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 NO, it wasn’t a one-day trip to Laos ... It was a two week tour with my newest best friend, called Freedom Friday. December 2006 was a holiday within a holiday for me. I had taken three months off work to try solo cycle touring in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, with a trip to Laos for Christmas. After 8 weeks of travelling solo on my New World Tourist (ordered especially for the trip) I was able to cycle lightweight. The two loaded panniers, several Lonely planet guides and lots of trinkets from Siem Reap were stashed in Bangkok. I transferred my worldly goods into a travel pack and put my next two weeks in the hands of Grasshopper Adventures for the Lao Lao Christmas trip. I had been on this trip exactly a year earlier with friends so I was prepared. I knew the uphills were long, with roads that go on seemingly forever in an upward direction. However, the rewards of the scenery, the people and experiences went a long way to curing my previous attitude to hills. I used to be scared of them. They meant a torturous hour or so for a fleeting five minutes of downhill. But, after the mountains of Laos I was prepared and knew how to pace myself. I was also bike fit. I had been riding for two months away from a stress filled office. And I was on a Freedom Friday, the small wheeled light bike (sans panniers) giving me the edge I needed over riders on mountain bikes. I am a slow but determined rider. My cadence is slow as I have always ridden on my own, and now I am so comfortable with it, prepared to be the backmarker in most rides. But this time around, my Friday allowed me to set myself new challenges with the range of gears it offered. I dropped into the lowest gear late in the afternoon for one particularly steep hill and even then, the granny gear didn’t get a run. Now I understand what Jason meant when he said the gearing and wheel size of a Bike Friday would suit me, and not make it harder for me. |
 How did I come to own a Friday? Jason, founder and tour leader of Grasshopper Adventures, is responsible for two things: getting me hooked on long distance cycling, and convincing me to buy a Bike Friday. I first met him riding his Bike Friday on a Yunnan Cycle Charity Challenge trip. I was curious but not convinced. Twelve months later I met with Australian BF Club founders Margaret and Graham Day from Adelaide (my home town) and they both talked me into a NWT for my trip to Vietnam and beyond. But back to Laos ... I wasn’t totally convinced that my Friday and I would keep up with the others. I knew they carried at least one spare bike in the support vehicle. Such treacherous thoughts, I feel like a traitor to Freedom Friday and all Bike Fridays! Luckily, I trusted someone who has more experience than me, knows the bik, the rider, the terrain. The hills are big but the performance of the small wheeled bike was bigger. It excelled in the hills and happily ate up the long flats at the end making the trip easily achievable for a NWT with my 48 year old slow legs. Grasshopper Adventures under the leadership of Jason Williams is definitely a Friday Friendly tour company. He's even run a Laos tour for unicyclists! Some special moments happened only because I had a bike with me at all times. I really enjoyed riding from the guest house in Thailand to the border crossing on the Mekong River, putting Friday on the narrow long boat to cross into Laos, then riding from the immigration point in Laos to the Mekong boat landing and beating the tuktuk transport. Another highlight was a spontaneous decision to ride out of Laos into Thailand across the Friendship Bridge with a full backpack because the man with the transport was asking a ridiculous price to transport the 7 of us, luggage and 2 bikes. So Adam and I simply took our bikes and our bags and rode into Thailand. |
 In hindsight, a Bike Friday is only ever an asset. In a few moments my day could transform from Madame, no bicycle on the bus to a quick fold, black bag and ah Madame, luggage and everyone is happy... except for the tuktuk or moto or cyclo drivers who are bewildered when the black bag luggage becomes a bicycle and I ride away ... My blog http://vonny-freedomfriday.blogspot.com/ of my trip captures some of the moments but in my experience bank there are so many more special memories because of Bike Friday and the chances I have taken spurred on by supporters of Bike Friday. What can you do on a Friday? Just about anything you dare, and more. PS: I met Yvonne from Alaska on a Bike Friday Pocket Gnu* on the HaiVan Pass in Vietnam while I was riding my NWT. Because our photo appeared on the Bike Friday website we are joining forces on a September cycle in Tibet, hopefully on our Bike Fridays! RELATED LINKS Read Yvonne's blog of her trip * Now superceded by the Pocket Llama with front shock fork as an upgrade |