Reality... Aftermath of...

I went to the very spot where a minute of silence was given. It was extremely close to heart... Because I was cycling that very morning, on that very piece of road. To the family, my deepest condonlences.

Delivery driver, Kong Shyh Pyng, was jailed for three weeks and banned from driving for four years after dozing off at the wheel of his Class 3 lorry and eventually striking and running over a cyclist - killing him on the spot. Though the 39-year old driver had covered over eight pairs of speed regulating strips over the speed limit of 70km/h, he only awoke minutes after hitting 25-year old, Mr Jude Alphonsus Tan Wei Xiong, in an accident that occurred on May 26th 2012.

Another delivery driver who was commuting in the opposite direction of Changi Coast Road, a famous spot for cyclists, witnessed Kong's lorry deviate to the left, mount a kerb and return onto the road before striking into the rear of Mr Tan - who got flung onto the centre right portion of the left lane before getting run over by the Class 3 lorry of Kong. Mr Tan died instantly.

Kong stopped around 400m from the accident scene and according to The Straits Times; Mr Kong only woke up after hearing a loud noise while travelling over the speed regulating strips. Kong could have faced a harsher sentence of jail for up to two years and/or fined for causing death by negligence.

 Source

At least I'm seeing more cyclists actually on the road, popularity is in no doubt soaring. Which means motorist see more cyclist, expect them on the road and thus roads become safer. Ride safe.

Vietnam Tour: Day 5 (25th Aug) Bong Son to Quy Nhon

Extremely good! This was the one and only place where they put fried egg into the baguette. I was lucky i bought two, i usually save the other one for later. But it was soo good.

I started earliest this time, learning my lesson. I try to avoid riding at night. Biggest surprise when I tasted the egg in baguette. It certainly raised my expectations for banquettes elsewhere, they never came close.

It was rather cooling, and progress was quick. I only had to cover 90km and at my first pit stop I was already at 40km.

They were many random fountains, statues and some kind of shrines along the highway. Some look like they deserve more attention.

 Today saw me drafting a motorcycle towing a trailer. It was a pretty constant 35-40km/h until he stopped, than came a passing lorry that went 40km/h constant. It was pretty fun drafting the lorry and overtaking an entire school on bicycles (Seemed to me like that anyway). The afternoon sun was trying to fry me alive, so i took the opportunity to have my lunch.

I now miss Pho a lot, this was good, except for he weird vege... Very homely shop this

I believe some ancient building, didn't visit, but was a visual treat.

Some sort of milk tea dessert, i was like MILK TEA AHHHH. Satisfied my cravings for a bit. The shop owner tried desperately to communicate with me, but my Vietnamese for non-existent.

 I had passed by maybe 2 dessert shops that I really regretted passing. One because I saw a number of people enjoying the dessert (indicating probably good stuff), and two because it was so hot! I finally saw one, and doubled back to get some. I was not disappointed.

Arriving in the city, probably the biggest round about I have seen. Looking around for a cheap place to stay. Found unsecured wireless access, lucky me!

Immediately, you know you are entering the city when traffic sky rockets. A small town but really easy to navigate. I looked around, and generally... The small alleys and roads where there are hotels are the cheapest. The ones by the main road? Ouch.

After settling in, I went down to the beach..

Had to be the emptiest beach, but most crowded shore!

I hate toufu, I took m chances and randomly choose an item on the menu. It wasn't cheap and must worse meal ever (Not because it tasted bad, but I really don't like toufu). The prawns I ordered were decent though.

 I took the opportunity of the relatively short ride to rest early and prep myself for the next day.

Distance today: 85 km
Distance to date: 453km

Vietnam Tour: Day 4 (24th Aug) Binh Son to Bong Son

Spent some time searching about a UNESCO site, called My Son... Apparently,  on google maps it was just about 15km or so away from my Hotel, so should I go check it out? I decided to do so.

Somewhere inside (fake) "My Son"

Some huge industrial complex

Unfortunately, when I arrived it was not the place. And I guess google maps got it wrong...

I did turn into a really small settlement, and it felt like a really peaceful community.

Oh well, U-turned and headed for Bong Son.

Transporting livestock... Rather inhumane... And if only I could replace this day's text for the smell there...

This might not seem like much, but this was the only hill I saw for kilometers! The agriculture made it especially scenic.

Small duck farm? These are plenty especially at the bank of rivers. It's always pleasant to look at them and take my mind of the road for a tad bit.

Simple lunch, great food when hungry.

First drink pit stop, this drink is alarmingly sweet! It scares me.

While drinking Sting, I sat down observing the teenagers lazying on the hammocks. I contemplated lying down on one, but the lady would probably have to wash it after i'm done.

Sugarcane + local salt(anti-cramps!), this is extremely addictive!

 

I think I must have not been very hungry, because this was a little to green for me. Didn't enjoy it...

An absolutely beautiful beach, I would have loved to stay a little longer.. But when the sun sets, the roads get bad! And unfortunately for this day, it rained too.

Rained and riding in the lane was way to scary.

So I just kept on the shoulders, it felt like I have been riding for at least an hour and I should have reached the town already but according to the maps, I had only made it half of the 30km to town. Damn. I suddenly had the urge to pee, and found myself at some bend in the road walked into the bushes and really really felt so damned relieved at the time. Riding at night in the rain was stressful.

Enough was enough, I was not going to search for the cheapest hotel. Just the nearest one I could find. As I was pulling into town, the heavens decided to open up on me more and I felt like I was really suffering. The mental game? Bring it on, make it even harder for me bro! Come at me bro!

I finally saw a hotel sign and went into the carpark/reception/showhouse front, super soaked and asked for a room. The first thing I did was look into the mirror with disbelief, water still dripping from my clothes; a small puddle in my room formed. I went to take a shower.

Some laundry later, I went down to ask where I could get some food (there was a stall opposite), but was told to go ahead to the local market (outside a school/hospital, can't remb). There I got a chinese bun! They say everything tastes better when you are hungry, riding makes me constantly hungry and I have always felt whatever I was eating tasted like the best I ever had. Such bliss!

It was juicy, warm and oh so good.

The room was a little creepy... There was even a comb on the the left side of the bed frame

 Spammed on uploading photos, work's getting me down so posts and coming in slower. In any case, ride safe!

It seems I may have mixed up today's events with yesterday (Day 3, Update 07/27/2013: edited accordingly.), I went to the fake My Son site early morning say 7+am, covered the 30km round trip went back to the hotel to pack up and continue to Bong Son after checking out. I remember little of the 110km I covered that day... But I guess this is what happens when you don't blog on the road/immediately after the trip.

What I did write on my iPhone notes app was that I finally started wearing long sleeves and that it proved effective. I got extremely disturbed from the tan I was getting, my hands looked like they were gonna be charred black by the Sun, my average speed is finally getting slow now... say 17km/h compared to 22km/h of the first 3 days. Till the next day!

Distance today: 110km
Distance to date: 368km