Dear little friends,

There had been some dithering going on. Should we, should we not, take another bike trip this winter. Pros and cons were discussed. The discussion would break down with both parties claiming that “I’m okay either way, you decide” which as anybody that’s ever been in a relationship knows can be either super freeing or also possibly a poison pill. Anyway, after confirming that both parties were neutral and we just can’t decide so let’s stop dithering and table the decision for now. Then the conversation pivoted to reminiscing about some of the crazy things that we’ve encountered on our eight trips to Asia together. 

“Ha, remember that train, omigod that train, the one with the mice? But then there was the one where the bird flew through the car? And the little boy on the bus that sat on the dashboard wiping the humidity off the windshield with toilet paper? Ha ha ha!”

Danger, heat, sickness, weariness. All those things, we laughed and laughed about. We’ve had some great little adventures together. They make good stories afterwards.

“Remember that gigantic spider in that hotel room that we thought you killed with the flip-flop? There were legs scattered everywhere! Hahaha, and then it came back to life and disappeared behind the toilet!!” 

We were rolling on the floor. We’ve had so much fun.

We tabled the discussion AND the reminiscing. Then I went to my computer and found myself looking at guesthouses in southern Vietnam on Google Maps, and at temples and videos and prices and airfares and I thought about winter in Portland, the rain, the dark, the gloom, the occasional ice storm and snow event. I thought about our ages, apparently not getting younger. How many more years can we do this crazy stuff? Not that many, despite our stout denial.

“Let’s go to Saigon.”

“Okay.”

And so it will come to pass. Ten days after we bought our tickets we were driving south on hellish I-5 to buy an unridden used Bike Friday with some cool features we had been lusting after for awhile: disc brakes and an internal hub/Gates Carbon Belt drivechain. The New World Tourist Silk. Oooh la la.

The owner had back problems and just couldn’t ride it even though it had been custom made for her, so now it was ours. We took it a few miles away to Bike Friday HQ in Eugene for a once-over (make an appointment, folks, they are not set up for drop-in consults) and it was confirmed, we had gotten an amazing deal on this bright red little gem.

Two days later, the owner’s husband also decided to sell HIS Bike Friday, which had a few more miles on it but was also in pristine condition. Back down I-5 we went, and back home with yet another screaming deal of a bike. Very, very exciting! This one was the same size but custom made for shorter legs, dark green, perfect for me. 

I love my old blue Bike Friday that has taken me thousands of miles, but I’m not going to miss the greasy chain tattoo on my leg and the funky friction shifting. These new bikes ride silently, like silk serpents ready to conquer the flats of the Mekong floodplain and then hopefully we’ll be in better shape by the time there are any elevation gains. The serpents of the Mekong that live in the eddies and whirlpools are called Nagas, their images embellish temple gates and rear their fangs protectively around the Buddha with many heads and colorful scales. I am excited to slither forth on my dark green naga. 

Concerned friends, friends who take their fitness seriously, have asked how much riding we’ve been doing. Not much, concerned friends. Not much. We’ve had serious house and garden projects, then some serious flu/colds/coughs going on. I’ve been watching my grandkids a few days a week, surely that counts as some sort of fitness activity. Our concerned friends are not surprised by this answer, which is why they are concerned. To this I say: thank you. We’ll have to muddle through. We’ll have to take short days in the swelter of Ho Chi Minh City and the delta and Cambodia, which is all flat, thank goodness, until we get ourselves in better gear. 

But we have always gone slowly, and stop to have that iced coffee/coconut juice/electrolyte water break early and often. We stop and look at the road, enjoy the shade, joke with the kid hiding behind the tree, pet the dog if it’ll let us, admire the potted flowers, and then we wait for the next crazy thing to happen.  

Heart

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