2770 (Xin Da-Ge, Bikes of China), 2780 (Fearless Leader, Bikes of China), 2784 (Wu Ge, Bikes of China)

         When I went to Vietnam I thought the grades were steep. I thought wrong. Except in one notable instance I spent my entire time on national roads.

         For much of the first three days of round the island we did not go on national roads. Sometimes the roads we used weren't paved. Sometimes the roads we used weren't on the map. Sometimes the roads we used weren't roads.

         National roads might, on occasion, have a steep grade or two. This might go on for quite some time, upwards of ten or even twenty meters. At a stretch if the mountain is particularly bad and the land particularly unforgiving to such things as blasting or switchbacks a really nasty steep bit might go on for up to 100 meters.

         These weren't national roads.

         They were in somewhat better shape than some of the national roads I've been on due to being very recently paved and very lightly travelled but they very definitely weren't national roads.

         There were certain signs to indicate this such as damage that still hadn't been patched from October's big typhoon. Not so much in the way of potholes as in the way of chunks missing out of the sides or carriageway of bridges.

         For the most part, however, the pavement was beautifully smooth. If it wasn't good asphalt it was good cement. There was little damage or wear and tear of any kind and rarely was there debris on the shoulders (if there were shoulders). When there was damage it was usually fairly extreme and very noticeable. Not the sort of thing you'd want to run into at car speeds but very avoidable on a bike. On the other hand, the grades weren't national road grades. A really nasty steep bit wasn't one where it was difficult to pedal up. A really nasty steep bit was one where it was difficult to walk up.