Day 6 - Last Day in Dong Thap - Bike Tour

Ho Chi Minh City Rush hour can kill you! Day six was another day of work for the three Catalyst teams with the exception of those who elected to make a 100 mile bike ride from Dong Thap to Ho Chi Minh City. Seven courages souls embarked on a 12 hour journey through the heat, traffic, and smog that is Vietnam.

There were seven riders and six bikes. A van followed with food, medical care, and most importantly, WATER! The convoy left Dong Thap at 5:20 am and made its way through to the country side. The bikers carried several bottles of water each and by noon, more than 100 bottles had already been consumed by the bikers! Catherine, was the team nurse and had made sure all were well hydrated!

As the team approached Ho Chi Minh City and the heat index surged past 100 F the traffic started to build. Soon, it was obvious, things had gone to a level not expected. With wall to wall scooters, the bike team was finding it increasingly difficult to find each other in the crowd. But, more pressing, was the lead bike was now taken over by Tuon. He is from Ho Chi Minh. He is accustom to the speed of life. The rest of us, where not. With sudden direction changes, our team followed Tuon by cutting accross lanes of traffic 25 scooters deep. When you turn you just pray the people who need to stop.. STOP!! After 16 miles of the team finally reached the Catalyst office to meet the van. WE MADE IT! The biking team decided the experience could only be compared to nude skydiving! What an experience~