This morning’s ride with Team Dai took us out of Vientiane on a beautifully paved road that is closed to cars. What more could you ask? The road was built for the Southeast Asia Games, which took place in December, to take shuttle buses to the stadium on the edge of town. Bit by bit, the road is getting paved to create a city bypass to the Friendship Bridge, which crosses the Mekong River into Thailand. Until it’s finished, however, it’s all OURS!

Of all our long training rides, this was my favorite because almost the whole route was in the countryside with very little traffic. Our destination was another bonus: Rivertime Lodge is an eco-resort on the Nam Ngum River. We recharged our batteries by dipping our feet in the water and gobbling up some eggs, toast and coffee. One of the other riders said his kid’s birthday party was at the lodge, and they had boated upriver and tubed back. Fun!

See my other Team Dai posts for details about what we’re doing.
And please, please, please consider making a donation at the Team Dai website: www.teamdai.org

Rivertime Lodge

Some members of Team Dai: from left – Nick, Australian; Siri, Lao; Christine, American; me; Maurice Sr. and Jr., French; Ben, Australian; Frauke, German; and Nieven, Belgian.

Cooling off.

Siri plays with the lodge mascot.