Stage 1 / Ha Giang Loop Tour / Spring 2026
'Minh, how's the road condition for tomorrow's stage?'
'Yeah it's good,' he says, as he's holding his hand up and shaking it from side to side - and you do to indicate something is a little dodgy.
'What's that mean... is there gravel? Is it smooth, what?'
'Yeah, it's ok.' Same hand movement...
Ho Chi Minh forever looks on…
Stage 1 of the 2026 April Ha Giang KOJO Tour and we jump in the van outside our hotel in the Old Quarter in Hanoi to drive 40km north - cycling out of the city is not fun and best avoided. We did 24km yesterday to a bike shop (RideBikes, excellent shop) for some bits and pieces and it felt like we'd done 60km. Hanoi demands every ounce of your attention when you're in the saddle and it's exhausting. Having said that, I quite like cycling through it - in short bursts.
And what a city it is, 1000 years old, vibrant, powerful, muscular, elegant - Hanoi has it all.
Barber image by Richard Whitworth
So we do the drive, on the way the ever wonderful Minh (KOJO's partner in Vietnam) gives us a fantastic history lesson of the nation from 1010 until now, we get out, outside a cafe - the obvious follows, meaning we take 5 days worth of caffeine in one shot glass, and we set off.
There's a very nice feeling already to this group, people I know well are here, and people they know are here, it all feels very familial. It's also always a great relief too to start any tour, to just be finally riding en route.
A particular style of stress is involved in planning and hosting a trip, from meeting expectations with the quality of the initial presentation of the tour materials to that first online call with the potential guest, from worrying about the taxi pick up being on time at the airport to fretting about whether the tour jersey will fit!
*note: some didn't!*
And yeah, finally, finally, doing the thing you can fully control - leading a bike ride every day - comes as a great relief!
Looking for trouble and probably gonna find it…
And so, we set off, on the only route of the whole tour I have not ridden before. Pace is good, road is good, then - Minh's hand wobble earlier makes sense suddenly - we hit some gravely gravel - if you get me - loose, hard - a bit dodgy!
But it's over soon enough and we are barreling along after a relaxed start when we see Minh waving us down - we've reached the agreed 40km refuel point at a clip - it’s another cafe that has a killer avocado smoothie - and we're soon off again.
Images by Mark Stocker
Another 20km and we stop for lunch - it's Stage 1, designed to be chilled, to let people chat and open their legs, and though no one's quite sure if they need to eat, the excellent rice and beef with a beautiful clear soup - hot yet light, refreshing despite the heat - disappears in a second.
Image by Mark Stocker
10km left, we have some fun catching on behind speeding scooters and then we reach the hotel.
We are here, we breathe, we are alive.
Super bonus, we also ride bikes.
Image by Mark Stocker.
This is why we do it, and this is why we are here. There's nowhere else we need to be.
Onwards…
174km tomorrow with 2024m elevation - wish us luck!
Rise, affect, elevate - this is KOJO Collective.
Image by Mark Sticker.