19
January, Hoi An to Dung Quat, 86km
Kien Vinh Hotel 200,000VND
The flat
terrain augured well for today, but roadworks and bike trouble conspired to
make our ride tiresome and tiring. Roadworks can ruin the easiest road. The
surface deteriorates, the road narrows, drivers become frustrated and drive
more aggressively, and dust clogs mouth and eyes. The first problem on the bike
was easily resolved: the front of the two screws fastening my saddle to my
saddle post snapped with an audible pop, abruptly tilting the saddle to ...
shall we say an “uncomfortable” angle? Within a minute or two a cheerful
passerby led us to an autocycle mechanic, pointed at him and said, “Honda
engineer”. The young man soon found and fitted a suitable screw and we were
back on the road. Then we figured out why my bike felt so sluggish: I have lost
a screw from my brake assembly, which means that the brake rubs against the
rim. Short-term solution: manually move the brake away from the rim after each
use. But a problem I have been experiencing with my chain and therefore my
gears for some time now came to a head today. My chain no longer runs smoothly
across my cogs – instead it jumps and jerks; Charl says it looks like a snake
in motion. Several hundred kms ago I lost the use of my three top gears on the
back wheel. This did not matter much in the mountains where they were not
needed, but I have felt their loss acutely in the flat countryside we have been
travelling for some time now. Then I could no longer use my middle front gear
as each time I put pressure on my pedals the chain would jump, jerking at my
knees. Today, my highest front gear started experiencing the same problem. We
are not sure if the problem lies exclusively with the chain or also with the
cogs, and are not sure the problem can be resolved in Vietnam. In the meantime,
I am having to change into low gears on even the mildest incline to avoid the
painful and stressful jerking. An inefficient way to ride...
Between Hoi An and Dung Quat
Between Hoi An and Dung Quat
Between Hoi An and Dung Quat
Between Hoi An and Dung Quat
Between Hoi An and Dung Quat