I survived Tour de Saigon Century Ride

I just love that helmet!

Quick intro about the bike ride-this wasn't a race. This bike ride was to tour the countryside. This was an idea Scott (Caroline who started Catalyst's husband) dreamed up to do in order to not be sitting on a bus from one place to the other. The only real requirement for this ride basically was being able maintain a 12 to 15 mile an hour distance and to not be smart enough to figure out this is NUTS!

We were up early and planned to meet at 5:00 am. Our goal was to set out early before the sun rose to avoid as much as the heat as possible. The ride was challenging. We dealt with 93 degree weather and 100% humidity although I did hear temps in the area we were departing from were as high as 120 degrees. There were 7 riders total and 6 bikes (not our bikes but ones purchased by Catalyst to ride)-Scott, Dana, David, Amy, Charlene, Jack and myself which meant we had to rotate and have one rider out for approximately every 100 miles. Jack and Scott were the riders. The rest of us didn't have much training. It was completely crazy riding on a 2-lane highway in each direction with regular traffic and avoiding other bikes and being hit by cars. I earned the name Hollywood because I had all my riding gear-clothing, helmet, gloves, bike seat, pedals, sunglasses, chamois Butt'r to keep from chafing and shoes (clips). My training for this ride consisted of 3 rides-1st ride - 9 miles, 2nd ride - 18 miles and 3rd ride - 30 miles. I didn't know how many of the riders were avid riders so I figured it was best to at least look the part like I was a rider!

I can't say enough how impressed I was with Amy and Jack who rode the entire 100 miles without breaking (except for lunch).

I completed 75 miles. My back, bum, knees and well you can figure out what else hurt. The heat was intense although we did luck out periodically with some cloud cover. It truly was nuts-especially the last 15 miles through Ho Chi Minh City in rush hour traffic. It was a great experience and I am glad I had the opportunity to partake in the adventure and especially live say I did it. The photo is of the group post ride if you couldn't tell!

Post Script: Although I am now home I couldn't leave this post without mention of the "HELL"MET. One of the volunteers - Dana - did not bring a helmet. So, of course that is completely stupid riding a bike in a foreign country especially in Vietnam! A helmet was mandatory so off we went shopping at a local store and perused the only helmets they had-motorcycle helmets. My thought was if you are having to buy a helmet here you might as well have a little fun. After a few minutes of selling the idea, I picked out the dark purple helmet with the rainbow stripe down the front along with a cloud and rainbow on the side (if you were born in the 70's you know exactly what I am talking about). The sales girls were quite amused by the purchase. The next day I decorated the helmet with diva stickers, bible stickers and girly stickers. Did I mention that Dana is not a girl....and was not really looking forward to the idea of wearing it on the ride. However, that helmet became quite popular and in demand! It was a good laugh and still makes me chuckle. It was left in Vietnam and will hopefully be passed onto someone else on the next ride in 2010!