The Wobbling Sprocket

Paolo and Fede came on the last Tour d’Indochine.   They were a blessing.    Good sports, great attitudes and game for whatever came their direction.  On Indochine, it can be a lot.

On top of that, they were from Italy.  We love it when Far and Away Cycling not only means cycling in places Far and Away, but also being with people who live Far and Away.   In our view, it doesn’t get any better.

Anyway, on Indochine it soon became apparent  Mr. Paolo could probably give Lance a run for his money.  Paolo is a fitness instructor and could ride like the wind.   He spoke less English than Fede, but he kept mentioning “Mongolian Challenge,  “Mongolian Challenge”.  We soon learned that he was using Indochine to further his training for the big test, The Mongolian Bike Challenge.

Well the Mongolian Challenge is on right now!   And Mr. Paolo is in the thick of the action.  And I mean really thick.   It seems today’s stage was canceled due to a sandstorm.

Mr Paolo is Number 35.  There is a tour tracker so people can follow along.  I haven’t seen pics of Paolo yet, but I’m looking and I am sure I will find some before this thing is over.

The Mongolian Challenge looks ridiculously hard.  120- 140 k per day with 200o or more meters of climbing in a race environment with time eliminations while camping.   Mr Paolo is probably missing the wonderful amenities of Kiu Kacham, Laos about now!!

At this moment, Mr. Paolo is in 23rd place out of 94 entrants and about 80 minutes behind the leader.

Here are some pics of Paolo (and Fede).

I am 100% sure that Paolo would love to hear from people.  Write a comment,  a Bravissimo!, a “go Paolo”, anything.  He is all the way on the other side of the world, but you can bet damn sure that I will make sure that he hears it.

Some pics from The Mongolian Challenge Website:

The start of the MBC. Mr. Paolo is here somewhere!

Wow, this looks pretty barren!

From Indochine:

Fede and Paolo at Tram Ton Pass

R to L: Paolo, Fede and Gwyn

Compared to MBC, Indochine probably is "child's play" for Paolo!

WHOO- HOOO, go Mr. Paolo!  You Rock!

Never before have I had anyone sign up for a tour and then BEAT ME to posting that news on my own Facebook Page. But then, I don’t think I have ever had anyone with the on-line presence of Erika sign up for a tour.

If Erika rides a bike like she writes, I may need to recruit all the bad boys from Rock Racing just so someone can keep up with her.

Here is Erika:

It's red alright.

Erika’s bio:

Whoa, I just noticed these last two entries. It's a good thing these tours always go well.

Erika’s line of work now is writing, social media and brand integrity.  Redheadwriting.com is her website.

In exchange for teaching Erika important phrases like “Nam Dim”, “Kup chai lai lai”, “kahm ern” and “Ninde te di pope chau”,  I am hoping she will share some writing and social media tips.   I have no doubt I could use some.

I’m very glad Erika is coming to Indochine.

Tour d’Indochine is 700 miles through Vietnam and Laos and it is an adventure.  If you have the balls to join Erika on Indochine (Erika has had an influence on me already!), we have this deal going for a few more days:

On sale thru the end of July

Hey, Maryvonne and Doug Mack are featured on the front page of the Canon City Daily Record (Canon City, CO).

Cañon City Daily Record – High Adventure.

They got some plugs in for Far and Away Cycling!  They are right about the biking.  It’s not easy.  Lots of mountains and there was plenty of construction at the front end in Vietnam (it should be done by the end of the year).   If there was good news for us regarding the construction, it was that we were there during Tet and no construction was actually taking place while we were on the roads (and not much traffic either).

Chantal made all the arrangements for the climb up Mt. Fansipan.  The group included  Chantal, Robin Mason, Gwyn Kutz and the Mack’s.   They had some excitement that went beyond the climbing.  There was a forest fire raging on the mountain and they were the last ones allowed to make the trek.  While our group  was coming down firefighters (the military) were heading up.  The firefighters wanted the group to turn around and go with them to help fight the fire (“Ahh, sure, we definitely would…but we have to meet some bikers.”)

Fansipan is the tallest mountain in Vietnam at 3,150 meters (9th tallest in SE Asia).   According to Chantal, the biggest challenge of the climb was the steepness.  It gets to 60% so it is quite a scramble.  That didn’t slow Robin down.  She went to the summit twice…just for good measure.  The highest mountain in SE Asia is Mt. Hkakabo Razi (5,880 meters).  It is and located in Northern Burma.  We’ll keep that one in mind for a future adventure.

Fansipan may be our first trekking add-on for a bike tour, but it won’t be the last.  After the Sikkim (India) bike tour we have a 4 day hike to Dzongri planned….the better to gaze upon Mt Kangchendzonga, the 3rd highest mountain in the world.

Here are some picks of the gang scrambling up the mountain together with  a link to the article as it appears in The Daily Record.

L to R: Gwyn, guide, Doug, Chantal and Robin

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Maryvonne and Doug

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Chantal and Gwyn yukking it up in trek hut.

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A scramble.