not so critical mass

Eager to meet some other cyclists to take to the road with, I joined a Biking group which meet up for cycle rides around the city and sometimes beyond, usually on a monthly basis. Armed with my head torch and beer money i set off having roughly memorized the route to our meet up point at the Opera House. This lead to a few back-tracks and u-turns but eventually i found a group of cyclists and assumed I was in the right place. There was a great mix of locals, expats, travellers and newbies like myself. As i chatted and exchanged stories the group of bicycles around me gradually increased as more and more people arrived, creating a critical mass type atmosphere. I also met a girl from Holland, Matilda, who it turns out is my next door neighbour, which inevitably lead to one of those 'small world' discussions! Amid the buzzing of fellow 2-wheeled new friends, a whistle sounded, instigated by a lycra-clad Vietnamese guy named Linh signifying that it was time to set off. It was fun cycling along talking to people and almost escaping from the chaos on the roads around us. We cycled north through the city up towards Tay Ho (West Lake) where the roads open up a bit away from the bustling maze of the Old Quarter. Around the West Lake is a popular hang-out for the more affluent Vietnamese and is also home to a lot of the expats here. After cycling for about 20 mins we stopped to let everyone rejoin the pack and then found a nice little grass spot (hard to come by in Hanoi) to catch our breaths and get a drink. Feeling quenched and refreshed it was not long before we were back on our bikes to continue on our 'circumnavigation' of the lake. The little track around it provided a car-free route for a short while but was also riddled by a series of bumps and potholes...head torch to the ready! We cycled round at an easy pace discussing random topics ranging from bicycle goggles to UK politics, conversations adapting and resuming as you moved between different people you had been speaking to earlier on. The final bit of the track was a bit 'off-road' but luckily the only casualty was someone's pedal. We made it back onto the main road and headed on to a late night watering hole for a celebratory drink, the 'sore-bum' sufferers eager to give their tender glutes a break! The ride home was made easy owing to the fact that Matilda and also John, another Van Ho local knew the way. Lucky for me as I had little idea of where we had ended up. We had a peaceful journey home with not much traffic (makes a change!) on the roads. As we said our goodbyes we decided it would be a fun idea to arrange a Van Ho Street Shindig, as there is quite a little social network in our area. I'll let you know how it goes...