seat in front of the rider, it was so overloaded the trotters were almost  dragging on the road.

Scooters galore

 

We tried to get some sleep in the afternoon, but it  was almost impossible with the nonstop noise through the open balcony door. It’s night now, but the noise and traffic hasn’t abated.   To be honest, I’m not looking forward to cycling out of Hanoi tomorrow, but I am looking forward to the country roads.

 



crazy wiring outside our balcony window.

Hotel Reception has warned us about a storm that is coming in a couple of days, they have closed all tours of Halong Bay when we will be there. We will just have to play it by ear, and take it as it comes.

I've come full circle.

This time last year I was in such pain, that the only way I could carry on cycling was to take the cleats off my cycling shoes, and take my clip - in pedals off and change them for toe strap pedals without the straps. One year has passed, two operations endured, and I have put my cleats back on my cycling shoes, and now ride with clip in pedals again. This has obviously made me very happy. Not only can I ride again without pain, but my operations were a success.

All three bikes with clip in pedals and a coating of winter mud and grime.

It has cost all my savings, but been well worth it. Thank God for 2 years worth of holiday pay owing, or I wouldn't be having a holiday in 2 weeks.

It has rained almost constantly for 2 weeks now. It is cold and dreary, but we know we will be rained on in Asia so we have been out in the rainy muddy conditions training, and getting used to being wet.I am sure the warm tropical rain will be much nicer than winter conditions, so we should be well prepared.

Asia here I come. I have been looking through my photos, and reading the diary of our trip around the US in 2010. It has helped me get in the right mind set. All the ups and downs - literally. Cycle touring is a roller coaster of emotions. It is also amusing to watch me slim off. I lost 20 kg cycling the US. I'm sure in the tropics I will lose weight again, from sweat as much as from exertion. You will need to follow my progress to see.

Extra daylight hours.

I seem to have been very busy lately. I know, I know....... who hasn't. The short days of winter restrict the use able hours down to between 11am and 4.30pm. Getting things done in these hours are a bit of a rush. When out on a bike ride, you know you have to turn around and head home no later than 2.30 or 3 at the latest, or you get caught in the very cold and dark of early evening

The setting sun a few kms from home.

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I had to make a rushed trip to Christchurch last week to see the surgeon for my post op check up. It was lucky I managed to get there. Both highways out of Nelson were closed due to flooding and mudslides. The powers that be, managed to get the northern then eastern route through Blenheim and Kaikora opened just in time for me. It was very dramatic with paddocks under water and debris stuck in the top rungs of the wire fences. The river was huge and wild. There were still patches of flooding to drive through. There were uprooted trees and forestry logs all over the road and 3 expensive looking cars who had tried to cross the flooding and had floated away into the paddocks and into the edge of the river. All of them were festooned with debris and mud. On the way back home again the other road was open again, so I went that way via Lewis Pass. The paddocks were muddy quagmires with no blades of grass left. There were a great many mudslides. The bizarre thing is how localised it was. Nelson was unaffected by the rain, and the east coast was warm and sunny.

My little rental car and the warm and sunny Kaikora coastline.

The top of Lewis Pass with my walking stick.

The normally placid Maruia falls after the flooding.

My trip was followed by a full week of work, covering a work colleague on holiday. It's been a busy month, no wonder my leg's are more swollen than they should be. Never-the-less, I am cycling well, doing good distances and plenty of hills, I would like to get strong enough to ride off the saddle.

Yesterday Niel and I did a lovely ride of 90 kms in perfect winter weather over 12 hills of various sizes. I'm feeling strong and the important thing is I have no pain what so ever, which means the operations have worked. I can now use the ball of my feet again. I can't wait to see what I will be able to achieve now.

Niel and I having a break at our turn around point, Riwaka wharf.



The view behind us - looking across Tasman Bay back to Nelson.

The days are definitely getting longer. But in just over 3 weeks we will be in S.E. Asia and back to short but tropical days.

Getting Better.

I want to get better so quickly, that I've done too much this week and my leg, ankle and foot have ballooned up to twice the size of the other leg. I once said I don't make a good sick person, ditto with being physically impaired. It's only been 2 weeks since surgery and I've been standing on it for up to 6 hours a day and that has really slowed down my recovery. Strangely enough cycling on it loosens it up and makes it feel better. What would I do without my bike? I know in a weeks time I will be heaps better and not be feeling so frustrated.

Our tickets to Hanoi and home from Singapore have been paid for, they are non refundable special fares, so there is no changing of minds. S.E Asia has the delight of being always raining somewhere. If it's dry in the north then it's wet in the south and vice versa. Let's face it we are going to get wet. It's also tropical and even doing nothing will bring you out in a sweat. So I have bought myself a cape or rain poncho.

My new rain poncho, but where is the rain? Notice the "moon" boot on my right foot.

What is it like being married to a mad cyclist? here is a snippet of my life. I prewarmed the oven to bake a cake. I took the cake tin over to the oven, and Niel yells "just a minute" and pulls his forks out of the oven!! [He was drying some paint on them.] Even the kitchen gets taken over by his bike stuff - now the tea towel has bicycle grease on it.

Niel taking over the oven with his bike bits.

I'm about to leave on my bike to town over the new cycle way and cycle suspension bridge that only opened yesterday. I am off to the travel doctor for my first lot of vaccinations. Rabies for example takes three injections, so you have to allow time to get all these done, and it's only 6 weeks till we go.



That will be a 65 km round trip, If my leg handles that I'll do a 75 kms ride later in the week. You can see how impatient I am to get better.

Wonder Woman.

Yes, you're right, I've been quiet lately. I may not be bionic, and I'm not exactly the 6 million dollar man, or woman in this case, and I'm not wonder woman .......... yet. But I've been 'rebuilt'. Both knees and both feet are now fixed. Hooray. It's taken 3 years of countless Doctors, Podiatrists and Specialist's appointments, x-rays, MRI scans and even a visit to Accident and Emergency at the hospital. I've had many ups and downs, and it's cost a lot of money, but I'm finally able to carry on with my cycling trips , and physical ambitions. Life is too short to put up with pain. As I said 6 months ago, if I'm willing to pay thousands to fix my poor cat, then why not myself.

It's just past the shortest day. It may not be getting any warmer, but it's always a milestone I'm pleased to get to. Spring can't come soon enough. There are small signs of the Spring in the garden. The little Jonquil Daffodil's are flowering and there are big buds on the fruiting trees. The 'Autumnalis' cherry tree is in flower, so named because it always flowers in Autumn and carries on flowering till Spring. These are only small signs, but I like seeing the seasons progress - reflected in the garden.

And of course Spring is special to me this year as it means cycle touring S.E.Asia. We can start looking up airline prices, now that I am 'fixed'. Niel may already have had his vaccinations and his Visa to enter Vietnam, but I will have to do mine.

I might be bandaged up and on crutches, but I'm felling happy and content that the process of eliminating my pain is finally over, and that's wonderful, so perhaps I am wonder woman after all.

  

Look out world.

2kms, 2 1/2, 3, 5, 12, 22. Every day since i could bend my knee enough to do a rotation of my bicycle pedals, I have gone out on my bike. Initially I wasn't really pushing with my injured leg, just letting it follow the pedal rotation. 5 days later I am actually using my leg to push [all be it slowly], and the swelling has reduced so much, my toes no longer resemble chipolata sausages. And it's only been two and a half weeks.

My first tentative trail on the bike.



I'm pretty happy with the progress so far after just two and a half weeks, and now know I can plan our S. E. Asia trip with confidence that I'll be recovered from both legs being fixed and regaining my lost fitness. Watch out world, Vespa Chick is coming and she has years of pain eliminated and has something to prove. I can't wait. It's given me an objective to get me through winter.

Watch out world - I've  got something to prove.

Niel is happy to be home and has no regrets about not continuing the round the world race. "it was no holiday" he says. Cycle touring together - sharing the experience - is what we do, it's what we should have done from the start. But what Niel achieved was awesome.