RIDE DAY: Pak Ngum to Pak Kading

1/27/09
Day: 122.8 km
Cume: 1412.2 km
Avg: 16.8 kph
Max: 31.0 kph
Time: 7h19m
Highs: Wide expanses of mountains and the Mekong, riding just after dawn with the sky glowing pink and orange and purple, the use of Howard's "mood cure" to deal with the flat flat boring ride (thanks Howard)
Lows: Long day in flat country with few things to look at except shrubs and fewer villages further apart, stopped short of town with no restaurant nearby and had to get back on the bike after a long day,

There's nothing like a taste of REM, U2, John Mayer, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Live, Depeche Mode, Chicane, Paul VanDyke and a host of other American musicians to get me out of the dumps of a long, hot, flat, boring ride. I had to employ the "mood cure" my brother so thoughtfully gave me (his 60gb MP3 player packed with music of many genres) for about 50-70km and, wow, how that helps get the moral back up (some of you can only imagine, some know what this looked like;).

It was nice to finally approach the mountains and to ride along the Mekong for many kms today. I'm getting very near Highway 8 which I heard such rave reviews of. Almost out of the flats!