Biking Through Resilience, Perseverance, and Pride in Northern Vietnam
A 7-Day Ride Through Ha Giang That Confirmed Vietnam Is a Cycling Paradise, and Gave Me an Unexpected Gift
Whether it is a local training ride, or a travel adventure, I am convinced that seeing the world on a bike is the best way to see it. On a bike, you can …
Traverse backroads that you may not otherwise see on major motor routes
Slow down or stop easily anytime to take a photo or take in the view
Meet more people - whether you are in a tour group or riding self-supported - as it is a conversation starter for other curious travelers
Experience the changing smells of a land, adding a layered sensory experience
Stay fit while on vacation without sacrificing a single culinary indulgence
I recently completed a 9-day bike tour (7 days of riding) with 14 other cyclists in Northern Vietnam and recommend what I already knew: my happiness level skyrockets on a bike. 🚵♀️😜 This was my first time joining a bike tour group - as opposed to self-organizing and self-supporting. It was organized by Much Better Adventures, and led by local guides from Mr. Biker Saigon. My mind was blown. There are obvious advantages to joining a supported group - your luggage is transferred for you, you don’t have to plan bike routes or organize where you will stay each night, you have built-in water stops and mechanics … all of these things are great, but they are not what made this tour special.
Vietnam is a cycling heaven. Who knew?
I've biked extensively across the US, western Costa Rica, and Europe. That experience has given me a formula for 'Epic' biking: paralyzing panoramic views, lung-and-leg-burning climbs, and kindred companions. Vietnam surpassed every expectation.
Check out my complete photo album here.
Paralyzing Panoramic Views
The iconic emerald and mustard-brown hillside terraces for cultivating rice are surrounded by layers upon layers of dark turquoise conical limestone peaks. Tiny colorful dots speckle the fields and hillsides, where the Hmong women tend crops wearing bright purple, red, pink, and blue plaid head scarves. In the bright sun, the palette of greens was so vast and bright that it hurt my eyes. The heat and humidity, as well as the surrounding palm trees, reminded me that I am in a tropical climate. And when the fog and mist rolled in, I felt less like a cyclist and more like a rider on a mythical swan-dragon, winding through a Sarah J. Maas faerie tale.
Lung-and-Leg-Burning Climbs
The roads on the Ha Giang Loop, where the majority of our riding took place, are new - just a couple years old in some areas - so the mixed terrain from gravel to concrete path to pavement provided fun terrain variation. And remember those conical limestone peaks? They are responsible for the 5-15%+ grade of the monster climbs on our route (like this one, for example, at 8.6% grade over 2.8km/1.75mi). Ha Giang didn't just check the box for lung-and-quad-burning climbs - it buried it.
Kindred Companions
They say misery loves company, and if you're a cyclist, you know the misery: the climbs, the mud, the wrong turns. This is half the fun, and company makes it all gloriously worth it. The skills and fitness levels of the group of 14 of us on this trip were well-matched (kudos to Much Better Adventures for properly detailing the difficulty level of the tour), and everyone took an interest in and looked after each other. I’ve made friends and memories for life.
Another highlight of this tour was our guides - An, Minh, and Phuoc - who were kind, funny, knowledgeable, and kick-ass cyclists and leaders. And the ride would not have been possible without the the support crew of mechanics, drivers, and aid station attendees who were with us the whole way. The guides and crew were intimately familiar with the navigation and conditions of the roads, and they warmly brought us into shops and homes of local people and educated us on their culture. They became our friends as much as our guides.
Admiring Vietnamese People and Culture
Thanks to our guides and our hosts, we were immersed in Vietnamese culture throughout our tour - from dropping into a family’s home to chat with them about how they live (and take pictures with the kids), visiting homegrown sites for manufacturing hemp fabric, jewelry, and brooms, and stopping by historical monuments. With each visit, I was touched by the joy and resilience of the Vietnamese people. It is incomprehensible to our Western brains how hard these people work, how simple they live, and how joyful they are in their lives. Every child we passed gleefully shouted “Hello!” and stretched their arm out to give us a high-5. Despite any language barrier that we had with the Vietnamese people, the perma-smiles on their faces made everything make sense. They have immense pride in their country, their culture, and their way of life - and I could see it was important to them that we took that away.
I reflected on the Vietnam War (aka American War, if you are Vietnamese) that tore the country to shreds, only 51 years ago. A place that was once a war zone is now one of the most beautiful vacation destinations - the Vietnamese people did this. They rebuilt - with resilience, perseverance, and pride.
In capitalism, money talks — but after seeing rural Vietnam and Cambodia up close, I'm convinced the definition of 'money' itself is a bigger divide between Southeast Asia and the Western world than language ever could be. Like our guides told us, a simple life is a happy life.
Personal Growth - Another step in letting my marriage go
What I didn't anticipate was the unexpected emotional gift this trip handed me: a chance to finally process my marriage and let it go. There are many layers to this one, and I’ll reserve some more of the private details just for myself, but this tour oozed the essence that once was “Bartney” (aka Barry + Cortney). I talked about Barry and our marriage - specifically, our epic bike & run adventures - with my adventure-mates, more than I’ve talked about him with anyone in awhile. It felt right to bring his presence to the trip, with a full-body knowing that it is also right to have let him go when I did. Barry’s spirit was deeply with me on this trip and palpable through an unstoppable flood of memories, in mannerisms of my adventure-mates, and in various fleeting moments.
Some broken pieces of life don't get grieved in real time. My divorce was final nearly 18 months ago, and yet here I am, only now slowing down enough to be present with what happened, what it cost me, and how to honor it - which, for 'Bartney,' could only ever mean one thing: an epic bike trip.
A Call to All Cyclists: Ride Vietnam 🇻🇳
I predict that word about the luxury of biking in Vietnam will spread quickly, and the place will become overrun with cycling tourist groups before long. So, my call to fellow cyclists, as Freddy Mercury sang, “Get on your bikes and ride!” in Vietnam!