When you hit one obstacle after the other, should you persevere or should you take it as a sign that perhaps you should change your plans? I do not have the answer to this question. In most cases, I persevere, and in most cases, it turns out to be the best decision.
That may not have been the case with my Vietnam trip.
I was planning on posting fun ride stories, sharing photos and videos of epic views overlooking rice fields. GPX files and Strava maps showcasing lots of switchbacks, climbing, descending and everything in between.
The two photos below paint a very different picture.
Lets start from the beginning, which takes us back 20 months to February 2024, when I paid a deposit for a cycling trip to Northern Vietnam at the start of October. I was super stoked for 4 days of riding, 550km and approximately 9,000m of elevation.
The first setback happened at the end of March, when I went to see an RMT (for maintenance, not an injury) and he overworked my hip flexors, leading to peripheral femoral nerve damage in my right leg. I could barely walk for close to 8 weeks, and the recovery from this injury has been long, painful and frustrating. I am still affected by it now - I have not fully regained my muscle mass and my leg still tends to seize. You can read the whole story below ā¤µļø
I posted the story in May of 2024, but I didnāt share my road to recovery since. I tried getting back into the swing of things, but in July it became obvious I need to take a giant step back, to allow my body to take baby steps forward. I postponed the Vietnam cycling trip to October 2025. I started myself on a run-walk program and reduced my riding so I can balance both without too much stress. By October, I was able to add strength training also.
The winter and spring were uneventful. I was able to balance a bit of running, a bit of cycling and a bit of strength. By June of this year, I was able to ride with a bit more consistency, volume and intensity, although my right leg was still a major limiter.
In late July / early August, came the second setback when I booked a non refundable flight to Vietnam, but was unsure my registration for the trip was in fact transferred over. It took several weeks, but it was all sorted out.
In mid September, I was able to take out the small lift I had placed under my right cleat post injury. That wasnāt a setback, it was actually a substantial step forward in my nerve injury recovery - Maybe, after 1.5+ years I can finally do hard things on the bike again, just in time for Vietnam!
This is when the third setback hit. A few weeks before the trip, I had a chest pain that did not feel quite right, so I went to the ER. An ECG and X-Ray later, I was told itās okay, to continue with regular activities, but I was scheduled for a 24hr holter monitor, stress test and cardiology consult mid Oct.
The forth setback came the week before my tripā¦ My bike had 11spd DuraAce on it, meaning the easiest gears I could get on my bike was 34/50 chainrings and 11-30 cassette. To play it safe with my leg, I scheduled an appointment at my trusty LBS a week pre trip so they can install a different derailleur and cassette for more gear options, and give the bike a quick pre trip once over.
Turned out one of my rear wheel spoke nipples was broken, and a part needed to be ordered. Not a problem, I could borrow demo wheels. Ok, crisis averted. Shortly after, I got another text saying my right brake has an issue where air was getting introduced into the system, which could cause brake failure. Again, a part needs to be ordered. Short on time, I had to come up with a quick solution - I had a brand new 12spd DuraAce groupset sitting in a box, waiting for a different frame. The day before I flew to Vietnam, that groupset went on my bike. Not ideal, but at least I had a functioning and safe bike to ride!
The fifth and final setback was mother nature related - A typhoon hit Northern Vietnam the week before our trip. Several days later, the day before I landed, another one hit the same area. This caused a significant amount of flooding in the area we were supposed to ride inā¦ Of course, a third typhoon hit the area the night before my surgery. I woke up in the middle of the night to thunder and lightening, hoping that would not affect my surgery dateā¦ While October is the tail end of rainy season in the area, this frequency and severity is apparently not typical.
Our tour company did a fantastic job of rerouting the whole trip - Instead of going North, we went West of Hanoi. Day one was Hanoi to Mai Chau. It was chaos riding out of Hanoi with trafficā¦ At several points I looked next to me and instead of seeing another cyclist, I saw a motorbike - They just joined our little peloton and somehow with the craziness that is Hanoi traffic, it just made sense.
It was sunny and close to 40 degrees, which was brutal, so I skipped a small part of the ride to make sure I donāt cook myself before the climbing started the following day. Day 2 was off to a nice start. I was in good spirits as the temperature was a lot cooler, my legs were feeling good, I was looking forward to some climbing and I was stoked on using my new DJI Osmo Nano camera (spoiler alert, I didnāt get a chance to do so). I recall riding in the middle of the pack with a big smile on my face.
Within the first ~12km, my trip was done. There was a mid size vehicle in the opposite lane, and a dog ran in front of it. The vehicle honked at the dog and I remember thinking āoh shitā. The dog ran into our side of the road.
Out of a group of ~40 riders, I was the only one who went down. I donāt know how long I was out for. The next thing I remember, was a few people helping me up and that was when it was obvious my collarbone was broken. I am fairly certain I blacked out again as I do not know how I got into the carā¦ I just remember coming to it sitting in the back of the car, wondering how the hell I got there, who the person talking to me was and if I even had insurance.
I did have insurance - I always have travel insuranceā¦ I called them from the car and by the time were at the hospital back in Hanoi, they already issued the guarantee of payment to the hospital. I had a check up, x-rays and CT scan within ~30 minutes.
My collar bone was in two pieces, right in the middle. I fractured two ribs (luckily stable, so I could get into surgery quickly), have massive bruises on my medial L knee, medial R shin, all down my L hip, road rash on my L shoulder, face in several places, L knee and L ankle.
I had surgery within less than 30 hours. In the pre surgery consultation with the anesthesiologist, I mentioned my upcoming cardio consult appointment and that I did not know what was flagged on my ECG, to which she responded āyes, we know. It looks like it is Wolff Parkinson Whiteā. That is not what you want to hear before going into surgery, especially in a foreign country. That said, my anesthesiologist was lovely and seeing her face right before and right after was very comforting, and just thinking about it now makes me tear up a bit (More on the whole heart thing once I have more info later this week).
I stayed in the hospital for almost a week and I was very well taken care of. My surgeon did a great job, which was confirmed by more x-rays at VGH once I got back to Vancouver. I have very little pain and solid range (m ribs bug me more than the collarbone). I saw my physio today and will have an ortho follow up in the next week or so.
I took most of the hit and my bike got off easy. My left pedal is done (they were getting old anyways), some scratches on the left shifter, side of the saddle and side of handlebars but that is all just cosmetics and barely noticeable. I do need a new rear axel as it broke, and a new helmet of course. The frame, the (borrowed) wheels and that brand new groupset are just fine.
I am trying to be patient with my recovery. You read all the stories about pro riders getting back on the bike a week post op, and people say recovery is faster with surgery, but at the end of the day - I think this way of thinking could be damaging for the average or above average rider.
The reality is, bones take time to heal. I am grateful that I have good bone density (yay, strength training), but my collarbone is being held together by 9 screws and a plate right now, and it is still very much broken under all that titanium. The plate is there to help it heal properly, and if I load it too much and too soon, it could cause problems down the road, which I would like to avoid.
I am trying really hard to find the silver lining to this whole ordeal. This trip was supposed to be a celebration of being able to do challenging things on the bike again after that nerve injury, but clearly that was not meant to be. After all the setbacks related to this trip, a part of me feels like this whole trip was just not meant to be from the start. That said, do I regret not cancelling it instead of postponing it from last year? No, I do not.
Perhaps this simply highlights the fact that we can do hard things, on and off the bike. It reinforces the fact that resilience is something you build and then also maintain and is not something to be taken for granted.
I am dying to get back to running, back on the bike, back in the gym. Luckily, its October. Rainy season in the PNW is here, so it is not a bad time to take a little bit of down time, both physically and mentally. I am doing okay, but I am not exactly thriving post op and my ribs are killing me, so a bit of down time, especially when work is a little bit slower, is a good thing. I suppose its a positive that this happened in October, not in July, right?
As for the rest of my vacation? While most of it was in the hospital, I got 2 days in Hanoi before the riding started and then another 2.5 days after I was discharged from the hospital. I managed to make the most of it eating all the things, drinking a lot of Vietnamese coffee (egg coffee is kind of addictive) and taking a lot of pictures. I will post some photos when I get a chance to do some edits, probably in the next few weeks.
oh Noa....what an ordeal. Glad your on the mend. Was thinking of you the other day. I came across my 2009 Iron Man finishing photo. ...can't believe that was 16 yrs ago.
Speedy recovery.
Audrey