Day 31 Ba To to Mang Den

 We knew today was going to be a hard day which is why we were on the road by 6am- it was still dark! The bakery in Ba To was open so two donuts and pizza slices to be had for the journey. Ba To will live on in our memories as a dreary place with unhelpful people and a dirty bathroom and ants.

The first 18 miles were covered in a lovely temperature with lots of cloud cover and a little mist also very flat. We stopped in the last town before the climb to purchase our drink of choice , lemon tea. The shopkeeper looked cross to have our custom but turned out it was just his manner, he spoke a little English and asked the usual questions. He was 73 and his wife 70, upon asking our age he commented somewhat ominously that we must be very strong to be going up the mountain. With drinks in hand we stopped at edge of village to eat our breakfast bought earlier. Approaching the climb was certainly in my thoughts 30 km and then many more hills afterwards. Just as we approached the first ascent the sun came out and the combination of sun and climb immediately left our tops saturated in sweat. The hill was steep and I soon discovered that the exertion of riding it was pointless as getting of the bike and pushing it was marginally slower but far easier. Jen not to be daunted continued to pedal. I think she was getting frustrated with continually waiting for me but this she did. We both thought that once we had completed this first 30km it would be plain sailing with a few little climbs along the top of this plateau. Plateau -how wrong  could we be- each small climb was like riding from Rilla Mill up to Minions (Our local hill that usually destroys me after a bike ride with the boys) and they were consistent all the way to our end destination. By now the temperature was in the high 20s and god knows what the humidity level was, but my clothes were drenched and salt stained. It wasn't all hard graft, the descents were magnificent as was the scenery, but unsurprisingly these were not so appreciated when one is suffering, as we were.

With 20 miles to go I persuaded Jen to go on as she was so much stronger and I could tell she just wanted the pain to be I over and I wouldn't have to keep chasing her tail. I continued my strategy if pushing up the hills as I had no other choice, with the weight of the bike and the lack of low enough gears and aging muscles this was my lot. I did have a little respite when one young lad on a scooter took pity on me and with the aid of his foot and deft steering managed to push me for a mile up the mountain (this is a practithat they do a lot amongst the youngsters). Eventually he got tired and left me to my own devices. It was very much appreciated. Much later down the road another couple on a scooter seeing my suffering offered to ride the bike up the crest of the hill while I had a ride in the scooter. I took them up on the offer, but it was short lived because the young man couldn't generate enough power and was in danger of hurting himself or my steed. They kindly gave me a litre of water which later in proved to be a godsend.This water and the fact that a young man couldn't ride the hill lifted my spirits.

I can honestly say that this was one of the hardest rides I've completed and it ranks alongside the hell of the Embrun ironman ride in the alps- and that wasn't done with ridiculous amounts of weight and a heavy ill equipped MTB. Hats of to Jen who rode the whole way but we all ready know that she is a LEGEND.