Proposed Route

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Approximate dates as follows - which is averaged on 600kms per week and leaves us 9 days spare to distribute over the trip for sightseeing (Hoi An, Angkor Wat,...) for a 1 November arrival in Singapore, or perhaps a 4 November to make it a Saturday (giving us more spare time)!

CITY	KMS	DATE
Hanoi	0	1-Sep-12
Hoi An	900	11-Sep-12
Nha Trang	600	18-Sep-12
Ho Chi Minh	450	16-Sep-12
Angkor Wat	650	24-Sep-12
Bangkok	500	30-Sep-12
KL	1500	18-Oct-12
Singapore	400	22-Oct-12
	5000 kms

Looking for team members!

We had a few drop-outs due to medical conditions (back operation for one and worse for another) and are looking for new adventurous people to join us. It is a lot of fun and no serious fitness is required. Love of adventure and willingness to come along and help is all that is required. Leaving Vietnam on September 1 is coming up soon. We will ride for two months on electrically assisted bicycles. You can come along for shorter legs too!  Some of the team will transport (support vehicle, hire-car, taxi, whatever) luggage to the next destination for the day and the rest of the team rides.  This means people can take breaks, relax, sight-see,... My last major expedition like this was Paris to Istanbul and we all had a ball. You can read about it right from the start here: http://vanpraag.info/blog/

We do have a lot of tentatives, here are some of the possible team: Journo and Editor Heather Lee (from the Paris to Istanbul ride) may be bribed into coming, Alastair Taylor, illustrator from the Perth Hills is committed to the cause, hair-dresser and utility worker on off-shore riggs Cindy Brazendale (from Paris to Istanbul, Sydney to Melbourne and the Mount Kinabalu expedition fame) is doing her best to come too. Then we have a Mark and Karina from Adelaide, Rebecca from www.dhash.com and a few other possible friends such as Jeanette from Nature Direct in Melbourne who hopes to join us for a section! Hopefully we will average a team of 5 the entire way, which means 3-4 bikes on the road each day. Perfect.

Supporting Vietnam to Singapore for CF!

Thank you to Jim McNeice to offer this software at a reduced price ($30 instead of the $39 RRP). For every purchase we will receive a $15 donation! So if you need to keep track of your investments, give CYP a go: www.controlyourportfolio.com

 

Looking for Bikes!

Electric Bike PiCycle LTD by Pi Mobility
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The story so far... We had intended to buy electric bikes in Vietnam as they are very affordable there, but now that my own cheap electric home made bicycle ran into trouble; my home-made electric bike did not like a ride in the Tasmanian rain.  Cycling through tropical weather such as monsoonal rains and hot temperatures will certainly be quite a test for any electric bike.

A Vietnames cycle-tour specialists advised me that you get what you pay for in Vietnam and that it is generally recommended that anyone touring Asia bring their own bikes.

For Paris to Istanbul we put Batavus to the test, who donated 5 bicycles to us. The bikes performed fantastic! The brand got plenty of international coverage in relation to Cystic Fibrosis. And as a result of that ride I was awarded an Order of Australia Medal, was featured in Australian Cyclist , and received plenty of press including CNN coverage (plus showcased by iCNN)!

We are now looking for a manufacturer that would like us to take their ELECTRIC BICYCLES and prove to the world that Electric Assisted Bicycles are here to stay!  Being an Ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis in Australia I believe that with my experience we must surely find a manufacturer willing to jump aboard!

I will keep you posted! Contact sponsorcf@coughing4cf.com  if you can help!

                    www.batavus.com

Batavus has won innovation prizes with their electric bike designs, and Giant has entered the market too, lets keep fingers crossed one of these great manufacturers will come to the rescue! Let's hope electric bikes become more popular as they sure make life more fun, easy and green!! Think about it as a permanent tailwind build into your bicycle, no more uphill battles,... perfect!