Tuesday
We are going to Mui Ne - The big seaside resort north of Saigon.
This is the first proper experience of touring as a group. It's immediately clear that the group has a wide spread of ability, in which I roughly sit in the middle. There are those who might go for a run on our rest days, and there are those who will be taking a bit of a break in the support vehicles if it's a tad hilly. Even if I end up crawling up the inclines in little granny cog, I'm pretty determined to cycle the whole way.
The trip is managed a little like the Tour de France (it is similar solely in this regard). You get driven out of the nasty traffic and ugly suburbia and then get on the bikes, and then the reverse is true at the other end.
The day is broken up into three pieces: 20km, 20km, 10 km. At each stopping point, the the mechanic and our guide Chi, tip freshly-made lemonade into us, help us refill waterbottles, and fill us with fresh fruit, lychee jellies and cashew nuts. This is recharging Vietnamese-style, and they know what they are doing.
End of day one without incident, but I get to bed as soon as I can; I am knackered and this is only half the distance of the bigger days to come. Oh dear; Newty may have bitten off more than he can chew again...