2023-12-30 Dien Bien Phu / 2023年走り納め ラオス国境の町ディエンビエンフーを目指す2日間

2023-12-30 Dien Bien Phu / 2023年走り納め ラオス国境の町ディエンビエンフーを目指す2日間

Hi guys, This is Moto. Happy New Year! Hope you guys are enjoying your ride for 2024! This is the first video of me talking in a while. Many members of HC were away from Hanoi for the Christmas holidays, but a Vietnamese member asked me to go on a year-end ride.

This time, We went to Dien Bien Phu, which is near the border between Vietnam and Laos, which I had heard about in my world history class. The two-day ride covered 450km and gained more than 5,500m of altitude.

When I arrived at the meeting place, wondering if there were other participants, it was just the member who suggested it and me. What about other members joining? When I asked him about it, he said this ride was not easy, so it was just the two of us.

I guess I am a person who is recognized as keen to join for long rides. I had planned to ride to Dien Bien Phu before, but due to the unusual elevation gain, so I canceled my plans.

This time, I had a chance to go there, so I was keen to join with great joy. The first third of this route is the same as the route to Mai Chau, so I have some idea of the route.

But I had to carry my belongings as small as possible since the altitude gained in a day is nearly 3000m. Because I have learned it from last year’s mountain ride. The weather was drizzling and foggy from the starting point to the pass just before Mai Chau,

But once we crossed the pass it became sunny and warm. The temperature is around 20 degrees, but the body feels the temperature varies depending on whether the air is warm or cold. My outfit consisted of a short-sleeved jersey, bib shorts, arm covers, a gilet, and a windstopper.

Although it was the end of the year, I often saw wedding ceremonies along the roadside. Also, when I enter Son La Province, ethnic groups are more noticeable. I am not sure but I guess many Hmong and Tai people based on their ethnic costumes. What was interesting was the hairstyles of ethnic groups women.

They have long hair tied up in a bun on top of their head, and when they ride their motorbike, their helmet is floating. Safety aside, I think it’s difficult to follow traditional culture and traffic rules. I found the functions of cycling gadgets useful this time. The first is the Live Track.

I use Garmin’s accident detection notification, but I tried using Garmin’s Live Track function for the first time. It’s hard to reply to messages when I get them while riding, so I sent a Live Track link to my daughter and my friend. Data will be lost in areas where there is no smartphone reception,

But it will display my planned and completed routes on a map, so I will use it on future long-distance solo rides. The second is power meters. I don’t have it, but my friend has it, so I was able to follow him at a constant power level when climbing hills.

I usually climb based on my senses and my physical strength at the time, so I found it useful for pacing long distances and steep slopes. Having said that, on the second day, I dropped off when I was climbing a hill.

As for the meal, this time we both agreed on rice instead of noodles. It’s better to eat noodles than not at all, but I think I can run better with rice and cuisines because it doesn’t keep me full or doesn’t give me enough power. Nutriboost helped me this time as well,

And the rice + yogurt I had for the first time was delicious. At first glance, it looks like jam, or rather, dark rice on top of the yogurt. I would like to get it if I find it while riding in the future.

As for the roads, the mountain pass in Hoa Binh was under construction, but other than that was well paved and it was easy to cycle, big trucks were passing by up to Son La, so I was nervous. As for the scenery,

I enjoyed the nice mountainous scenery of Mai Chau, Moc Chau, and Son La, as well as the unique scenery of this time of year, such as ethnic groups and the shipment of peach trees for the Lunar New Year. I think the distance and altitude gained over two days were a bit unreasonable.

Since it’s winter, the sun rises at 6:30 and sunsets at 5:30, so there are 11 hours of daylight, and excluding breaks, I could cycle without lights for about 9 hours. We cycled until 6:30 pm both days, so the last hour was dark and we needed lights. In Vietnam, many security dogs roam free,

So I should be careful of guard dogs when cycling at night in the mountains. There are possibility of rabies if dogs bite me. Every time I go on a mountain ride, I get chased by security dogs, but this time I learned the tips, so I didn’t have any serious problems.

My Japanese friend told me this at a year-end party, and when security dogs get into a fighting stance, the technique of “barking” and “barking back” is effective. If you are about to be chased by them, look the dogs in the eye and bark as hard as you can!

On the second day, while climbing the mountain pass before Dien Bien Phu, three security dogs attacked me, but I was able to successfully chase them away by barking. After arriving at Dien Bien Phu, we climbed a small hill with a historical monument. Well, as a Vietnamese, he should take a commemorative photo here.

After taking commemorative photos, we hurried to the bus stop. We were supposed to board the bus that left at 8:30 p.m., but the bus would leave at 7:55 p.m., so we didn’t have time to eat dinner and change clothes.

What’s more, our bikes were tied to the roof of the bus instead of the trunk. I thought it was safer than being hit by other luggage in the trunk, but some people might not accept it. The night bus arrived safely in Hanoi, and there were no problems with our bikes,

So I cycled to my home, it was my first ride of 2024. So that’s all for this video. Thanks for watching my video. See you in the next video.

🇻🇳ハノイ在住おじさんのサイクリング動画チャンネルです。

ベトナムとラオスの国境の町ディエンビエンフーを目指す2日間、総走行距離450km、獲得標高5500ｍ超の山岳ロングライドです。

#cycling #roadbike #Hanoi #Vietnam #サイクリング #ベトナム #ハノイ #trek #domane #chapter2 #chapter2toa #toa